Tag: motivation

2 MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT: 2020

“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” – C.S. Lewis

What is your dream or goal for 2021? Do you even have one? Do you plan to make any resolutions?

I wrote a whole series on resolutions a while back. Do I like them? Do I make them? Go back a read the series to find out what I really think (you can find it by scrolling to the bottom of this page).

As I continue through the years it really comes down to the same old story for me or maybe I should say stories. At least multi part stories or parallel stories taking place at the same time. What are these stories? The basic one is that I force myself into a corner in my brain to think about the last year and the new year to come. I ask myself all those boring questions…

What did I do or accomplish this year?
Did I complete any of my goals?
Did I stop doing the things I said I would?
Did I start the things that I thought would make for a better life and a better me?
Did I add more value like I swore I would?
Did I do more of this and less if that?…

Over and over, year after year as I inch closer to midnight on 12/31 I wonder what will be different in the coming year. I can just ramble and make resolutions that sound grand but does any of that matter when I reflect on how I plundered along through another year? Simply putting things off for another day as I tend the “must dos” on my to do list that never ends.

You might think after all this time on this planet and starting and running businesses for nearly two decades that I would learn that tomorrow never comes and the to do list never goes away. Every three items that are crossed off produce five more “important” tasks.

The reality is the world will not stop if I choose to let that to do list go for a day, even a week or more. I have procrastinated and ignored “critical” tasks many times over the years and everything around me remained intact. I am not that important or powerful. My tasks are minuscule in the grand scheme of everything.

The other reality is, I exaggerate a bit. There was a time that I really believed in resolutions and thought I had to make them every year. What I realized for myself was that it was too rushed and insincere. I just went through the motions but it was pretty meaningless.

So, do I believe in resolutions and will I be making any? I do, but over the years I have to believe that it is more than just spouting off some things I plan to change about myself, dropping bad behavior and starting some new and improved good behaviors. It is more than saying this year I plan to do more of this and less of that. I believe in the essence of resolutions. I believe my life is exponentially better when I try to do and be better on a daily basis in all areas of my life

No more excuses for me, that is the parallel story. I am in control of my own life. If I want a better life I must do what is necessary to make that happen. The spoken words of resolutions may sound great and add a pleasant exclamation point on a nice gathering 2 minutes to midnight on 12/31, but if I don’t follow through with action everything I said is meaningless. What that means to me is that if I want my life to be better, I have to write a better story and play the lead role. If I want my businesses to do better, my relationships to be better, my health and wealth to be better than I have to get off my butt and the things necessary to make the change happen.

As I write this on 12/30/2020, with Jimi Hendrix in the background singing about cross town traffic I ask if 2021 be the year that I pick my guitar “Izabella” and start playing again? I don’t know. What I do know is that if I want to play guitar again and re-light the greatest passion from my past I will have to pick her up, dust her and play her. Thinking or writing about it will not make it happen.

To close this thought out for 2020, I do not know what my specific resolutions will be but at this moment I do know there are plenty of things I want to do better personally and professionally. To make any a reality I know that I have to make a conscious effort to do so and take daily action because nothing happens overnight. And most of all I need to be present because no change happens in the past or future. If I only take one thing from 2020 it is how important the present moment is. Life is precious and we never know when some crazy virus will come and uproot everything and possibly take one’s life away.

To 2020 I say, good riddance, thank you for the lessons and here’s to something better to come…That I will actively help to create today.

Happy New Year!

Talk Soon,

Kevin W @LEAP272
Owner-Operator

You have to leap if you want to live

One Of These Days…I’m Going To…

Hopefully not cut you into little pieces as the Pink Floyd song suggests, but hopefully something. Anything at all that will get you started doing whatever it is that keeps you saying “one of these days…” about.

If you want to achieve anything in life, remove that phrase from the conversation; the conversation in your head, with your family, friends, and colleagues. Every conversation and instead say “today, I am going to…”

One of these days is like tomorrow; it never really comes and before you know it, it is 2020, you are married, inching closer to fifty and you’re full of regret because you’re doing the same old thing that you swore you were doing for the last time last year. Or, you are in the middle of a global pandemic, stuck at home in quarantine. If you are stuck at home isn’t that the best time to make one of these days today?  

What is holding you back? Why not make the change today? If 2020 has taught us nothing else, it has taught us that life itself is unpredictable. You just never know what is going to happen. Life is too short and precious to spend living in regret and ignoring the things you really want to do.

I have been stuck in that mode many times in my life but I am happy to report that the previous paragraph is not the story of my life. At least it is not the whole story. At some point in my life, I stopped waiting for the right time to show up and I stopped saying “one of these days I’ll…” and I took action. Instead of waiting, dreaming, and talking, I started doing. And, I am so glad I did.

Nothing changes if nothing changes. You will never know what might have been if you keep telling yourself “one of these days…”

Start doing today and find out what’s waiting on the other side.

Talk Soon,
Kevin W @LEAP272
Owner-Operator

You have to leap if you want to live

Do It Anyway.

“The cowards never started and the weak died along the way” – Phil Knight

Pacing, panicking, puking…
I can’t do it, I can’t do it, I can’t do it…
I can’t and I won’t, I can’t and I won’t…
I just can’t do it – would if I mess up?
Would if they hate me?
Would if I suck?
Would if I forget the songs?…

Lights out, curtains up, it’s show time…
My guitar intro starts…
Then stops…

If you think you can’t, do it anyway. Can you relate to that intro? I didn’t really puke but I sure felt like I was going to. I am recalling how I felt before the first real gig when I was in a band a long time ago. I was full of fear and anxiety consumed me as show time drew nearer. Then it was show time and I felt good until my guitar went silent. Actually, my amp. Apparently I had cracked a tube in my amp during warm up, transport, or sound check and it decided to go out three seconds into the show.

The anxiety and panic came back. All I wanted to do was run far away and hide. Fortunately, Sarah and Jeff took control of the crowd while I sorted out my technical issue. It was December so they started singing Christmas carols, while my friend got an amp from one of the other bands on the bill. All worked out and we went on to finish the show.

I share that story to illustrate that no matter what it is you want to do in your life, it will not always be easy getting there. You are going to be uncomfortable, you are going to feel sick, you are going to be scared, and you are going to feel like giving up. That is normal. You don’t find success at the end of a smooth road after a pleasant, leisurely Sunday drive. There are always bumps in the road, but you have to keep on that road if you want to get to the other side.

If you want to excel at what you do and accomplish your goals you have to be willing do the things you don’t want to do. These are the uncomfortable things that can make you anxious, afraid, and feel like you want to puke. That is normal, just do them anyway. Do them now. If you don’t do them now you will just have to do them tomorrow. There are always little things that pop up everyday that I don’t want to do. If I put them off today, tomorrow is harder because I have twice as many uncomfortable and undesirable things to do. Put it off a few weeks in a row and you can imagine what happens.

The good news is that the more you do the uncomfortable things the easier they become. So when you think you can’t or won’t, just do it anyway. That is how you push through and find the real you that will meet your goals.

Talk Soon,
Kevin W @LEAP272
Owner-Operator

You have to leap if you want to live

Appreciate The Good Times

Business owners know exactly what I am talking about. Just as in life, there are good days and there are bad days. There are good months and there are bad months. There are good years and there are bad years. It’s just part of the game and life as a business owner.

I have found it important to appreciate and celebrate the good times. And, most importantly, be grateful for them. You can do your best to avoid bad times but you can’t avoid them all together. You can plan for everything because there is so much out of our control. Remember the good times and remembering why you are in business to begin with will help you get through the bad times. Celebrating and appreciating them help solidify the memories so they are easier to recall.

Remember the good to get you through the bad.

Talk Soon,
Kevin W. @Leap272
Owner – Operator

You have to leap if you want to live.

AGAIN WE RISE: An Entrepreneur Always Gets Back Up

Again we rise, we do our thing and we fall. Again we rise, we do our thing and we fall. Again we rise, we do our thing and we fall…

Each time we fall we must rise again…
Each time we rise again we must rise higher…

Entrepreneur is a sexy buzz word today that motivates the lazy, entitled, bottom feeders of society. Alright, that’s a bit harsh, but there is some truth to it. There are so many people – wantrepreneurs, looking for the easy way out, the quick fix, and the get rich quick formula. These are the ones giving real entrepreneurs a bad rap rivaling the stigma of the insurance salesman, or the vultures of the used car lot, and, let’s not forget the pyramid scheme pushers. They are the ones that have the 5 easy steps, the 12 hour this, the secret this and the proven never shared before that – all of which will make you rich in no time flat. They are the ones that prey on the weak, the desperate, and the lost.

There is no overnight success. There is no get rich quick anything, except those that took a thousand sleepless nights and countless years to materialize.

You want to be a successful entrepreneur? Get ready to fall and rise again…and again, and again.

The key is to always get up. We all fall down, we all fail, what sets the entrepreneur apart is, we always get back up.

Talk Soon,
Kevin W @LEAP272
Owner-Operator

You have to leap if you want to live

Can I Say…Something About That?

“Doing The Right Thing Is Always The Right Thing…” – Unknown

I’m not sure who originally said this. I know I have heard Zig Ziglar, Tony Robbins, Russell Brunson, Gary Vaynerchuck, and many others all say similar sayings. I have heard many people use variations of this long before I started following any of these guys.

Now I haven’t asked them personally, but being a follower of them all, I would take a wild ass guess and say that each of them have said it because it’s true and they wholeheartedly believe it. Really, it just seems like common sense to me.

So what’s not to believe? It’s true! Then why is so hard to do? If something is the right thing to do that’s means it’s right and therefore it can’t be wrong. End of story. There isn’t anything to discus, nothing to debate or argue about Just do the right thing now and stop thinking about.

Again I ask why is it so hard to do? Is it just me or are there plenty out there just like me that make decisions harder than they have to be? Decisions that don’t really leave much room for discussion, yet I can burn tons of my energy and waste countless hours of my precious time pondering, evaluating, weighing the pros and cons, looking at all sides, exploring every option, and on and on. When all I need to do is stop thinking about it and just do the right thing. Why do I make it so difficult? Do I just have to make extra sure, one more time? Is it fear? Is it self-consciousness? Is it stupidity? Is it the need for drama or attention because even negative attention is attention. Is it a combination of all these things?

After years of learning the hard way by doing the wrong thing I would love to say I always do the right thing today. That would be a lie, however, but it sure gets easier the more I try. It takes less energy; mental, emotional, and spiritual. It’s like a muscle and the more you exercise your do the right thing muscle the stronger it gets. The stronger it gets, the easier it is to do the right thing next time. You do the right thing then move on and focus on the next right thing. No need to mind trip and worry if you did the right or become consumed with whatever you did, how you did it or how you should have done it. You place all your energy on the present and doing the next right thing today.

So take it from me and the wise guys before me and just do the right thing.

Talk Soon,
Kevin W. @Leap272
Owner – Operator

You have to leap if you want to live.

BRAIN EATERS Part 7: What’s The Score?

“At the center of your being
you have the answer;
you know who you are
and you know what you want.”

― Lao Tzu

Do you know who you are? Do I even know who I am? This entire series has danced around that topic. At least part it. That topic is really just an invitation to discover the greater part of the iceberg below the surface. In this series I focused on the things that occupy most of the space in my brain.

What occupies my brain is really a surface level topic, not the center of my being. However, the journey to the center must start somewhere. I feel the brain is as good a place as any. Looking deeply at what occupies my brain and really seeking to understand and answer the questions the brain eaters conjure will lead me to the center. The real questions and answers are there.

Have I found the right questions to ask? Have I found the answers? Have I listened to the answers? Do I know who I am? Do I know what I want? How does my scorecard look today?

I believe self discovery and growth is a life long journey. I have felt many times throughout my life that I had discovered who I am and what I want, later to discover I was wrong or that there was more to it than I thought at the time. Looking back I have realized that early on I might have been wrong some of the time but as I have moved forward and honestly sought the truth, it was more a matter of peeling layers. We are a complex species and it seems that more will always be revealed as we progress through life.

At this point in my life I do believe I know who I am. Will I learn more? Absolutely, I am a firm believer that once we stop learning our purpose in this life is done. Even after we become the teacher there is more to learn.

So where do I stand today? What is the score? How am I doing? This really could be a long and deep conversation which is better left for another time. Instead I will focus on how I am doing within the context of what I have discussed throughout this series.

The questions then become:
Am I keeping the brain eaters contained?
Am I staying focused, present, and calm amidst the chaos in my brain?
Am I doing the things that are good for me that help manage the brain eaters?
Am I…? See, there the brain eaters go getting carries away.

The most important lesson I have learned about self awareness, self discovery, and self evaluation is that there are no wrong answers if answered honestly. Nothing counts but honesty as you are only lying to yourself.

I am doing better about managing the chaos in my brain. I am not taking it out on others and I am not trying to do everything. I am focusing on just a few things and trying to do better at each.

I would love to say that I am doing great with the four things that help me most; writing, talking, exercising, and meditating. I do them all but the truth is, the quantity of each has dropped off a bit since taking over the pie shop a year ago. I need to find a way to put more time and effort in to each because they really do make a huge difference in the quality of my life.

The two that I have been able to do the most are writing and talking. Journal writing, not creative writing is what I have been able to do every day. Just writing things out helps to get them out my head. It takes some of the food away from the bran eaters and takes some of the power away from the thoughts. I do hope to create more time for the creative writing as it produces a very similar result. Talking things out with another person has really increased over the last six to nine months and has been very helpful. Sharing with another person helps get different, unbiased perspective on everything. It is very hard to calm the chaos with the same mind that created it.

In conclusion, I have been able to mitigate the damage caused by my bran eaters but I definitely need to put a few more points on the board for Kevin. My goal is to carve a bit more time for all of these things but focus more on quality instead of quantity since my time is limited.

How’s your scorecard looking? 

Talk Soon,
Kevin W. @Leap272
Owner – Operator

You have to leap if you want to live.

BRAIN EATERS Part 3: Ideas

“An idea is salvation by imagination.” – Frank Lloyd Wright

Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! We can do this, and then we can add that. And then this, and then that, and then…On and on I dive deeper inside the rabbit hole of ideas. These brain eaters are more fun than my big three but they too can drive me mad. My mind is haunted by a million ideas that won’t stop multiplying. They won’t stop spinning in my head long enough to grab hold of one. I can’t stop long enough to focus on any one thought or idea.

It must be the entrepreneur’s dilemma; the inability to innovate and focus on one thing at a time. I simply can’t do it; it’s too much to ask.  This idea is great but what abbot that one?  How can I make them both work? Should I start two companies? Can I make a hybrid and have the best of both? Should I do one at a time and hope no one thinks of the other before I can get to it?

If I’m lucky enough to stick with one my brain goes down another hole where that one idea spawns a thousand more. Again, spinning, and bouncing, and banging, and thrashing from side to side; idea whiplash.

Maybe it’s just part of being an entrepreneur, or maybe it’s just me. I have listened to many entrepreneurs and believe it’s the first. I must admit, I love it; it drives and inspires me but it is also maddening. Fortunately, I have grown and matured as an entrepreneur, for the most part. I am still taken hostage often by a million ideas but today I have learned to focus better and slow the wheels a bit.  I have learned that I can only one, maybe two or three, things at a time. Beyond that, no matter how good the idea, the execution suffers.

For me this comes with guidance, practice, and experience.  I look to those that have come before me and I practice what has worked for them. As I continue down my path I gain experience and continue to practice what works for me. I used to want to do it all by myself. Whether it was pride, fear, convenience, impatience or something else, it made it much more difficult to navigate alone.

One of the best things I have done was to work with mentors and coaches.  Another was to build a team and a network of people with complementary skills and personalities.  Just think what it would be like if you filled your bus with a bunch of yous!…

Can you imagine what it would be like in that rabbit hole? You’d never make it out, at least not with your sanity. Besides, I already argue with several imaginary Kevins as it is.

We don’t need to do it alone, as with the negative brain eaters, isolation allows them to grow, fester, and take control.  An idea without action can drive one mad.  I can easily become lost in the rabbit hole and alone it’s hard to find my way out. With the right people in our circle we have a much better chance at surviving the brain eaters. We are the visionaries and need to fill the circle with people that plug the holes created by our weaknesses. People that can keep their heads out of the clouds, stay out of the rabbit hole, and keep their feet firmly planted on the ground for daily execution.  They can help formulate the tactics to get the idea from concept to reality. They help contain us so we don’t get lost in the rabbit hole when we need to push the current idea forward.

Ideas are great and it’s good to be creative, but like most things in life, anything in excess can be bad, Moderation is key and not easy for an introverted visionary like me, but just like fear, too many ideas can cause paralysis.

When there is too much going on in my brain overwhelm takes over and I do nothing.

I think I speak for many entrepreneurs when I say that if I can’t do the things in my head I go to a bad place. Entrepreneurs are thinkers and doers, if we are stuck we can’t function.

If you are indeed like me, surround yourself with the right people because we can think and do all day, but if we can’t focus all that thinking and doing, it just drives us deeper down the hole, eating more and more of our brain.

Talk Soon,
Kevin W. @Leap272
Owner – Operator

You have to leap if you want to live.

BRAIN EATERS Part 2: The Mind Killers

” We’ve got nothing to fear but fear itself.” – Neil Peart / Gary Lee / Alex Zivojinovich, RUSH

There are all different kinds of brain eaters; some are negative and some are positive. Life is full of the good, the bad, and the ugly and so is my head. I prefer to get the bad and the ugly out of the way first. I call these the mind killers; fear, judgment, and resentment. As you read those three words I am sure you can think of more that you can add to the list. Of course, I can too, but I am distilling them all down to the core or root of each one. We can often put different labels on our thoughts and actions but if we really peel the layers and get to the core, many of them belong in the same bucket.

Are any of these words worse than the other? I think that really depends on who you ask, and probably when you ask them. Some people might have stronger opinions on one than the other. Others might be impacted themselves by one more than the other, and yet another person’s mind might be more consumed by one than another. In my experience they all seem to feed the other but throughout my life, fear and resentment have been in a constant title match for the belt. I think fear might have squeezed by and pulled out the victory.

That said, I will start at the bottom of my mind with judgment. Judgment used to occupy a large part of my mind.  Every time I entered a new environment or someone entered mine I started judging. I would start picking them apart, sizing them up, and assassinating their character. I would do this for both people I knew and didn’t know.  As I have grown older and, hopefully wiser, I no longer practice judgment like I used to. I have learned to accept people for who they are; including myself whom is often the hardest person to be non-judgmental about. When I assess my own judgments of others, they are usually based on my pride or ego. I am feeling insecure, less than, or judged myself so I judge others to bring myself up. I think it is human nature and our natural instinct for survival and security to assess and evaluate our environments. I believe judgment is simply taking that natural instinct to an extreme.

Resentment rears its ugliness in so many ways, disguised with so many masks. Sometimes subtle and sometimes intense, but always negative. Outward anger or rage is obviously negative, but the quiet, subtle bitterness, indignation, animosity, hatred and the like are often hard to detect and see their full scope of damage. It is often that quiet festering that leads to the loud or violent outbursts. That has been my experience with resentment. In the past I have allowed it to fester, almost receiving a twisted satisfaction from the silent scorn. In the end if not dealt with and erased those outbursts would come and were never fun. But my mind is the great manipulator. As resentment eats my brain I allow it to grow and fester and I find a way to justify it all.

The root of it all in my own mind is fear. Fear is the one with many names and faces. Whether we call it worry, doubt, fright, terror, panic, dread, to name a few, it grips us and takes control. Brain eaters feed on fear and fear feeds resentment and judgment. Once fear takes control the vicious cycle begins.  When I am resentful or judgmental, I usually discover that it is really fear masquerading about. Something externally has tapped an internal fear and has been projected outward as anger or judgment. This is after the fact, of course, as I analyze and process everything.  Have you ever walked into a strange room, afraid of what the people might think? Afraid they will judge you, so you instantly go on the defense and start judging them? That judgment is justified because your fear has convinced you they are judging you, and thus you become resentful; a big, ugly cycle.

The voices of fear, resentment, and judgment feed my mind like the devil on my shoulder; these are the three negative brain eaters that occupy my mind.  Not as much as they used to because I have found ways to deal with them as they crop up (stick around for the entire series to learn how I do so). I no longer allow fear to consume me to the point that it takes my mind and body hostage. I no longer allow resentment to fester and dictate my behavior. I no longer allow judgment to be my first line of defense. Do I still fear, resent, and judge? Absolutely, I am human.

Today I try not to allow them to eat my brain and control my thoughts and actions. Nor do I deny or justify them, I simply acknowledge them and do what is necessary to clear my mind and work through them.

And, when the brain eaters start to gain control, I stop feeding them and I write it out or I grab a coffee with a friend, mentor, or coach and share the secret and sort it out because the brain eaters’ biggest weapon is isolation.

Talk Soon,
Kevin W. @Leap272
Owner – Operator

You have to leap if you want to live.

BRAIN EATERS Part 1: Introduction

“The brain is wider than the sky.” –  Emily Dickinson

Going to the left. Going to the right.
Do this, do that. No, not that.
The voices, the voices, won’t you stop?
Fill my head with constant thought.
he chatter, the banter.
How many of you are inside?

What eats your brain? Hopefully not the creatures that attack the mind, turning you into zombies like the classic film of 1958. But does something? Please say yes as I don’t want to be alone. Of course, I’m never alone with all the voices in my head, but I want more. It’s just not the same.

In this series I am not writing a science fiction horror bit. I am going to let you inside my brain a bit and share what eats at my brain. Take you inside the world of an overactive, entrepreneurial mind. Not too far, though; I don’t want you to get trapped my Land of the Lost in Space.

For me, there is always something eating my brain; good, bad, indifferent it’s always something. Maybe it’s a Pisces thing, maybe an introvert thing, but it definitely a me thing. I have always been quiet on the outside and louder than life on the inside. I am usually the quietest one the room making the most noise; all in my head. I am always thinking, processing, creating, evaluating, writing, playing…Humming riffs, creating riffs, writing songs, writing poems, thinking up headlines and ad copy…Creating strategies, marketing material, benefit bullets, ad infinitum.

The activity just accelerates during a time like the present. As I write this sentence we are ten days into August of 2020 which will definitely become a standout year in the history books, or wherever history is documented in the future. This has been quite a year to date, but the biggest event has been the coronavirus pandemic by far.

We have had mandates, legislative orders, and martial law. We have been quarantined, forced to wear masks, and left toilet paper-less. This is a year for the books indeed. How about we make it an election as well. That really throws fire on the flame. The point is, with so much extraordinary external events in the world today, my brain is ripe to eat me alive.

It does make for some great content. However, if I can just capture it and find a good way to package and deliver it. So much of this activity happens while driving, riding, running, or walking, and most has vanished by the time I get somewhere to write anything down. Maybe I am just forgetful but I believe that these brain eaters have cannibalistic tendencies. Thanks to voice memo apps I can stop and record my thoughts and ideas anywhere. The problem is, most of the time I am so consumed with the brain eaters that I forget to do that. But, successful entrepreneurs are not focused on problems, they are interested in solutions

Don’t leave the table just yet; the next tasty course is on its way…
You don’t want to miss this tasty little treat.

Talk Soon,
Kevin W. @Leap272
Owner-operator

You have to leap if you want to live.