February 5, 2025 • 54 mins
This episode dives into the personal struggle of balancing the pressures of getting shit done while grappling with financial, physical, and emotional challenges. The host discusses the impact of the "get shit done" mentality and how it can lead to burnout, financial hardship, and self-criticism, coupled with lessons learned from "Buy Back Your Time" Dan Martell's book about valuing time over tasks.
• Exploring the essence of GSD (Getting Shit Done)
• The weight of struggles and the potential for growth
• Emphasizing vulnerability and sharing personal challenges
• The relationship between entrepreneurship and burnout
• Financial implications faced by small business owners
• Learning to hire for time efficiency, not just growth
• Finding hope and community in shared struggles
If you found value in today's show please return the favor and leave a positive review and share it with someone important to you! https://www.sharethestrugglepodcast.com/reviews/new/
Find all you need to know about the show https://www.sharethestrugglepodcast.com/
Official Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100077724159859
Join the 2% of Americans that Buy American and support American Together we can bring back American Manufacturing https://www.loudproudamerican.shop/
Loud Proud American Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Loudproudamerican
Loud Proud American Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/loud_proud_american/
Loud Proud American TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@loud_proud_american
Loud Proud American YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmYQtOt6KVURuySWYQ2GWtw
Thank you for Supporting My American Dream!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
If you are like me, then every day you wake up and
think what do I have to get donetoday?
And when you lay your head downat night, you think about what
you got done today.
And if you're like me, if atthe end of the day you're
feeling you didn't get enoughshit done, you don't sleep very
(00:22):
well and before you know ityou're done counting sheep and
you're waking up short on sleepand you're asking yourself all
over again what do I have to getdone today?
Well, today, on Share theStruggle Podcast, we are going
(00:42):
to tackle g, s, d getting shitdone.
Let me tell you somethingeverybody struggles.
The difference is some peoplechoose to go through it and some
choose to grow through it.
The choice is completely yours.
Which one you choose will havea very profound effect on the
(01:04):
way you live your life.
If you find strength in thestruggle, then this podcast is
for you.
You have a relationship that iscomfortable with uncomfortable
conversations.
Uncomfortable conversationschallenge you, humble you and
(01:25):
they build you.
When you sprinkle a little timeand distance on it, it all
makes sense.
Most disagreements, they stemfrom our own insecurities.
You are right where you need tobe back on time.
We can fight the world.
(01:45):
We can fight the beat.
What it do, what it hot diggitydo.
Good Lord, am I so excited tobe back with you.
(02:12):
Oh, it's true, it's damn true.
I missed you, boo.
Yeah, I missed you, boo.
Thank you to each and every oneof you, you boo-boos out there
that have been continuing totune in, to dial in, to listen
in to the Share the Strugglepodcast proudly brought to you
by the fine folks over at AloudProud American, aka myself, my
(02:33):
wife, my mother, my baby, yeah,that's pretty much all the
company officials, althoughthere is many part-time
employees out there.
Okay, shout out to all thepart-time Aloud Proud American
employees out there Appreciateyou, appreciate you, love you.
Thank you so much.
We are reciprocatingappreciation this morning.
That's what we're doing.
I'm appreciating you and you'reappreciating me by tuning back
(02:54):
in.
You've been tuning in so long.
Matter of fact, we have arrivedat episode 239, and today I'm
going to go another full frontalconfessional.
I'm going to lay it all on theline in 239.
The name of this podcast isShare the Struggle, because
everybody struggles, and todayI'm going to share with you my
(03:15):
current struggle, one thatabsolutely certainly has me
backed in a corner, up againstthe ropes that most men would
probably give in call it quits,pack up their bags and begin
something else.
But maybe I'm just dumb enoughto get a shovel and to keep on
digging.
That's part of the problem here, folks.
(03:35):
A little thing that I deal withcalled GSD getting shit done.
I tend to just work and workfor something and I often don't
see the freight train on theother side of the tunnel with
its lights shining oh so bright,laying on that horn, looking to
come at me.
Tonight I often shun thosethings and say let me tackle
(03:57):
what's right here in front of me.
But we're going to get theretoday, folks.
That's where we're headed.
That's the meat and barrerasportion of the show today gsd
getting shit done.
But before we get into the mainsubject, I must let y'all know I
personally feel like crap.
Oh my gosh.
(04:18):
Yeah, I feel like an old dog,an old sick dog out on the porch
just soaking up sun, too sickto have a biscuit.
You know what I mean, god.
I feel like crap.
My nose is all stuffy, my headis congested, my throat's all
(04:40):
scratchy.
I feel sore, beat down, rundown, tired, pushed around.
A lot of things adding up, Ithink the stress of the business
and the subject that we'regoing to get into today, that's
a big portion of it.
Also where I'm from here in thegreat state of Maine.
I'm a maniac up here and I'mliving on the Northeast.
(05:01):
We have dodged winter for quitesome time.
Well, it's arrived.
It's arrived so much so that itseems to be every other day or
so.
I'm out on the tractor startingmy day plowing snow, and we
have a pretty good sizeddriveway, parking lot, road to
(05:22):
the horse field, all thesethings, and I got a tractor with
a four-foot bucket and I do itall one bucket at a time.
But I will tell you this Nottoo long ago, just a short
couple of years ago, I used toshovel my entire house by hand.
That's right, if you're a dayone and you've been listening
for the whole time, you know I'ma little funky, I'm a little
(05:46):
silly and to get by we had blownup a couple of plow trucks,
blew up a tractor.
Didn't have any options, exceptthis guy right here, his old
back.
Ok, are we seeing a trend here?
Gsd get shit done.
I used to wake up and go shit.
We got a lot of snow.
(06:07):
Well, let me.
Grab a snow scoop which, forthose of you that don't live in
the East, it's almost like atoboggan type sled scenario,
with a big handle on it and youjust scoop up snow.
You can walk behind it and pushsnow, but when you have the wet
heavy stuff it just fills up.
So you go two feet, pick it up,dump it.
Two feet, pick it up, dump it.
Two feet, pick it up, dump it.
My driveway is over 300 feet,so you do the math on that.
Okay, when you get the light,fluffy stuff, you can just get
(06:29):
behind it and just push yoursweet little ass on the way
through it, and it's not too bad.
Then you got to shovel out theyou know random areas, but when
you get the wet stuff, that usedto be a real pain in the ass.
So for two winters I shoveled byhand.
I cleaned our driveway, ourwalkways, all our land by hand,
(06:52):
and then, thankfully, a coupleof years ago, I just buckled up
and took the plunge into buyinga tractor, and maybe I couldn't
afford it.
Maybe that's on tap today, butit needed to be done.
So to get back to my sicknessover the past I don't know man
week, two weeks, I don't knowwhat it is.
It's all a blur right now.
Blame it on the tussing, okay,blame it on the cold meds we be
(07:14):
on, but every it feels likeother day or so.
I am outside, starting my dayoff with three or four hours on
the tractor moving snow.
It's roughly two and a half tofour hours, depending on the
storm that I'm out therecleaning snow Usually in the
snow, the cold, the wind, therain, the wet, the whatever.
(07:38):
Okay, y'all experienced weatherbefore and if you haven't, you
probably own a TV.
You know what I'm talking about.
So I've gone out there and gotall wet and soggy, all wet and
soggy and cold and hanging outin the wind.
And then you go out in thecommunity and you just mingle
with other sick folks and thisis where you end up at.
(07:59):
Boys and girls.
This is what happens.
You get sick and for the pastfew days I feel like snot.
Actually, one of my days ofbeing sick I was outside on the
tractor for three hours andspoiler alert, spoiler I didn't
have to be on the tractor todayand, by all accounts, I won't
have to be on the tractortomorrow, but the very next day
(08:23):
I shall be on the tractor.
According to the forecast here,I'm recording on a tuesday
you're gonna hear me on awednesday but on thursday we got
a storm coming, and then onsaturday into sunday we get
another storm coming.
So, as I've been telling youevery other day or so, you'll
find my jolly ass on the seat ofa tractor out there moving snow
, which is a hell of a lotbetter than doing it by hand.
(08:44):
But what I'm here to tell youis, I think the results of this
little forecast situation herehas provided me with the
sickness I am feeling.
Blessed that it's not COVID oranything like that.
It's a cold, it's a common coldscenario, but it's adding up.
I pulled my back the beginningof the week doing barn chores.
(09:06):
Then you spend all the time onthe tractor and then you
sprinkle in being sick and youfactor in taking care of your
five-month-olds and trying torun your business and to take
time to be with you.
Beautiful people here todayrecording a podcast.
All that adds up and it alladds up to me to say, lord, I've
been tired.
Okay, I've been tired, actuallyso tired.
(09:29):
I was up at 4 am this morningbecause we're going to get into
it.
Sometimes you don't get enoughstuff off that to-do list.
And doesn't it feel like whenyou're sick or when other things
come up, like, hey, here's whatI've got to do today, right, I
have to get all this stuff doneoff my list.
And you open the littlecurtains and you peek your
(09:51):
little eyes outside and say,shit, I gotta go up there and
plow the driveway so the wifecan go to work.
And then all those things onyour list get pushed back and
that's where we're headed today.
But I wanted to read thiscautionary tale to you before we
start the episode to say to youI do not know at what point in
time in today's show that coldmedicine is going to become
unbearable and it's going to putthis old grizzly down.
If I start slurring, if I startsnoring, I'm going to pull the
(10:13):
plug, all right.
So I can't promise you a biglong episode today.
What I can guarantee you is I'mready to bring to you another
beautiful, bring to you anotherbeautiful, fabulous, fantastic,
just superb, beautiful, special,beautiful little thing here,
okay, of a podcast.
(10:34):
Our consecutive streak willcontinue 239 beautiful weeks on
tap for you.
Today we just might besponsored by some old cold meds
that I found in the medicinecabinet, you know, when they're
old enough to not find anexpiration date, when you got
nasal spray from 2021, that'llget it done.
But, truth be told, I can'tpromise you a long show today.
(10:57):
But it don't matter, becausewe're going to cover what's
important today.
Get set Back on time.
We can fly, we can fly, we canfly, we can fly, we can fly, we
can fly, we can fly, we can fly,we can fly, we can fly, we can
fly, we can fly, we can fly, wecan fly, we can fly, we can fly,
we can fly, we can fly, we.
(11:33):
And we're back.
That's my radio voice rightthere, if I was on the radio.
But I'm not on the radio, buttechnically I am because I'm on
your radio, right?
So I mean, that makes sense.
Fun fact for you I applied to beon the radio and I didn't even
get an interview.
No, seriously, I actually had aconnection to a local country
(11:54):
station.
I put together a beautifulsales pitch I might say so
myself outlining the things thatI could bring to the station,
forwarded that stuff over whenthey were looking to hire for a
morning host and nothing, dude.
I didn't even get a call backor an interview.
I actually knew two people.
(12:14):
The one person that I sent theapplication to, I mean they
responded but I had met them,we'd done mutual business
together, and then anotherperson who was actually one of
the fellow morning hostsbusiness together, and then
another person who was actuallyone of the fellow morning hosts.
I had like a pseudo likebusiness relationship where
we've crossed paths and help youknow things out, whatever.
(12:35):
I don't remember the wholescenario, but when I was with
the dealership we had crossedpaths and stuff like that and I
was looking to maybe give upselling motorcycles and to take
a job on the radio.
I thought it was a good fit forme and I guess, judging by the
podcast, I feel like it'sprobably been a pretty good fit.
And if you've been listening onas long as you have, then I
guess maybe you'd vouch for me.
But if you think about it, inmy side gig over here, I'm a DJ
(12:57):
and I've been podcasting for 239consecutive weeks.
I'm a DJ and I've beenpodcasting for 239 consecutive
weeks and I don't think they paya lot to be a local radio DJ
around here morning show,whatever you know, and we have
miserable, awful morning showsaround here.
They're crap.
I actually, if I want to listento a morning show, I actually
(13:21):
use the Odyssey app and I listento a Texas radio station every
single day, so I don't knowwhere the hell that came from.
Oh, I use my radio voice tostart the show.
That's where that came from.
I apologize for that littlemission.
We just went off on there, butI do find life funny when you
put those things on the tableand you think about it.
(13:41):
I was a sales consultant.
I was willing to give up my jobat the Harley-Davidson
dealership to start a career inthe radio business when they
didn't give me the opportunityof an interview.
And then, when you fast forwarda little bit down the road, I
ended up becoming a salesmanager, a general manager,
(14:03):
marketing manager, eventsmanager, general manager,
partner.
So had I gotten the opportunityto be a disc jockey, radio host
, whatever you call them, Iwould have missed out on all
those things, and if I wouldhave taken that opportunity, I
might not have ever met my wife,because I met my wife at the
(14:24):
dealership.
So it's crazy how life works outright, and I think that's one
of the things that we have tokeep in mind, even when we get
into our subject today that, nomatter what the difficulty level
is that we face each day, we'vegot to remind ourselves that
there is a plan.
Okay, there is a plan and thepath that you're on you're on
for a reason and that this tooshall pass and this will always
(14:48):
work out right.
When you sprinkle time anddistance on it, it all makes
sense.
And I also am willing to admit,when the difficulty level ramps
up, I often feel on the otherside of that difficulty is a
breakthrough.
On the other side of that greatstruggle is amazing triumph.
So I use that philosophy inpushing through whatever it is
(15:10):
that I have to get done today.
Right, that's the way I look atthings.
Now, if I connect the opening oftoday's show, the little story
we went on about me being on atractor and getting sick and
where we're heading right now,I'm going to put a nice little
bow, a fancy little bow on themand I'm going to connect all
those right now Because, whilebeing outside preparing to be
(15:33):
sick, moving snow around in thetractor, I take advantage of
those times by putting goodstuff in my ears.
Now the tractor speakers usedto play music.
Like I have speakers on thetractor, tractor and they work.
It's great.
Maybe it's cause it's been socold up, but they, they sound
like shit right now.
So I keep headphones in and Itry to dial into, uh, something
(15:56):
motivational, somethingproductive.
If I'm on the tractor and Ihave a whole list of things that
I should be doing that I can'tdo, I'm doing, you know, what I
have to do.
I try to at least feel a littlemore productive by putting
something positive in in my dome.
I try to um, set the day right,motivate myself, because one
(16:17):
thing that happens is we allhave a tendency to procrastinate
and we all have a tendency tojust give in to our devices
right and our vices.
And it's real easy to like beon the tractor and then come
inside all cold and wet and thenchange into something warm,
maybe get a coffee, sit on thecouch and the next thing you
(16:37):
know you're drifting off intosome show or you're doing
whatever, anything beyondworking right.
It's easy to do that.
So to combat that, I try to putsomething positive in my ear
pods, something like this showokay, I've been known to listen
to our shows.
I've been known to dial themback.
I've done some plowing in thepast couple of weeks and
(16:59):
listened to our shows.
I want to make sure that themessage rings through that we're
getting things out there that Iwant to put out there.
I take pride in what we'redoing.
Y'all I check up on my work, soI encourage you guys to do the
same thing.
If you're out there moving snow, put those positive things in,
because you're a hell of a lotless likely to take a break from
(17:20):
what your day has to do.
What you have to get done todaywhen you get off that tractor
or you get done with thatmundane task you had to do when
you've been filling your mindwith positivity and knowledge
during that time, you're so muchmore likely to continue that
positive production without therest of your day.
Right, you just carry itthroughout the day and you get
(17:42):
things done.
I find if I'm putting the wrongthings in, if I'm just zoned out
, listening to like sports talkor whatever, I'm more likely to
get off the tractor,procrastinate and not do what I
need to do.
So to combat those things, Iput that positive mojo in All
right.
So in doing so, with all therecent snow storms you've had,
(18:04):
I've been crushing a new bookand really enjoying the book.
But it's nice to know if I'mgoing to spend, you know, two to
four hours on the tractormoving snow.
I can crush a good amount ofthis book and it's making me
think.
Right, I'm doing the routinethings but I'm really spiking up
(18:25):
conversation and because ofthat habit, because of that book
, we have fueled an entireepisode today.
Two things, number one, I willsay the tough thing about being
on a tractor or a treadmill orwhatever it might be that you're
doing and you're listening to abook, is it can become tough to
(18:47):
take notes when I'm listeningto audible books.
I like to take notes, go backand re-listen Some of these
audible books that you listen to.
They have little packets youcan work through.
This one, I don't think, hadone of those packets.
So I was like you know what,I'm going to tackle this and if
there's something, I'll kind ofgo back to it.
(19:07):
I've been known to look at theclock on the book itself and
screenshot it.
So if I need to go back to findthat, if I'm at the gym, I keep
my note section open and, likein between sets, I would put the
information into my notepad,which who am I kidding, I
haven't been to the gym sincehis baby showed up, even before
that, so but I'm just giving protips to everybody.
(19:30):
Okay, pro tips Number two I'msure people are wondering well,
what's the damn book you'relistening to?
And it's actually named Buy Backyour Time by a fellow named Dan
Martell.
So far, it's really good.
It's actually above my paygrade in life as far as like
where I am right now, and it'sabout entrepreneurs and
(19:51):
different levels ofentrepreneurship and how you can
become overcome by yourbusiness and how to buy back
your time.
And I certainly feel right nowthat I'm struggling with time.
I don't have enough time.
If you guys have been listening, you know the schedule.
There's twice a week where it'sjust me and baby and that's
(20:16):
great and I love that time and Ilove that opportunity.
I love that opportunity and Iwouldn't trade that.
But I need to account for thatin my schedule and how I get
things done.
And I'm struggling with thatbecause at the end of the day,
when, um, I have beautifullittle Paisley rain, I'm kind of
worn out by the end of it.
So, like I'm recording on a ona Tuesday, today I actually got
(20:37):
up at 4 am and then I brought mymom, I went to the office, did
some work.
I brought my mom to work.
I came home, did a little morework, then I spent time with
Paisley, go get my mom from work, come home and now I'm
recording a podcast.
I should be going to my officewhen this is done tonight and
working on some stuff, but I'musually pretty damn drained by
(21:01):
the time I turn the microphoneoff and I go outside and do barn
chores.
So it tends to wear me out andI don't feel as productive when
that's the end result.
So, based off of that struggleand a lot of other struggles
that are going on business-wisethat we're going to get into, I
start looking for things likelittle glimmers of hope, little
(21:24):
fun-filled packs of motivation.
So when I'm struggling withsomething or I'm eager to learn
something or to better myself ina certain area, I seek out
books on those topics, I seekout speeches on those areas and
I listen to them and I try toabsorb myself in those and I
(21:44):
look for little nuggets to helpme overcome just what it is I'm
going through, aka growingthrough.
So I didn't realize I was doingthis, I didn't realize I was
operating under this GSDphilosophy get shit done and in
this book, buy Back your TimeDan brings up.
(22:06):
Entrepreneurs tend to be wiredto just get shit done.
One of the great concepts in hisbook is as your business grows.
His whole mantra is you don'tneed to hire somebody to help
grow your business.
You need to hire somebody tohelp buy back your time, and I
love that concept.
(22:26):
And the root behind thatconcept is that there's so many
things that you do with yourbusiness that you're great at
and there's so many tasks inyour business that are
overtaking your time that youmight not be great at or you
might not like doing at all, andthey're actually
counterproductive because reallyyou could be paying somebody to
(22:46):
do those things and you'rewasting more time and money by
doing them yourself.
If somebody would do thosethings for $15 an hour and your
time is worth $50 an hour andyou're spending your $50 an hour
working on $15 an hour tasks,then it's counterproductive.
So don't hire somebody to growyour business.
(23:06):
Hire somebody to help buy backyour time, because when you hire
somebody, that creates the timefor you, that creates
opportunity for you opportunityfor you to be with your family,
but also opportunity for you tofocus on the things in your
business that you're great atand then you can excel in and
then, in result, your businessgrows and grows and grows.
So the whole philosophy oflooking at hiring not to grow
(23:30):
your business but to buy backyour time results in growing
your business and rewarding youwith more time.
I love the concept.
Here's the thing I can't hirenobody, okay, I can't pay myself
and in fact, where we're headedtoday is the business hasn't
been paying me in quite sometime and that's a problem that
(23:51):
has revealed itself over thepast couple of months.
We've had a snag in businesstowards the end of the year,
y'all know we had to take andlighten our schedule up as
Paisley rain was arriving.
And then you know, justholidays, what happens in our
business is, after the holidays,people have spent their budget,
(24:11):
people have spent their moneyon gifts, on dinners, on family
times, experiences and the wholescenario right.
And then, if you're in theNortheast, you're spending money
on heating oil and all thosethings.
So people are tapped out.
Their money, their disposableincome, has been used up.
They're not necessarilythinking of hey, that's a
(24:33):
beautiful, lovely, soft,fantastic feeling, proudly made
in USA t-shirt that I need tohave.
People don't have thedisposable income right now in
my area to just say, hey, I'mgoing to buy myself, I'm going
to treat myself today on somebeautiful made in America
merchandise.
I mean, I wish they would allsay that.
But I understand, you'redealing with the holidays,
(24:56):
you're dealing with heating oil,you're dealing with the cost of
the grocery store, inflation,all those things.
So it results in me being alittle slow.
The way to counteract this is Ihave made the decision to head
south.
I have put it on the line thatI'm going to go to Florida and
we're going to double down andtriple down on the business.
(25:16):
Remember our guiding words thisyear we're going to be
courageous.
We're going to double down andtriple down on the business.
Remember our guiding words thisyear we're going to be
courageous, we're going to actwith courage and we're going to
need to sacrifice.
I need to sacrifice time awayfrom my family and my baby.
And I got to go south and makethis happen, because down south
they're not looking at thingsthe same way we are right now.
They're not dealing with someof the same struggles.
So everybody's struggling whenit comes to inflation.
(25:37):
Don't get me wrong, but youunderstand what I'm saying.
I'm going to bike week.
These people are on vacation.
They're spending money.
Vacation money don't count.
Okay, that's how this works.
Now, in heading towards thisgoal, I have realized it is a
major struggle because thingsaren't coming in at the rate in
(25:58):
which they were coming in.
So we've had a stall, we've hada stop, we've run against a
wall here where there's notenough money coming in to.
Number one sustain the business.
Number two pay the bills thatneeds to be paid for the
business and for my personallife.
And number three provide theadditional income for me to head
(26:18):
south my personal life.
And number three provide theadditional income for me to head
south.
We have run into a brick wall.
I didn't think about said brickwall and the way that I'm
thinking about it today if itwasn't for me being saddled up
in a tractor for the past fewdays pushing snow, listening to
Buy Back your Time In Buy Backyour Time.
As I explained to you, it talksabout entrepreneurs leveling up.
(26:41):
I'm not in a spot where I canlevel up when it comes to hiring
employees and doing things.
My business, full Frontal,confessional, hand on the
Cabela's Catalog, eye to the Sky.
Absolute, heartfelt truth fromthis guy is broke, hard gulp.
My business is broke.
(27:03):
We are tapped out.
We have hit a wall of I don'teven know how you want to call
it wall of discomfort, wall ofpain, a wall that just almost
seems impossible to climb overand it leaves you feeling pretty
(27:23):
tapped out.
We started Loud Proud, americanin November of 2019.
Since the day of creation, theday of formation for our
business, we have never beenmore financially tight or up
against it than we are right now.
Now I know on the other side ofthis difficulty, I know on the
(27:47):
other side of this great wall isgreat triumph and great success
.
I know, to achieve what I wantto achieve, I'm going to face
moments like this.
We're going to get hit betweenthe blinkers with times like
this.
These are times when you needto self-evaluate and ask
yourself do you have what ittakes?
Are you in it for the rightreason?
(28:09):
Are you really committed toyour cause?
And if you are and you can finda way to push on, to carry on,
to move on, that on the otherside of this difficulty is great
success.
I know that and I truly feelthat in my heart.
I was unaware as to why and howI arrived at said situation,
other than the facts of hey,slow times, slow seasons.
(28:31):
Our business really kind ofeats it right now and, to be
honest, we haven't had theonline success we've hoped for.
We didn't have the eventsuccess that we've hoped for for
November, december and inJanuary it's a dead zone.
So this happens to us everyyear.
(28:52):
But this year I tried to takethe steps to grow the business.
We invested in the building.
You know, we've been makinginvestments in the bus and all
these things.
So we're trying to scale thebusiness and we were doing just
fine until we hit a wall wherewe just aren't making what we
expected.
A lot of different accountsthat we're looking to purchase,
(29:12):
these quotes that were put out,they just didn't get cashed in
and people are putting thingsoff.
And I know people are puttingthings off because they're
facing some of the samechallenges that I am.
But I didn't expect all thesedominoes to fall.
That's what I can see andunderstand.
That is the problem.
But what I didn't realize thatis a problem that has blended
(29:34):
into every facet of my life isGSD get shit done.
When I was listening to DanMartell Buy Back your Time he
talks about entrepreneurs andhow entrepreneurs have this
mindset of like just get up, getafter it, get shit done.
Whatever the situation is,right, I can work my way out of
(29:57):
this.
I can work my way into abrighter, more beautiful
tomorrow.
I can get through this.
When bills need to be paid anddeadlines need to be met, just
get shit done.
Now here's the deal.
When I first heard Dan talkabout entrepreneurs and that go
get it, drive, that can doattitude, and I heard him say
(30:20):
GSD.
That's what makes entrepreneursGSD, get shit done I was like
hell yeah, mother trucker,that's the mantra, that's the
mantra of me I get shit done.
If you are a day one, if you'vebeen listening to the Stereo
Circle Podcast since day one,number one, I acknowledge you.
Put your ones up, get your onesup wherever you are a day one.
If you've been listening to theother circle podcast since day
(30:40):
one, number one, I acknowledgeyou.
Put your ones up, get your onesup wherever you are.
Get your ones up.
I acknowledge you.
I appreciate you.
You know how true this is.
How many times have you heard mecome on here and say well,
here's the deadline, folks.
Uh, podcast now needs to bedone and edited and recorded and
fine-tuned and beautified andtyped up and printed up and
(31:03):
pushed out in the next 35minutes and it's 1230 at night
but I get it done.
You've heard me talk about,well, I've got this massive
order to do and I've beenwaiting for shipping and
receiving and this nonsense andthat nonsense.
And now I've got to finish thispodcast and I've got to go out
(31:25):
there and I've got 200 things toprint up because I've got a
deadline to get it to them in aday.
Right, what happens?
I get it done.
How many times do I tell you,man, I've got 35 cases of
apparel that I've get donebecause I got the fryberg fair
in a week and I'm gonna get donerecording here today and I'm
gonna work till two, threeo'clock in the morning every
(31:46):
freaking night until it's done.
But guess what?
I get it done.
That's me.
So you can imagine how excitedI was out there on my tractor
pushing back snow going.
Yeah, buddy, get it done, getshit done.
That's what I do, gsd.
Maybe I need a tattoo that saysgsd, get shit done.
That's me, that's what I do.
(32:06):
And I realized he was kind ofsaying it's not the best way to
be, because the truth is theproblem with get shit done is
you end up with a lot of shit.
And that's the truth.
And I listened to him explainthese things and it sat with me
and it resonated with me and Iput a lot of thought into it and
(32:28):
apparently my subconscious mindwas putting thought into it
that I didn't realize.
So when I mix in mysubconscious mind and what's
going on and this education frombuybacker time Sprinkle in some
cold medicine and my Tuesdayroutine of normally getting up
at 5 in the morning for my momat work, I actually woke up at 4
(32:50):
.
I was up at 4 in the morningthis morning and I got up and I
was feeling like crap.
I could barely breathe and Istumbled out to the couch and I
just kept thinking G, gsd, getshit done.
And I kept thinking, when theysay, the problem with get shit
done is you just end up with alot of shit, I started to
(33:13):
realize that's me.
Every day, a lot of shit, everyday the same shit.
That's part of the reason why Imoved on from my previous
career, because I didn't want tobe controlled by no pun
intended, all this everyday shit.
I wanted something different.
I dreamed of something better.
(33:33):
I started thinking about me andthe habits that make me.
I try to get up every day, breakout my list, right.
I have this to-do list thatjust travels with me.
I have this notebook and Iwrite things down.
And I tend to judge my day'ssuccess based off of how many
things get highlighted on mylist.
(33:54):
And I'm so critical of myselfthat, even on the days when I am
fortunate enough to highlight abunch of shit, if I sit on the
couch at the end of the night,and I'm so critical of myself
that even on the days when I amfortunate enough to highlight a
bunch of shit, if I sit on thecouch at the end of the night
and I look at that list and Isay, well, you get a lot of
things highlighted.
And then I dig into those areasthat have been highlighted and
I say, well, that one doesn'treally count.
That was pretty easy.
That one only took 10 minutes.
(34:15):
You can't count that.
And I start to beat myself upand say, well, look at that one
at the top.
You should have got that onedone.
That's a big one.
How come you didn't get thatone done?
And sometimes I beat myself upand I have these conversations
and I start the next day withpriorities.
Let's prioritize that list.
Let's take something big onthat list.
(34:36):
Let's hit that first.
And that's how I would try toget through this.
Get shit done.
Find that priority, make ithappen.
When I'm up against a deadline,when I need to make something
happen, I look at my to-do list.
Here's how everything is.
These are the two millionthings I need to get done.
I'm going to prioritize it.
I better get these two donetoday, because we always talk
about that pareto principle the80.
(34:57):
20% of what I do is going toyield 80% results.
I'm going to take the two mostimportant things on my list of
that 10, and I'm going to getthose done right now.
Now, leading into my currentsituation, I've realized that
those big priorities on my list,the big needle movers on my
(35:17):
list that pay my bills, thatkeep my business running, that
keep my house warm, that can putfood on the table, that can
keep us safe, those things,those big priorities on the top
of my list, they're there dayafter day, week after week.
Part of it is out of my control.
(35:40):
There's those big custom ordersthat are sitting on the top of
your list, that you've beencounting on, that you've been
banking on that.
This person's going to say yesto that.
They're going to get back toyou.
That that's the money I need.
That's my mortgage paymentright there.
That's the new barn paymentright there.
That's the insurance for thebusiness payment right there.
(36:02):
That's the money I need to goto Florida right here.
And you put in the time and youput in the work and you send the
invoice, or you send the quote,or you send the email, and it
sits and it sits and it sits andyou get that FOMO, that fear of
missing out, and you check yourphone every 10 minutes, waiting
(36:23):
for somebody to pay an invoice,waiting for somebody to say you
got the job, waiting forsomebody to say I need this, I
need that triple it.
We're going to make this happen.
So you get hyper-focused onchecking your email, checking
your phone.
That leads into distractions,that leads into beating yourself
up, that leads into a completedip in morale.
And the next thing you know,you're feeling depressed and
(36:46):
you're beating yourself up andyou're spending time with your
baby and you're trying to bepresent and you're trying to
enjoy every single minute of itand you're spending time with
your baby and you're trying tobe present and you're trying to
enjoy every single minute of it.
And you're thinking, man, howam I going to leave the house in
a few weeks and head south tomake money, how am I going to
leave this little princessbehind?
And the next thing you know,you look at your account and you
say, buddy, you ain't goingnowhere, you can't afford
nothing.
And all these things begin tomanifest themselves into utter
(37:07):
chaos in your life and yourealize your whole philosophy of
GSD get shit done is punchingyou right in the face, because
even if you're trying to getthings done, you're not getting
them done.
And if you're hung up on thosepriorities at the top of your
list, if you're hung up on thoseitems that you need to cash in
for you to stay in business, youbecome paralyzed by those
(37:28):
priorities not moving.
You become paralyzed at thosebig items at the top of your
list nobody else gives a shitabout.
You care about them, yourfamily cares about them, your
business depends on them, yourmortgage depends on them.
But guess what?
The person on the other enddoesn't give a shit, because you
know what.
Their mortgage and their familyand their lives depend on
(37:49):
something totally different thanyour quote, than your idea,
than your invoice.
So it sits and it waits.
That shit has begun to paralyzeme.
I woke up this morning andrealized that's what's happening
At 4.30 in the morning.
I have my credit cardstatements open, my bank
accounts open and I am doingmath to the high heavens and I
(38:11):
write down a list, because Istarted off with that list.
We all have the.
This is what I need to makeeach month.
This is what I need to do.
This is where I need to be.
This is how I pay the bills,balance the account.
This is where I need to be.
But I haven't reassessed thatnumber because you know what's
happened.
Gsd has taken over my life forme, because what I've become
(38:34):
accustomed to do is to look atsomething and say, well, how do
I get this done?
And I find a way to get it done.
You always find a way when youare motivated by GSD, get shit
done.
You always find a way to get itdone.
Sometimes, getting it done whenthe most important thing to get
done is to pay your mortgage.
(38:55):
You rob Peter to pay Paul, topay a mortgage, to pay that $500
business insurance.
You're back to robbing Peter topay Paul, you're moving this,
you're hiding that, you'reshuffling this.
When all of a sudden yourealize that for the past couple
of months your business hasn'tbeen bringing in the income that
(39:15):
it's accustomed to, when youbegin to realize that the
accounts that you have that youuse to manipulate and move funds
around have now become maxedout, when you look at it and say
, wow, every single line ofcredit that I have I have maxed
out.
Every savings account, everychecking account maxed out,
(39:37):
equity accounts maxed out.
It's a tough spot.
When you sit there and you writeyour list and you realize the
money that it takes for you toremain in business, the money
that it takes for you to providefor your family, has almost
doubled in the past few months.
You face fear right between theblinkers.
(40:05):
Because here's the thing aboutRob and Peter to pay Paul.
Those things all come withinterest.
And the bigger the account, thehigher the interest.
And the next thing you know,when you've got six, seven
accounts with no more room, withno more ceiling, you start to
(40:29):
realize that every payment thatyou can afford to put in falls
below the interest charge.
You realize you now havedoubled the cost that is
required to remain in businessand to remain as what you would
consider a self-worthy man thatcan provide for his family.
(40:51):
When those numbers have doubledand you don't know what to do.
When you write those numbersdown and you look at them and
say to yourself, my business hasnever, in five years of
business, been able to sustain alevel of income to survive that
level of expenses.
You ask yourself what to dowhen you look at those numbers
(41:14):
and realize you have previouslife and that career that you
left, that you thought was sofantastic, that six-figure
income that you thought was soamazing.
That income would not sustainthe debt you've created for
yourself.
Not sustain the debt you'vecreated for yourself.
(41:38):
Today I did some 4.30 am maththat I wish I never had.
Now I will say I'm glad I didit right Because I'm doing the
math when I have an opportunityto overcome the math right.
If I didn't listen to this book, then I don't know when I take
(41:59):
the time to do thisself-assessment.
If I'm not on the tractor outin the snow, then I'm not
listening to the book.
If I'm not fueled up on coldmeds and forcing myself to slow
down, then maybe I don't do themath.
You understand what I'm saying,guys.
There was layers to this.
(42:21):
There are things that had tohappen for me to understand this
.
I was so focused on getting shitdone that every day I look at
it and say what am I going topay today?
What am I going to get paytoday?
What have I got to get donetoday?
What can I accomplish today?
And I just attack the day and Imake it happen, and I've been
making it happen.
We've made it every single day,every single month.
(42:43):
But if you don't have one ofthose things happen if I'm not
on a tractor because it's beensnowing so much, I'm probably
not listening to the book.
If I'm not hopped up on coldmedicine, I'm probably not
slowing myself down enough.
I'm just so focused on gettingthings done.
But when you're feeling so sickand you're feeling so shitty,
(43:05):
or you're trying to watch yourbaby and you can't go anywhere
else, all that can happen isyour mind can take over.
That can run you down somerabbit holes of self-doubt,
despair, depression, or it canforce you into some
self-evaluation.
Thankfully, all these littlethings added up to me sitting
down and doing some of theshittiest math I've ever
(43:27):
friggin' done To have theself-assessment that you as a
man, as an entrepreneur, as abusiness owner, as a husband, as
a son, as a father, has fuckedup.
You worked so hard and fast forall the right reasons, the best
(43:49):
of intentions, heart in theright place, but you didn't take
on the big picture.
You didn't slow down to seeeverything that was going on.
You got so self-involved in theswirl and making things happen
that you lost sight ofeverything.
You didn't see what washappening around you.
I failed.
I failed because I just felt,and I've always felt, that I can
(44:13):
just get shit done, I canprioritize it, I can list it, I
can knock it out.
This too shall pass, I shallfind a way.
Tomorrow's another day.
I just make things happen, buteventually you run into a wall
where you can't continue to justmake shit happen.
Now I wish I was on here withsome beautiful, rosy, optimistic
(44:38):
scenario and an action plan asto how I'm going to overcome
this.
Now, I'm not saying that Ihaven't been putting a lot of
thought into that and I'm tryingto establish the best way to do
this, but I don't have the bestanswers right now.
Folks, I'm working through this.
Here's the scenario.
(44:59):
Here is the kick in the pants.
Here's the old-fashioned dickkick.
I'm working through this withyou right now, real time.
Here I am counseling session.
This is happening.
Share the struggle podcast.
We turn the microphone on.
We're bold enough to counselingsession.
This is happening.
Share the struggle podcast.
We turn the microphone on.
We're bold enough to share ourstruggle.
This is my ultimate struggle.
This is a struggle that I'vecreated for myself and for my
(45:19):
business.
I'm not on here saying woe isme.
I'm not shedding tears Now.
I might be acknowledging somefears because this is some scary
shit, but here's the truth.
It's reality and I don't runfrom reality.
And I also know there's a greatdeal of growth that comes from
(45:42):
being vulnerable enough to sharemy reality, because I know
there's so many of you listeningright now that are living
paycheck to paycheck.
I know so many of you that aredealing with the same struggles
that I'm dealing with.
I know so many of you listeningright now that are small
business owners that have beenrobbing Peter to pay Paul for
years.
I know so many of you thataren't business owners but
(46:04):
you've just been scraping by topay the mortgage, to put fuel in
the tanks to put food in thefridge.
Right, I understand we're allstruggling.
I am coming on here and beingbold enough to say I screwed up.
I screwed up for the rightreasons, but I screwed up.
And I'm being bold enough tosay these things because I want
(46:24):
to put out the cautionary taleto each and every one of you.
Maybe you operate the way I dotoo.
Maybe you just try to get shitdone every single day.
You just what do I got to dotoday to make it through today,
to create a tomorrow?
If you're like me and you'vebeen doing those things, here's
me saying whoa buddy.
Maybe you want to slow down,pump the brakes a little bit,
(46:47):
reassess what we're doing hereand maybe find a pivot plan to
make things happen.
I also am willing to bevulnerable and transparent
enough to say these thingsbecause I am confident that I
will find a way out of thissituation.
I created this mess and I'llclean this mess.
And I also know on the otherside of this struggle, on the
(47:10):
other side of this massiveobstacle, is a beautiful horizon
of opportunity andaccomplishments.
I know that I'll get there.
I am confident enough to turnon this microphone and tell you
that today as of this podcastthat drops on February 5th,
episode 239 of Share, theStruggle podcast.
(47:31):
I am dead broke, but I could beon here next week on episode
240 telling you have no fear,your boy is here.
This too shall pass.
These things can change quickly, but we need to acknowledge
them, we need to be aware ofthem and we need to make a plan
(47:54):
to accomplish them.
And I know I can do that and Iknow it'll happen.
Some of the difficulties for meis getting to Florida.
Right as I'm laying out theseobstacles that are before me,
I've been given the opportunityto attend bike week.
I have help going with me toattend bike week.
I have help going with me toattend bike week to make things
(48:16):
happen, but, based off of myfinances, I don't have enough
cash to really double down oninventory, to bring enough
inventory down there to reallycrush it.
I don't have enough capital toreinvest in the business when it
comes to just having enough new, fresh products to make the
(48:36):
current customer base excited tobuy something new.
So going to Florida can betough because you're trying to
scrape by just to have enoughitems on the shelf to make
things happen.
That becomes a challenge.
The cost of being a vendor, thecost of travel to get there,
all those things right now Ican't afford.
I'm not telling you that Iwon't find a way to afford those
(48:59):
things, because I'm hell-bentto find a way, but I am man
enough to put my hand on theCabela's catalog and to give a
full frontal, confessional truthfrom this guy.
This is where I'm at, this iswhat I'm up against, and I'm
willing to say this because in afew weeks time I want to be
able to come on here and expressto you how I overcame it, how I
(49:23):
beat it and how I plan todefeat it, because the debt I've
created, the obstacles that arein front of me, even if I can
get around these short term, Ineed to analyze and find a
bigger plan to make it long termto overcome these things, to
live long and prosper.
You understand, but until then,I do know if I can find my way
(49:46):
to Florida, that just might bethe break that I need to make
things happen.
But if that one doesn't workout, I'll find something else
that does, because I'm convincedthat we have a brand that this
country needs, that the peoplewant.
We have a mission and a reason.
We are here to bring backAmerican manufacturing.
(50:06):
We have a mission to supportAmericans and American jobs, to
represent an American spiritwith an American brand.
I'm hell uh motivated and Ibelieve we will make it Now.
I wish I was standing here witha bunch of actionable steps.
(50:26):
You know, a nice game planwould be nice, a nice to-do list
, a nice pivot list would befantastic.
I wish I was more prepared thatI could come to you today and
say, hey, this is the facts, butthis is where we're headed.
But I don't have that yet.
America.
Okay, I did the math at four inthe morning.
I'm hepped up on cold pills.
(50:48):
I've been throwing spitballs ata wall all damn day trying to
figure this out.
I don't have an answer yet,okay, but that's okay.
It's okay to not have an answer, all right, it's okay to not
have an answer.
It's not okay to give up onyourself.
It's not okay to to just talkdown to yourself, to beat
(51:08):
yourself, to abuse yourself.
You know what I'm saying?
It's not okay to give up.
It's not okay to pack it up andto just say you know what?
Not me.
I'm not wired that way, as muchas it would be easier to just
pack it up and move on tosomething else.
(51:29):
It's just not into me to quitand I truly feel that by being
courageous enough, get itCourageous.
My word, my guiding word, sonof a bitch that kicked me right
between the blinkers.
That's a dick kick right there.
Okay, I should have picked adifferent word.
Y'all, if you listen back toFinding your Guiding Words,
(51:52):
which I think was one of myfavorite episodes of the year so
far me and the wife started theyear off identifying our
guiding words, and I pickedcourageous courage, and I also
picked sacrifice.
I am being courageous enough tostand here right now and to give
this confessional, to give thistruthful now, and to give this
(52:16):
confessional, to give thistruthful, heartfelt, just shit
sandwich that I just gave.
I know if I'm courageous enoughto say this is my struggles, to
express my struggles, I'mconfident enough to know I will
find an answer.
This, too shall pass, andsomeday, some way, we can look
back on this episode and say Itold you and if you are
(52:36):
struggling and if you are down,the proof is in the pudding that
success leaves clues and thatthis is possible for you too.
So, until the next time when Iget to turn this microphone on
and express great success andtriumph.
Until then, thank you forsupporting my american dream.
Now go wash.
(52:56):
That's it and that's all.
Biggie smiles.
(53:18):
If you're a loud, proud Americanand you find yourself just
wanting more, find me on YouTubeand Facebook at Loud, proud
American, or the Face page, asmy mama calls it.
If you're a fan of the GrahamCracker, you want to find me on
Instagram, or all the kids aretickety-talking on the TikTok.
You can find me on both ofthose at loud, underscore, proud
(53:51):
, underscore American.
I'm not talking about myself.
A big ol' thank you to the boysfrom the Gut Truckers for the
background beats and the themesong for this here podcast.
If you are enjoying what you'rehearing, you can track down the
Gut Truckers on Facebook.
Just search Gut Truckers.
Give them, motherfuckers, alike too.
Make it bleed, I like to.
(54:30):
I truly thank you forsupporting my American dream.
Now go wash your fucking hands,you filthy savage.
If you are like me, then every day you wake up and
think what do I have to get donetoday?
And when you lay your head downat night, you think about what
you got done today.
And if you're like me, if atthe end of the day you're
feeling you didn't get enoughshit done, you don't sleep very
(00:22):
well and before you know ityou're done counting sheep and
you're waking up short on sleepand you're asking yourself all
over again what do I have to getdone today?
Well, today, on Share theStruggle Podcast, we are going
(00:42):
to tackle g, s, d getting shitdone.
Let me tell you somethingeverybody struggles.
The difference is some peoplechoose to go through it and some
choose to grow through it.
The choice is completely yours.
Which one you choose will havea very profound effect on the
(01:04):
way you live your life.
If you find strength in thestruggle, then this podcast is
for you.
You have a relationship that iscomfortable with uncomfortable
conversations.
Uncomfortable conversationschallenge you, humble you and
(01:25):
they build you.
When you sprinkle a little timeand distance on it, it all
makes sense.
Most disagreements, they stemfrom our own insecurities.
You are right where you need tobe back on time.
We can fight the world.
(01:45):
We can fight the beat.
What it do, what it hot diggitydo.
Good Lord, am I so excited tobe back with you.
(02:12):
Oh, it's true, it's damn true.
I missed you, boo.
Yeah, I missed you, boo.
Thank you to each and every oneof you, you boo-boos out there
that have been continuing totune in, to dial in, to listen
in to the Share the Strugglepodcast proudly brought to you
by the fine folks over at AloudProud American, aka myself, my
(02:33):
wife, my mother, my baby, yeah,that's pretty much all the
company officials, althoughthere is many part-time
employees out there.
Okay, shout out to all thepart-time Aloud Proud American
employees out there Appreciateyou, appreciate you, love you.
Thank you so much.
We are reciprocatingappreciation this morning.
That's what we're doing.
I'm appreciating you and you'reappreciating me by tuning back
(02:54):
in.
You've been tuning in so long.
Matter of fact, we have arrivedat episode 239, and today I'm
going to go another full frontalconfessional.
I'm going to lay it all on theline in 239.
The name of this podcast isShare the Struggle, because
everybody struggles, and todayI'm going to share with you my
(03:15):
current struggle, one thatabsolutely certainly has me
backed in a corner, up againstthe ropes that most men would
probably give in call it quits,pack up their bags and begin
something else.
But maybe I'm just dumb enoughto get a shovel and to keep on
digging.
That's part of the problem here, folks.
(03:35):
A little thing that I deal withcalled GSD getting shit done.
I tend to just work and workfor something and I often don't
see the freight train on theother side of the tunnel with
its lights shining oh so bright,laying on that horn, looking to
come at me.
Tonight I often shun thosethings and say let me tackle
(03:57):
what's right here in front of me.
But we're going to get theretoday, folks.
That's where we're headed.
That's the meat and barrerasportion of the show today gsd
getting shit done.
But before we get into the mainsubject, I must let y'all know I
personally feel like crap.
Oh my gosh.
(04:18):
Yeah, I feel like an old dog,an old sick dog out on the porch
just soaking up sun, too sickto have a biscuit.
You know what I mean, god.
I feel like crap.
My nose is all stuffy, my headis congested, my throat's all
(04:40):
scratchy.
I feel sore, beat down, rundown, tired, pushed around.
A lot of things adding up, Ithink the stress of the business
and the subject that we'regoing to get into today, that's
a big portion of it.
Also where I'm from here in thegreat state of Maine.
I'm a maniac up here and I'mliving on the Northeast.
(05:01):
We have dodged winter for quitesome time.
Well, it's arrived.
It's arrived so much so that itseems to be every other day or
so.
I'm out on the tractor startingmy day plowing snow, and we
have a pretty good sizeddriveway, parking lot, road to
(05:22):
the horse field, all thesethings, and I got a tractor with
a four-foot bucket and I do itall one bucket at a time.
But I will tell you this Nottoo long ago, just a short
couple of years ago, I used toshovel my entire house by hand.
That's right, if you're a dayone and you've been listening
for the whole time, you know I'ma little funky, I'm a little
(05:46):
silly and to get by we had blownup a couple of plow trucks,
blew up a tractor.
Didn't have any options, exceptthis guy right here, his old
back.
Ok, are we seeing a trend here?
Gsd get shit done.
I used to wake up and go shit.
We got a lot of snow.
(06:07):
Well, let me.
Grab a snow scoop which, forthose of you that don't live in
the East, it's almost like atoboggan type sled scenario,
with a big handle on it and youjust scoop up snow.
You can walk behind it and pushsnow, but when you have the wet
heavy stuff it just fills up.
So you go two feet, pick it up,dump it.
Two feet, pick it up, dump it.
Two feet, pick it up, dump it.
My driveway is over 300 feet,so you do the math on that.
Okay, when you get the light,fluffy stuff, you can just get
(06:29):
behind it and just push yoursweet little ass on the way
through it, and it's not too bad.
Then you got to shovel out theyou know random areas, but when
you get the wet stuff, that usedto be a real pain in the ass.
So for two winters I shoveled byhand.
I cleaned our driveway, ourwalkways, all our land by hand,
(06:52):
and then, thankfully, a coupleof years ago, I just buckled up
and took the plunge into buyinga tractor, and maybe I couldn't
afford it.
Maybe that's on tap today, butit needed to be done.
So to get back to my sicknessover the past I don't know man
week, two weeks, I don't knowwhat it is.
It's all a blur right now.
Blame it on the tussing, okay,blame it on the cold meds we be
(07:14):
on, but every it feels likeother day or so.
I am outside, starting my dayoff with three or four hours on
the tractor moving snow.
It's roughly two and a half tofour hours, depending on the
storm that I'm out therecleaning snow Usually in the
snow, the cold, the wind, therain, the wet, the whatever.
(07:38):
Okay, y'all experienced weatherbefore and if you haven't, you
probably own a TV.
You know what I'm talking about.
So I've gone out there and gotall wet and soggy, all wet and
soggy and cold and hanging outin the wind.
And then you go out in thecommunity and you just mingle
with other sick folks and thisis where you end up at.
(07:59):
Boys and girls.
This is what happens.
You get sick and for the pastfew days I feel like snot.
Actually, one of my days ofbeing sick I was outside on the
tractor for three hours andspoiler alert, spoiler I didn't
have to be on the tractor todayand, by all accounts, I won't
have to be on the tractortomorrow, but the very next day
(08:23):
I shall be on the tractor.
According to the forecast here,I'm recording on a tuesday
you're gonna hear me on awednesday but on thursday we got
a storm coming, and then onsaturday into sunday we get
another storm coming.
So, as I've been telling youevery other day or so, you'll
find my jolly ass on the seat ofa tractor out there moving snow
, which is a hell of a lotbetter than doing it by hand.
(08:44):
But what I'm here to tell youis, I think the results of this
little forecast situation herehas provided me with the
sickness I am feeling.
Blessed that it's not COVID oranything like that.
It's a cold, it's a common coldscenario, but it's adding up.
I pulled my back the beginningof the week doing barn chores.
(09:06):
Then you spend all the time onthe tractor and then you
sprinkle in being sick and youfactor in taking care of your
five-month-olds and trying torun your business and to take
time to be with you.
Beautiful people here todayrecording a podcast.
All that adds up and it alladds up to me to say, lord, I've
been tired.
Okay, I've been tired, actuallyso tired.
(09:29):
I was up at 4 am this morningbecause we're going to get into
it.
Sometimes you don't get enoughstuff off that to-do list.
And doesn't it feel like whenyou're sick or when other things
come up, like, hey, here's whatI've got to do today, right, I
have to get all this stuff doneoff my list.
And you open the littlecurtains and you peek your
(09:51):
little eyes outside and say,shit, I gotta go up there and
plow the driveway so the wifecan go to work.
And then all those things onyour list get pushed back and
that's where we're headed today.
But I wanted to read thiscautionary tale to you before we
start the episode to say to youI do not know at what point in
time in today's show that coldmedicine is going to become
unbearable and it's going to putthis old grizzly down.
If I start slurring, if I startsnoring, I'm going to pull the
(10:13):
plug, all right.
So I can't promise you a biglong episode today.
What I can guarantee you is I'mready to bring to you another
beautiful, bring to you anotherbeautiful, fabulous, fantastic,
just superb, beautiful, special,beautiful little thing here,
okay, of a podcast.
(10:34):
Our consecutive streak willcontinue 239 beautiful weeks on
tap for you.
Today we just might besponsored by some old cold meds
that I found in the medicinecabinet, you know, when they're
old enough to not find anexpiration date, when you got
nasal spray from 2021, that'llget it done.
But, truth be told, I can'tpromise you a long show today.
(10:57):
But it don't matter, becausewe're going to cover what's
important today.
Get set Back on time.
We can fly, we can fly, we canfly, we can fly, we can fly, we
can fly, we can fly, we can fly,we can fly, we can fly, we can
fly, we can fly, we can fly, wecan fly, we can fly, we can fly,
we can fly, we can fly, we.
(11:33):
And we're back.
That's my radio voice rightthere, if I was on the radio.
But I'm not on the radio, buttechnically I am because I'm on
your radio, right?
So I mean, that makes sense.
Fun fact for you I applied to beon the radio and I didn't even
get an interview.
No, seriously, I actually had aconnection to a local country
(11:54):
station.
I put together a beautifulsales pitch I might say so
myself outlining the things thatI could bring to the station,
forwarded that stuff over whenthey were looking to hire for a
morning host and nothing, dude.
I didn't even get a call backor an interview.
I actually knew two people.
(12:14):
The one person that I sent theapplication to, I mean they
responded but I had met them,we'd done mutual business
together, and then anotherperson who was actually one of
the fellow morning hostsbusiness together, and then
another person who was actuallyone of the fellow morning hosts.
I had like a pseudo likebusiness relationship where
we've crossed paths and help youknow things out, whatever.
(12:35):
I don't remember the wholescenario, but when I was with
the dealership we had crossedpaths and stuff like that and I
was looking to maybe give upselling motorcycles and to take
a job on the radio.
I thought it was a good fit forme and I guess, judging by the
podcast, I feel like it'sprobably been a pretty good fit.
And if you've been listening onas long as you have, then I
guess maybe you'd vouch for me.
But if you think about it, inmy side gig over here, I'm a DJ
(12:57):
and I've been podcasting for 239consecutive weeks.
I'm a DJ and I've beenpodcasting for 239 consecutive
weeks and I don't think they paya lot to be a local radio DJ
around here morning show,whatever you know, and we have
miserable, awful morning showsaround here.
They're crap.
I actually, if I want to listento a morning show, I actually
(13:21):
use the Odyssey app and I listento a Texas radio station every
single day, so I don't knowwhere the hell that came from.
Oh, I use my radio voice tostart the show.
That's where that came from.
I apologize for that littlemission.
We just went off on there, butI do find life funny when you
put those things on the tableand you think about it.
(13:41):
I was a sales consultant.
I was willing to give up my jobat the Harley-Davidson
dealership to start a career inthe radio business when they
didn't give me the opportunityof an interview.
And then, when you fast forwarda little bit down the road, I
ended up becoming a salesmanager, a general manager,
(14:03):
marketing manager, eventsmanager, general manager,
partner.
So had I gotten the opportunityto be a disc jockey, radio host
, whatever you call them, Iwould have missed out on all
those things, and if I wouldhave taken that opportunity, I
might not have ever met my wife,because I met my wife at the
(14:24):
dealership.
So it's crazy how life works outright, and I think that's one
of the things that we have tokeep in mind, even when we get
into our subject today that, nomatter what the difficulty level
is that we face each day, we'vegot to remind ourselves that
there is a plan.
Okay, there is a plan and thepath that you're on you're on
for a reason and that this tooshall pass and this will always
(14:48):
work out right.
When you sprinkle time anddistance on it, it all makes
sense.
And I also am willing to admit,when the difficulty level ramps
up, I often feel on the otherside of that difficulty is a
breakthrough.
On the other side of that greatstruggle is amazing triumph.
So I use that philosophy inpushing through whatever it is
(15:10):
that I have to get done today.
Right, that's the way I look atthings.
Now, if I connect the opening oftoday's show, the little story
we went on about me being on atractor and getting sick and
where we're heading right now,I'm going to put a nice little
bow, a fancy little bow on themand I'm going to connect all
those right now Because, whilebeing outside preparing to be
(15:33):
sick, moving snow around in thetractor, I take advantage of
those times by putting goodstuff in my ears.
Now the tractor speakers usedto play music.
Like I have speakers on thetractor, tractor and they work.
It's great.
Maybe it's cause it's been socold up, but they, they sound
like shit right now.
So I keep headphones in and Itry to dial into, uh, something
(15:56):
motivational, somethingproductive.
If I'm on the tractor and Ihave a whole list of things that
I should be doing that I can'tdo, I'm doing, you know, what I
have to do.
I try to at least feel a littlemore productive by putting
something positive in in my dome.
I try to um, set the day right,motivate myself, because one
(16:17):
thing that happens is we allhave a tendency to procrastinate
and we all have a tendency tojust give in to our devices
right and our vices.
And it's real easy to like beon the tractor and then come
inside all cold and wet and thenchange into something warm,
maybe get a coffee, sit on thecouch and the next thing you
(16:37):
know you're drifting off intosome show or you're doing
whatever, anything beyondworking right.
It's easy to do that.
So to combat that, I try to putsomething positive in my ear
pods, something like this showokay, I've been known to listen
to our shows.
I've been known to dial themback.
I've done some plowing in thepast couple of weeks and
(16:59):
listened to our shows.
I want to make sure that themessage rings through that we're
getting things out there that Iwant to put out there.
I take pride in what we'redoing.
Y'all I check up on my work, soI encourage you guys to do the
same thing.
If you're out there moving snow, put those positive things in,
because you're a hell of a lotless likely to take a break from
(17:20):
what your day has to do.
What you have to get done todaywhen you get off that tractor
or you get done with thatmundane task you had to do when
you've been filling your mindwith positivity and knowledge
during that time, you're so muchmore likely to continue that
positive production without therest of your day.
Right, you just carry itthroughout the day and you get
(17:42):
things done.
I find if I'm putting the wrongthings in, if I'm just zoned out
, listening to like sports talkor whatever, I'm more likely to
get off the tractor,procrastinate and not do what I
need to do.
So to combat those things, Iput that positive mojo in All
right.
So in doing so, with all therecent snow storms you've had,
(18:04):
I've been crushing a new bookand really enjoying the book.
But it's nice to know if I'mgoing to spend, you know, two to
four hours on the tractormoving snow.
I can crush a good amount ofthis book and it's making me
think.
Right, I'm doing the routinethings but I'm really spiking up
(18:25):
conversation and because ofthat habit, because of that book
, we have fueled an entireepisode today.
Two things, number one, I willsay the tough thing about being
on a tractor or a treadmill orwhatever it might be that you're
doing and you're listening to abook, is it can become tough to
(18:47):
take notes when I'm listeningto audible books.
I like to take notes, go backand re-listen Some of these
audible books that you listen to.
They have little packets youcan work through.
This one, I don't think, hadone of those packets.
So I was like you know what,I'm going to tackle this and if
there's something, I'll kind ofgo back to it.
(19:07):
I've been known to look at theclock on the book itself and
screenshot it.
So if I need to go back to findthat, if I'm at the gym, I keep
my note section open and, likein between sets, I would put the
information into my notepad,which who am I kidding, I
haven't been to the gym sincehis baby showed up, even before
that, so but I'm just giving protips to everybody.
(19:30):
Okay, pro tips Number two I'msure people are wondering well,
what's the damn book you'relistening to?
And it's actually named Buy Backyour Time by a fellow named Dan
Martell.
So far, it's really good.
It's actually above my paygrade in life as far as like
where I am right now, and it'sabout entrepreneurs and
(19:51):
different levels ofentrepreneurship and how you can
become overcome by yourbusiness and how to buy back
your time.
And I certainly feel right nowthat I'm struggling with time.
I don't have enough time.
If you guys have been listening, you know the schedule.
There's twice a week where it'sjust me and baby and that's
(20:16):
great and I love that time and Ilove that opportunity.
I love that opportunity and Iwouldn't trade that.
But I need to account for thatin my schedule and how I get
things done.
And I'm struggling with thatbecause at the end of the day,
when, um, I have beautifullittle Paisley rain, I'm kind of
worn out by the end of it.
So, like I'm recording on a ona Tuesday, today I actually got
(20:37):
up at 4 am and then I brought mymom, I went to the office, did
some work.
I brought my mom to work.
I came home, did a little morework, then I spent time with
Paisley, go get my mom from work, come home and now I'm
recording a podcast.
I should be going to my officewhen this is done tonight and
working on some stuff, but I'musually pretty damn drained by
(21:01):
the time I turn the microphoneoff and I go outside and do barn
chores.
So it tends to wear me out andI don't feel as productive when
that's the end result.
So, based off of that struggleand a lot of other struggles
that are going on business-wisethat we're going to get into, I
start looking for things likelittle glimmers of hope, little
(21:24):
fun-filled packs of motivation.
So when I'm struggling withsomething or I'm eager to learn
something or to better myself ina certain area, I seek out
books on those topics, I seekout speeches on those areas and
I listen to them and I try toabsorb myself in those and I
(21:44):
look for little nuggets to helpme overcome just what it is I'm
going through, aka growingthrough.
So I didn't realize I was doingthis, I didn't realize I was
operating under this GSDphilosophy get shit done and in
this book, buy Back your TimeDan brings up.
(22:06):
Entrepreneurs tend to be wiredto just get shit done.
One of the great concepts in hisbook is as your business grows.
His whole mantra is you don'tneed to hire somebody to help
grow your business.
You need to hire somebody tohelp buy back your time, and I
love that concept.
(22:26):
And the root behind thatconcept is that there's so many
things that you do with yourbusiness that you're great at
and there's so many tasks inyour business that are
overtaking your time that youmight not be great at or you
might not like doing at all, andthey're actually
counterproductive because reallyyou could be paying somebody to
(22:46):
do those things and you'rewasting more time and money by
doing them yourself.
If somebody would do thosethings for $15 an hour and your
time is worth $50 an hour andyou're spending your $50 an hour
working on $15 an hour tasks,then it's counterproductive.
So don't hire somebody to growyour business.
(23:06):
Hire somebody to help buy backyour time, because when you hire
somebody, that creates the timefor you, that creates
opportunity for you opportunityfor you to be with your family,
but also opportunity for you tofocus on the things in your
business that you're great atand then you can excel in and
then, in result, your businessgrows and grows and grows.
So the whole philosophy oflooking at hiring not to grow
(23:30):
your business but to buy backyour time results in growing
your business and rewarding youwith more time.
I love the concept.
Here's the thing I can't hirenobody, okay, I can't pay myself
and in fact, where we're headedtoday is the business hasn't
been paying me in quite sometime and that's a problem that
(23:51):
has revealed itself over thepast couple of months.
We've had a snag in businesstowards the end of the year,
y'all know we had to take andlighten our schedule up as
Paisley rain was arriving.
And then you know, justholidays, what happens in our
business is, after the holidays,people have spent their budget,
(24:11):
people have spent their moneyon gifts, on dinners, on family
times, experiences and the wholescenario right.
And then, if you're in theNortheast, you're spending money
on heating oil and all thosethings.
So people are tapped out.
Their money, their disposableincome, has been used up.
They're not necessarilythinking of hey, that's a
(24:33):
beautiful, lovely, soft,fantastic feeling, proudly made
in USA t-shirt that I need tohave.
People don't have thedisposable income right now in
my area to just say, hey, I'mgoing to buy myself, I'm going
to treat myself today on somebeautiful made in America
merchandise.
I mean, I wish they would allsay that.
But I understand, you'redealing with the holidays,
(24:56):
you're dealing with heating oil,you're dealing with the cost of
the grocery store, inflation,all those things.
So it results in me being alittle slow.
The way to counteract this is Ihave made the decision to head
south.
I have put it on the line thatI'm going to go to Florida and
we're going to double down andtriple down on the business.
(25:16):
Remember our guiding words thisyear we're going to be
courageous.
We're going to double down andtriple down on the business.
Remember our guiding words thisyear we're going to be
courageous, we're going to actwith courage and we're going to
need to sacrifice.
I need to sacrifice time awayfrom my family and my baby.
And I got to go south and makethis happen, because down south
they're not looking at thingsthe same way we are right now.
They're not dealing with someof the same struggles.
So everybody's struggling whenit comes to inflation.
(25:37):
Don't get me wrong, but youunderstand what I'm saying.
I'm going to bike week.
These people are on vacation.
They're spending money.
Vacation money don't count.
Okay, that's how this works.
Now, in heading towards thisgoal, I have realized it is a
major struggle because thingsaren't coming in at the rate in
(25:58):
which they were coming in.
So we've had a stall, we've hada stop, we've run against a
wall here where there's notenough money coming in to.
Number one sustain the business.
Number two pay the bills thatneeds to be paid for the
business and for my personallife.
And number three provide theadditional income for me to head
(26:18):
south my personal life.
And number three provide theadditional income for me to head
south.
We have run into a brick wall.
I didn't think about said brickwall and the way that I'm
thinking about it today if itwasn't for me being saddled up
in a tractor for the past fewdays pushing snow, listening to
Buy Back your Time In Buy Backyour Time.
As I explained to you, it talksabout entrepreneurs leveling up.
(26:41):
I'm not in a spot where I canlevel up when it comes to hiring
employees and doing things.
My business, full Frontal,confessional, hand on the
Cabela's Catalog, eye to the Sky.
Absolute, heartfelt truth fromthis guy is broke, hard gulp.
My business is broke.
(27:03):
We are tapped out.
We have hit a wall of I don'teven know how you want to call
it wall of discomfort, wall ofpain, a wall that just almost
seems impossible to climb overand it leaves you feeling pretty
(27:23):
tapped out.
We started Loud Proud, americanin November of 2019.
Since the day of creation, theday of formation for our
business, we have never beenmore financially tight or up
against it than we are right now.
Now I know on the other side ofthis difficulty, I know on the
(27:47):
other side of this great wall isgreat triumph and great success
.
I know, to achieve what I wantto achieve, I'm going to face
moments like this.
We're going to get hit betweenthe blinkers with times like
this.
These are times when you needto self-evaluate and ask
yourself do you have what ittakes?
Are you in it for the rightreason?
(28:09):
Are you really committed toyour cause?
And if you are and you can finda way to push on, to carry on,
to move on, that on the otherside of this difficulty is great
success.
I know that and I truly feelthat in my heart.
I was unaware as to why and howI arrived at said situation,
other than the facts of hey,slow times, slow seasons.
(28:31):
Our business really kind ofeats it right now and, to be
honest, we haven't had theonline success we've hoped for.
We didn't have the eventsuccess that we've hoped for for
November, december and inJanuary it's a dead zone.
So this happens to us everyyear.
(28:52):
But this year I tried to takethe steps to grow the business.
We invested in the building.
You know, we've been makinginvestments in the bus and all
these things.
So we're trying to scale thebusiness and we were doing just
fine until we hit a wall wherewe just aren't making what we
expected.
A lot of different accountsthat we're looking to purchase,
(29:12):
these quotes that were put out,they just didn't get cashed in
and people are putting thingsoff.
And I know people are puttingthings off because they're
facing some of the samechallenges that I am.
But I didn't expect all thesedominoes to fall.
That's what I can see andunderstand.
That is the problem.
But what I didn't realize thatis a problem that has blended
(29:34):
into every facet of my life isGSD get shit done.
When I was listening to DanMartell Buy Back your Time he
talks about entrepreneurs andhow entrepreneurs have this
mindset of like just get up, getafter it, get shit done.
Whatever the situation is,right, I can work my way out of
(29:57):
this.
I can work my way into abrighter, more beautiful
tomorrow.
I can get through this.
When bills need to be paid anddeadlines need to be met, just
get shit done.
Now here's the deal.
When I first heard Dan talkabout entrepreneurs and that go
get it, drive, that can doattitude, and I heard him say
(30:20):
GSD.
That's what makes entrepreneursGSD, get shit done I was like
hell yeah, mother trucker,that's the mantra, that's the
mantra of me I get shit done.
If you are a day one, if you'vebeen listening to the Stereo
Circle Podcast since day one,number one, I acknowledge you.
Put your ones up, get your onesup wherever you are a day one.
If you've been listening to theother circle podcast since day
(30:40):
one, number one, I acknowledgeyou.
Put your ones up, get your onesup wherever you are.
Get your ones up.
I acknowledge you.
I appreciate you.
You know how true this is.
How many times have you heard mecome on here and say well,
here's the deadline, folks.
Uh, podcast now needs to bedone and edited and recorded and
fine-tuned and beautified andtyped up and printed up and
(31:03):
pushed out in the next 35minutes and it's 1230 at night
but I get it done.
You've heard me talk about,well, I've got this massive
order to do and I've beenwaiting for shipping and
receiving and this nonsense andthat nonsense.
And now I've got to finish thispodcast and I've got to go out
(31:25):
there and I've got 200 things toprint up because I've got a
deadline to get it to them in aday.
Right, what happens?
I get it done.
How many times do I tell you,man, I've got 35 cases of
apparel that I've get donebecause I got the fryberg fair
in a week and I'm gonna get donerecording here today and I'm
gonna work till two, threeo'clock in the morning every
(31:46):
freaking night until it's done.
But guess what?
I get it done.
That's me.
So you can imagine how excitedI was out there on my tractor
pushing back snow going.
Yeah, buddy, get it done, getshit done.
That's what I do, gsd.
Maybe I need a tattoo that saysgsd, get shit done.
That's me, that's what I do.
(32:06):
And I realized he was kind ofsaying it's not the best way to
be, because the truth is theproblem with get shit done is
you end up with a lot of shit.
And that's the truth.
And I listened to him explainthese things and it sat with me
and it resonated with me and Iput a lot of thought into it and
(32:28):
apparently my subconscious mindwas putting thought into it
that I didn't realize.
So when I mix in mysubconscious mind and what's
going on and this education frombuybacker time Sprinkle in some
cold medicine and my Tuesdayroutine of normally getting up
at 5 in the morning for my momat work, I actually woke up at 4
(32:50):
.
I was up at 4 in the morningthis morning and I got up and I
was feeling like crap.
I could barely breathe and Istumbled out to the couch and I
just kept thinking G, gsd, getshit done.
And I kept thinking, when theysay, the problem with get shit
done is you just end up with alot of shit, I started to
(33:13):
realize that's me.
Every day, a lot of shit, everyday the same shit.
That's part of the reason why Imoved on from my previous
career, because I didn't want tobe controlled by no pun
intended, all this everyday shit.
I wanted something different.
I dreamed of something better.
(33:33):
I started thinking about me andthe habits that make me.
I try to get up every day, breakout my list, right.
I have this to-do list thatjust travels with me.
I have this notebook and Iwrite things down.
And I tend to judge my day'ssuccess based off of how many
things get highlighted on mylist.
(33:54):
And I'm so critical of myselfthat, even on the days when I am
fortunate enough to highlight abunch of shit, if I sit on the
couch at the end of the night,and I'm so critical of myself
that even on the days when I amfortunate enough to highlight a
bunch of shit, if I sit on thecouch at the end of the night
and I look at that list and Isay, well, you get a lot of
things highlighted.
And then I dig into those areasthat have been highlighted and
I say, well, that one doesn'treally count.
That was pretty easy.
That one only took 10 minutes.
(34:15):
You can't count that.
And I start to beat myself upand say, well, look at that one
at the top.
You should have got that onedone.
That's a big one.
How come you didn't get thatone done?
And sometimes I beat myself upand I have these conversations
and I start the next day withpriorities.
Let's prioritize that list.
Let's take something big onthat list.
(34:36):
Let's hit that first.
And that's how I would try toget through this.
Get shit done.
Find that priority, make ithappen.
When I'm up against a deadline,when I need to make something
happen, I look at my to-do list.
Here's how everything is.
These are the two millionthings I need to get done.
I'm going to prioritize it.
I better get these two donetoday, because we always talk
about that pareto principle the80.
(34:57):
20% of what I do is going toyield 80% results.
I'm going to take the two mostimportant things on my list of
that 10, and I'm going to getthose done right now.
Now, leading into my currentsituation, I've realized that
those big priorities on my list,the big needle movers on my
(35:17):
list that pay my bills, thatkeep my business running, that
keep my house warm, that can putfood on the table, that can
keep us safe, those things,those big priorities on the top
of my list, they're there dayafter day, week after week.
Part of it is out of my control.
(35:40):
There's those big custom ordersthat are sitting on the top of
your list, that you've beencounting on, that you've been
banking on that.
This person's going to say yesto that.
They're going to get back toyou.
That that's the money I need.
That's my mortgage paymentright there.
That's the new barn paymentright there.
That's the insurance for thebusiness payment right there.
(36:02):
That's the money I need to goto Florida right here.
And you put in the time and youput in the work and you send the
invoice, or you send the quote,or you send the email, and it
sits and it sits and it sits andyou get that FOMO, that fear of
missing out, and you check yourphone every 10 minutes, waiting
(36:23):
for somebody to pay an invoice,waiting for somebody to say you
got the job, waiting forsomebody to say I need this, I
need that triple it.
We're going to make this happen.
So you get hyper-focused onchecking your email, checking
your phone.
That leads into distractions,that leads into beating yourself
up, that leads into a completedip in morale.
And the next thing you know,you're feeling depressed and
(36:46):
you're beating yourself up andyou're spending time with your
baby and you're trying to bepresent and you're trying to
enjoy every single minute of itand you're spending time with
your baby and you're trying tobe present and you're trying to
enjoy every single minute of it.
And you're thinking, man, howam I going to leave the house in
a few weeks and head south tomake money, how am I going to
leave this little princessbehind?
And the next thing you know,you look at your account and you
say, buddy, you ain't goingnowhere, you can't afford
nothing.
And all these things begin tomanifest themselves into utter
(37:07):
chaos in your life and yourealize your whole philosophy of
GSD get shit done is punchingyou right in the face, because
even if you're trying to getthings done, you're not getting
them done.
And if you're hung up on thosepriorities at the top of your
list, if you're hung up on thoseitems that you need to cash in
for you to stay in business, youbecome paralyzed by those
(37:28):
priorities not moving.
You become paralyzed at thosebig items at the top of your
list nobody else gives a shitabout.
You care about them, yourfamily cares about them, your
business depends on them, yourmortgage depends on them.
But guess what?
The person on the other enddoesn't give a shit, because you
know what.
Their mortgage and their familyand their lives depend on
(37:49):
something totally different thanyour quote, than your idea,
than your invoice.
So it sits and it waits.
That shit has begun to paralyzeme.
I woke up this morning andrealized that's what's happening
At 4.30 in the morning.
I have my credit cardstatements open, my bank
accounts open and I am doingmath to the high heavens and I
(38:11):
write down a list, because Istarted off with that list.
We all have the.
This is what I need to makeeach month.
This is what I need to do.
This is where I need to be.
This is how I pay the bills,balance the account.
This is where I need to be.
But I haven't reassessed thatnumber because you know what's
happened.
Gsd has taken over my life forme, because what I've become
(38:34):
accustomed to do is to look atsomething and say, well, how do
I get this done?
And I find a way to get it done.
You always find a way when youare motivated by GSD, get shit
done.
You always find a way to get itdone.
Sometimes, getting it done whenthe most important thing to get
done is to pay your mortgage.
(38:55):
You rob Peter to pay Paul, topay a mortgage, to pay that $500
business insurance.
You're back to robbing Peter topay Paul, you're moving this,
you're hiding that, you'reshuffling this.
When all of a sudden yourealize that for the past couple
of months your business hasn'tbeen bringing in the income that
(39:15):
it's accustomed to, when youbegin to realize that the
accounts that you have that youuse to manipulate and move funds
around have now become maxedout, when you look at it and say
, wow, every single line ofcredit that I have I have maxed
out.
Every savings account, everychecking account maxed out,
(39:37):
equity accounts maxed out.
It's a tough spot.
When you sit there and you writeyour list and you realize the
money that it takes for you toremain in business, the money
that it takes for you to providefor your family, has almost
doubled in the past few months.
You face fear right between theblinkers.
(40:05):
Because here's the thing aboutRob and Peter to pay Paul.
Those things all come withinterest.
And the bigger the account, thehigher the interest.
And the next thing you know,when you've got six, seven
accounts with no more room, withno more ceiling, you start to
(40:29):
realize that every payment thatyou can afford to put in falls
below the interest charge.
You realize you now havedoubled the cost that is
required to remain in businessand to remain as what you would
consider a self-worthy man thatcan provide for his family.
(40:51):
When those numbers have doubledand you don't know what to do.
When you write those numbersdown and you look at them and
say to yourself, my business hasnever, in five years of
business, been able to sustain alevel of income to survive that
level of expenses.
You ask yourself what to dowhen you look at those numbers
(41:14):
and realize you have previouslife and that career that you
left, that you thought was sofantastic, that six-figure
income that you thought was soamazing.
That income would not sustainthe debt you've created for
yourself.
Not sustain the debt you'vecreated for yourself.
(41:38):
Today I did some 4.30 am maththat I wish I never had.
Now I will say I'm glad I didit right Because I'm doing the
math when I have an opportunityto overcome the math right.
If I didn't listen to this book, then I don't know when I take
(41:59):
the time to do thisself-assessment.
If I'm not on the tractor outin the snow, then I'm not
listening to the book.
If I'm not fueled up on coldmeds and forcing myself to slow
down, then maybe I don't do themath.
You understand what I'm saying,guys.
There was layers to this.
(42:21):
There are things that had tohappen for me to understand this
.
I was so focused on getting shitdone that every day I look at
it and say what am I going topay today?
What am I going to get paytoday?
What have I got to get donetoday?
What can I accomplish today?
And I just attack the day and Imake it happen, and I've been
making it happen.
We've made it every single day,every single month.
(42:43):
But if you don't have one ofthose things happen if I'm not
on a tractor because it's beensnowing so much, I'm probably
not listening to the book.
If I'm not hopped up on coldmedicine, I'm probably not
slowing myself down enough.
I'm just so focused on gettingthings done.
But when you're feeling so sickand you're feeling so shitty,
(43:05):
or you're trying to watch yourbaby and you can't go anywhere
else, all that can happen isyour mind can take over.
That can run you down somerabbit holes of self-doubt,
despair, depression, or it canforce you into some
self-evaluation.
Thankfully, all these littlethings added up to me sitting
down and doing some of theshittiest math I've ever
(43:27):
friggin' done To have theself-assessment that you as a
man, as an entrepreneur, as abusiness owner, as a husband, as
a son, as a father, has fuckedup.
You worked so hard and fast forall the right reasons, the best
(43:49):
of intentions, heart in theright place, but you didn't take
on the big picture.
You didn't slow down to seeeverything that was going on.
You got so self-involved in theswirl and making things happen
that you lost sight ofeverything.
You didn't see what washappening around you.
I failed.
I failed because I just felt,and I've always felt, that I can
(44:13):
just get shit done, I canprioritize it, I can list it, I
can knock it out.
This too shall pass, I shallfind a way.
Tomorrow's another day.
I just make things happen, buteventually you run into a wall
where you can't continue to justmake shit happen.
Now I wish I was on here withsome beautiful, rosy, optimistic
(44:38):
scenario and an action plan asto how I'm going to overcome
this.
Now, I'm not saying that Ihaven't been putting a lot of
thought into that and I'm tryingto establish the best way to do
this, but I don't have the bestanswers right now.
Folks, I'm working through this.
Here's the scenario.
(44:59):
Here is the kick in the pants.
Here's the old-fashioned dickkick.
I'm working through this withyou right now, real time.
Here I am counseling session.
This is happening.
Share the struggle podcast.
We turn the microphone on.
We're bold enough to counselingsession.
This is happening.
Share the struggle podcast.
We turn the microphone on.
We're bold enough to share ourstruggle.
This is my ultimate struggle.
This is a struggle that I'vecreated for myself and for my
(45:19):
business.
I'm not on here saying woe isme.
I'm not shedding tears Now.
I might be acknowledging somefears because this is some scary
shit, but here's the truth.
It's reality and I don't runfrom reality.
And I also know there's a greatdeal of growth that comes from
(45:42):
being vulnerable enough to sharemy reality, because I know
there's so many of you listeningright now that are living
paycheck to paycheck.
I know so many of you that aredealing with the same struggles
that I'm dealing with.
I know so many of you listeningright now that are small
business owners that have beenrobbing Peter to pay Paul for
years.
I know so many of you thataren't business owners but
(46:04):
you've just been scraping by topay the mortgage, to put fuel in
the tanks to put food in thefridge.
Right, I understand we're allstruggling.
I am coming on here and beingbold enough to say I screwed up.
I screwed up for the rightreasons, but I screwed up.
And I'm being bold enough tosay these things because I want
(46:24):
to put out the cautionary taleto each and every one of you.
Maybe you operate the way I dotoo.
Maybe you just try to get shitdone every single day.
You just what do I got to dotoday to make it through today,
to create a tomorrow?
If you're like me and you'vebeen doing those things, here's
me saying whoa buddy.
Maybe you want to slow down,pump the brakes a little bit,
(46:47):
reassess what we're doing hereand maybe find a pivot plan to
make things happen.
I also am willing to bevulnerable and transparent
enough to say these thingsbecause I am confident that I
will find a way out of thissituation.
I created this mess and I'llclean this mess.
And I also know on the otherside of this struggle, on the
(47:10):
other side of this massiveobstacle, is a beautiful horizon
of opportunity andaccomplishments.
I know that I'll get there.
I am confident enough to turnon this microphone and tell you
that today as of this podcastthat drops on February 5th,
episode 239 of Share, theStruggle podcast.
(47:31):
I am dead broke, but I could beon here next week on episode
240 telling you have no fear,your boy is here.
This too shall pass.
These things can change quickly, but we need to acknowledge
them, we need to be aware ofthem and we need to make a plan
(47:54):
to accomplish them.
And I know I can do that and Iknow it'll happen.
Some of the difficulties for meis getting to Florida.
Right as I'm laying out theseobstacles that are before me,
I've been given the opportunityto attend bike week.
I have help going with me toattend bike week.
I have help going with me toattend bike week to make things
(48:16):
happen, but, based off of myfinances, I don't have enough
cash to really double down oninventory, to bring enough
inventory down there to reallycrush it.
I don't have enough capital toreinvest in the business when it
comes to just having enough new, fresh products to make the
(48:36):
current customer base excited tobuy something new.
So going to Florida can betough because you're trying to
scrape by just to have enoughitems on the shelf to make
things happen.
That becomes a challenge.
The cost of being a vendor, thecost of travel to get there,
all those things right now Ican't afford.
I'm not telling you that Iwon't find a way to afford those
(48:59):
things, because I'm hell-bentto find a way, but I am man
enough to put my hand on theCabela's catalog and to give a
full frontal, confessional truthfrom this guy.
This is where I'm at, this iswhat I'm up against, and I'm
willing to say this because in afew weeks time I want to be
able to come on here and expressto you how I overcame it, how I
(49:23):
beat it and how I plan todefeat it, because the debt I've
created, the obstacles that arein front of me, even if I can
get around these short term, Ineed to analyze and find a
bigger plan to make it long termto overcome these things, to
live long and prosper.
You understand, but until then,I do know if I can find my way
(49:46):
to Florida, that just might bethe break that I need to make
things happen.
But if that one doesn't workout, I'll find something else
that does, because I'm convincedthat we have a brand that this
country needs, that the peoplewant.
We have a mission and a reason.
We are here to bring backAmerican manufacturing.
(50:06):
We have a mission to supportAmericans and American jobs, to
represent an American spiritwith an American brand.
I'm hell uh motivated and Ibelieve we will make it Now.
I wish I was standing here witha bunch of actionable steps.
(50:26):
You know, a nice game planwould be nice, a nice to-do list
, a nice pivot list would befantastic.
I wish I was more prepared thatI could come to you today and
say, hey, this is the facts, butthis is where we're headed.
But I don't have that yet.
America.
Okay, I did the math at four inthe morning.
I'm hepped up on cold pills.
(50:48):
I've been throwing spitballs ata wall all damn day trying to
figure this out.
I don't have an answer yet,okay, but that's okay.
It's okay to not have an answer, all right, it's okay to not
have an answer.
It's not okay to give up onyourself.
It's not okay to to just talkdown to yourself, to beat
(51:08):
yourself, to abuse yourself.
You know what I'm saying?
It's not okay to give up.
It's not okay to pack it up andto just say you know what?
Not me.
I'm not wired that way, as muchas it would be easier to just
pack it up and move on tosomething else.
(51:29):
It's just not into me to quitand I truly feel that by being
courageous enough, get itCourageous.
My word, my guiding word, sonof a bitch that kicked me right
between the blinkers.
That's a dick kick right there.
Okay, I should have picked adifferent word.
Y'all, if you listen back toFinding your Guiding Words,
(51:52):
which I think was one of myfavorite episodes of the year so
far me and the wife started theyear off identifying our
guiding words, and I pickedcourageous courage, and I also
picked sacrifice.
I am being courageous enough tostand here right now and to give
this confessional, to give thistruthful now, and to give this
(52:16):
confessional, to give thistruthful, heartfelt, just shit
sandwich that I just gave.
I know if I'm courageous enoughto say this is my struggles, to
express my struggles, I'mconfident enough to know I will
find an answer.
This, too shall pass, andsomeday, some way, we can look
back on this episode and say Itold you and if you are
(52:36):
struggling and if you are down,the proof is in the pudding that
success leaves clues and thatthis is possible for you too.
So, until the next time when Iget to turn this microphone on
and express great success andtriumph.
Until then, thank you forsupporting my american dream.
Now go wash.
(52:56):
That's it and that's all.
Biggie smiles.
(53:18):
If you're a loud, proud Americanand you find yourself just
wanting more, find me on YouTubeand Facebook at Loud, proud
American, or the Face page, asmy mama calls it.
If you're a fan of the GrahamCracker, you want to find me on
Instagram, or all the kids aretickety-talking on the TikTok.
You can find me on both ofthose at loud, underscore, proud
(53:51):
, underscore American.
I'm not talking about myself.
A big ol' thank you to the boysfrom the Gut Truckers for the
background beats and the themesong for this here podcast.
If you are enjoying what you'rehearing, you can track down the
Gut Truckers on Facebook.
Just search Gut Truckers.
Give them, motherfuckers, alike too.
Make it bleed, I like to.
(54:30):
I truly thank you forsupporting my American dream.
Now go wash your fucking hands,you filthy savage.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.