Have your plans changed unexpectedly?

When planning a big trip or vacation you might often make plans. You probably pack certain things well in advance to make sure that you bring all your important items. You would definitely fill up your gas tank in most cases if you are driving to your destination or maybe even to the airport. You might plan your route even though today's navigation systems are pretty good about getting us to the right place. You might even need to plan a time that you and your family need to get up by so that you might leave at the appropriate time. All of these might be in your planning and might be in addition to the months of planning that you may have done in picking the right spot, possibly booking and paying for a room and maybe even buying your airline tickets if where you are wanting to go is too far to drive.

So, as you can see, planning is pretty important and can take weeks or even months but what happens if on the way to your airport you run across some unexpected road construction that may keep you at a stand still for a while or maybe even take you on a detour? What if you were driving along and all of a sudden you get a flat tire and have to stop and change it and because you don't want to drive very far on a temporary you stop at a tire repair shop and get a new one put on that might take a couple of hours? You may even have to stop for an unexpected bathroom stop or two because the kids got sick in the car or maybe possibly there was an accident up ahead on the highway that slows traffic down to a stand still. All of these things, that I mentioned, are often times unexpected and unforeseen and could possibly make you late for a flight or an important meeting.

Even with these unforeseen circumstances trying to hinder your trip you can't and won't give up the fight because many times you may have paid money in advance that is non-refundable. If you don't make the flight or try and cancel your hotel room, in many case, will result in a financial penalty of some sort if not changed or canceled early enough. So, you will fight to make your destinations on time.

In life we also come across some unexpected circumstances that may keep us from a possible goal or dream. There may be an unforeseen financial situation that keeps you from starting a new business venture or maybe an illness that may slow down plans that you might have. Much like the unforeseen circumstances can slow down or hinder your plans for a trip they may also slow down or hinder your goals or dreams. The question comes up of what can be done to possibly plan or prepare for these unforeseen circumstance?

Though many things are very much uncontrollable, I have 3 points that may help you overcome the unexpected in life.

The 1st is that you have to plan for the unexpected. You have to be ready to address any unforeseen circumstance that may arise by being prepared for it already. You must be ready to combat whatever may come about. There will be detours and roadblocks that may come between you and your goal but if you are prepared to fight already then it won't be much of a deterrent. If you know, for example, that a new venture has many risks and what they are then you won't be surprised by them when they show their faces. If you know that you will have to encounter a tough opponent in a new business venture then it isn't as scary as it would be if it just popped up out of nowhere. Being prepared for the unexpected won't be easy because there are many things that could try and hinder your new dream.

The 2nd is that you have to learn how to adapt and react quickly. Often times, even when prepared, there comes about a curveball that maybe you weren't exactly ready for that takes you by surprise. It catches you off guard but you don't let it take you completely off course. You have to have the ability to possibly take a quick and short detour to stay on course or possibly slow down the pace to allow the ball to go past you and then pick up the speed again once it passes. As you learn how to adapt and react you will start being more and more prepared and less and less frightened about what may come at you next. Once you master this then your fear level will begin to diminish since you can overcome any new obstacle.

The 3rd is that you can't give up on reaching your goal or dream. When unforeseen circumstances come up they often times cause us to lose focus and desire. Once we lose those then the dream doesn't seem attainable anymore and we decide to give up. If you give up then it is very hard to start again especially if you think that you are a failure. Are we going to miss marks and goals from time to time? Absolutely we are but that doesn't mean to give up because often times those same failures become our own fuel to reach the next step or level. You have to use the obstacles as fire to fuel the desire to succeed. If you can become one that is able to not allow circumstances to keep you down then that is a success in itself.

I hope this helps someone that may be struggling to make a hard decision or one that constantly struggles with chasing goals and dreams. Realize that sometimes you might make a bad decision or fail to reach a goal but today is a new day and it's okay to make a better decision today and set a new goal for the future and stop dwelling on the past since it is now over!

Have you changed the play?

The quarterback is one of the most important and yet most scrutinized positions in football. The quarterback is generally responsible for running the offense, reading the defense, or even changing the plays on the fly. The quarterback is often also the most criticized position as well. If you are the quarterback of a team you can best believe that you have eyes on you at all times since often times you are viewed as the leader of the whole team.

Many times there is a play signaled in from the sidelines and it is the quarterback's responsibility to make sure that it is called correctly in the huddle and to make sure the rest of the offense are on the same page. If the play isn't called correctly or maybe the signal is read wrong there could be some serious mix up with the rest of the offensive players and it turns into a broken play. But what if the quarterback told the team the correct play that was called in by the coach and then broke the huddle but instead of running that play he decided to run a different play without telling the rest of the players? What would happen? Well, many times, it ends up in a sack of the quarterback, possibly a costly turnover but could even lead up to a possible injury because maybe there was an unblocked defensive player that comes through without being touched and gets a clean hit.

As I said before, the quarterback is looked at as messing up the plays often times but if he were to run a play without telling everyone else what he is doing then he could actually cause damage.

So, what does this have to do with anything? We know about football! What are you getting at?... you might ask!

I'm glad you asked!

Much like a quarterback could effect the outcome of a game by changing the play without telling the team you might effect those around you if you don't do what you say you are going to do. Often times in life we don't do what we say we are going to do or promise to do and seemingly we move on without even worrying about how that might effect someone that we may be close to or possibly even a person that we might supervise as a manager. Having said that, I want to give a couple of reasons why you should do what you say you're going to do by giving you a couple of ways you could effect those same people.

The first, and probably most important one, is the fact that you could hurt someone. Hurting someone, especially a child or spouse, is the hardest one to overcome and rebound from. If you tell a child something, for example, they usually don't forget it and will often times be devastated if you don't follow through on a promise. I have been guilty of this in the past but have been trying my best to follow through with what I say but still come up short.

The second is the fact that if you don't do what you say that you could have people lose respect for you and in turn you could lose credibility and be known as someone that's untrustworthy. This could happen if you were a manager or a leader in the workplace or it could also be something that could happen in the home with the lack of trust from a loved one. Either way, much like the quarterback taking most of the scrutiny of a lost game as one that can't perform in crunch time, you could be viewed in the same light as being one that isn't capable of following through with a promise.

If you indeed care how your loved ones and maybe even employees view you then you need to follow through with what you say you are going to do. The unfortunate thing is that if you only messed this up one time it could have an everlasting effect on your relationships with them. That's a hard one to swallow but it's true. It's about like doing a million things right and no one notices until you do one thing wrong and that's what people always remember. You definitely want to be the one people remember for doing what you say you are going to do so don't mess it up by missing out on a promise that you gave.

Don't be known as the quarterback that lost the big game because those are never forgotten.... and not for a good reason either!

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!

A fish hook to the mouth!

When I was quite a bit younger I liked to fish. We mainly went fishing for bream and catfish in small ponds and lakes. Though I think I did have a small Snoopy Zebco I liked to fish with the cane pole. It was much easier to use since you hardly had to worry about casting it or it tangling up like a reel did. The hooks on the cane pole were generally very small in order to hook the smaller fish such as bream and we usually caught those with live worms. Now, I have never been a professional fisherman though when I was younger I'm sure I thought I was.

One day, after we had finished for the day, we were putting all of our gear up. I was responsible for getting my pole ready for transport home. So, I thought I'd be somewhat smart and instead of gently wrapping the line around the pole I decided to swirl the pole around in a circle in order to allow the line to wrap itself around the pole. Well, the wind must have been blowing a little that day because, as I was performing this brilliant plan, the line and hook got close to my face and as it did I snatched the pole back and guess what happened! That's right!! I caught the biggest catch of the day! Me! The hook got me right in the inside of the middle of my lip and stuck in! Now, it didn't go all the way through but it hurt and it scared me a little. So off to the hospital we went where they sprayed it with some deadening spray and clipped it with some small scissors or something and it was over!

What could I have possibly learned during all this?

Glad you asked!

The first thing I learned after that day is to not swirl the pole around like that so that I didn’t catch another hook to the face! This is also something that you can carry with you the rest of your life too because, as I did that day, you can learn from your mistakes.... Or at least you should! Are we going to do things over and over even after we learned a tough lesson? Yes we are but you should do your best to learn from and or improve from a mistake or poor decision that you've made. I know often times we have to tell our kids over and over to not do something only to watch them do it anyways and eventually get hurt. All we can do is hope they learn from it and move on. You definitely can't dwell on a past mistake or it will keep you down so you must learn from your poor decision and move on and hope that you don't do it again.

The second thing I learned is even though I took the equipment out there to catch a fish I actually caught something totally different than I had prepared for. My point in telling you this is that often times in life we do things that we think are going to touch or attract a certain type of person or employer to what we are trying to promote or sell. We push our social media, for example, to a client base hoping that it might eventually attract us some new business. In doing so maybe we actually attract a new business opportunity or avenue that you had never thought of and it might change your life. My point is that just because you don't feel that what you are doing is working because you don't see the results from the people you are actually targeting that you can't give up. The reason you don't give up is that you may be reaching or touching someone that you don't know you're reaching. You may do something in life that may take years for you to see any rewards or compensation from so just because the results aren't immediate doesn't mean there aren't results. So, in other words, just because you came prepared to catch a fish doesn't mean that's what you are going to catch!

Learn from your mistakes! And don't underestimate the reach of what you're trying to do!

Do you seem to be drowning?

When I was a young kid of about 6 or so I was playing in a lake with my cousins. We were floating a board back and forth across the water when the board ended up floating past me near a part of the lake that was near some over hanging trees. I went to go get it and stepped off into a hole or something and went under. The problem was, at the time, I couldn’t swim and started bobbing up and down in the water. I was doing all I could do to reach up and grab the branches of the shrubs and trees that were there but, from the best of my memory, I could grab the ends but they were so flimsy that I couldn’t get a good enough grip to pull myself out. All of a sudden a guy came swimming towards me and pulled me out and to the shore of the lake. I don’t remember much else about that particular day other than it took me a while to be comfortable going back near the water. It freaked me out so much, I guess, that it took me until I was around 10 or 12 before I actually learned how to swim.

Why am I telling you this story?.. You might ask. 

Have you ever jumped into the deep end of something and ended up feeling like you were drowning?

Often times, in life, we tend to be in such a hurry to do something that we want to do that we just jump off into the deep end when we don’t know how to swim. When you do that you end up drowning. When you drown and stuggle then you end up developing a fear. When you develop a fear then usually you never want to get out of your comfort zone again and try something different. 

Let me be clear, I have no problem with you wanting to try new things and take risks because the most successful people take risks. What I am talking about is jumping off into the deep end without being prepared and ready. Often times we make moves when we haven’t prepared enough or at all. Sometimes when you prematurely jump off into something then you end up struggling worse than you might’ve if you would have prepared first.

What am I suggesting? I am suggesting that it’s okay to start off in the shallow end first! It’s okay to wade in the shallow waters first until you get use to being wet. It’s okay to try and practice swimming before you decide to jump off into the deep end. It’s okay to stay in the shallow end a little longer until you have perfected your technique. 

Certainly it may take you a little longer to learn than someone else. And sure, you may see someone else doing what you want to do and you want to rush your training and practice but if you don’t feel ready don’t go into the deep end yet. Yes, you might be able to make it for a while but you might make it for the long term if you just stayed in the shallow end just a little bit longer. There’s no rush, especially if you haven’t developed the skill you feel you need. 

If you jumped off into something too soon or if you fell off into the deep end when you didn’t know how to swim don’t let that fear that you develop dictate the rest of your life! Much like me almost drowning gave me a fear of water for a while, failing at something that you may not have been ready for can give you the fear of not trying it again or doing something new. If you indeed have a fear because you failed at something just try and understand that at least you tried. Remember, you will never know what you can or can’t do unless you give it a try. 

The moral of this post is don’t let fear be the reason to not do something... you may just need a little more training and practice before you jump off into the deep end!

You struggle at video?

In this social media age it is important to have an online presence especially if you are primarily commission based selling! There are many professions that would benefit from social media but it’s getting to be more and more important for those with there own business or in sales to be noticed online and not merely for just picking up customers but maybe also future employers or opportunities so why are so many hesitant about getting online?

Some of the main reasons are that people are private and don’t want to mingle there personal and professional life. This thought process is the same thought process I had before I started but I finally realized that your personal and professional lives are forever mingled especially if you’re in sales so this thought process has got to go. Another reason is some people are just being stubborn about jumping on the social media bandwagon especially those that might be “old school”. The “old school” mentality can hinder your future business I’m sad to say because there are more and more companies advertising and recruiting on social media than ever before and it’s only going to get worse as well as the amount of consumers that are searching online sources and sites to get the info they need so why wouldn’t you want to be found in online searches?

Are you struggling to want to do videos and post them on social media sites? Does it scare you to death to put yourself out there like that for everyone to see? The answer is probably yes to both of those questions. 

To be honest, I was the same way! Heck, I even get a little nervous about posting videos online now after hundreds of videos posted. I get nervous about how they will do, what kind of engagement I will have and even what kind of good or bad comments they will get so I get it. I understand that you might be scared or timid about putting a video out there for anyone and everyone to see! The best thing I can do is tell you to just do the first one! 

I know it’s easier to say than to do but that’s what I did to begin with! I picked up the phone, actually my 1st video was with a mini hand held recorder, and started recording. My first videos were terrible in my opinion and never thought I would ever reach 1 million views on my YouTube channel but I did! That’s not counting the hundreds of videos I’ve done on Facebook. 

So the question is how did I do that or what advice would I give someone that’s wanting to do video. I came up with 3 that I think will help. 1) Be consistent and don’t give up. This is a very important one to remember because even when you finally pick up that camera to record you may not get the interaction and engagement that you want to get and you’ll want to give up. It takes time to build subscribers and followers so don’t think you will be an overnight success with video and on YouTube because it probably won’t happen. You could put out a good video that may go viral but it’s very hard to do and not many actually do it. But don’t give up and stick with it and you will be okay. Also, you will have haters and naysayers that will tell you that your videos are stupid and you’re wasting your time, I did, but you have to ignore them and keep shooting! You will have people saying negative things about you and your videos on YouTube as well but you have to keep them coming. Just remember that you will most likely have people talking about you anyways so you might as well give them something more to talk about while you’re getting your name and face out there. 2) Your videos won’t be that good in the beginning but the more you do the better they’ll get. The better they get the more comfortable you’ll be on camera. Once you start being comfortable on camera you will be more comfortable being you and making mistakes because we all do. It’s okay to be critical of your videos a little bit because you always want to improve but don’t be overly critical and just put the video out there! You don’t have a choice really once you start doing Lives so you might as well get use to it in your prerecorded ones too! 3) When finally doing videos make sure you understand that Facebook and YouTube are different animals with different types followings. You might post a video on Facebook and get 1,000 views and might also post the same video on YouTube and get 20 so it takes time to learn what does well where which I am still learning for sure. Also know that you’re likely to get many more people commenting, both good and bad, on your YouTube channel so be prepared because when you get those first few negative comments about a video you posted you will want to give up probably. Don’t let that push you away because that’s part of posting online videos and that’s you have to take the good with the bad!

As I continue to learn and grow with my video I want you to understand how tiring it can be to be consistent and not give up. It gets tough to watch some of your videos not get the views you think they deserve but that’s why you have to keep striving to come up with more and better content that people might want to watch. 

Pick the camera up and press record!! That’s the only way to get started!!!

 

Shaking the Coke can!

Do you remember when you were younger and you thought it would be funny to shake up a can of Coke and watch someone open it so it would spray all over them? I know I did it a few times but when I think about it I don't think it would be that funny if it happened to me. It definitely leaves a mess and makes whoever it happens to very mad.

The same type thing happens if you leave a full can in your car when it is hot. The pressure builds up so high that it eventually explodes. That also leaves one heck of a mess and it is very difficult to clean up fully.

Do you ever feel like that can of Coke that has been shaken? Have you ever felt like you could just explode? Well, that's what I am talking about here.

We often times, myself included, let things weigh us down so much that we get frustrated and upset and instead of talking it out we let it build until there is nowhere else for it to go and we explode on someone. Often times it comes out on the closest one to us much like whoever is holding that can of Coke. We are quick to snap on a spouse, a co worker or ourselves whenever we have hit our boiling point. Sometimes it can be simply in a verbal way but often times it could result in a physical altercation which neither one of these things are acceptable. If you were to do something like this there could be severe consequences and even severed relationships.

What can be done that will help keep the pressure from building to that point?

The best way to combat these things from happening is simply to talk it out. I am bad about letting things build up and getting overly angry at something that I really shouldn't simply because I am not one to talk about too many personal things. I often times won't even talk to my wife like I should when there is something bothering me or on my mind. Talking it out is usually the most effective way to handle these things and can also be the most beneficial because there may be someone that could help you or give you good advice. It could be close friend or family member that can just listen to you and maybe even comfort you through some tough times or decisions. It could be someone that is going to give you the cold hard truth even though it could be the most difficult thing to hear. Either way just having someone to go to or talk to can make a huge difference in your life especially if you are one that struggles with life every day and don't ever seem to be able to make it out.

We often create our own toughest times as well. We get into things and make bad decisions that seem to make us think that there is no way out and we lash out at others when that's not necessary. Sometimes we just need to take responsibility and own up to it and deal. We often times need to hold ourselves accountable before we take it out on someone else. Lack of self accountability, I think, is one of the main reasons for unnecessary pressure build up when we want to blame everyone else for our mistakes and problems. You know what I mean??...the victim mentality?!

All this to say.... have someone that you can talk to. Get someone that can be there to listen to you when you are struggling or made a poor decision. Get a mentor or 2 that can be there when you can't figure out a problem or seem like you have no where else to turn. You may be like me and have a hard time trusting people or telling people your problems but it can make a world of difference in your life if you have a couple of people that can help you carry whatever burden that you are carrying...whether you caused it or not.

I hope this may help someone that may be struggling with something to be able to release some of that pressure before you explode!