My name is Johnny, and I’m a Project-A-Holic.
There should be a Projects Anonymous. We’re the people, like my dad, who bought several train sets “for me” when I was five, and criss-crossed the basement with hooting engines and tracks. We’re the people, like my mom, who could turn writing holiday letters into a crusade, a factory, a spectacle, like a designer jacket you find out came from a sweatshop. Perfectionism is a virtue. Our motto was, “You never know, the Queen might visit. Keep working!”
As an adult, I threw money and time into festivals, outreach, and community service.
Making a difference was great. Adventures were even greater. My motto was, “How can I make this awesomer?”.
I learned you can change people’s lives for the better. But “No good deed goes unpunished.” I learned that fun projects can be a self-serving way to avoid the real world.
Whoops. Avoiding the real world, I was driving ahead in life quickly but didn’t know where I was going. I got a degree I never used. I got married and divorced. Twice. I had so many problems I decided to make a list.
That was the day my life changed. Fixing my life was going to be my new Project.
How can I make this awesomer? What if the Queen were to visit?
Operation My Life, My Project
The result: losing 125 pounds, gaining confidence, shedding baggage, and developing a life philosophy around Project People Power. It really is possible to build non-drama relationships in every area of your life: friends, family, business, community. A lot of happiness results.
These days, I’m still a Project-A-Holic, but have more direction. I love day trips, and write a blog on Weird Events in Boston and beyond, like haunted houses and hay rides. It turns out Project People make pretty good managers. So now I start companies for a living.
One day in June 2008, I reached a turning point with my business. We had just finished some software and it was time to start sales calls. What a chore. It’s much more fun to invent the future. Or to do home improvement.
Suddenly, we needed a garden.
