There was a time when I set out to be a VERY wealthy businessman. I owned and was running two fast growing successful companies. It became obvious that investments in three related fields could be successful and would help drive the success of my existing efforts. So, over a one-year period, I invested in three new startups. I found great staff people and field employees, but to pull it off, I didn’t hire any more strategic managers. All five firms began to take off. Working 70-hour weeks became the norm. I’d been single for years, so no problem there.
Then one day, a diagnosed fatty tumor lump turned out to be a very rare vascular sarcoma cancer. The doctors had no idea how to treat it, but I had one who was willing to try. His therapy included surgery which crippled my mobility and radiation therapy which sapped me of strength. I was gone from my office for weeks, and then my energy levels only allowed 20-hour work weeks. Within months, my mini empire was collapsing. I’d been warned that I was biting off too much, but desire based on past experience was a hard thing to rein in; too many tradeoffs. Over the next year, two of the startups failed. I was able to save the third by selling it to my employees for about half of what I had invested. With only half the energy to run one company I sold one of my established businesses to my employees, netting about what I’d invested years before. I continued to run the last company, but my life had changed. I’d lost about 80% of my net worth, but my kids were still doing well in college and my dog still loved me. All of a sudden, my priorities had nothing to do with wealth. That’s when I began setting up my life to pursue a lifelong passion for writing. It was a great call.
Sometimes we make dumb decisions driven by desire. I’m reminded of this period in my life as I watch what is going on this month in Washington DC. I’d watched months before as one man was so driven to become the Speaker of the House that he piled concession on concession and bad call after bad call. He won the Speaker’s chair even as many told him he was building a house of cards. Commitments he’d made became impossible to keep as situations beyond his control evolved. I don’t know how the race to elect a new speaker will turn out, but for Kevin McCarthy, I hope it leads him to a greater personal dream.