We must take Action…

I want to write a book… There I said it, if you haven’t heard me say then now you have. It’s something I have wanted to do for a while. 

So what do I do? Why hasn’t it happened?  I have not taken action on what I want to accomplish. This blog has been just sitting here, empty of words for years. 

The first step is the first step… 

In order to make this happen, I need to hone my writing skills.  This blog is just that, you see the action that I am taking by writing this information is improving my writing skills. I personally am always in a place of self reflection and trying to make myself better every day. 

You may have heard that it takes 10,000 hours to be proficient at something. Take a deep breath and then think about how many things you have spent 10,000 hours on in your life. All that this really means, is that you need to practice in order to get better. You can not just expect for things to just happen for you. You must take action, if it isn’t happening for you then make it happen. You must do everything in your power to succeed. 

So this is it, this is me practicing for what is to come…

The great John Wooden said “Never cease trying to be the best you can be”. 

You see this is how I try to live my life. One day at a time, every day better than the last. What are you passionate about? Learn about whatever way you can. Read a book, watch a YouTube video, always be open to a dialog. Understanding that criticism will make you better, by viewing it as a good thing. I hope this helps you look into the future and be a better you daily. 

-Wes

Maybe I’m no one…

I’m no one, is something I heard this morning in a piece of social media…

This stuck me as a crazy statement because everyone is someone and it is often hard to see for many. There are people that rely on you every day, and without you their day may be incomplete. 

I want to challenge you to find something that you look at as negative today and look for the positive things in it. 

For instance, we always look at our bills as a negative thing… Damn I have to make the car payment today. I spend 400 dollars a month on paying for the car. It is a negative statement right?

Let’s flip that… I am grateful that I have a car, and even though I have to make a car payment it provides me so many things. I can now get to the job safely to be able to afford the car. I can go places and do the things I love because it provides me transportation. 

The challenge today is to find the positive in any negative situation. 

I got a reminder today on the viral post, someone told me I looked 60 plus. A year ago this would have bothered me immensely. Today I was able to look at the post that now has 100k plus views and be thankful for all the relationships that came from it. I needed to be torn down in order to realize the bigger purpose. I realized some people are just sad and jealous. 

I also realized that I would have never had the following I have without it. Many of my current supporters had found me this way. The have become real friends, and I am thankful for that!

Thank you to all who support me for who I am!

Sit back and drive it to the Opposite Field…

 It may not come to a surprise to you, but I am a thinker… I often think about what is going on in my life and what are the lessons that I can learn from things being said. I feel like my mind speaks to me in parables… 

A northeastern friend of mine triggered something in my brain this morning and I had to share it. You may have heard that life sometimes throws you a curveball. Well the baseball coach in me started to think that over, and how it could relate to life. 

You see in baseball you are trying to hit the fastball out of the park. The pitcher may play a game of cat and mouse with you, and throw you fastball that you did not connect on. The very next pitch he will come at you with a curveball. The curveball is much slower and doesn’t take the straight path of the fastball. You can really tell this sometimes when someone throws one and makes the batter look stupid. A good pitcher will have the same delivery for both pitches. He blew you away with his 100 mile an hour fastball, but then throws his curve at 88. You are ready for fastball and us the same swing as the previous pitch. But you are way ahead and miss the ball completely. 

Life can be like this at times… the remedy for a curveball is to sit back and wait for it to arrive. When a young player is learning this you may tell them to count to one then swing. The point is that you must be patient with the curveball, let it travel to the plate before swinging at it. 

This is how life is, when you are thrown a curveball it is often an indicator that you must be patient and allow the ball to travel. It may not be the right time to go full steam ahead and treat it like a fastball. You might just strikeout… The point is be patient, let the ball arrive and drive it to the opposite field!!! 

You got this!!

-Wes

We all have Circumstances…

  I have to admit, I have lives somewhat of a sheltered life, although my parents throttled me back to make sure that I was successful in their eyes. I had a pretty good upbringing… I had plenty of food, I had good parents who instilled hard work and integrity and so much more. 

With that being said, I still had issues and still do. When I read Rich dad Poor Dad I had an eye opening experience. I realized that what my parents looked at success, was not what I think it is. They just wanted to give me more than they had. They wanted me to have more than just some 5 dollar an hour job that I could barely get by on. The interesting thing they like many other people equated this to getting a good job that pays well and had medical benefits as well as a good retirement.  

This was all fine and well, and I had it in my mind from the beginning of time. There is a lot more to this story but I ultimately took their advice and went to college. Those of you who know my story, know that sports was the only thing that kept me getting good grades. As a matter of fact, I got a 4.0 my senior year in high school because I wasn’t going to get in to college to play football if I didn’t. I ended my high school education with a 3.0 GPA and was only because of the 4.0.

Take sports out of the equation, my motivation to get good grades and I flunked out of the University of Idaho with a 1.7 GPA. I went into working manual labor in a tire center for the next 11 years. I hated every minute of it, well except with one aspect. Training other people to do what I did… You see the program I flunked out of was education. I am and wanted to be a teacher…

Fast forward 7 years later, and I obtained my Masters Degree in education with a combined 3.8 GPA. You see what I lacked was the motivation to do well in school. When I went back 11 years later I had a more determination. The fact of the matter was I lacked the motivation, the first time. It wasn’t that I was not smart enough, it was that I did not apply myself… 

Sounds like I listened to my parents after all…

By the way, I no longer teach in an educational setting. The reach wasn’t worth the output of my skills. 

I still do and will always value being able to teach people that they can be better than what they believe they can. You just have to do the work. 

What are you doing to help yourself is the question I will leave you with.

What do you hope to Accomplish?

  Kindness is such a hard thing to come by these days. Often think of Gary Vee talking about deploying compassion when someone treats you wrong. 

It is super easy for someone to have a bad day, to turn it on you. I deal with this all the time as a sales person. I sale window coverings by day and have customers who always treat you like you are dirt when you show up. It is interesting to me because they have called out company to get a price on the products that we sell. 

 I have always thought that you should treat others how you would like to be treated. Heck it’s even in the Bible if you believe that way, no judgement whatsoever. It’s the golden rule for crying out loud.  

I know many people have had bad sales experiences. However when you have summoned someone to your house to get a price on a product, why would you act offended when they tell you what the value of the product is you asked for??

Something to think about, when someone sells you something. They have a lot more invested in the product than just the product. Take in to account that the person who sells the product takes all the risks in selling the product. The pay the installers, the salesman, vehicle wear and tear, as well as all the tool to do the job. There is a lot wrapped up into that price, and you get what you payed for. 

You called them, because you can’t do whatever it is yourself. You don’t have the skills, and they are there to help you solve that problem. 

Instead of insulting their price, or trying to ask for a discount evaluate what you are willing to pay and if it is not in your price range. Say thank you for your time, and see them to the door. After all, the person you called in is there because you called. 

That Viral Video…

 It’s been about a year since I posted a video that has since had 110.1k views. I saw someone say the words and then I thought hell I could do this. 

“Tell me you don’t look your age without telling me you don’t look your age, I’ll go first 41”

Let me start by saying that I have always been told I don’t look my age. I have always been told there was no way I was that old. I always thought to myself its the Gen X genes. What can I say I wasn’t thinking… 

Why would I subject myself to the scrutiny I was about to be subjected to… The comments started rolling in you look great, I swore you were younger, no way you’re 41. My ego was in charge at this point boom 10K, 20k, 30k, it just kept going. I was getting a negative comment here and there, someone lied to this guy he looks 50. Look at all the grey in his beard, one comment after another just ripping me to shreds. 

I shut the comments off when it hit 100K people say, you went viral. I just couldn’t handle it, the hate this video had generated. Why are people so mean…

What was the lesson I could take away from this became the question. The truth, maybe I look older and maybe I look younger. People are mean and fickle, they want to bring attention to themselves and that was what I was trying to do as well. I just didn’t get the attention that I thought I was going to get. 

Age is subjective, what you think old or young looks like could be very different to someone else. Start to think about how you interact with people and how you judge them. I have worked very hard to not judge people, it’s not my place. I have also tried to put myself in their shoes, who hurt them? Why would they feel the need to tear someone down. Most often they are trying to make themselves feel better because they feel bad about themselves.

So as you go throughout your day, think about the things that are different about you. Use them as strengths, I may be older but I am definitely wiser that that 41 year old a year ago. Age doesn’t define you, your circumstances do not make you who you are. You make you who you are! If you are reading this, you are a Success Warrior! 

Do not Throttle the Dreamer!

 I have to confess, I am going through the preverbal shit right now… I have been thinking about what is working and what isn’t.

The podcast is something that I am very passionate about, and need some ideas. 

I have already decided that I am not going to give up, as my friend Robert Watson reminded me of what I have always said Move Forward… Now becomes the question, what do I do to make it more attractive to new listeners and YouTube watchers?  

What do people need, what is the problem that I can solve for them. How can what I say help more than what it currently does.

My desire to help as many people as possible is not on hold but in a holding pattern. This holding pattern just reminds me of a jet plane circling the runway for a better time to land. The plane has not stopped moving, it is just not reaching its destination yet!

Thank you Robert for reminding me to move forward! I challenge every person who is reading this to Move Forward!

The best has yet to come…

What Has Social Media Shown Me?

What has social media shown me? Since the first time I read Gary Vee’s crushing it, I knew I needed to establish myself on social media. I knew that I needed to post, post, post. Well I did just that, what did it show me?

There is no magic answer to making it work. A lot of what happens on social media is being in the right place at the right time. What I believe Gary is getting at mostly, is that the opportunity will arise if you do the work. 

Patience is key, and I have been patient for a long time. I have realized this morning that it just isn’t the right time. This has caused me to reevaluate what’s I am doing… Am I correct in my thinking? What is the next level that I am trying to reach. 

Have I failed? I think not, I think what is best though is for me to reinvent myself. What can I do? What does this mean?  I am not sure at the moment, but I will not stop… 

What are your thoughts, what has worked for you?  What would draw more attention? The thought process as begun, and I will be reinventing my content in some way. I’m not going anywhere, I just need to make some changes…

-Wes

Am I doing Enough?

So let’s start with this, am I doing enough to push myself every day. I started Shaping Success, to help others realize that their life is not defined by their situation. You can be successful in whatever way you chose. Just because you came from a bad situation, doesn’t mean you can’t change it. 

I am at a crossroads myself, I have podcasted for 3 years now. I have over 1000 subscribers on YouTube and at the time of writing this a little of 38 thousand downloads. Today I am contemplating shutting it down…

Gary Vee says, just create… I have been creating for 3 years, and have developed some great friendships as well as relationships. Social media however is an ever changing monster. I put out my most current episode of this Monday and it has 3 audio downloads, and 10 Views on YouTube…

What am I doing wrong? I try to justify in my head is it worth it, is the a return on my investment. Am I spending my time on something that will not take off.

I wanted to make something positive, something that would reach as many people as possible and I am spinning the wheels. It’s almost as if I can’t gain traction. I wonder more now than ever, is it worth it? The time I spend away from my kids, the time I use to try and grow something that could be my own. Something that is fulfilling, something that makes me happy. 

Do I conform, or move forward…