Who and What is HighSpeedDaddy?

“HighSpeedDaddy began as a dedicated outlet to help other people in similar situations.  I take my experience from being a husband, father, corporate employee, and my military experience to tell my story and share my 2 cents.”  At least, that’s the definition that I put on my website in the About Mesection.  But who really is HighSpeedDaddy?  Or for that matter, what really is HighSpeedDaddy?  I’ll give you some insights and opinions to my goals and aspirations with this.  

So who is HighSpeedDaddy?

I’m a mid-thirties, husband, father of 2 toddlers (older boy, younger girl), that’s educated as a mechanical engineer and is still serving as an Infantryman in the US Army.  Yes, I feel that I’ve been around the block a bit and want to share my experiences, good and bad so that others can learn and feel more comfortable in marriage, parenting, work and life in general.  I wouldn’t go as far as saying I’m a life coach or something like that.  But I’ve been known as a go-to person for advice by more than a few.  Some will take the advice and some won’t.  The choice is on them, and I’m ok with that.  I say and do things that some don’t agree with and that’s ok, I can appreciate that.  Mostly because I know that I don’t agree with things that others say and do as well.  Empathy and compassion are starting to drive me more and more as I get older.  It’s also a great way to never be let down, because you learn to drop expectations of others knowing that they have their own things going on in life that drive them to do certain things…or not do certain things.  

"Success?"

I’m also realizing that money isn’t everything.  For a number of years I thought it was really important to climb the corporate ladder, keep attaining jobs of increasing responsibility, and keep getting promoted to achieve “success”.  Little did I realize, with every promotion I took, I got increasingly stressed and further away from what I would consider happiness.  This is a common life problem; I just didn’t see it happening to me.  Most would consider what I have accomplished, “success”.  However, I have a rarely satisfied mentality and constantly strive for more.  It’s a talent and a curse all at the same time.  

Time vs. Money

Now that I’m older and more mature, I’ve come to realize that TIME is more important that money.  You can lose money, you can gain money.  But you can’t get back TIME.  Time with your family, your friends, your hobbies, etc…We’ve only got 1 life here in this world (that we know of), and I’ll be damned if I’m going to let it pass me by and miss out on moments because I’m too busy focusing the majority of my energy and time on dumb shit.  Which means, anything bringing negativity into my life, I’m doing away with – negative people, negative thoughts, and so on.  

Goodbye Golden Handcuffs

I’m an unconventional person.  That’s why, after 11 years with the same company (which, in all fairness, had treated me pretty well the majority of that time), I decided to put my fears aside and take that leap off the cliff to see if I could fly.  I resigned not too long ago and I absolutely look forward to the opportunities that are in front of me.  This wasn’t an easy decision, nor was it a spur of the moment decision.  It was thought through in much detail over many, many months.  Actually, you could even say it was subconsciously premeditated over many years and the world, or higher powers, led me down this path to where I needed to make a decision for my health, my family, and my overall life goals.  

Choices

My wife and I have been diligent with our planning and savings for a number of years so that when an opportunity like this presented itself, I would be able to control “fear”, and take the necessary action to leave my comfort zone and move forward to a new phase in life.  I don’t recommend this same action for all people.  But I do want people to know that they have choices.  I mentioned in a previous post about letting your kids know that they have choices in life.  But don’t get so consumed in life that you forget that YOU have choices also.  You don’t have to put up with negativity.  You don’t have to deal with long hours.  You don’t have to deal with the bullshit.  You CHOOSE to – it’s a tradeoff for a paycheck.  Well guess what, you can make a paycheck doing other things.  Yes, you may not get paid as much, who knows, maybe you’ll get paid more.  But at least if you’re doing something you’re passionate about, you’ll be happy and you’ll actually look forward to going to work every day instead of complaining and just waiting around for the weekend.  And if you’re totally content with going to a job to collect a paycheck, that’s cool too – you do you.  This was a little rant for those that complain all the time and do nothing about it.  The fact of the matter is, you have a choice.   I’ll end this with a copy of my farewell email to my friends/colleagues upon my departure:  

Friends,

As many of you know, and I apologize to those of you if this may come as a surprise, today is my last day at XXXXX.  I’m moving on to other opportunities that will allow me the flexibility to design a lifestyle to spend more time with my kids (Dominic – 3 and Sadie – 1).

I thank all of you for the opportunity to work in this great organization for over 11 years.  I’ve worked multiple positions in multiple departments and learned a lot about business, relationships, and myself during this time all of which I will take with me throughout my career and life.  Most of all, I greatly appreciate the friendships that we have formed and hope to stay in touch with all of you on some level.  (If I’ve missed anyone on this list, please pass this email along to them.)

Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn and/or through the information below.

“Greatness comes from adversity, and looking the challenge in the eye and having the intestinal fortitude to step up and go after it.”  -Gary Vaynerchuk

-HighSpeedDaddy If you liked this article – feel free to share it with others.

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