I think sometimes in the ole US of A we take for granted the access we have to decent water. Maybe rightfully so, we do a lot to keep it that way. If you’ve ever traveled you learned like I did to be very careful of drinking water. When in doubt drink beer or tequila. For those of you who don’t get too far, I’ll explain.

I lived in Olongapo City, Philippines for a brief moment along the Olongapo sewage ditch or “shit river” as we Yanks called it. Interestingly enough it did not stink like I thought it should but on certain days there was no mistaking it. The indigenous were accustom to every aspect of it, the size, the color, the smell, what was in it. So familiar in fact that they would allow their children to swim and play in it. Not a single concern for health and welfare or disease. I suspect by now due to my description you are imagining some little canal made specifically for the sewage to go to some place specially made to collect it. Sadly, that is not the scene. The ditch I am referring is the Olongapo River, a natural water way the size of the Upper Yough, or the Clinch or the Salt rivers. Not a big river but not even close to a small one. You see, up river everyone builds a chute from his shack on the hill down to the river, he goes down to the river and draws a bucket of water, hikes back to his shack, at the head end of the chute and drops trou, leaves his spent lunch. Promptly grabbing the bucket and sending the excrement sloshing down the chute to the Olongapo as if to say, “Hanggang sa muli po.”

A similar experience is had just about anywhere in Mexico. One can not find a clean source of water that is not in a bottle or the ocean and just about every city dumps their sewage into the ocean. You can look for the pipe, they’re usually fairly obvious. You don’t swim unless you can verify that there is no one living up stream, usually that high up it is too cold to dip even on hotter days. We have photos of us sitting on rocks with a beautiful waterfall behind us that is polluted as all get out. Not like the Olongapo smelling of sewage but visible enough.

I think the main take away here is that we have great water resources all over this country because we work hard to ensure its integrity. One can drink from almost any water source in the country, of a certainty swim without the slightest concern. Of course there are exceptions, I’m sure to hear about them, but now a days someone will clean it up shortly and hammer those responsible. We do this for our water for a reason, we want a good life. Bad water makes for bad living. Mexico for all intents and purposes could be a first world country. Why is it not?

The lack of the most basic education, that preserving water is fundamental to quality of life. So I pose a question to you. As and example, analogy or metaphor is there a place in your life wherein you deposit some of your waste that later in time meets you down the river where some necessity is polluted and you’ve just gotten used to it and accept it as it is.

I visited with a friend this weekend who hails from the LA area. He and his wife are constantly complaining about “the system”. Politics, schools, health, government and the travesty of big business interloping on their existence. How difficult things have become, how expensive things have become or how ridiculous something seems. All the while not recognizing that his participation in all of it is what’s doing him in. He works at the corporate level and make good money, she does too. His children are going in to government or corporate lives. They’re always complaining about money. They get lots of it but what are they doing with it that gets them in the situation they always seem to be in. Where do they defecate in their life, so to speak, and later encounter it down river when they scoup it up to make soup or take a bath?

Of a certainty my analogy is not literal, please don’t tell me how I am so off. The point isn’t can you dissect my words and come up with a torn down version of rubble. The question is can you ‘see’ any part of my picture that will give you understanding of how you pollute your life to your own downfall? Like my friend from the city of angels, he’s no angel and it plays out in his life. His choice to be ignorant about his choices is the life that he leads. You are the sum total of your decisions. If he spent just a little more time scrutinizing his choices he would see some change and realize the benefit of such activity. Life would become more bearable and more rewarding.

I encourage you today to scrutinize your choices diligently. Every single one. Ask yourself will this choice give me the best possible outcome and be lasting. If the choice is temporal, ask yourself is there an option to make this choice more lasting. “Do I buy $20 shoes five times or $100 shoes once?” There is no choice too small to deserve your utmost consideration. If there seems to be, then you probably need to dispense with the situation. You need to have a life full of significance. Dispense with the trivial and see how your life fills with great opportunity. The greater the opportunity the greater the choices you will be given and the greater your life will become.

To quote someone famous who’s made some terrible choices, “Come on man”, go and scrutinize all of your choices from this point on, take great leaps of faith in those choices but mostly choose to be involved with the greater people around you so that they can encourage you to be great.

Go, choose, right now!

Greg

I saw a post yesterday where a number the people’s representatives were making a statement by wearing black to an interview in order to show their disapproval that the body did not pass legislation affirming that men could use a women’s restroom. Interestingly, in the group of approximately 25 people, I counted at least 14 women and 7 boys ranging in ages. Two women were chosen for the address. Herein lies a stumbling block in our country today.

As sound, rational people in our society today who votes for someone who makes such bold statements about social issues, makes such a declaratory action to the public about their personal agenda and then expects that their outrage should move me to support their ill place demonstration. Is this group really a representation of our society, the people that elected them or the direction that most of us think we should go. To me it is a scary thought that 14 “adult” women think that it is a good idea for the neighborhood boys to use their daughter’s toilet. I think there is a real disconnect here.

This is real hate. When a society looses it’s regard for little girls, it’s all but done. When adult women are encouraging pedophilia against their friend’s daughter in public places all is lost. Forget about the 7 boy in that room, they have been useless all of their lives, they will never stand up for not one victim anywhere. They will support these women most likely because they are the predators who want this most! As a society, little girls are our most prized possession.They represent the hope of a brighter and more prosperous future. Real men expect their sons to grow into men and be their comrades in arms meant to die on the battlefield of good and evil. Their little girls they expect to remain at home learning to love an nurture their grandchildren for that rosy future described. This incredibly even balance is not only crucial to our existence it is fundamental. Today we see so called women of war, out there fighting for our rights, fighting for our country…… Fighting for what is our undoing. If women aren’t teaching our little girls to be the hope of our future then who is, she can’t learn it from a warrior, she can’t learn if from a pervert and she sure as hell won’t learn if from a predator!

These women are not of a certainty looking out for anyone’s best interest but their own. They’ve founded a gang and rage on society forcing their way where they can seeking their own 5 minutes of fame, but what damage they do whilst not where they should be is the true crime. They will be found out and routed. They will only last for a moment in the spot light. The vacuum they leave at home is truly a tragedy.

Thomas Jefferson had an interaction with a fellow about our press, it went like this. “Baron Humboldt asked Jefferson, ‘Why are these libels allowed? Why is not this libelous journal suppressed, or its editor at least, fined and imprisoned?’ The question gave Jefferson a perfect opening. ‘Put that paper in your pocket, Baron, and should you hear the reality of our liberty, the freedom of our press, questioned, show this paper, and tell where you found it.” Jefferson’s point was he will be taken care of by the reasonableness of our free society, the thoughtful manner of real men. This journalist would gain no traction in his minds eye knowing his fellow countrymen. This is still true today, it still works the same way.

This phase of society is just that a season, one that has been coming since before summer started. Autumn and winter always come, there’s no stopping it. I think the real question is what you make of the summer. As good men we should be working hard to put up great stores and make ready for the coming winter and war. Throughout the ages good times have made soft men and soft men make hard times and hard times make good men and so the cycle repeats. It seems that its something like a 75 year turnaround. 1777 the first world war (America, England, Spain, France, Italy) roughly seventy-five years later the American civil war, roughly seventy-five years later the next world war (same conflagrants but add Germany). I don’t count what we call WWII as it is leftover business from the Big War that America did not handle properly, just like just about every altercation we’ve been in since the beginning. I’m pondering Desert Storm or Iraqi Freedom to be included in our 75 year cycle but things are still brewing. We shall see, but I digress.

Men if you can see the slightest bit of my diatribe here today, be a man worthy of the calling and stand for something good in your world now that will live for eternity. Love your daughter teach her to be a hope for our future, teach your son to be a man who will die to protect that eventuality. More than ever we need you going into this coming autumn so that when winter hits we will be prepared. Let the words of Aron Tippin ring in your ear, “you’ve got to stand for something or you will fall for anything.”

Ladies, and I do mean ladies. Good men need ladies, women who want to be women, women who want their daughters to be ladies looking for good men. I differentiate because any girl can become a women but only certain girls will become a lady that a certain man will love. Help us all by deciding to be that lady who saves our future.

Aside form doing your part at home until the winter war arrives is to vote. I give you a novel idea: Vote, Vote, Vote and pick a NEW person every time you vote, anyone except the one there now. The only thing that is going to end the over reaching government besides a war is the lack of continuity in representation so that no one can be bought or sold long enough to make a difference. Our country will survive without them going, we don’t really need them. Try this experiment with me and see what comes of it. We can always put them right back in at a later point, they’re not going anywhere but home.

Men go and walk into every room like God himself sent you, ladies encourage your man to be that person!

Have a great day,

Greg

Over the course of my life I have discovered that math is the most useful of all human manifestations. Others might stipulate that language would be the victor in that argument, I concede, the inability to communicate would definitely bring it all down around our feet. Consider this for a moment, I consider myself well traveled comparatively. I’ve driven to all but ten states, I’ve driven from Wyoming to the middle of Nicaragua and I’ve flown to 10 countries. The one thing that was universal and functional was math, no matter the language, a pencil and piece of paper or a cell phone where you could transcribe a series of numbers could buy you breakfast. Breakfast is good therefore math is the winner.

Simple division works like this. Three hundred million people divided by two is a war, three hundred million people divided by three is a treaty and three hundred million people divided by 50 is a republic. In the first scenario two factions are always the makings of war, nary in history have two factions made compromise and lived peacefully. The kings would always kill their opponents to ensure his continued success. Opposition was to be dispensed with. Along comes the Roman republic, a weak king was overthrown by the people and the republic was born, but all was not well. Just fifteen years into the experiment the masses threatened the aristocrats and gained access to the government. Although a democracy Rome was largely ruled by committee. The two factions managed to hold on to this arrangement for another four hundred plus years. When eventually wealth and greed were so abundant that there were those who sought to have it all and the king returned.

We’re only 248 years in since our revolution, the wealth and greed are abundant and the ruling class is looking to have it all.Our founding fathers also struggled with factions. General Washington struggled with the ineffectiveness of rule by committee. The continental congress could not hardly agree on much of anything and it most always left him in the lurch for supplies, direction or ability. Most of our revolution was calamity and it’s appropriate timing. In any case when Mister Washington became Mister President he was torn between the Federalist Camp and the Republican Camp. He knew full well the necessity of financing a country as his war effort was crippled by the lack of organized financing, a sort of donation system from those who wanted to see it through. Relying upon good will only went so far. He also knew that foreign policy was a huge issue as the enemies of the people were still antagonizing. But, he also had his fill of the ruling class that controlled his life until 1776, men who had ultimate power, men who decided the fates or successes of who they selected. Hard work taxed or stolen by a greedy king and rights assigned by class.

He knew he needed a solution to all of this and would list in the direction of the Federalists, those focused on a central government. I believe, mainly because of his military experience and the lives and suffering of great men mostly by the hand of bureaucrats in committee at the Continental Congress. He knew a nation was only as secure as it’s military and a military need financing. On the other hand he had great friends the likes of Edmund Randolph and Thomas Jefferson both staunch people’s rights advocates. Of all of the people who help to make the Republic, all would quit on him and leave him high and dry. Perhaps as the leader of the free world he just didn’t suit either side well enough to keep ‘their’ interests. All but one left of his own accord seemingly because they couldn’t get it to go their way and lost the vigor to fight for it. So to it seems for Mister Washington, at sixty-six years he was more than ready to retire and leave it to someone else.

And so, here we are today toiling with the left overs of these men who started it all so many years ago. What do we have? A government class that seeks to rule all the way down to the most local levels. Mini kings and queens that have no regard for you freedoms and mostly trying to get you to live the life they want for you. Tyrants at national levels enriching themselves in cahoots with each other, major corporations and now other governments all at the cost of you and me. Exactly the way it was in 1775 when things came to a head. The one thing that separated Misters Washington and Hamilton as Federalists from today’s Federalists is that they were staunch advocates of “limited” federal government because they knew the hearts of men who seek these offices do it for they’re own purposes whilst the rest of us are off working and doing good. Like thieves in the daylight they are bold.

Oo-De-Lally good and golly what a day! Today is the first day of forever and a good day for you to decide to make your future different. Do some simple division in your life and divide yourself from the federalists who seek to rule over you and divide yourself from the republicans who seek to isolate you. Vote for those who make you free, not those who give you things. Vote for those that support you and your neighbor not those who seek power. Vote for those that empower individuals with opportunity not those who empower with favoritism, so called rights or financial gain.

You can do it I know you can, Bud light has restored my faith in all of you! Be NOT divided, be American.

Go and be great,

Greg

“Pet?”, you say. “Mine?” Well, yes. Doesn’t everyone want a big pile of money? Doesn’t everyone want to win the lottery and spend, spend, spend? To the extent this is true I am proposing you have a pet, a dear one you feed and cuddle in day dreamy slumber imagining the future when it will be your reality. In the 30 years I’ve been in business I’ve always wanted to become financially independent. Maybe big piles of money, but more than anything shrug the burden of the monthly grind and have freedom to come and go easily. Not be tied to one place or event, like work. It’s taken most of those 30 years to get there but here I am. Mostly free. Why mostly, because old habits die hard. I’ve been freight training through life for 45 years and one doesn’t just quit. There’s track all over the place that’s taken all this while to assemble, there are engines idling waiting to start work, there’s box cars of stuff needing to be somewhere, there’s people who need you to keep freighting. It’s what I do and to be honest, although I get tired, I DIG it. I really enjoy most all of what I do but most importantly I enjoy where it has taken me and where we plan to go next with all of those people.

Often times I hear people loudly proclaiming, “don’t you want to be rich”, “why not get rich, what else you have to do” and any other manner of utterances about getting money. There is a tremendous amount of noise over the internet about a focus on getting more money. You here them talk about what they do and how you too can do what they do and get money. “Show me the money Jerry!” like in Hollywood. So many look for the fame and fortune only to miss the one thing in life that will truly satisfy. A great journey! And not just any journey but one that dreams are made of, one that others see and share the same vision. My goodness, and the stories we can share with each other too!

Getting money is just that, it’s not easy, it’s not fun in and of itself, it satisfies not in any way. You can’t eat it, it won’t keep you company and it won’t fix any of your relationships. I heard someone say once, “money only makes you more of who you already are.” If you’re generous, you’ll be more generous. If you’re stingy, you’ll be even more stingy. If you’re a spender, you’ll just be a bigger spender; that is until it’s gone. That happens a lot.

The fun thing about getting money is what you can do with it. If that’s the best part why wouldn’t a person focus on that. People do. But then run out of money again. Now what? Do it again. Gets old like most everything else. The most unhappy people I know have boat loads of money. They go and do, they go and buy and they go and see. Constantly. If getting money was going to help you we would be enjoying Nirvana’s newest album with Kurt on lead. Sadly we’re not and sadly money isn’t an answer to anything.

Don’t misunderstand me, you do need to be interested in it, you do need to respect it’s value and you do need to go make efforts to acquire it. You need it and you should get it. Saying, “it’s the root of evil and I don’t need it” is just one way of saying that, “irresponsibility is the life I choose.” You thought you were miserable now try that one on. Listen to an old man, the key is when your needs, time and money all come together at the same moment to allow you to have the freedom to enjoy the people nearest you. Then and only then will you be happy about money, happy about life and happy that you focused on the journey and those going with you and not your little pet.

I’m starting on a new project with a new partner to see where it goes. We are, of course doing it for the money but so many other things. I just met him a bit ago, but we see and say similar things, we look at our future together and wonder will this be forever or just a season. Curiosity is the thrill of tomorrow, what will it bring? Here I go.

You go too, and take someone with you,

Greg

Pearls? We have pearls of wisdom, pearls of joy, pearls of yesterday and of course pearls of the crown. Which one it matters not; all connote a certain essence of value. Something worthy of consideration, thought or even just endearment. We all recognize that certain things have a universal value and all agree that these things are worthy of collecting, savoring, protecting, enjoying and as many other verb “-ings” as there are pearls. I think you’d agree that to ‘to each his own’ is completely valid but some things are ‘to each and everyone’ valuable, an example would be his own life. Now granted, some more than others but this is universal. No?

I think we should a thought to realize that pearls come from actions taken, the lessons learned from hard work on one’s life or the hard won interest of another who has shared their personal lessons of life. In the animal world it is only the human being who can learn vicariously. I don’t even need to see it, I can hear or read about it and receive that pearl and make it my own. Pearls can be so easy to come by that, I really believe in this day and age that they have become of little or no value. I find myself on Instagram, as an example, catching pearls by the second; one after the other. What could I possibly do with them all? Well, I save them of course; for the day that I can use them. When? I Don’t know.

What I have come to understand though is that a person needs to be in a certain place in life to be able to see what it is that is ‘staring him in the face’ or ‘find what he’s been look for’ or ‘receive a piece of the puzzle’ and know what to do with it. I’m not even sure my library of pearls are really pearls if I can’t use them now. But, oh how I love it that people are tossing them about all the day long.

Enter…..’the pigs’. Boars, sows, piglets, hogs, you know swine. If I was to take a literal pearl, a tiny white ball from an oyster, and place it on top of the hogs food he would not hesitate a split second suck it in the front end and wait for it to pass out the back end. Not the slightest thought for it, nor would he go looking for it afterward realizing it may have had some value.

It took me a long time to learn about pearls to pigs. Sure I understood the concept and meaning but long did it take me to learn what a pig was. My goodness, upon the revelation I thought I was stupid. I have been investing heavily in anyone who would hang around and show signs of interest. What I learned is that most everyone will be cordial and gracious at least at face value. I would spend my time because I thought I was reaching someone who cared and it would turn into a worthwhile effort.

After years of this one day here a few years ago I was listening to a fella by the name of Dan Pena. You can go check him out, I do recommend that you do. He is quite vulgar but STRAIGHT forward and pulls no punches. Basically, what he said, was “you’re all soft. You’re not going anywhere because you’re all sissies. All of these guys you see who have made it are tenacious and elbowing people out of the way to get where they did.” There is quite a bit of latitude in my quotation there purposefully not to be as vulgar. He says it a lot better. In any case, I realized I was pissing around with people who were not going to go anywhere no matter what came to them. They could get a whole wheel barrow of pearls and it would not make one iota of difference. I would encourage, train, coach, teach, demonstrate and still they would do nothing. I did all of this believing that they would see the light and join me in going on to a greater life.

Pigs. Everyone of them, at least for that moment with me. I hate to be or sound judgemental about such things but there have been soooooo many that the evidence is overwhelming in my position. Seemingly from Dan’s point of view and quite a few others. We are never not looking for good people but now I am looking for that person who is passing me up on the row I hoe. No more so I stop to look because there is a warm body in proximity. If you’re going somewhere worthwhile I will see you appear again and again later on. With you I will go the distance!

If you’re out there going at it, look for two kinds of people only. The one’s getting behind you and what you’re doing or the one passing you up doing what you doing and go help him. You both will be blessed

Go hard into your future, now!

Greg

It’s an easy question to answer. So I’ll take my time. Have you ever considered what it means to be comfortable? I think the premise has more to do with the Theory of Relativity than anything; as in, it is completely relative to the gravity of your present situation. If you are in a grave situation, literally about to enter the grave of your life, then little else matters. If, generally speaking, you don’t believe it should be your time to enter in, then everything that reaffirms your belief in having a continuing future is of utmost importance. For instance: if you are facing dying of thirst int he desert or chop off you arm. A very great discomfort will matter very little to the person set upon having a future. Sadly there are those who would choose to die out there than be uncomfortable with the choices needed to be made.

Often times I find myself making choices based upon how I feel (read that as a focus on my comfort) about why I don’t really want to do something and not considering the future benefit of such actions. I believe we all should strive to have the best future we can imagine. For some of us the best future is a groundhog day. I do mean a Bill Murry experience! It is far to easy to be passive, lethargic, uninterested, a procrastinator or lazy when you have a standard of living that only makes you uncomfortable when the most trivial of aspects ruin your day. Let’s say something like you go out to leave for work and you have a flat tire.

You say, “that’s not a most trivial aspect”. I would argue? Let us consider that having a tire is quite a wealthy proposition considering the rest of the world, quite possibly even here in America. Depending upon to what it is attached, quite possibly you have less to complain about than being late to work one day of the few days you work in a week. This flat tire is not only easily fixed but will be temporary and probably never plague you again. The median American’s standard of living is far beyond the rest of the world including first world countries as in Europe. The things and opportunities you have available any time of any day is unparalleled anywhere else in the world. It is extremely easy to be industrious in this country but it is far easier to be comfortable.

Most immigrants recognize this when they get here and become industrious because of the discomfort they’ve know not having opportunity to be industrious. They excel, some to the point where they too lose their memories and make decisions to be comfortable.

You’ve heard this saying before no doubt, ” good enough is the enemy of great”. There is some wisdom in this though fallible, greatness is needed and should be applauded, but I don’t really need a great tire that will never go flat when it is such a small and insignificant part of my endeavor to have a flat. It only needs to be good enough, but without someone pursuing great tires we would not have the one we employ today. Someone at some point pursued greatness in tires at the peril of his comfort! Someone at some point pursued good tires at the peril of his comfort lest we would not have them.

Please remember that a good life or a great life requires some level of discomfort and the world needs you to go an be uncomfortable because all of our futures are dependent upon your theory of relativity in our lives. It’s all relative even though you’re probably not my cousin, I need you to be uncomfortable for me and for yourself.

Go right now and be great to someone you know,

Greg

Something I often discuss with an SBO or a mentee is the analogy of what you do relating to a vehicle. A number of entrepreneurs fail at their businesses not because it’s a bad idea or under capitalized but because the business itself is a bicycle. To paint you the picture more clearly, imagine trying to pay your bills riding around on a bicycle delivering door to door. You can have 50% of every house on every street as a customer (an exceptional market share) and you get a fifty cents for each delivery. Let’s say the package you deliver is the size of the largest iphone box. Got it? Let’s break it down into the business details worth considering.

First we want to look at time. We all only have so much time in each day to allocate to work, although work is a gift we should enjoy, we work to live not live to work. In this example let’s say that you will be working 10 hours each day and six days per week like most successful entrepreneurs. That is 60 hours each week. Let’s propose that a hustler could deliver on average one package per minute riding from house to house on a street throwing the package on the front lawn. It would seem that simple math would indicate that a person could generate $30 per hour at this rate. Sounds pretty good for a starter, roughly $60K per year.

Let’s consider a few more things shall we. And I’m sure this is basic for a lot of you but I am serving two purposes here. Primarily to illustrate my analogy but also to help other see, and to give those who might venture off into business a full consideration. The obvious things we need to add to this is things like, picking up more product when the bike gets empty and the time that will take away from delivering. Does that require something else like a van parked nearby, riding a considerable distance to get more? Fitness level? The bicycle? Weather? Do I need to put it in a plastic bag? Additional costs are lurking in all sorts of places. Most people don’t consider them until they have made the move to get into that business. Once I witnessed a you man about my age at the time loading his truck at the lumber yard with the entire tool package to be a contractor. Brand new, all at once. There is a lot to learn, I hope he made it, I’m guessing not, too much he didn’t know. Like what he could do in a day. He made a jump looking to see how it turned out. Somethings you can’t know until you jump but if you jump make sure the landing won’t kill you and you’ll be fine. You can recover a broken leg but dead is dead! The things associated with our bicycle scenario are more obvious and for a person who only needs to make $40 per year this might be enticing.

What we really need to look at here is where you are going in your bid picture. Are you 12 and looking at 8 more years of school or are you 30 with a family? In times past there were jobs that were intended for young people to get started learning about work and the responsibility of it. Places like the newspaper delivery, car washes, burger joints, movie theaters, coffee shop, etc. Now young people mostly don’t work and young adults are looking toward this type of work as a support mechanism while still living at home with mom and pop. When you were 12 delivering packages on a bicycle for a few hours a week it gave you some jingle in your pocket for a comic book, a soda pop, a piece of candy or arcade game. It was practical for the need of the individual. At 22, you now have expenses; rent, car, utilities and you’re trying to ride that bicycle 40 hours a week and make it work out with a credit card. It works OK until you wear out your bike or credit card and need a new one. These are meant to get you started not keep you moving forward!

One can only ride a bike so far and only be as successful to the extent that one can ride. The flip side is if I bought a car (new or otherwise) I could do more! This, of course is true, but introducing a car to a bicycle gig is like using a hammer to turn on the light every time you go into the bathroom! You can’t possibly overcome the logistical issues to get enough fifty cent pieces to make it work out. The cost of a car warrants something that has more value per transaction.

A lot of people are trying to get more out of their business than which it is capable. Trying to make pickup truck wages from a skateboard not recognizing that more capital investment won’t pay off any better, it just makes making less money easier. I learned this from thinking that being a builder and developing a piece of real estate was the ticket. After my first project as builder and developer I realized that being a builder was a very good living indeed! I applaud those whose passion is building. But what I learned was that there was more value in being the developer than the builder. I received in one deal the value of an entire years work as a builder. Now as a developer I am seeing this play out again.

It’s about learning what a skateboard is and what you can do with it then moving on to a bicycle and leaning what you can do with that and moving on to ………..

Learn and MOVE ON! If your business is not giving you what you want from it maybe it’s time to get a new vehicle?

GO, learn something from someone today,

Greg

My wife and I were discussing the operating parameters of our farm store, in particular the seasonal nature and when to open and close. Her perspective was more along the lines of what she, personally, got from being involved. I on the other hand am always looking to figure out how this thing can give a number of people full time work and how much can it make? Her perspective is go her own way, and all of you married guys out there know she is right! Although my perspective is also go my way, because it is not go her way, it has nothing to do with me per se. Let me explain better.

Going your own way is good to the extent that you aren’t listening to the nay sayers. But things have their own way and one needs to be cognizant of that way, use it to one’s benefit, exploit it to your advantage, recognize that the “way” is it’s character and going against it’s character is wasting time, effort and resources. My bride’s perspective is intended to suit her personal interest which is great, why would you do something that does not suit you personally, everyone should pursue the things that truly satisfy! No doubt! Everyone is in agreement then, suit yourself. Well……let me add a little to that.

Failing is failing. Failing isn’t success, failing isn’t keeping it going, failing isn’t paying your bills. Often times I see people failing in business because they don’t care to consider the needs of the endeavor and prioritize those needs above their personal desires and interests. As an example; your business needs sales, if you don’t like doing sales or spending money on sales or whatever the reason you don’t do sales then the timeline of your business will be short and unsuccessful. Recognizing that your business is a bit like a child and it needs certain things to survive is crucial. Whether you like it or not you must do these certain things or your business and you will certainly fail.

This one factor is the number one reason that people fail in their small business ventures. If you read online you will see that the most quoted reason for small business failure is lack of capitalization. Although this is most often a difficult part of being in business I have never seen it to be the most instrumental. Generally it goes this way, ” if I had more capital to pay myself what I wanted, pay the rent, buy more inventory eventually the sales would grow enough to pay for it all and the back log of monies spent.” It will never happen! If this is your plan it is a very BAD plan, don’t do it. Especially with your own money! You’ve worked to hard to get it to piss it away. Businesses are built on giving them what they need not what you want. We should neglect considering if the business you chose is a skateboard or a jet plane, but that is for another article. I think the next one.

Figure out what it takes to make your business endeavor a real success, do those things regardless of how you feel about it. Your business just like a child when they have been given each and every thing that is needed at the appropriate moment along the way will turn into a proud experience that pays you for the least of your involvement and then you will have the greatest satisfaction! And your business investment will give you whatever you need or want.

I didn’t want to do dishes very night but that is what is needed, otherwise I am behind tomorrow and have more debt to pay to get even for the day. Do what needs doing, do it now, do it for your tomorrow! What seems to be a long time now will be a short time later when you look back and you’ll be glad that you did all of those things and the Future Matt will be happy!

Go and be great to the world of people around, do it now, move

Greg

I was reading some statistics from research done by the Ramsey organization about American millionaires this morning. Presently there are approximately 22 million millionaires in the good ole US of A. Seemingly, the “largest study of millionaires conducted”. Ramsey states that upon surveying 10 thousand participants they found 8 out of 10 of these folks invested in their companies 401(k) plan. Meaning these people had a job at a large corporation and learned how to save. They go on to state that only 31% of these people averaged $100,000 dollars a year over the course of their careers. Meaning if they could have saved every dime they made it would still have taken 10 years, I’m hoping you see it takes time. On average, the study states, that it has taken them 28 years to get there. They state that most of their participants got there at the age of 49. A side note: most of these participants did not receive it as an inheritance or any inheritance they did receive was insignificant to their financial journey.

About this study, I’m questioning their demographic pool and how they found them. Let’s say the information we have to glean from is reported income or assets. (government type reports) Then my data sets would connect me with people from the Fortune 500 group, mostly (their report reads this way to me, ie: 401(k) plan). To break that down there are 300 US cities with over 100,000 people or an average of 33 people in each city. Operative word “city”, why city? Again 401(k) plan. I would venture to say there are no companies in my town that employ people and offer that kind investment opportunity. There are 364 people with at least 75 businesses, a lot higher percentage than the study. Not to make this a diatribe about this study, it does go to illustrate the point of my topic today though.

These people are not rich! They are wealthy. They learned how to “NOT” spend!!! (emphasis added) and also to save or invest. They live reserved lives of contentedness. To say it another way, they do not live lavish lives of cars, boats, jewelry and fine dining like in the movies. Perhaps you are like me, a business man, and your wealth comes from years of hard work and investing to where you own assets that have appreciated and don’t show up on some millionaire’s statistical information. I’d like to see a survey of these folks to know what it looks like but just like you, I’m not giving them any of that data if I can help it. Nun ya bizness.

Back to my point. Being rich is momentary and short sighted. It only lasts as long as the money and we all know the looser you are with it the faster it goes not to mention the government is wrecking it faster that we can get it! These people like me spent time to get time and it took a lot of time to get there. There is no speedy road to wealth and of a certainty there is no way get rich quick, unless you are a guy like Bankman-Fried and just like him it won’t last long. Interesting irony his name is Bankman.

“The American dream is still alive” Ramsey states, to which I whole heartedly agree! The dream of living a life full of opportunity to be wealthy is right in front of us all. To be free, pursue our dreams through hard work, to have our hard work bear fruit, to keep and use that fruit in a manner that suits us and to share it with those we care about! My encouragement for you today is learn to be wealthy, forget about being rich. Life is rich when you can enjoy each and every special thing about your day. Children growing, babies crying, customers happy to know that you enjoy coming to work to greet them, being needed by your loved ones and your community, a nice hot cup of tea or coffee, dry feet, one minute of silence……. Surely, discipline yourself to become wealthy but understand that Hollywood’s definition of rich is not the ticket to your movie!

Go and be good to someone else,

Greg

As an SBO the one thing of which I am keenly aware is that being successful in business takes a serious level of commitment! Without commitment, a deep rooted sentiment of redeeming quality and value with transcendent intentions, a business idea is nothing more than a waste of time. There are many obstacles, distractions, previous obligations, detractors, haters and enemies to be met along this journey to have less than a well thought out, practiced and entrenched commitment. Something that becomes the essence of your being!

This project is in the works for three full years now. My belief in it and why I do it is clear. My desire to be where I see myself in years to come with this project is vivid. My interest in being successful at this is as high or higher than my interest in any of my previous successes. But just last week I was planning on launching my social media intro video and I got sick. The plan was for Wednesday the 27th, I wasn’t prepared. Getting sick just slowed me down and caused me to loose focus and not work on getting prepared. Too many things were pressing upon me at the same time and now I’m sick.

While laying on the couch on the 28th, as miserable as I have ever been, mind you I’m never sick. Last time I was sick was covid at Christmas 2019 before they were telling anyone. Historically I’m sick once every five years or so where I work until I’m too sick to sit at my desk then sprawl on the couch the rest of the day. Usually I get sick from working too much. In any case, I’m so bad on the 28th that I go from my bed to my couch. At some point in the morning I say to myself, “you didn’t do your launch yesterday because you weren’t prepared. All that other work you did, did not prepare you any better. Now, you’re a day late, too many dollars short to count and sick on the couch. Are you going to do this or what?”. Enter Hernando Cortes…..

Hernando Cortes de Monroy y Pizarro Altamirano was born in December of 1485 in Castile, Spain. In 1519 he was residing in Cuba with his sights set on the mainland, present day Mexico. This man was committed! There was an expedition being planned to the Yucatan. He was made Captain of the expedition. He then organized the entire crew of hundreds of men and ships in a month, but before he left, a message came that the expedition was being recalled by the Governor, jealous of his feat to raise the expedition. He ignored it!! He sailed in February and by July had conquered several coastal cities including Veracruz. Upon victory here he dismissed the Governor of Cuba as his authority and placed himself directly under King Charles of Spain. Then, so that there were no wrong ideas, misgivings or thoughts of anything but GOING FORWARD, Cortes BURNS his entire fleet of ships, all eleven, to reinforce the conviction to set up house!

Show me that kind of commitment and I will show you a successful man! Imagine the gall to override the authority of a man given to him by the king, oft times a cause of death. Imagine thinking that the King is going to talk to you now because of who you just became. Imagine the the audacity to burn ships big enough to hold fifty men and a couple of horses, eleven even. These are the types of people commitments this country needs starting businesses. People with passion, interest, desires, discipline, will power and drive.

So, I played this mind dance game on my couch until I noticed that it would be getting too dark to do anything. This was going to become just another day. No! Dammit! It isn’t! I got off of my couch at 4:30, grabbed my tripod, stool and phone. Set it all up in my yard with a nice back drop. Then went and rewrote the script, put on my best outfit, combed my hair and took a dozen takes. NO I DIDN’T! I could hardly get all that stuff together I was so bad off. I put on a 30 year old button up shirt (because it was handy) over my sweats, sat down on the stool with sick face and hair did it in two takes because the first one was full of gibberish. Then published it how it was. Went inside, took a shower, vommitted and got back on my couch. Burn baby burn! Come on baby light my fire! I see ships blazing in the harbor to stay warm by tonight. Cortes commitment got me off of that couch.

Here’s the best part, not that I have that level of commitment but now that I am on the other side of this grievous ordeal it is so sweet! The boost in my self esteem is monumental. The idea that I can do anything is ever clear and present once again, that feeling is priceless! And most of all, I’ve started, the most difficult and scary part of it all!

I DID IT!

Go get you some of these good vibrations for yourself, make a Cortes commitment right now,

Greg