I have no idea what to make of my birthday anymore. 

I hate that National Talk Like a Pirate Day is something I have to endure every September 19th. It's a terrible day on the internet. 

I don't list my birthday on Facebook. The empty Happy Birthday messages are shallow and unneccessary. If you actually know me and actually remember the date then send me a message. 

My birthday is usually a beautiful fall day in the Northeast. Today is no exception. 

A birthday serves, if nothing else, as a measuring post in your life. 

I think in some ways a younger version of myself would have expected I'd accomplished more by now. A younger me liked to apply unreasonable pressure and set aribtrary expectations. 

I still have a great amount of ambition but it is significantly less blind. I'm more careful with my time and more aware of the true cost of my career decisions. I no longer hold myself to arbitrary expectations. 

Someone once asked during a conversation in 2007 what I would do if my startup sold for a lot of money. Most founders have an answer at the ready. They were planning to be rich down to the car model and house square footage. I wasn't and my mind was blank. 

"I'd like to vacation in Hawaii," was my response. 

No sooner did the words come out of my mouth did I realize how ridiculous this sounded. I was working myself raw for this startup and all I could think of doing with the payoff was take a vacation. What was wrong with me? 

Normal people live normal happy lives and even take vacations to Hawaii without having to endure the insanity of a startup. 

I can take that trip to Hawaii now. Amy and I went to St. Maarten's in August for a week. It was my first real break in 6 years. 

If my measure of success 5 years ago was taking a vacation when I wanted to then I have lived up to at least one arbitrary expectation.