How Chris Puchowicz, Owner of TLD.org Made Me a Better Person

I don’t even know him. I have no idea what he looks like or what he does for a living.  But I should probably thank him.  Thank him because he helped me get over something that has troubled me for decades.  For most of my life I worked hard at whatever goal I set out to accomplish but along the way I often looked to see how others were doing as well.  It’s almost as if I felt that my goal was not only to reach a goal but to beat others.  It was important to “be ahead” of someone else. Nobody wants to hit a hole in one by themselves.  Once I accomplished something I always disliked someone else doing it.  It made me feel like what I accomplished seem less valuable. Less valuable because I’d realize that what I had done wasn’t as big of a deal because others were doing it.  It wasn’t jealousy as much as it an over bearing competitiveness.  Much of it is human nature as we all want to feel special, but special usually doesn’t come in groups. The other part is this internal drive that uses others’ accomplishments as drivers. It’s ironic because while I hated people doing the same things I was doing, I never minded being public.  I have always been an “open book”.  The only reason I hide anything is for safety reasons.   My actions and lifestyle are “normal” and therefore I have nothing to hide.  I had no problem putting my life on the Internet because I’ve always felt there were thousands of people that were just like me.  Same problems, same hobbies, same life.  And yet when I found others doing the same thing I would try and do one better.  You finished an Ironman in 14 hours?  I am going to try and do it in 13.  This competitiveness has led me to many great things but it’s also led me to some negativity.  And this is where Chris Puchowicz comes in.

Chris Puchowicz is the owner of TLD.org.  It’s an affiliate site about domains that specializes in listing domains for sale like many of us do.  He started writing the site after the Namejet affiliate program came out because it is a solid affiliate program.  I made my feelings well known early that I hated the site.  I hated the site because IMO at the time it offered no other value to anyone beside affiliate driven info. It was taking money away from me.  He was writing for money only and not giving back to the community in exchange for them paying him. I said the same thing about David Eccles at tntnames.   David’s response was an immediate post about himself that in my opinion, changed his blog.  People told him how much they appreciated his sharing and from that point on he did.  I have respected him ever since. That week I was blasted by many for being a hypocrite and many pointed out that anyone could do a list.    Chris on the other hand kept quiet and just kept doing his thing.   And that’s when I had my epiphany.  Don’t worry about what anyone else is doing unless it is hurting you. Worry about your damn self.

You might wonder how a 43 year old man hasn’t learned that lesson yet.  I don’t know either, but I hadn’t.  After that day I basically stopped reading most of the domain blogs only reading things that interested me.  Before that I read them all. Now I probably spend less that 10 minutes a day reading.  I merely gather information that helps me to price domains or make business decisions.  I read to learn and grow, I find my entertainment elsewhere.  Reddit to be honest, which is another problem.  I started using that extra time to work on my sites,  crunch numbers or information on domain, and managed my domains.  Simple things like making sure all my recently purchased domains point to MY parking provider.  I found a lot that weren’t. )Check yours, I can almost guarantee you have a few that are still on the original owner)   Long story short, the new focus and these little switch of time led to a December that was beyond my wildest dreams.  Every single aspect was a record.  I sold more dollar volume in domains than any month,  more parking revenue, the highest adsense since 2007.  All because I started doing the little things and staying positive.  As much as I like reading Mike Mann’s Facebook post, I would much rather have the businesses and success of Mike than read about it.   So thank you Chris Puchowicz.  You have no idea you were the catalyst.  Keep doing what you do. You, the reminder, my blog,  the therapy, and the Internet,  the opportunity.  A combination which has led me to what I think is going to be the best year ever.  And yes I am going to break 13 hour in the Ironman.  I can’t let that guy beat me. 🙂