Today I had two things happen to me that gave me two different feelings.

The first was attending a meeting as the President of the Indigenous Construction Group Australia (ICGA) to discuss some future opportunities. The meeting went well and I came out of it feeling very positive.

The second event was after attending the meeting I returned to my car to find it had been towed. Someone had removed the bollards to prevent people parking there to undertake some construction. Though I found it strange the manager had parked his car in the same area before I arrived. But I had parked where I wasn’t meant to even though I didn’t know and there was nothing to tell me otherwise. Naturally I wasn’t very happy at having to pay $350 to have my car taken out of the impound when I wasn’t at any fault!

So on the bus ride to the impound I thought about these two events. I thought about how I should be feeling. My feelings were mixed. On one hand I had a great meeting which had me feeling good. But on the other hand I had my car towed because someone had not properly secured the area to prevent me parking there or put up signs telling me not to park there, which cost me $350.

So I thought back to last night. Last night I attended a meeting with some friends of mine. We all share a common interest of investment and wealth creation. We started meeting about 5 years ago but we slowly became less involved as the global financial crisis took a greater hold and was beginning to bite into our pockets. As our first meeting, we agreed for the next two weeks we would not start looking at investment strategies. Instead we would first get our mindset right by listening to audio books on the subject.

I personally listen to people like Anthony Robbins “Awakening The Giant Within” and other business books that include creating a positive mindset. When I first listened to Robbins I thought it was just a ‘touchy feely’ approach to setting goals. I was raised that goals are achieved by hard work, not thinking about your emotions. But the more I replayed and listened to the audio book the more I took on what he was getting at.

One of the story’s Robbins tells is of Honda, the maker of Honda cars and motorcycles. Honda had a number of setbacks but he persevered until he achieved his goal. He could have given up due to any one these major setbacks. But he didn’t, he continued forward focusing on his goal. As a result he created the Honda motorcycle and car manufacturing companies we know today. Honda overcame these negative events to become a household name.

So today I had a positive and negative influence on how I would feel about the day. You know, having my car towed cost me $350. but it’s just money and I can make it back if I set my mind to it. So I am not going to let that affect how I feel. But the meeting for ICGA today will have a positive affect for not just myself, but also other people. And for that reason I can feel good about my day today!

~ Damien Foley