Your friends bleeding you?

At some point in your life I’m sure you’ve washed clothes if you’re old enough to do so. In doing so I’m sure that at some point you’ve washed some that’s bled on others in the wash. It’s very frustrating for this to happen especially if it’s happened on more than one occasion!

As a young man, as I was learning life, I had this happen on a number of occasions. Most of the times it either involved darker towels that bled on each other or even jeans that bled on other clothes. It’s definitely a costly lesson to learn. It’s a little frustrating to pull out what was suppose to be a white towel or T-shirt that is now pink or or blue or black. 

Why did this happen though? Well, in my case, I was usually a little lazy and just threw everything into one load and the new towels would bleed onto whatever else was in there. So the problem lies in the fact that I didn’t separate the clothes. Sometimes it’s necessary to separate the lights and the darks or the clothes from the towels to make sure nothing is ruined during the wash cycle. 

What could happen when you don’t separate the clothes before you put them in the wash? Well, for starters it could cost you money. Often times once your clothes got stained or bled on by other colors you would either trash them or they turned into yard working clothes or something like that. The second thing that might happen is you might feel a little heartbroken if your favorite shirt or pair of pants became discolored while in the washing machine. You might often also end up throwing them away. One thing is certain though and that is if you were to have these things happen then you would likely learn your lesson and not let it happen again because it could become costly. 

What does separating clothes have to do with anything?

It’s a simple analogy actually!

Let’s apply it to life in which I think many of you will be able to relate!

Have you often times had to fight many battles that you thought might be unnecessary? Have you been in constant struggles that you feel there is no way out from? Have you been placed in difficult situations which required difficult decisions? Have you possibly had problems trusting people or maybe even landing the job you want? 

If you have then you may need to evaluate the people you are around or hang around on a regular basis!

The reason I say that is the fact that often times, though you don’t intend it, the people you hang around have a tremendous effect on you and many times it isn’t a good effect! Often times they are bad influences whether it’s a friend, family member or even a coworker. It could even be someone you grew up with or maybe even a mentor that has been a bad influence on you and because you were close to them you couldn’t see it.

I want to submit to you why I think that you must separate yourself from those same bad influences and what may happen if you stay in their company.

1) They can hurt your reputation because often times we are guilty by association. Somebody may see us with a certain individual and just assume we are doing the same bad things they are. It’s unfair seemingly but it definitely could happen! So, the next time you miss a promotion or don’t get the job you wanted you need to look at your center of influence and see if there is someone there that is affecting your reputation and contributing to the downfalls or shortcomings in your life!

2) They could be costing you money! Ever seem to go through your paycheck faster than you thought? Ever run out of money after the first weekend after you got paid? Do you seemingly support someone else’s habit?   Do you end up paying every time you and your best friend go out? Yes?! Then chances are you have someone in your life that is taking advantage of you and costing you money!  I’m not saying this happens in every case but in my case this was a big indicator. You may need to have a separation!

3) They could cause you to have trust issues! This could come from family or friends that’s maybe taken advantage of you or hurt you in someway. In many ways this one will hurt more of your future relationships than any of the others and is often times the hardest one to fix or get over. If you constantly have someone in your life that is taking advantage of you, lying to you or maybe even hurting you in some way then it may be that you need to separate from that friend or family member.

4) They could be keeping you surrounded by the temptations that you are trying to get away from! This one is also tough and dangerous. It could be a variety of things that this one covers from drugs to theft but whatever the vice or addiction it doesn’t help to stay around the people that possibly helped you start your habit in the first place and these are also the ones that are usually enticing you continuously! You need to separate yourself and not allow them to dictate the direction of your life through temptations!

All 4 of these things come down to the fact that often times these people that are causing these things in your life are really just trying to hold you down and hold you back. Many times they aren’t going anywhere in life and they just want company. They are usually the ones complaining that they have no money and no one will give them a job. They are often the same ones asking you to front them some money or wanting you to take them out so you can pay. It’s easy to see them if you’re looking for them! I didn’t use to be able to see them when I liked their company! 

If you are constantly struggling in certain aspects in life then you may need to evaluate your company. It may not always be the people you’re hanging around but definitely could be. If it turns out that you have bad influencers in your life then it may be time to separate the laundry so they don’t bleed you anymore!

Today is the Time!

In our latest video Jeff Parton and myself decided to talk about family a little bit. Now, both of us are family guys that are willing to do anything for them in life, from providing a living to actually dying for them if that's what's necessary. Family is much, if not most, of why we do what we do. They are the fuel that drives us to work crazy hours and often times 6 days a week. But can that be all good?


That's  kind of what I want write about today.

In our busy day to day life at work we tend to get bogged down with taking care of other people such as customers and clients. We often go out of our way to tend to a customer's need or help out a coworker. There's been many times we've come in on our off days to deliver a car only to end up staying all day. It's a normality to come in at about 7:30 and work to at least 7 or so 5-6 days a week. It's not uncommon that we may not get to talk to or see our kids daily because of how late we might work.


Yes, I get it, It's the car business! That's what you should expect!


 I totally understand where you might be coming from by saying that. But, if that's the case, how are you suppose to run a happy and successful family when you focus most if not all your time on your job? Which is more important? Yes, we have bills to pay and a living to provide but if all the money and the job were gone in the blink of an eye would your family still be there?


What I want you to do is evaluate your life and ask..."If there was no tomorrow have I done everything that I can do to show my family how much I love them that doesn't involve a paycheck?"


I want that to sink in because yesterday is gone and you can't get it back. Tomorrow is not guaranteed either so the question comes down to... "What do I need to do today to show them how much that I love them?''


I will be the first to admit that I am one of the worst about putting my job before my family and that I continue to work on it daily. I try not to go more than a few hours without at least texting my wife to see how her day is and to tell her that I love her. Who knows when it's my last time to be able to tell her.


Jeff and I covered 2 pieces of advice that may can help gear you towards a better relationship with your family.(We haven't got it all together either so don't think that we are perfect at this and don't need work along with you).


The 1st thing comes down to you doing a self examination. In other words you need to look at yourself first and see if you're doing all you can do to show them your love. I'm not talking about just merely bringing home a paycheck or buying them flowers and candy, though that may be a part of it. I'm talking about how do you rank them verses everything else. I for one rank God first... though I'm not perfect at that either. You need to do an honest assessment of yourself and see if your priorities are in line. If you can honestly do that then you should be able to have a much healthier relationship at home because if the money stops coming in you still want them there to help you, support you and love you.


The next thing that we came up with is basically what I mentioned a little earlier. Tomorrow is not promised and yesterday is gone so what are you going to do today. Today is the Time so stop trying to put things off that need to be done or repaired today. What if you never get another chance to say 'I'm sorry' or 'I love you'? How would that effect you the rest of your life?(Again, I'm not near perfect at thinking like this either). Time is the one thing we can't control nor get back so don't live life with regrets...trust me... there are many regrets I have in this regard!


At the end of the day your family is more important than your job or money so make sure that your priorities are in line. Make sure that you take just a few minutes, if that's all you have, to tell your spouse and kids that you love them. If you can spend an off day with your family then do it without thinking about work (this is one that I struggle with for sure). If you are going to be there with them then actually be there for them!


I truly hope that this helps someone that is struggling with this. It's definitely hard to do any of this perfectly but you can't do any of it unless you try and actually put some effort into it! Much like it often takes hard work to be successful at a job it takes even more work to have a happy and successful family!