Do You Want To Know Why ? (Twack's Statement Of Intent)

I really wanted to put 'do you wanna know why ?' but couldn't bring myself to do it. So, the question is, do you want to know why ?

It's probably not entirely correct as far as grammar goes but it's close enough. There should be a 'my' between the 'know' and the 'why' and yet I didn't like that either. So fussy these days.

Enough of this title assassination, let's get down to the nitty gritty. This is our little 'chat' that I have mentioned a couple of times.

Throwing that out there in a few of my posts was a way of me getting used to the idea and making myself accountable. Change is afoot, and it is only right and proper to furnish you with a few details, by way of an explanation.

Before we get into this, I would be remiss were I not to inform you that this is a long one and due to the subject matter, I make no apologies for that. I understand if you are unable to read to the end but alas, there are no 'short-cuts' on this one.

The 'why' that we see so often in posts and articles, is different for all of us. I like the 'pleasure and pain' analogy that is used by some, when talking about our motives and drive.

Are we moving towards pleasure or away form pain ? It's a simple enough way of defining why we do what we do. "I never want to go through this again" or "I never want to be in this position ever again" would be two examples of 'moving away from pain'.

The antithesis could be pretty much anything beginning with "I want" such as "I want to be able to help those less fortunate than myself" or even "I want to have at least two holidays abroad every year"

I'm sure you get the idea and like I said, we all have our reasons. The 'why' is our motivation, our driving force, the one thing (you can have more than one) that we draw on when the 'going gets tough'. We think of it and it spurs us on and gets us through the most torrid of times.

I cannot give you my own definitive 'why' that got me started here, as I have previously said, I no longer wanted to do what I was doing (moving away from) on a full time basis. Finding myself setting up a website and looking at affiliate marketing as an alternative career was a surprise to me, to say the least.

So there was a 'why' but it wasn't very substantial, it was more of a default. I have, however, 'grown' into it and I realised, very quickly, that this is where I belonged, in one guise or another.

Just under three months ago I had a moment of clarity to do with my personal goals. Here and now is not the place to lay them all out but I will share the one that gave me acuity.

You see, over the preceding months I have been adding to 'why' chest. Small things would happen and I would identify them as more reasons to continue down this path. It could be something as simple as having to listen to a neighbours 'slanging' match, which would translate into "If we moved house, I wouldn't have to listen to that ever again."

Once you start thinking like that, you'd be surprised at how quickly that list grows. Maybe it was during one of these occurrences that I had my 'awakening', who knows, what I can tell you is in that instant, everything became much clearer.

I decided that I was going to set a monetary target and define it with a time frame. Seven figures in three years. Before tax or after tax, it doesn't matter, somewhere that number will be present.

Some may think that it's an unrealistic amount and that's fine, each to their own. I cannot do anything about what other people think and won't be spending any time trying to justify myself to anyone, just saying.

I find that I am moving away from the core reason I wanted to write this, that's what happens when you start this type of post, it's easy to digress, which is something I have no problem doing anyway.

Once I had my 'awakening' my brain kicked in to overdrive and all manner of thoughts and ideas start to manifest. One was to do with the 'podcast', which is never far from my mind. Now I have a name for it.

'Project 137' was born. One man, three years, seven figures. Whilst watching a training video I remember the host saying that people enjoy following a journey, especially one where someone shares the failures as well as the successes. Well, I can certainly do that.

That's a 'side dish' but still something I would like to do, it also allows for re-purposing, either in 'blog' format or possibly video (slides). Anyway, that's just something else I'm working on at the moment.

So, this whole 'thing' gave me a renewed purpose, don't get me wrong, I'm pretty motivated anyway but this just added more fuel to the fire and that's important, we must never let the flames die down, they should always be blazing with intensity.

At this point in the journey, I'm already seeing the bigger picture and all the 'pieces' are starting to fall into place. I mean, it's daunting, the task ahead but if we want that success badly enough, it needs to be. There's a saying "Life is never easy for those who dream" and that works for me.

Let's get to it. The next section is a first for me, it's not my 'thang' to write about the bad stuff. I know some do and that's fine, it just doesn't sit right with me. I wonder if sometimes people 'open up' for the wrong reasons, let's leave it there.

My wife is diabetic, full-blown 'Type One' and has been since she was sixteen. She's never let it rule her life and she lives it on her terms, while still adhering to the regime that is required to stay healthy and alive.

That said, she is more than happy to give 'convention' the 'bird', had she listened to the establishment we would have only had two children, not the four that we do and all through the 'sunroof', as they say.

Every year she has to have an eye exam that's a little more indepth than your standard 'read the letters on the second row' ones. They check for something known as 'diabetic retinopathy'

Diabetic retinopathy is a disease/condition that diabetics can suffer from, it's not mandatory though, you don't have to get it just because your diabetic.

Two years a go the optician saw something that the wanted a second opinion on, so an appointment was made to see a specialist. The outcome was good and bad.

The optician's 'feeling' was unfounded (that was the good news) but they did find signs of 'leaky blood vessels' which is the first stage of 'retinopathy', that was the bad news.

Over the course of the last eighteen months she has had nine 'laser eye surgeries', the last one was a couple of weeks ago. The preceding consultation to the latest surgery revealed that her 'good' eye is now showing signs of deterioration as well.

This was a 'blow' to say the least. The upside, if there is one, is that they elected to work on both eyes during that session, in the hope of getting in early on the remaining good eye.

After the most recent examination, the discussion entered an area that had previously never been mentioned, the very real possibility of total sight loss.

As you can imagine, this was devastating news. Even though, in the back of your mind, you know this might be a possibility, you try not to think about it.

The next course of action will be surgery but we need to wait a few more weeks to see how this latest round of laser treatment has turned out.

On the way back to the car after the last appointment, we talked about everything, including what had been said by the specialist (on this occasion I hadn't been allowed into the department itself due to Covid-19 restrictions.) It was not an easy conversation to have, as you can imagine.

During this time there was a defining moment. We're both positive people but we're not daft enough to ignore the facts. This was real and happening.

"WelL, we'd better start doing all those things we've wanted to do, while I can still see"

If there was ever a sentence to galvanise and focus my efforts, that was it. Even though I was already motivated, this took everything to a whole other level. Whereas before I had clarity of vision, now that had been coupled with an intent so strong as to be palpable.

Since the beginning of my online endeavour, one thing I have always been insouciant about is 'time'. I've always known that to really effect change, you have to be prepared for the long haul.

That doesn't mean that's the only way, it's just been the preferred way, certainly in respect to what I am trying to accomplish long term.

Having thought long and hard about my current ambitions, I realise that the 'goal', as in what I am trying to achieve over the next ten years remains the same, it's the path that has changed.

Time is no longer my ally and the consequence of that is, I have to change my short term plan. I may be able to satisfy the conditions needed to fulfill the preexisting design, I might not. I won't dismiss them but they will no longer be a priority.

So, there we have it. The 'offshoot' of this means that my presence here will become less over the coming weeks. I will no longer be posting every day but I will be setting aside time to read and comment.

I did try to find a meaningful quote that summed up the situation in a few words but came up wanting. The closest I found was this, entitled 'Truth of Life'
"Life has a funny way of teaching us: It will create deep sadness so we know how to truly understand happiness. It'll create chaos in our lives so that we may appreciate the peaceful times, and it will take those we love away from us so that we truly understand what their presence meant to us."- Irynochka.

Life's journey takes us where it takes us. We have to be prepared for the unexpected, by being willing to adapt and change, that way we are able to at least have a better chance of controlling the direction and finding where we're meant to be.

Thank you for taking the time to read through, I'm very grateful. Enjoy your weekend.

Twack Romero