Surround yourself with good people and create, create, create.

To me, two of the most important things that contribute to a successful life are: a) the relationships you make b) the things you create Everything else is of little relevance. For the first part, I'd like to say I am doing pretty well. I am extremely grateful for the people I can call my friends. Maybe they are not always around physically, but if I need to pick up the phone and talk they will most likely be there. And if they aren't available, I understand the world does not revolve around Joanna, and they are most likely busy with other important things. But jokes aside, for someone who is far from a perfect person, I somehow managed to surround myself with truly great and genuine people. People who will support me even when they disagree with my actions/decisions. People who I can just be myself around. People who are overall good human beings. Relationships are super important. No one gets anywhere in life completely on their own, there is always some sort of help involved from someone whether in a big or small way. And of course relationships keep life fun and interesting. You have to keep having fun no matter what you do in life. Having fun is important, and don't let anyone tell you it's not. If you don't have fun, you get bored, and if you get bored you are unmotivated.

As for creating something for myself and others. This is something I am working on. My dad literally came from nothing and through hard work and persistence (mainly persistence) created his own successful restaurant business. When he leaves this earth he will leave behind something that he could call his own. I would like to do the same. You can say I created some things, but it was always on someone else's behalf. I created the restaurant website and facebook page. I created more business for the restaurant through internet marketing. I created more business through managing the restaurant. But I'm always creating for him, not myself. And I need to start creating things for myself. My dad literally had nothing, and created something. I have so much more than he will ever have --resources, tools, money, education, and moral support. Yet I'm still left scrambling for ideas. But at least I have this blog. I think it's a good start. If I have 1 reader or 10,000, I don't care, I will still continue to write. This is something I created that I can call my own, and if even one person reads and gets inspired that's one happier person in this world.