I just caught this post by blogger and serial startup artist John Saddington. It’s good, go click it.
In it, John references a tweet from Bill Gates. Bill recently tweeted out a series of things for the class of 2017, but one, in particular, caught John’s eye (#7 below):
7/ Meanwhile, surround yourself with people who challenge you, teach you, and push you to be your best self. As @MelindaGates does for me.
— Bill Gates (@BillGates) May 15, 2017
This also reminded me of a great tweet from @arthurvonnagel:
https://twitter.com/arthurvonnagel/status/866065865669656577
All of this content is a great reminder to me. Not only surround yourself with great people, keep them and thank them profusely.
Like Arthur, John, and Bill – I have a fantastic wife, who makes me way better than I am and have been without her.
Here’s what I replied to Arthur:
It's pretty crazy when you wake up and realize the person next to you has always believed in you more than you do.
— Adam T. Croft (@adamtcroft) May 21, 2017
When I first got to Seattle (where I now live), I became so broke that a tax return paid my rent at one point. Then I got to the point where I made a living, but it was “a living” for a single, unmarried guy with no major future planned, no way to support anyone if he chose to.
That’s who my wife chose to date and marry.
You’re free to see my income as enough if you don’t have the aspirations for a marriage or family – but by dating her, I was intending to have a future with her in it. I wasn’t providing much hope for a supportive future at the time.
Thankfully, to her infinite credit, she believed in me much more than I believe in myself. It worked out, we’re in a pretty fantastic spot, and she constantly pushes me to be a better human tomorrow than I am today.
I am incredibly thankful.
Copyright 2016-2021, NIR LLC, all rights reserved.