August 8, 2023 • 42 mins
Have you ever been hit by a wave of inspiration at an event, only to have it slip away once the conference or workshop ends? How do you stay focused and chase your dreams when the everyday reality kicks back in?
Today, we'll explore these questions, and more, as I recount my recent conference event in Atlanta and the struggle to maintain momentum once I returned home. We'll also look at the importance of eliminating distractions and the transformative power that can bring to your everyday life.
Life's most significant growth often happens when we are in the deepest valleys. I'll be sharing an intimate look at my family's journey following one of our daughter's neurologist appointment and the devastating news of her brain function. Even amidst our heartache, we discovered resilience and growth. Similar to the way muscle is built through strain and discomfort, we find that life's biggest lessons come from our greatest challenges.
This episode promises to be a thought-provoking exploration of personal growth, resilience, and the power of dedication. Join me as I discuss mental commitment and evaluation, two critical components when it comes to achieving your goals.
Follow on Instagram & Facebook: @AndyBHoward
Buy the book on Amazon: www.amazon.com/When-Words-Dont-Come-Easy/dp/1955362084
Listen to the first chapter: soundcloud.com/andy-howard-788712319
Learn more at AndyHoward.com!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Yo yo yo.
Good morning everybody.
I am back and better than everjust landed from Atlanta Last
night, actually and so thismorning I am.
I am hyped up on caffeine andlove and All the amazing people
we got to see this past week,but I am it.
It was an exhausting week, butit was the exhilarating week,
(00:22):
have you ever been there?
So I just wanted to dive intothat a little bit, but I do have
some tips for you to Chaseafter.
Whatever your dream is, sometips that will be very helpful
To you pursuing your dream, butit will never happen if, if you
(00:43):
don't go for it.
I can't do it for you, but Ican leave you tips and I hope it
will help you and be a blessingto you.
So all that and more even havesome father time stories in
there as well that I hope willbe helpful for you.
All that more happens rightafter this.
So what's up everybody?
(01:25):
Welcome back to the winwords,don't come easy.
Podcast.
My name is Andy Howard.
If this is your first time here, first of all, welcome, and I
say that every single time.
I'm always looking for newlisteners and hopefully,
hopefully, it won't be your lasttime.
I love sharing hope.
It's what this podcast is for.
(01:47):
It's what we do here is we wantto just push hope.
So if you're in need of hopetoday, maybe there is just I
Don't know something that youwill catch one little piece or
nugget from this Usually 30 to45 minutes that I'm with you,
sometimes less.
There's no guaranteed time, Ijust roll with it.
(02:09):
But, um, you know, hopefullyyou'll catch some nuggets of
Nuggets of hope.
Maybe we should call this thenuggets of hope podcast.
I just got back from Atlanta.
It was amazing.
Got to see a lot of my friends,a lot of fellow entrepreneurs,
(02:30):
and it was just.
I don't know they said anywhere.
I've heard reports anywherefrom 7,000 to 10,000 Hugged a
lot of necks, got to meet a lotof people.
It was just, it was awesome.
And and I say that because weall left so energized and pumped
have you ever Been to aconference?
Maybe it was something evenmore simple than that have you
(02:54):
ever been to?
Maybe it was youth camp as akid, maybe it was like a
vacation Bible school, so itwon't even that far away, but
you would just go every, everymorning of that week, who knows?
But have you ever wentsomewhere In?
The energy was just sofantastic, the community was so
(03:17):
incredible.
You're so pumped and whateverit was for, whether it was a
business conference, maybe itwas a personal conference for
Something you're looking tolevel up with, something to
inspire you but you left soenergized Only to hit reality
(03:40):
and you get home and and whenyou're in that moment, like when
you're at the conference, whenyou're at the camp, wherever
Everything seems so easy, itmakes so much sense.
Every speaker is speaking rightto you and it's like, yes,
that's what I'm gonna do, that'swhat I want to do with my life,
(04:01):
that's what I want to do withmy business, all the things.
But even as you check out ofthe hotel, before you even get
home, reality starts to hit.
Maybe it's the Uber driver orthe taxi, or however.
You're getting to the airport.
(04:22):
Maybe you get to the airportand you can't even I Don't know
your flights delayed or you'rethere's a mistake with your
luggage, or or you get home andyou have all these Expectations
because you're so excited, yougot it lined up in your head and
you're ready to tell yourfamily about the amazing change
(04:42):
what happened this weekend?
I don't know.
Your spouse isn't as excitedbecause they've had the kids and
not the kids are bad.
Love you kiddos, if you'relistening, ha.
But it's been a stressfulweekend or or whatever it is,
and they're just happy to seeyou again.
And you're expecting this slowmo, almost Baywatch, tight, slow
(05:05):
mo, running.
You know you got hassle off,just running towards your, your
significant other, and youembrace and, and maybe they're
just so done For whatever reason.
They're just tired, they'reexhausted and see from right,
there is like, oh man, I Knew it, I Knew this wasn't was too
(05:26):
good to be true.
I'm back in reality.
Have you ever had those kind ofmoments?
And that's what I want to kindof focus on today how to, how to
keep it real, how to jump backin After you leave the comfort
of the, the hot tub experience,the jacuzzi experience.
(05:48):
I remember as a youth pastor foryears, man, we would go to
summer camp and it would beexhausting.
It would be absolutelyexhausting, but at the same time
, it was some of the best, someof the best week of our life.
We would see a lot of crazy,cool things done.
God would move in powerful ways.
One thing about our particularcamp is they had this rule and
(06:12):
it's probably changed now, inthis day and age, but phones
were just coming out and and noteverybody had them.
So, to eliminate distraction,they would take up the phones,
like each leader of the cabinwould take up the phones and
give them back at the end of theWeek.
They didn't want anydistractions, they just wanted
people to be able to focus onGod and Focus on the camp
(06:35):
experience itself.
No outside distractions, andthat's what was cool, right, and
so we saw a lot of cool thingshappen.
I mean that first, that firstfive minutes after you make that
announcement to your kids isnot always easy.
Then afterwards, they were nolonger distracted by Home, they
were just focused on what washappening at camp and you know
(06:58):
what.
God moved in some powerful ways, and what was always crazy,
though, is Almost like clockworkas soon as you pass the phones
back, you start getting, theystart getting you know contact
from home, they start gettingthe stress from the outside
World right outside of the campexperience, and sometimes, even
(07:18):
while we were dropping the kidsoff Back to their parents in the
parking lot, you could see thesmiles of the kids Turn into
frowns, and that's not foreverybody.
I don't want to.
I don't want to make it looklike, you know, the parents are
out to get the kids and things,and it was just the youth
pastors.
Blah, blah, blah.
No, but some of these kids camefrom very hard lives and it was
(07:43):
almost like, oh man, was thistoo good to be true?
This week, and sometimes I sawkids make huge changes and they
fought through it and theyfought for what they received
and they changed their life.
And then I saw some kids whonever came back to church, where
it was just a challenge it was.
(08:04):
It was too big to overcometheir home life and maybe they
went somewhere else.
I don't know.
I Do know the seeds wereplanted and I do know God made
huge impacts in their lifeduring that week.
But that's what I want to talkabout today for you.
Maybe you have some crazydreams, maybe you have some
(08:26):
goals in your life.
I kind of talked about it lastepisode, last week, like what's
next for you?
Well, that's what I want totalk about today.
What is next for you?
I want to build off that andwhat's gonna keep you from
having these mountaintopexperiences and then just
Forgetting about it and movingon?
(08:50):
You know we were never intendedto live on the mountaintops,
right?
I Mean there is a, there'swhat's called an elevation line,
a tree line.
There is a certain level, acertain elevation where life is
very hard to exist at a certainpoint.
(09:10):
Right, that's why it's hard tobreathe.
You won't find food up there.
You won't find animals up there.
Very few plants survive upthere.
That's why you start seeingthese mountain tops.
When you get to the very top ofthese big mountains, you will
(09:33):
say they're like bald mountains.
They're sharp, they're edgy.
There's no trees, like some ofthe southern mountains that are
not.
They're more like hills, Iguess, where you can see all the
trees and things.
And there's a reason for that.
We were never meant to live onthe mountain tops.
I thank God for the mountain topexperiences, but what we've
(09:56):
learned is that true growthcomes in the valleys.
True growth comes in thevalleys.
Muscle, for instance.
If you've ever tried to put onmuscle, if you're into health
and the fitness, you buildmuscle by literally destroying
muscle.
That makes no sense, right?
(10:17):
You rip, you shred your muscleapart and it regrows stronger
Sometimes.
That's the same with the valleyexperiences.
I believe with all my heartthat every valley happens for a
reason.
(10:37):
Every valley happens for areason I can't explain it, I
don't know why.
I would love to say one day,when I'm face to face with the
Lord, with Jesus in heaven, thatI'd be able to say, hey, okay,
couldn't we have tried it adifferent way, by learning so
(10:59):
much by eating ice cream?
I don't even like ice cream.
That's what's funny, but I knowthe majority of people do.
I'm the weirdo that doesn'tlike ice cream, I know.
Or couldn't we have learned ita better way?
Is it there an easier way tolearn lessons?
For some reason it seems likethe harder lessons, the harder
life is, the bigger the lesson,the more you learn I'll never
(11:24):
forget for us.
I share this one a lot when Ispeak.
It's in the book as well.
This whole little piece isactually from the book about the
mountaintop experiences andtrue growth.
Coming in the valley, I was atthe chief neurologist
appointment, the chiefneurologist of Dallas Children's
(11:46):
Medical Center.
You kind of know where that'sgoing Anytime.
You have that kind of anappointment one of the biggest,
largest children's hospitals inthe world and you're getting the
chief neurologist.
It's not a good sign, man, andI'll never forget it.
He walked in with a box ofKleenexes in his hand.
He looked at Tiff and I and hewas just very frank.
(12:11):
He was not rude.
It's very nice, but I canimagine, as a doctor who has to
give horrible news, there'sprobably no easy way to do it.
So he was just very frank, veryfast with it, and I'll never
forget that this is word forword, this quote that's in the
book.
It's just I've said it so manytimes that it's word for word.
(12:33):
What he told us it's hey guys,there's no easy way to tell you
this, because we just had an MRI.
So we got the results forPeyton's MRI.
That's my daughter, she's now 15.
He says she's got 10% brainfunction.
She'll never walk, she'll nevertalk.
If so, she'll have a verylimited vocabulary, maybe 150
(12:59):
words or less, and honestly, sofar she's never talked.
But he said she'll never beable to use her hands like the
fine detail of her fingers, liketo pick up a pencil or to hold
a coin.
He said if she's lucky, she'llbe able to use her arms to hug a
(13:22):
pillow or to give you a hug.
He said she's legally blind,which simply means like, as she
can see shapes and colors.
But he said if she was driving,if we were driving down the
road and she's with us and wesee trees, she would never see
the detail of the trees.
(13:42):
She would see, you know, thegreen of the leaves or the brown
of the bark, but she wouldnever see the fine detail of one
single leaf or of the bark.
And really it was at that pointthat everything just faded.
He did talk, probably for two orthree more minutes, but it kind
(14:04):
of sounded like like CharlieBrown's teacher, just the wah,
wah, wah, wah, wah.
I was beginning to.
I was just numb, I could notbelieve what I was hearing.
I mean, we had been praying forthis appointment for weeks.
Our pastors had been prayingfor us, my parents, my family,
(14:28):
and it was like where are you,god?
Where are you?
And I was just shocked and Igrabbed Tiff's hand and he just
said I'll give you a few minutes, take your time, but I do have
to see other patients.
So he exited the room and I canstill hear his footsteps
(14:58):
echoing through the halls and ifyou've ever been to Dallas
Children's you'll know exactlywhat I'm talking about.
But there is such a longhallway that goes all the way to
the green level parking and itwas like every eye was on us.
I mean, we are in tears.
We just received the probablythe worst news of our life.
(15:22):
Tiffany's had quite a few crazystories in her life, I know
before it was mine and we'rejust holding each other's hands,
taking one step at a time,trying to get to the garage so
we can regroup.
And we made it to the car andwe were crying, we were already
a mess.
(15:43):
But once we got to the car as Ifinally were saved, even though
we're still in a public garageand man it just we just lost it
for a few minutes, just cried,didn't really say anything to
either one of us, we just cried.
And I remember calling my dad.
(16:04):
My dad was still alive then andhe was my rock, my mom and dad,
both just amazing people.
And I remember my mom actuallyanswered and she said, andy, and
she's no longer with us either.
Right now she's in heaven.
(16:25):
I said, andy, is that you?
And I just said mom, and that'sall I could get out.
And I just broke down and wascrying and just in tears and she
said oh, james, it's Andy,something's wrong.
She knew.
And so before they could sayanything, before I could even
(16:47):
get through the tears.
She just started praying overus.
They both did.
They were side by side.
I could, if I could, see it.
They're side by side, the phone, and just praying over us and
something rose up in us.
I felt a peace that passes allunderstanding.
(17:08):
God was there, jesus was there.
I just I didn't feel himbecause I took my eyes off of
him and was focused on my own,my own little problem.
But going through hard times iswhat grows us.
(17:29):
Now I do have a platform.
I have a stage to sharePeyton's story.
Am I saying that God allowedthis For that?
Did he do this to Peyton justso I could share?
No, that's not the case at all.
I do believe God makes, makesbeauty in the broken.
(17:51):
I believe that.
I believe when circumstanceshappen, he finds a way for it to
glorify him.
He finds a way to find the goodin it.
And it was a long journey and,honestly, this podcast is way
too short for me to tell you theentire story.
Maybe I'll revisit it anothertime, another episode, but if
(18:11):
you get the book you can hear.
I'll even read it for you infive and a half hours If you go
to audible, but if you get thebook.
You can read the entire thing,the entire story.
There's so many ups and downsthrough it, but what I've found
is God has been faithful throughall of it, and so I wanted to
give you some, some steps.
(18:35):
I'm not saying whatever youfaced after leaving those highs,
those mountain top experiencesare going to be this low.
Maybe it's not, maybe it's justsomething that distracts you
from doing what you were calledto do, but I want to give you a
few steps that will help youfind the beauty in the broken.
(18:58):
Find you do find.
You will help you find what youwere called to do.
Easy for me to say.
So here we go.
Step number one the first thingI would ask for you to do, no
matter what you're doing, ismake make the decision, make
(19:20):
your mind up that I am doingthis.
It starts right here.
So much I wish I could quotethe great yogi bearer, and I
need to look that up.
In fact, I'm going to pausethis real quick.
All right, I'm back, sorry.
Yeah, the great yogi bearer.
He has a baseball quote, andthis one always cracks me up,
(19:41):
but he says baseball is 90%mental, the other half is
physical.
Obviously, he was a goodbaseball player, not a
mathematician, but that's thetruth.
So much of this.
So much of whatever you want todo is mental.
It's right here.
Mental, whether you want to gethealthy, and that's a hundred
(20:02):
different things.
Maybe you need to start off byjust losing some weight.
No one's asking you to turninto the rock overnight, right,
maybe you obviously most of uswill never be the rock.
That is an extreme.
But what if you make the steptoday is, hey, I decided to get
healthy.
(20:22):
Are you all in?
Because when you decide thenext step I'll dive into it will
take more effort, but once youmake the decision, then you have
to put some action into behindyour decision.
But it starts here, because ifyou never truly commit to
something, if you never trulycommit, then what are you doing?
(20:47):
You can't say I'm going to gethealthy and eat a salad at lunch
and then stop by and I'm goingto say ice cream again because
it's just easy, it's a, it's ano brainer.
You need to stop buying, pickup some ice cream on the way
home and then get mad at theresults on day two.
Well, I had the salad and it isa good choice.
(21:10):
You made a choice and you madeimprovements.
So I would also say don't,don't be so hard on yourself,
but once you make that decision,in other words, give yourself
grace.
There's going to be hiccups onthe way, but when you make
decisions, it is time to gothrough what's not serving you,
what is not serving.
So you need to evaluate yourlife where you're at.
(21:30):
Are you happy with where you'reat?
Is there more?
There's always more right, butwhat's next?
Like what do you want?
If you're happy with whereyou're at and everything's going
just fine, then keep rolling.
But if you keep feeling this,this tug at your heart, there's
this, this dream in your headthat when you can't, when you
(21:50):
try to sleep at night, you'relike I can't even sleep.
I'm thinking about it, you wantit, but yet you don't put the
right stuff in place for it.
It's just a dream.
You want it.
More than that.
I heard a few quotes thisweekend and these were all
(22:10):
phenomenal.
So there's three of themactually.
That and there's a ton more,there's a ton more, but I can't
just blow up your podcast withjust quotes.
This one's by Mark Twain, andit's just awesome.
It says to succeed in life, youneed two things ignorance and
confidence.
I love that.
(22:32):
See, fear happens so many timesthat we make these decisions.
Oh, I'm making a decision, butthen we're like, oh, fear comes
in and we're like, oh, why did Isay I'm going to do that?
I can't do that, nobody would.
Nobody would listen to me,nobody would read my book,
nobody would listen to thispodcast.
I had to fight through fears,man, and sometimes you just do
(22:56):
it scared.
Whatever you're called to do,you keep doing it because you're
, you're supposed to, and you doit scared, but you make the
decision to do it and you don'tsabotage yourself.
I love this by Vidal Sassoon.
I was thought that was justlike a shampoo or something All
the ladies are going to get me.
I don't know.
I know she's something.
She a fashion person or a hairdesigner, I don't know.
(23:18):
Please forgive me, I'm sorry,vidal, if you're out there
listening, come on the podcast,I'd love to have you on.
I love this quote, though theonly place where success comes
before work is in the dictionaryBoom, it's going to take work.
You want to do it, get after it.
Nothing comes easy.
(23:39):
And then this one opportunityis like a fleeting bird Once it
takes light, it may never returnto its perch.
You know, god has put thatdream in your heart for a reason
.
There are people that only youcan reach, no matter what that
(24:00):
is.
I'm not saying that means youhave to be a pastor.
That means, whatever you do,god put that dream in your heart
.
There are things that only youcan do that will attract people
to you and then, when they cometo you, it's your chance to
influence them with your life,with how you live your life.
I mean you have to preach thema 10 point sermon.
(24:22):
Just live your life and be real.
I love that.
So one make the decision.
Here's point number two Evaluateyour life.
So you made the decision.
Now what?
Evaluate your life?
I heard it said this weekendShow me your bank account and
(24:49):
I'll show you how dedicated youare to your decision, or
something to that effect.
I just butchered it, but youget what I'm trying to say here
Right.
He was referring to looking inhis bank account at things that
serve him.
So in things that don't serve.
(25:11):
So like if you are called tohealth, like if you are wanting
to level up and you're wantingto, just this is the year where
I get my health in order andthen you're still showing your.
Your bank account saysotherwise.
Of all the and again, I'm justpicking on ice cream today
there's a million other junkfood things that you could do.
I don't know this, this, this.
(25:32):
Then what are you doing?
Evaluate, it's okay to evaluate, that's not the problem.
You see it, though, whathappens next?
So what do you do with it, thethings that are not serving you
to get to where you want to go?
Got to go, at least for aseason.
I remember when we were growingour business, when we were in
(25:53):
the, the grinding stage when wewere both working multiple jobs
at a time and I had to tellfriends, like friends would ask
hey, sure would like to hang outtonight, like Friday nights.
We, for a season, we made adecision Is this serving us?
We loved our friends, still do.
They all came back, by the way,majority True friends did, but
(26:18):
we had to tell them hey, just bevery honest with you right now,
for a season, where we'refocused on all our free time is
going towards growing ourbusiness.
Not all majority of our freetime was going towards growing
our business and we were workinghard because when we were not
at the other jobs, the littlebit of time we had, we were
(26:39):
faithful.
Then we had to get up early,sometimes before work.
We had to get up early beforeour regular day job, right, and
it was a hard season.
But what happened was becausewe worked so hard then we have
this crazy time now that we area lot.
I have a lot more availabilitynow than we ever did then
(27:02):
because we chose to go all inwork very hard.
It was not easy, workedextremely hard, made sacrifices.
So Netflix again apologize,maybe I shouldn't use names here
those streaming services, canwe?
We added that up, had to go fora season.
It was wasted time.
(27:25):
It wasn't serving us.
Sure, it serves you.
Yes, there's time to hear meout.
There's times when you justhave to relax, when you just
have to refresh.
I get it, but it depends onwhat your goals are.
If your goals are, yeah, I'dlike to get to this point here
by 20 years from now.
Okay, hey, we're all wireddifferent.
(27:48):
Me and Tiff we were ready to go.
We wanted to get there.
It was a sprint for us, itwasn't a marathon.
It's like let's go.
This is where we want to be.
How hard do you want to work?
This is the time we have.
Here's the great equalizer weare all given the same 24 hours
a day.
Every single one of us aregiven the exact same 24 hours a
day.
(28:08):
What do you do with it?
What do you do with it?
I know there are some thingsthat you cannot move.
There's staples in there.
There's a job.
If you're working a full-timejob to support your dream, can
we have to pay the bills?
We have to be able to feed ourfamilies.
We have to do what we have todo, but it's that extra job,
(28:28):
extra time.
What do you do in the whitespaces of your calendar is what
we've always said.
It'll tell you how much youreally want the dream.
So evaluate your life.
Where are you at?
Some of those things may begood.
There may be some areas you'relooking at.
Oh, look at this.
Okay, I hit the gym five out ofseven days last week.
(28:49):
I did this.
I don't know.
I was on your plan.
Whatever your nutrition plan isand we all have a plan, whether
you realize it or not.
Some are more nutritious thanothers, but we all have, we're
all on a plan.
I hit my plan.
I hit my goals seven days in arow last week.
Let's do it.
Let's evaluate good and badareas that are not doing well.
(29:13):
Let's evaluate that and say,okay, here's a way that I could
probably serve myself better,because our bodies are the
temple of the Holy Spirit, ofthe living God.
Living God dwells in us and Ihaven't always been respectful
(29:35):
of that.
So I want to do my best, man.
I want to do my best in myhealth.
I want to do my best with mymental health.
That's why I advocate formental health so much.
And just with my goals, withentrepreneurship Pause for
dramatic effect there, I don'tknow if I hit that or not.
I probably screwed that up Iwant to do my best with
(29:58):
everything.
Everything I touch, I want todo it with a spirit of
excellence.
That comes with evaluatingyourself, evaluating your goals,
what's serving you and what'snot?
There's so much there.
Number three get a plan.
So you have made the decisionhey, I am doing this For me.
(30:22):
I remember like, for example, Idid the Spartan, did the
trifecta, did want to.
That was because my wife gotexcited when I did the first
Spartan.
She joined me and of course,she always does everything with
even more excellence than myexcellence.
So she decided, hey, we can'tjust do the sprint.
We got to do the whole trifecta, which is like a 10 K after
(30:43):
that, and then it's a halfmarathon after that, all within
a calendar year.
So congrats to us.
But it was fun.
But the very first time I did aSpartan.
So I made the decision.
Hey called my buddy.
Hey, russ, my dude.
He's been on the podcast before.
We'd have to find which episodethat is.
He's a beast of a man.
Looks like rock junior, likedude.
(31:06):
I'm doing this, but I'm notdoing it alone.
I need you, he said.
Sure thing I'm there, noquestions.
I knew that dude could roll outof bed and do a Spartan, so I
needed him.
So I made the plan, I made thedecision.
Then I evaluated my life.
Where am I at?
Are my, are my daily habitsleading up to the Spartan?
(31:27):
Am I going to be able to finishthe race with what I'm doing
now?
What am I doing?
I evaluated oh, this is notserving me, this is not Spartan
like a root, a root, a root.
If you've ever done a Spartan,you would understand.
If not, just forgive me forthat last five seconds of your
life.
This is not Spartan like.
So I made the decision.
I evaluated where I'm at andthen I got a plan.
(31:52):
You read about it in the book,but I, I found I hired a
personal trainer for the firsttime.
I was trying all the things onmy own and I didn't feel like I
was making progress.
I didn't know how to work out,dude, I was 345 pounds at one
time in my life.
So why would I know anythingabout getting ready for a
Spartan?
I don't know.
(32:13):
I just know I had turned 40years old and I made the
decision.
I am 40 and I want to do aSpartan.
I don't know, didn't put muchthought behind it, I just made
the decision.
So, sure enough, I hire atrainer.
He kicked my butt, but I wasready.
I was ready for that Spartan,dude.
(32:33):
I was running like six miles aday Well, at least not a day six
miles at a time when we got tothe Spartan, because I knew it
was a three mile race and Iwanted to run twice of it.
So my, my cardio was ready.
My strength was another story,but I have since gotten much
(32:54):
stronger than four years ago.
But I got a plan and he helpedme.
He knew, hey, spartan is goingto take a lot of core workouts.
You need your core, you needyour entire body.
It's not just biceps, it's notjust back, it's not just legs,
it's everything working together.
So we got a plan together.
(33:15):
Then we executed the plan,which is point number four.
So you execute it.
It doesn't matter if you put aplan together and then you don't
follow it, which goes back tonumber one, or how committed are
you when you make the decision?
Then you evaluate your life,then you get a plan, then you
(33:40):
execute.
And I mean, if you're all in, Iknow emergencies happen, right
Gosh, our whole life has beenbuilt around emergencies.
Our daughter has been in andout of the hospital so many
times I can't even tell you howmany years it's added up to but
(34:00):
there were times, even whilebuilding the business, that Tiff
would have her phone and shewould make a call.
She would make a connection,even from the hospital room,
even from ICU.
She'd step out in the hall, doa zoom where the business
partner connect, even whenemergencies happen.
(34:22):
So my thing is execute, nomatter what right.
Some emergencies are biggerthan others and if you have to
step away, that's fine, but thatdoesn't mean you cancel the
plan.
That might mean you have tomove the plan around because you
have to execute it, and there'sprobably so much more I could
(34:44):
go into.
But the last thing I wouldencourage you to do is find some
accountability.
At some point you make thedecision Not now.
Don't make the decision.
Then find accountability.
I see that happen a lot too.
I'm going to run a marathontoday and you tell the whole
world before you've even doneyour first workout.
(35:05):
Then you might find out you arenot created to run a marathon.
You can't run a mile, much lessthe 26 to.
I think anyone could if theywere determined enough.
But there are some realisticgoals, like, depending on your
age, where you're at.
You have to be realistic withit, right?
So I would make a decision.
I would evaluate your life soyou can get rid of the things
(35:28):
you need to get rid of.
I would get a plan, I wouldexecute the plan and then, as
you're starting to roll and asyou're starting to build
momentum and people are alreadyseeing the difference in you
because you've started doingthese things Then you go public
with it for that accountability.
Hey, let me tell you what I'mdoing Invite people for the
(35:53):
right.
What was cool about that.
First Spartan I did.
It started with just me andRuss and then a buddy of mine
heard about it.
Dave, good dude, love that guyso much.
Once weighed 406 pounds, by theway.
406 pounds, that's the randomSpartan with me.
Such a beast.
Love that dude.
And then so many others.
(36:14):
David is, since he's been onhere, he's like a Greek God.
I always tell him that all thetime he's like the statue they
use for the Greek God.
It was his mold, like they usedhis mold to make those statues.
So it's just a beast dude.
So many others Once I startnaming names, it's horrible, but
ended up being like 10 of us.
(36:35):
I believe maybe 10 or 11.
I don't know.
But the accountability wasawesome.
It was awesome being able tohave Friends in your life
pulling the same direction asyou are, pulling the rope,
helping you.
Keep me accountable.
Hey, you doing it, I'm doing it, you doing it.
(36:56):
If they're not doing it, you mayneed to cut them off, because
there is negative peer pressureas well.
There's negative momentum aswell.
So, even for a season for aseason, it doesn't mean you're
like, ah, you're out of my life,but travel with those who are
going the same direction.
You are.
Travel with those who have thesame mindset as you, that are
positive, that are fighting forit.
(37:18):
Negative stuff can bring youdown, can?
It's just, it's real.
So at that point I would say,for accountability is the last
thing you need, and then youjust enjoy the journey.
There's gonna be ups and downs,there's still gonna be the
valleys, but those mountain topswill come.
(37:40):
And what I found about themountain tops we were never
intended to live on them, butthe views are incredible.
You can see how far you camefrom when you look back, but you
can also see what's ahead onthe next mountain.
But you have to go back throughthe valley to get there to grow
some more.
(38:00):
So I hope this has beenencouraging for you.
I hope you found something outof what I've said today that
will inspire you to go get yours, because you deserve it.
If you've had one of thosemoments, like us, where you came
back from Atlanta all hyped upbut then reality just smacked
(38:22):
you right in the face as soon asyou walk through the door and
you're like maybe that was justall hype, this is your wake up
call.
You can do this.
You were created to do what youwere called to do.
Nobody else.
There's not another you in theworld, only you.
(38:45):
So you got this friend.
Love you and God bless what'sup.
My friends, I hope you weremotivated by that last episode.
You are created for more and Idon't want that just to sound
like just a cliche.
I don't want you to hear thatso much that you're starting to
(39:06):
water down now.
I want you to really thinkabout that.
You were created for more, andwhatever God has put on your
heart, whatever directed you tothis podcast, there's a reason
for that because you werecreated for more and he loves
you.
He loves you so much more thanyou can even fathom or begin to
understand, because that's whohe is.
(39:29):
God is love, and so he's placedthat inside of you because he
sees the greatness in you thatwe all see.
But sometimes, if we are juststuck in the rat race of life
and we're stuck in just tryingto make it to Friday so that I
can have two days off only to doit all again, we will never
(39:53):
change anything.
We will never make anyevaluation of our life or
changes necessary to go afterwhat we were truly called to do,
the thing that brings us suchgreat life and joy.
There's something in you thatwill be burning inside you like
a passion, like a flame.
(40:13):
It will burn and burn andignite the more you pursue
that's what you were called todo.
Don't build somebody else'sdreams and that same passion
that you take to your workshouldn't you have even 10 times
more for your dreams, for yourgoals?
(40:33):
That's my encouragement for you.
So I hope this has been helpful.
If you haven't got the book yet,please do me a solid Go.
Check out AndyHowardcom.
The book's available there.
You can hear the rest of ourstory.
You can get it through Amazon.
I even will read it for you onAudible.
It's also available on Kendo aswell.
(40:54):
I would love to come share mystory if you happen to be a
pastor or you have connections,whether it's through youth
ministry because I was a youthminister for some 15 years of
our life or whether it's atchurch.
We were also associate pastors.
We had helped in the ministrymarriage ministry of our church
(41:21):
for like the last five years.
But we speak.
I speak at youth camps, I speakat business conferences, I
speak at churches and I wouldjust be honored to to share the
hope of Jesus and to share thehope and our testimony the other
side of mental health and why Icontend for that.
So I would be honored to dothat Again.
(41:42):
You can find out more atAndyHowardcom.
I love you guys so much.
Thanks for listening.
And one last big favor, I almostforgot If you do have the book,
please, please, please, goleave a review.
Just, I need a five star review.
100 reviews is the magic numberthat I'm looking for, and there
(42:03):
is something special aboutgetting to 100 reviews that
makes Amazon think, oh mygoodness, this is a special book
.
So it gets it gets pushed moreand more people will hear it and
more people will find hope.
So that's what my goal is.
It's 100 reviews.
I believe I'm at like 41.
(42:24):
So there's like 59 of you outthere.
If you have the book, please goleave a review If it's been a
blessing to you, how it can behelpful to others.
Thanks so much for tuning in.
If this episode helps you inany way, it would mean the world
to me If you would leave areview and share it with
somebody else.
Thanks so much.
I'll catch you next time.
Yo yo yo.
Good morning everybody.
I am back and better than everjust landed from Atlanta Last
night, actually and so thismorning I am.
I am hyped up on caffeine andlove and All the amazing people
we got to see this past week,but I am it.
It was an exhausting week, butit was the exhilarating week,
(00:22):
have you ever been there?
So I just wanted to dive intothat a little bit, but I do have
some tips for you to Chaseafter.
Whatever your dream is, sometips that will be very helpful
To you pursuing your dream, butit will never happen if, if you
(00:43):
don't go for it.
I can't do it for you, but Ican leave you tips and I hope it
will help you and be a blessingto you.
So all that and more even havesome father time stories in
there as well that I hope willbe helpful for you.
All that more happens rightafter this.
So what's up everybody?
(01:25):
Welcome back to the winwords,don't come easy.
Podcast.
My name is Andy Howard.
If this is your first time here, first of all, welcome, and I
say that every single time.
I'm always looking for newlisteners and hopefully,
hopefully, it won't be your lasttime.
I love sharing hope.
It's what this podcast is for.
(01:47):
It's what we do here is we wantto just push hope.
So if you're in need of hopetoday, maybe there is just I
Don't know something that youwill catch one little piece or
nugget from this Usually 30 to45 minutes that I'm with you,
sometimes less.
There's no guaranteed time, Ijust roll with it.
(02:09):
But, um, you know, hopefullyyou'll catch some nuggets of
Nuggets of hope.
Maybe we should call this thenuggets of hope podcast.
I just got back from Atlanta.
It was amazing.
Got to see a lot of my friends,a lot of fellow entrepreneurs,
(02:30):
and it was just.
I don't know they said anywhere.
I've heard reports anywherefrom 7,000 to 10,000 Hugged a
lot of necks, got to meet a lotof people.
It was just, it was awesome.
And and I say that because weall left so energized and pumped
have you ever Been to aconference?
Maybe it was something evenmore simple than that have you
(02:54):
ever been to?
Maybe it was youth camp as akid, maybe it was like a
vacation Bible school, so itwon't even that far away, but
you would just go every, everymorning of that week, who knows?
But have you ever wentsomewhere In?
The energy was just sofantastic, the community was so
(03:17):
incredible.
You're so pumped and whateverit was for, whether it was a
business conference, maybe itwas a personal conference for
Something you're looking tolevel up with, something to
inspire you but you left soenergized Only to hit reality
(03:40):
and you get home and and whenyou're in that moment, like when
you're at the conference, whenyou're at the camp, wherever
Everything seems so easy, itmakes so much sense.
Every speaker is speaking rightto you and it's like, yes,
that's what I'm gonna do, that'swhat I want to do with my life,
(04:01):
that's what I want to do withmy business, all the things.
But even as you check out ofthe hotel, before you even get
home, reality starts to hit.
Maybe it's the Uber driver orthe taxi, or however.
You're getting to the airport.
(04:22):
Maybe you get to the airportand you can't even I Don't know
your flights delayed or you'rethere's a mistake with your
luggage, or or you get home andyou have all these Expectations
because you're so excited, yougot it lined up in your head and
you're ready to tell yourfamily about the amazing change
(04:42):
what happened this weekend?
I don't know.
Your spouse isn't as excitedbecause they've had the kids and
not the kids are bad.
Love you kiddos, if you'relistening, ha.
But it's been a stressfulweekend or or whatever it is,
and they're just happy to seeyou again.
And you're expecting this slowmo, almost Baywatch, tight, slow
(05:05):
mo, running.
You know you got hassle off,just running towards your, your
significant other, and youembrace and, and maybe they're
just so done For whatever reason.
They're just tired, they'reexhausted and see from right,
there is like, oh man, I Knew it, I Knew this wasn't was too
(05:26):
good to be true.
I'm back in reality.
Have you ever had those kind ofmoments?
And that's what I want to kindof focus on today how to, how to
keep it real, how to jump backin After you leave the comfort
of the, the hot tub experience,the jacuzzi experience.
(05:48):
I remember as a youth pastor foryears, man, we would go to
summer camp and it would beexhausting.
It would be absolutelyexhausting, but at the same time
, it was some of the best, someof the best week of our life.
We would see a lot of crazy,cool things done.
God would move in powerful ways.
One thing about our particularcamp is they had this rule and
(06:12):
it's probably changed now, inthis day and age, but phones
were just coming out and and noteverybody had them.
So, to eliminate distraction,they would take up the phones,
like each leader of the cabinwould take up the phones and
give them back at the end of theWeek.
They didn't want anydistractions, they just wanted
people to be able to focus onGod and Focus on the camp
(06:35):
experience itself.
No outside distractions, andthat's what was cool, right, and
so we saw a lot of cool thingshappen.
I mean that first, that firstfive minutes after you make that
announcement to your kids isnot always easy.
Then afterwards, they were nolonger distracted by Home, they
were just focused on what washappening at camp and you know
(06:58):
what.
God moved in some powerful ways, and what was always crazy,
though, is Almost like clockworkas soon as you pass the phones
back, you start getting, theystart getting you know contact
from home, they start gettingthe stress from the outside
World right outside of the campexperience, and sometimes, even
(07:18):
while we were dropping the kidsoff Back to their parents in the
parking lot, you could see thesmiles of the kids Turn into
frowns, and that's not foreverybody.
I don't want to.
I don't want to make it looklike, you know, the parents are
out to get the kids and things,and it was just the youth
pastors.
Blah, blah, blah.
No, but some of these kids camefrom very hard lives and it was
(07:43):
almost like, oh man, was thistoo good to be true?
This week, and sometimes I sawkids make huge changes and they
fought through it and theyfought for what they received
and they changed their life.
And then I saw some kids whonever came back to church, where
it was just a challenge it was.
(08:04):
It was too big to overcometheir home life and maybe they
went somewhere else.
I don't know.
I Do know the seeds wereplanted and I do know God made
huge impacts in their lifeduring that week.
But that's what I want to talkabout today for you.
Maybe you have some crazydreams, maybe you have some
(08:26):
goals in your life.
I kind of talked about it lastepisode, last week, like what's
next for you?
Well, that's what I want totalk about today.
What is next for you?
I want to build off that andwhat's gonna keep you from
having these mountaintopexperiences and then just
Forgetting about it and movingon?
(08:50):
You know we were never intendedto live on the mountaintops,
right?
I Mean there is a, there'swhat's called an elevation line,
a tree line.
There is a certain level, acertain elevation where life is
very hard to exist at a certainpoint.
(09:10):
Right, that's why it's hard tobreathe.
You won't find food up there.
You won't find animals up there.
Very few plants survive upthere.
That's why you start seeingthese mountain tops.
When you get to the very top ofthese big mountains, you will
(09:33):
say they're like bald mountains.
They're sharp, they're edgy.
There's no trees, like some ofthe southern mountains that are
not.
They're more like hills, Iguess, where you can see all the
trees and things.
And there's a reason for that.
We were never meant to live onthe mountain tops.
I thank God for the mountain topexperiences, but what we've
(09:56):
learned is that true growthcomes in the valleys.
True growth comes in thevalleys.
Muscle, for instance.
If you've ever tried to put onmuscle, if you're into health
and the fitness, you buildmuscle by literally destroying
muscle.
That makes no sense, right?
(10:17):
You rip, you shred your muscleapart and it regrows stronger
Sometimes.
That's the same with the valleyexperiences.
I believe with all my heartthat every valley happens for a
reason.
(10:37):
Every valley happens for areason I can't explain it, I
don't know why.
I would love to say one day,when I'm face to face with the
Lord, with Jesus in heaven, thatI'd be able to say, hey, okay,
couldn't we have tried it adifferent way, by learning so
(10:59):
much by eating ice cream?
I don't even like ice cream.
That's what's funny, but I knowthe majority of people do.
I'm the weirdo that doesn'tlike ice cream, I know.
Or couldn't we have learned ita better way?
Is it there an easier way tolearn lessons?
For some reason it seems likethe harder lessons, the harder
life is, the bigger the lesson,the more you learn I'll never
(11:24):
forget for us.
I share this one a lot when Ispeak.
It's in the book as well.
This whole little piece isactually from the book about the
mountaintop experiences andtrue growth.
Coming in the valley, I was atthe chief neurologist
appointment, the chiefneurologist of Dallas Children's
(11:46):
Medical Center.
You kind of know where that'sgoing Anytime.
You have that kind of anappointment one of the biggest,
largest children's hospitals inthe world and you're getting the
chief neurologist.
It's not a good sign, man, andI'll never forget it.
He walked in with a box ofKleenexes in his hand.
He looked at Tiff and I and hewas just very frank.
(12:11):
He was not rude.
It's very nice, but I canimagine, as a doctor who has to
give horrible news, there'sprobably no easy way to do it.
So he was just very frank, veryfast with it, and I'll never
forget that this is word forword, this quote that's in the
book.
It's just I've said it so manytimes that it's word for word.
(12:33):
What he told us it's hey guys,there's no easy way to tell you
this, because we just had an MRI.
So we got the results forPeyton's MRI.
That's my daughter, she's now 15.
He says she's got 10% brainfunction.
She'll never walk, she'll nevertalk.
If so, she'll have a verylimited vocabulary, maybe 150
(12:59):
words or less, and honestly, sofar she's never talked.
But he said she'll never beable to use her hands like the
fine detail of her fingers, liketo pick up a pencil or to hold
a coin.
He said if she's lucky, she'llbe able to use her arms to hug a
(13:22):
pillow or to give you a hug.
He said she's legally blind,which simply means like, as she
can see shapes and colors.
But he said if she was driving,if we were driving down the
road and she's with us and wesee trees, she would never see
the detail of the trees.
(13:42):
She would see, you know, thegreen of the leaves or the brown
of the bark, but she wouldnever see the fine detail of one
single leaf or of the bark.
And really it was at that pointthat everything just faded.
He did talk, probably for two orthree more minutes, but it kind
(14:04):
of sounded like like CharlieBrown's teacher, just the wah,
wah, wah, wah, wah.
I was beginning to.
I was just numb, I could notbelieve what I was hearing.
I mean, we had been praying forthis appointment for weeks.
Our pastors had been prayingfor us, my parents, my family,
(14:28):
and it was like where are you,god?
Where are you?
And I was just shocked and Igrabbed Tiff's hand and he just
said I'll give you a few minutes, take your time, but I do have
to see other patients.
So he exited the room and I canstill hear his footsteps
(14:58):
echoing through the halls and ifyou've ever been to Dallas
Children's you'll know exactlywhat I'm talking about.
But there is such a longhallway that goes all the way to
the green level parking and itwas like every eye was on us.
I mean, we are in tears.
We just received the probablythe worst news of our life.
(15:22):
Tiffany's had quite a few crazystories in her life, I know
before it was mine and we'rejust holding each other's hands,
taking one step at a time,trying to get to the garage so
we can regroup.
And we made it to the car andwe were crying, we were already
a mess.
(15:43):
But once we got to the car as Ifinally were saved, even though
we're still in a public garageand man it just we just lost it
for a few minutes, just cried,didn't really say anything to
either one of us, we just cried.
And I remember calling my dad.
(16:04):
My dad was still alive then andhe was my rock, my mom and dad,
both just amazing people.
And I remember my mom actuallyanswered and she said, andy, and
she's no longer with us either.
Right now she's in heaven.
(16:25):
I said, andy, is that you?
And I just said mom, and that'sall I could get out.
And I just broke down and wascrying and just in tears and she
said oh, james, it's Andy,something's wrong.
She knew.
And so before they could sayanything, before I could even
(16:47):
get through the tears.
She just started praying overus.
They both did.
They were side by side.
I could, if I could, see it.
They're side by side, the phone, and just praying over us and
something rose up in us.
I felt a peace that passes allunderstanding.
(17:08):
God was there, jesus was there.
I just I didn't feel himbecause I took my eyes off of
him and was focused on my own,my own little problem.
But going through hard times iswhat grows us.
(17:29):
Now I do have a platform.
I have a stage to sharePeyton's story.
Am I saying that God allowedthis For that?
Did he do this to Peyton justso I could share?
No, that's not the case at all.
I do believe God makes, makesbeauty in the broken.
(17:51):
I believe that.
I believe when circumstanceshappen, he finds a way for it to
glorify him.
He finds a way to find the goodin it.
And it was a long journey and,honestly, this podcast is way
too short for me to tell you theentire story.
Maybe I'll revisit it anothertime, another episode, but if
(18:11):
you get the book you can hear.
I'll even read it for you infive and a half hours If you go
to audible, but if you get thebook.
You can read the entire thing,the entire story.
There's so many ups and downsthrough it, but what I've found
is God has been faithful throughall of it, and so I wanted to
give you some, some steps.
(18:35):
I'm not saying whatever youfaced after leaving those highs,
those mountain top experiencesare going to be this low.
Maybe it's not, maybe it's justsomething that distracts you
from doing what you were calledto do, but I want to give you a
few steps that will help youfind the beauty in the broken.
(18:58):
Find you do find.
You will help you find what youwere called to do.
Easy for me to say.
So here we go.
Step number one the first thingI would ask for you to do, no
matter what you're doing, ismake make the decision, make
(19:20):
your mind up that I am doingthis.
It starts right here.
So much I wish I could quotethe great yogi bearer, and I
need to look that up.
In fact, I'm going to pausethis real quick.
All right, I'm back, sorry.
Yeah, the great yogi bearer.
He has a baseball quote, andthis one always cracks me up,
(19:41):
but he says baseball is 90%mental, the other half is
physical.
Obviously, he was a goodbaseball player, not a
mathematician, but that's thetruth.
So much of this.
So much of whatever you want todo is mental.
It's right here.
Mental, whether you want to gethealthy, and that's a hundred
(20:02):
different things.
Maybe you need to start off byjust losing some weight.
No one's asking you to turninto the rock overnight, right,
maybe you obviously most of uswill never be the rock.
That is an extreme.
But what if you make the steptoday is, hey, I decided to get
healthy.
(20:22):
Are you all in?
Because when you decide thenext step I'll dive into it will
take more effort, but once youmake the decision, then you have
to put some action into behindyour decision.
But it starts here, because ifyou never truly commit to
something, if you never trulycommit, then what are you doing?
(20:47):
You can't say I'm going to gethealthy and eat a salad at lunch
and then stop by and I'm goingto say ice cream again because
it's just easy, it's a, it's ano brainer.
You need to stop buying, pickup some ice cream on the way
home and then get mad at theresults on day two.
Well, I had the salad and it isa good choice.
(21:10):
You made a choice and you madeimprovements.
So I would also say don't,don't be so hard on yourself,
but once you make that decision,in other words, give yourself
grace.
There's going to be hiccups onthe way, but when you make
decisions, it is time to gothrough what's not serving you,
what is not serving.
So you need to evaluate yourlife where you're at.
(21:30):
Are you happy with where you'reat?
Is there more?
There's always more right, butwhat's next?
Like what do you want?
If you're happy with whereyou're at and everything's going
just fine, then keep rolling.
But if you keep feeling this,this tug at your heart, there's
this, this dream in your headthat when you can't, when you
(21:50):
try to sleep at night, you'relike I can't even sleep.
I'm thinking about it, you wantit, but yet you don't put the
right stuff in place for it.
It's just a dream.
You want it.
More than that.
I heard a few quotes thisweekend and these were all
(22:10):
phenomenal.
So there's three of themactually.
That and there's a ton more,there's a ton more, but I can't
just blow up your podcast withjust quotes.
This one's by Mark Twain, andit's just awesome.
It says to succeed in life, youneed two things ignorance and
confidence.
I love that.
(22:32):
See, fear happens so many timesthat we make these decisions.
Oh, I'm making a decision, butthen we're like, oh, fear comes
in and we're like, oh, why did Isay I'm going to do that?
I can't do that, nobody would.
Nobody would listen to me,nobody would read my book,
nobody would listen to thispodcast.
I had to fight through fears,man, and sometimes you just do
(22:56):
it scared.
Whatever you're called to do,you keep doing it because you're
, you're supposed to, and you doit scared, but you make the
decision to do it and you don'tsabotage yourself.
I love this by Vidal Sassoon.
I was thought that was justlike a shampoo or something All
the ladies are going to get me.
I don't know.
I know she's something.
She a fashion person or a hairdesigner, I don't know.
(23:18):
Please forgive me, I'm sorry,vidal, if you're out there
listening, come on the podcast,I'd love to have you on.
I love this quote, though theonly place where success comes
before work is in the dictionaryBoom, it's going to take work.
You want to do it, get after it.
Nothing comes easy.
(23:39):
And then this one opportunityis like a fleeting bird Once it
takes light, it may never returnto its perch.
You know, god has put thatdream in your heart for a reason
.
There are people that only youcan reach, no matter what that
(24:00):
is.
I'm not saying that means youhave to be a pastor.
That means, whatever you do,god put that dream in your heart
.
There are things that only youcan do that will attract people
to you and then, when they cometo you, it's your chance to
influence them with your life,with how you live your life.
I mean you have to preach thema 10 point sermon.
(24:22):
Just live your life and be real.
I love that.
So one make the decision.
Here's point number two Evaluateyour life.
So you made the decision.
Now what?
Evaluate your life?
I heard it said this weekendShow me your bank account and
(24:49):
I'll show you how dedicated youare to your decision, or
something to that effect.
I just butchered it, but youget what I'm trying to say here
Right.
He was referring to looking inhis bank account at things that
serve him.
So in things that don't serve.
(25:11):
So like if you are called tohealth, like if you are wanting
to level up and you're wantingto, just this is the year where
I get my health in order andthen you're still showing your.
Your bank account saysotherwise.
Of all the and again, I'm justpicking on ice cream today
there's a million other junkfood things that you could do.
I don't know this, this, this.
(25:32):
Then what are you doing?
Evaluate, it's okay to evaluate, that's not the problem.
You see it, though, whathappens next?
So what do you do with it, thethings that are not serving you
to get to where you want to go?
Got to go, at least for aseason.
I remember when we were growingour business, when we were in
(25:53):
the, the grinding stage when wewere both working multiple jobs
at a time and I had to tellfriends, like friends would ask
hey, sure would like to hang outtonight, like Friday nights.
We, for a season, we made adecision Is this serving us?
We loved our friends, still do.
They all came back, by the way,majority True friends did, but
(26:18):
we had to tell them hey, just bevery honest with you right now,
for a season, where we'refocused on all our free time is
going towards growing ourbusiness.
Not all majority of our freetime was going towards growing
our business and we were workinghard because when we were not
at the other jobs, the littlebit of time we had, we were
(26:39):
faithful.
Then we had to get up early,sometimes before work.
We had to get up early beforeour regular day job, right, and
it was a hard season.
But what happened was becausewe worked so hard then we have
this crazy time now that we area lot.
I have a lot more availabilitynow than we ever did then
(27:02):
because we chose to go all inwork very hard.
It was not easy, workedextremely hard, made sacrifices.
So Netflix again apologize,maybe I shouldn't use names here
those streaming services, canwe?
We added that up, had to go fora season.
It was wasted time.
(27:25):
It wasn't serving us.
Sure, it serves you.
Yes, there's time to hear meout.
There's times when you justhave to relax, when you just
have to refresh.
I get it, but it depends onwhat your goals are.
If your goals are, yeah, I'dlike to get to this point here
by 20 years from now.
Okay, hey, we're all wireddifferent.
(27:48):
Me and Tiff we were ready to go.
We wanted to get there.
It was a sprint for us, itwasn't a marathon.
It's like let's go.
This is where we want to be.
How hard do you want to work?
This is the time we have.
Here's the great equalizer weare all given the same 24 hours
a day.
Every single one of us aregiven the exact same 24 hours a
day.
(28:08):
What do you do with it?
What do you do with it?
I know there are some thingsthat you cannot move.
There's staples in there.
There's a job.
If you're working a full-timejob to support your dream, can
we have to pay the bills?
We have to be able to feed ourfamilies.
We have to do what we have todo, but it's that extra job,
(28:28):
extra time.
What do you do in the whitespaces of your calendar is what
we've always said.
It'll tell you how much youreally want the dream.
So evaluate your life.
Where are you at?
Some of those things may begood.
There may be some areas you'relooking at.
Oh, look at this.
Okay, I hit the gym five out ofseven days last week.
(28:49):
I did this.
I don't know.
I was on your plan.
Whatever your nutrition plan isand we all have a plan, whether
you realize it or not.
Some are more nutritious thanothers, but we all have, we're
all on a plan.
I hit my plan.
I hit my goals seven days in arow last week.
Let's do it.
Let's evaluate good and badareas that are not doing well.
(29:13):
Let's evaluate that and say,okay, here's a way that I could
probably serve myself better,because our bodies are the
temple of the Holy Spirit, ofthe living God.
Living God dwells in us and Ihaven't always been respectful
(29:35):
of that.
So I want to do my best, man.
I want to do my best in myhealth.
I want to do my best with mymental health.
That's why I advocate formental health so much.
And just with my goals, withentrepreneurship Pause for
dramatic effect there, I don'tknow if I hit that or not.
I probably screwed that up Iwant to do my best with
(29:58):
everything.
Everything I touch, I want todo it with a spirit of
excellence.
That comes with evaluatingyourself, evaluating your goals,
what's serving you and what'snot?
There's so much there.
Number three get a plan.
So you have made the decisionhey, I am doing this For me.
(30:22):
I remember like, for example, Idid the Spartan, did the
trifecta, did want to.
That was because my wife gotexcited when I did the first
Spartan.
She joined me and of course,she always does everything with
even more excellence than myexcellence.
So she decided, hey, we can'tjust do the sprint.
We got to do the whole trifecta, which is like a 10 K after
(30:43):
that, and then it's a halfmarathon after that, all within
a calendar year.
So congrats to us.
But it was fun.
But the very first time I did aSpartan.
So I made the decision.
Hey called my buddy.
Hey, russ, my dude.
He's been on the podcast before.
We'd have to find which episodethat is.
He's a beast of a man.
Looks like rock junior, likedude.
(31:06):
I'm doing this, but I'm notdoing it alone.
I need you, he said.
Sure thing I'm there, noquestions.
I knew that dude could roll outof bed and do a Spartan, so I
needed him.
So I made the plan, I made thedecision.
Then I evaluated my life.
Where am I at?
Are my, are my daily habitsleading up to the Spartan?
(31:27):
Am I going to be able to finishthe race with what I'm doing
now?
What am I doing?
I evaluated oh, this is notserving me, this is not Spartan
like a root, a root, a root.
If you've ever done a Spartan,you would understand.
If not, just forgive me forthat last five seconds of your
life.
This is not Spartan like.
So I made the decision.
I evaluated where I'm at andthen I got a plan.
(31:52):
You read about it in the book,but I, I found I hired a
personal trainer for the firsttime.
I was trying all the things onmy own and I didn't feel like I
was making progress.
I didn't know how to work out,dude, I was 345 pounds at one
time in my life.
So why would I know anythingabout getting ready for a
Spartan?
I don't know.
(32:13):
I just know I had turned 40years old and I made the
decision.
I am 40 and I want to do aSpartan.
I don't know, didn't put muchthought behind it, I just made
the decision.
So, sure enough, I hire atrainer.
He kicked my butt, but I wasready.
I was ready for that Spartan,dude.
(32:33):
I was running like six miles aday Well, at least not a day six
miles at a time when we got tothe Spartan, because I knew it
was a three mile race and Iwanted to run twice of it.
So my, my cardio was ready.
My strength was another story,but I have since gotten much
(32:54):
stronger than four years ago.
But I got a plan and he helpedme.
He knew, hey, spartan is goingto take a lot of core workouts.
You need your core, you needyour entire body.
It's not just biceps, it's notjust back, it's not just legs,
it's everything working together.
So we got a plan together.
(33:15):
Then we executed the plan,which is point number four.
So you execute it.
It doesn't matter if you put aplan together and then you don't
follow it, which goes back tonumber one, or how committed are
you when you make the decision?
Then you evaluate your life,then you get a plan, then you
(33:40):
execute.
And I mean, if you're all in, Iknow emergencies happen, right
Gosh, our whole life has beenbuilt around emergencies.
Our daughter has been in andout of the hospital so many
times I can't even tell you howmany years it's added up to but
(34:00):
there were times, even whilebuilding the business, that Tiff
would have her phone and shewould make a call.
She would make a connection,even from the hospital room,
even from ICU.
She'd step out in the hall, doa zoom where the business
partner connect, even whenemergencies happen.
(34:22):
So my thing is execute, nomatter what right.
Some emergencies are biggerthan others and if you have to
step away, that's fine, but thatdoesn't mean you cancel the
plan.
That might mean you have tomove the plan around because you
have to execute it, and there'sprobably so much more I could
(34:44):
go into.
But the last thing I wouldencourage you to do is find some
accountability.
At some point you make thedecision Not now.
Don't make the decision.
Then find accountability.
I see that happen a lot too.
I'm going to run a marathontoday and you tell the whole
world before you've even doneyour first workout.
(35:05):
Then you might find out you arenot created to run a marathon.
You can't run a mile, much lessthe 26 to.
I think anyone could if theywere determined enough.
But there are some realisticgoals, like, depending on your
age, where you're at.
You have to be realistic withit, right?
So I would make a decision.
I would evaluate your life soyou can get rid of the things
(35:28):
you need to get rid of.
I would get a plan, I wouldexecute the plan and then, as
you're starting to roll and asyou're starting to build
momentum and people are alreadyseeing the difference in you
because you've started doingthese things Then you go public
with it for that accountability.
Hey, let me tell you what I'mdoing Invite people for the
(35:53):
right.
What was cool about that.
First Spartan I did.
It started with just me andRuss and then a buddy of mine
heard about it.
Dave, good dude, love that guyso much.
Once weighed 406 pounds, by theway.
406 pounds, that's the randomSpartan with me.
Such a beast.
Love that dude.
And then so many others.
(36:14):
David is, since he's been onhere, he's like a Greek God.
I always tell him that all thetime he's like the statue they
use for the Greek God.
It was his mold, like they usedhis mold to make those statues.
So it's just a beast dude.
So many others Once I startnaming names, it's horrible, but
ended up being like 10 of us.
(36:35):
I believe maybe 10 or 11.
I don't know.
But the accountability wasawesome.
It was awesome being able tohave Friends in your life
pulling the same direction asyou are, pulling the rope,
helping you.
Keep me accountable.
Hey, you doing it, I'm doing it, you doing it.
(36:56):
If they're not doing it, you mayneed to cut them off, because
there is negative peer pressureas well.
There's negative momentum aswell.
So, even for a season for aseason, it doesn't mean you're
like, ah, you're out of my life,but travel with those who are
going the same direction.
You are.
Travel with those who have thesame mindset as you, that are
positive, that are fighting forit.
(37:18):
Negative stuff can bring youdown, can?
It's just, it's real.
So at that point I would say,for accountability is the last
thing you need, and then youjust enjoy the journey.
There's gonna be ups and downs,there's still gonna be the
valleys, but those mountain topswill come.
(37:40):
And what I found about themountain tops we were never
intended to live on them, butthe views are incredible.
You can see how far you camefrom when you look back, but you
can also see what's ahead onthe next mountain.
But you have to go back throughthe valley to get there to grow
some more.
(38:00):
So I hope this has beenencouraging for you.
I hope you found something outof what I've said today that
will inspire you to go get yours, because you deserve it.
If you've had one of thosemoments, like us, where you came
back from Atlanta all hyped upbut then reality just smacked
(38:22):
you right in the face as soon asyou walk through the door and
you're like maybe that was justall hype, this is your wake up
call.
You can do this.
You were created to do what youwere called to do.
Nobody else.
There's not another you in theworld, only you.
(38:45):
So you got this friend.
Love you and God bless what'sup.
My friends, I hope you weremotivated by that last episode.
You are created for more and Idon't want that just to sound
like just a cliche.
I don't want you to hear thatso much that you're starting to
(39:06):
water down now.
I want you to really thinkabout that.
You were created for more, andwhatever God has put on your
heart, whatever directed you tothis podcast, there's a reason
for that because you werecreated for more and he loves
you.
He loves you so much more thanyou can even fathom or begin to
understand, because that's whohe is.
(39:29):
God is love, and so he's placedthat inside of you because he
sees the greatness in you thatwe all see.
But sometimes, if we are juststuck in the rat race of life
and we're stuck in just tryingto make it to Friday so that I
can have two days off only to doit all again, we will never
(39:53):
change anything.
We will never make anyevaluation of our life or
changes necessary to go afterwhat we were truly called to do,
the thing that brings us suchgreat life and joy.
There's something in you thatwill be burning inside you like
a passion, like a flame.
(40:13):
It will burn and burn andignite the more you pursue
that's what you were called todo.
Don't build somebody else'sdreams and that same passion
that you take to your workshouldn't you have even 10 times
more for your dreams, for yourgoals?
(40:33):
That's my encouragement for you.
So I hope this has been helpful.
If you haven't got the book yet,please do me a solid Go.
Check out AndyHowardcom.
The book's available there.
You can hear the rest of ourstory.
You can get it through Amazon.
I even will read it for you onAudible.
It's also available on Kendo aswell.
(40:54):
I would love to come share mystory if you happen to be a
pastor or you have connections,whether it's through youth
ministry because I was a youthminister for some 15 years of
our life or whether it's atchurch.
We were also associate pastors.
We had helped in the ministrymarriage ministry of our church
(41:21):
for like the last five years.
But we speak.
I speak at youth camps, I speakat business conferences, I
speak at churches and I wouldjust be honored to to share the
hope of Jesus and to share thehope and our testimony the other
side of mental health and why Icontend for that.
So I would be honored to dothat Again.
(41:42):
You can find out more atAndyHowardcom.
I love you guys so much.
Thanks for listening.
And one last big favor, I almostforgot If you do have the book,
please, please, please, goleave a review.
Just, I need a five star review.
100 reviews is the magic numberthat I'm looking for, and there
(42:03):
is something special aboutgetting to 100 reviews that
makes Amazon think, oh mygoodness, this is a special book
.
So it gets it gets pushed moreand more people will hear it and
more people will find hope.
So that's what my goal is.
It's 100 reviews.
I believe I'm at like 41.
(42:24):
So there's like 59 of you outthere.
If you have the book, please goleave a review If it's been a
blessing to you, how it can behelpful to others.
Thanks so much for tuning in.
If this episode helps you inany way, it would mean the world
to me If you would leave areview and share it with
somebody else.
Thanks so much.
I'll catch you next time.
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