My mom, fighting injustice, one piece of junk mail at a time!

My daughter thought she bombed an interview recently. They hired her over 10 other applicants. After she was hired she asked why they hired her when she felt like didn't perform that well in the interview. They told her that she easily maintained eye contact and was able to carry on normal conversation. She told us later, "I didn't realize that bar was so low to get hired."

One of my friend's boys build a raft each summer and spend 4-5 days floating down the Susquehanna River. They are college age now but started doing it in high school. Awesome tradition and they will never forget the memories. The dads should borrow the raft at the end and spend a day or two on it ourselves. wnep.com/article/news/local/…

My daughter (20 years old) is in Thailand getting dental work done and saving us truckload of money. She had a bunch of cavities that needed filling and 4 molars removed which are $1000-$3000 each. On the low end her work was going to be about $7000 at a local dentist in Virginia. We have a favorite dentist in Thailand so my wife booked her a flight for $1300 and the dental work will be about $700. She is staying with family friends on our old street and her daily food and coffee there will be about as much as her daily trip to a cafe in the states. ;-) So we are going to save around $5000 and my daughter will get some time with some old friends and get to hand out in her favorite cafes. Recently, insurance companies have even started getting into medical tourism where they will pay to fly you to places like Mexico and Costa Rica because it is often cheaper to pay for flights, hotels and medical procedures there than it is to have them done at your local hospital. You definitely need to do a little homework on the level care from individual doctors and dentists but it can definitely be worth the trip. Our dentist in Thailand was trained in the states and does an amazing job. Would you go to another country to get medical or dental work done if it would save you a lot?

Let's go!

It's time to bring back How to Win Friends and Influence People.

Fox had a story and it said it was up to 25% of Gen Zers were bringing parents to interviews.

A young person who takes advice well, she's going places...

🤣

My parents required us as kids to write a letter to my grandparents each week before we got our allowance. I continued to write them regularly in college and as an adult because it became a habit.

4. Show up for work on time.

I would guess so. Someone it must be auto charged to their account with the barcode.

Word. Their parents modeled it for them as well.

So awful. Should the parents of the bullies be publicly named in a situation like this? So sad on so many levels.

I am in Cancun, Mexico and didn’t want to offend the guy at the hotel desk so I asked, “is is safe here at night or 50/50?” What do you think he said?

I spent 7 hours at a entrepreneur / lawyer's office who owns 5 businesses. I billed him for 3 to get his website back up and running. Then we spent 4 hours talking business and life. At the end of the day, when both of our wives were wondering where we were I said, "I gotta ask, why did you spend all afternoon with me when you bill up to $1000 an hour?" He said, "There aren't many people around here with your kind of energy and heart that also love talking business." I told him he needed to get on X. There's a whole tribe of us. 🚀

I always tried to teach my kids to be entrepreneurial. But it didn't always go as I dreamed it would. Once my daughter needed money, but instead of asking how to earn money, she got her own idea. She made mud and threw it all over our truck. The she came into my office and told me the truck was extremely muddy and asked if she and her friend Emmi could earn money by cleaning it. 😂

Lawn Mower Parents.

My son just graduated college. I'd probably go for a digital startup but he's much more concrete than me in his thinking so a physical business that leads to freedom might be his best option. He's thinking of starting or buying an RV park. What say you, people of X?

Yeah we taught the kids to look adults in the eyes when they were younger and to have a firm handshake which was also modeled and expected at Karate for them.

My thumbs are free! I broke my arm 6 weeks ago and haven’t been on X all that much. Got the cast off yesterday and I am happy to be back in the X game.

Nothing like walking out to what you think is going to be a preheated grill and finding out you’re out of propane.

Did I just screw up my marriage? Will I be able to send my kids to college? It was May 2016. Those were the questions I was asking myself. I had just experienced the worst year of my life building, opening, running and shutting down 2 businesses in 2 different countries and losing $250K in the process. At the end, we were in $100k in debt to investors and the future wasn't looking very bright. Somehow on a little over $100K in income we paid everyone off in a year. It involved selling vehicles, not going out to eat for 5 months straight, cashing in retirement etc. Today my kids are in town. One is out of college and two have a year left. They will all start adult life without debt, a decent car and some money in the bank from working during college. My marriage is strong. I have my dream property and a business that is paying the bills with promise of more to come. At this stage of the business, I have the freedom to be working on the business half of the time, while I have one staff member working in it. I'm not where I want to be but in some ways just to be here is a dream come true. If you are in the worst season of your life and there seems to be no hope. Don't quit. Don't stop. Don't give up. Work and Pray. Things will get better. If you need to talk give me a shout. 540-467-4751 -Buddy

Cheat code for life. Having a group of men who help you be a better man, entrepreneur, husband father and friend.

Haha. People skills and wit all in one package. :-)

Yeah, but in that case you are probably hiring for a specific role.

Yeah, especially because a lot of parties go into the evening. :-) You can show up at 5 10K richer and still have fun.

It's time for more people to man (or woman) up.

I am meeting with a naturopathic doctor (I think she is an OBGYN but acts like a naturopathic doctor) tomorrow who wants to talk about marketing and about organizing trips to Costa Rica to take them to vetted medical care with a side trip to the beach and the whole trip will be less than half of the cost to have the same preventative work done here in the US.

My daughter was talking about creating an instagram business but was worried about the impact on her soul but she wanted a life with time and location freedom. I told her to come set appointments and do admin with me and she could work harder, less, but make more money and it would be good for our soul at the same time. Day 2 with Adrianne on the Map Winners team. Let's go!

Once we had a miscue in our family and our 14 year old, Jack, was stuck at school after basketball practice without a ride home. I texted him and told him to scrounge a ride home. He "couldn't" find one so I drove down and picked him up. At dinner that night we were talking about him not getting a ride and I said with a smile on my face, "When I was a teenager I hitchhiked across America ........ twice."

Amazing quote. Makes me want to get out there. I have rafted and canoed down rivers but never anything like this with a big group of friends. Would be great to do. This was my last boating trip.

I had to fill out a questionnaire recently and 2 of the questions were who is your favorite person to follow on X and your least favorite person. I answered @sweatystartup for both. :-)

What's one of your favorite places on the planet? Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland is definitely mine. Bonus points if you post a photo!

Scored two goals in my soccer game. One before I broke my arm and one after. 😀

Another client, another winner Does it make sense for us to talk about you winning the Google Maps game for your business and location?

Haha. Security is a state of mind. Love it.

Out on the Appalachian Trail with my 81 year old father this morning.

I think sparkling water is worth it. :-) Most restaurants end up giving it to you for free. :-)

Had my best day in business ever this week. $30K in contracts closed in a day. Much thanks is due to you the good people of X / Twitter because it literally wouldn't have happened without you. There are many more but especially thankful for: @trentjhughes who helped me hire an SEO expert and EA. @bradsmith encouraging me in the agency biz @stephancdesigns who made my header @mateowrites who designed a follow up email sequence @FounderKyle who was my second X irl connection and has offered a lot of thoughts on business. @NeelBParekh always putting out great content and looking forward to being on his pod next week. Changing my view on franchises. @ShannonJean Does anyone give more selflessly on X than this guy? @BPD1776 always quick to engage with my content @thesavasx, @juliansaad00, @EuanSpencer00, @AidanLaBreche, @storeycopy from X Order @DannyMagazu, @BumpyPlays, @TheCREStudent watch these 3. They are all going to be/do great. @trevizo_gabe My most frequent engager I think, Generous dude. @WeddingVenueGuy makes me want to open a venue @ErikKaiser Quick to jump on call and always offering great value and posts @heIpfullandlord for leading our growth pod @CoFoundersNik, @jcolesimpson, for putting together the growth group @GoracleOfDelphi Going to start our own growth pod one of these days. :-) @joebenson Agency life and a sorta Kiwi @SMBTelecomGuy Great call @thelauraroman Commented on a post that had been sitting for an hour with no engagement. Ended up with 2.8 million views. @kickstartmyfran Always engaging @tenlifejosh Great content but What does ten life mean? @irentdumpsters Great stuff for me to emulate with growing mapwinners to a million dollar biz @realtylerhannon Engaging a ton and we are talking boats next week @griswold he traveled the world in a boat. That alone is worth the follow. @SuccessWithJake his content truly helps me level up @Depesh_Vyas first person to reach out for a zoom call @alexforbes__ sharing his story in real time @LeadershipAcad1 love watching this guy's journey @CliffKennedy_3 still need to hear the story of how your competitor imploded. :-) @AustinLinney let me beat him in the head to head :-) @TylerPurcell24 didn't let me beat him. 🤣 @noahkagan for keeping my cats healthier and helping me to execute quicker with his book @jesse_marseille for having me on the pod and Storytelling at Scale @FoundersPodcast for my favorite podcast of 2023 and inspiration to be better @thesamparr @ShaanVP for my favorite pod of all time and virtual mentors Tons of others that I know I am missing but thank you all and you can post yourself in the comments if I should have mentioned you but didn't and I'll comment something good about you. 🤣👊

So true. Crazy. In actuality it’s probably safer now we were just shielded from a lot of the stuff that went on without the internet.

Call their bank ahead of time and ask them to have $34 million in nonconsecutive / non marked bills because you have check you want to cash. I'll charter a plane and meet you at the closest airport. ;-)

I came back from Thailand to help my 92 father-in-law who got covid in Jan and lost 35 pounds. He is pretty weak and can't really be left alone yet. He needs help walking and getting meals. He spent 7 weeks in the hospital and has had problems with bladder control but refuses to wear a diaper so he often smells. He has been saying for days he wanted to thank the neighbor, Vanita, for the homemade banana pudding that she had made for him. Most days I get the paper but one day he felt up to walking out the driveway with a walker. His neighbor yelled hello from her porch but she is 90 and can’t yell very loud. He is 92 and can’t hear very well so he didn’t know she was trying to talk to him. I saw her and told him that she was trying to say hello as he got back to the house. He came in the house and sat down for a minute and then said he wanted to go over and say thanks. He had a large wet spot from urine on the front of his pants and his shirt and pants are all dirty because he eats in a lazy boy chair and often spills on himself. To my shame, I admit I was embarrassed of his look and smell and didn’t really want to take him over. I pointed out that he might want to change his pants first. He said no, he wanted to go right then. So in his stocking feet and soiled pants we walked over with his walker. It is the longest he has walked in probably 3 months. We got to the stairs and they talked for a minute with me translating by yelling everything Vanita said to my father-in-law, Monroe. After a minute she invited us in. Monroe climbed the stairs and sat down in the living room. Vanita’s husband, Ralph was in the other room so she told me to go in and say hello. I walked in and was greeted by a 90 year old man sitting at the kitchen table in his tighty whitey underwear and t-shirt. All of a sudden I realized I was the only one looking or caring about appearances. After talking to him for a couple of minutes I walked back into the living room as Vanita passed me on her way to the kitchen to get us each a piece of pound cake. When she came back in she told me how they thought she was going to die in December. Her organs had begun to shut down and they had the family come and they released her to hospice. She is still on hospice but has obviously recovered. She teared up when she told me how Monroe had been on his hands and knees praying for God to spare her when she was sick and dying. She talked about how God had healed her in answer to everyone’s prayers and she was so grateful. As we got up to leave she came over and gave him a kiss on the cheek and they grabbed arms for a moment. She told him she prays for him every night. It felt like I was witness to a sacred moment. A moment where friendship and the preciousness of life far outweighed urine spots on pants and old men sitting in their underwear. As we walked back across the street I thought of the verse, “Man looks on the outwards appearance, but God looks at the heart.” There was only one person looking at the outward appearance that day; the rest were focused on much deeper things. This was 3 years ago and all 3 are in Heaven now. I hope they still get to live on the same street.

Do you ever fail the "Are you a robot test?" Asking for a friend. But seriously?!?

That's interesting to be hired with a best friend. I knew of a tech company that only hired people in groups of 4 to 5 because they found out they stayed in the role a lot longer. They had strong performance metrics but that is an interesting take.

The wife and I are heading to Germany for a couple of months. First trip sans kids to serve outside an Air Force base and also run my business. Thankful for my staff that do the heavy lifting for Map Winners.

Feel so blessed to have a 20 minute loop trail on my property. I have zero excuses to not get in 10k steps a day. 😜

It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood.

That would be funny. Don’t think any judge is going to send an 80 year old to prison over 55 cents but stranger things have happened.

So crazy! Now that non competes aren't a thing I guess everyone is open game. :-)

It's so crazy. I think I would have a direct question for the parent as to why they were there but the interview would pretty much be over at that point.

Those on government payroll and government assistance should only get half a vote in elections. My only political tweet of 2024.

If there is anything you can do to make it happen Christian school or home school in general are the way to go. Praying for wisdom and finances for you as I shut my laptop. 🙏

I've realized after almost a decade out of hands on Anti Human Trafficking work that the heaviness of a broken world will never leave my soul. The weight of the heaviness and grief rises up and surprises me still from time to time. At the same time, I am finding more joy in the little things and especially finding joy in the things others find joy in. My 96 year old neighbor, Edwina, LOVES to mow her lawn. When I walk out of my house and hear her mowing, it immediately makes me happy because I know how happy she is. Last year she apologized to me for mowing on Easter Sunday. She said "All the boys went to ride their motorcycles on the Blue Ridge Parkway today and this is what I do for fun." No Apologies needed, Edwina. If it makes you happy to mow your lawn, mow away! I'll be over here happier knowing how happy you are to be mowing on your bright orange tractor.

Problem solved....For stinking ever!

The wife and I hit a Christmas market tonight in Trier, Germany.

"Boys always fall for a stop watch." My wife just got me. She came home with a power washer and said, "There's a lot of hoses and everything. It's going to take a while to get this set up." I told her from the minute it hit the deck she would be power washing within 5 minutes. Had it running in less than 3. She said, "I got you. Whenever I want you to do something fast I bring up time. Boys always fall for a stop watch." Haha. Yep. Pretty much.

Love this idea. Wishing you all the best. Listed my home. :-)

A combination of being on X, applying what I read in the Bible, deciding to level up in '24, faster execution and hanging out with an awesome group of entrepreneurs at a cigar club has been changing my life rapidly. One of the things I have been trying to do more is to reach out to people from the past and let them know the positive impact they have had on my life. I found the guy on LinkedIn who jumped from a helicopter into the Pacific Ocean to same me when I got swept out to sea in '01. There were 15-20 foot waves and he went over the top of one. I literally thought he might die because it was a reef break. I'm going to have him and hopefully the other Para Rescue guy that saved us on the podcast in June and you'll get to hear both sides of the story. Funny thing is, they were so calm, cool, and collected that it seemed like something they did every day and he said it was one of the top 3 highlights of his career. The idiot youth pastor who got swept out to sea and the PJ's who risked their lives to save mine and the guys with me Podcast coming in June. :-) Is there anyone that has impacted you that you can shoot a quick message to today to say thanks?

I signed a 24K client today. There were many seasons when that would have been the highlight of my day. Today's highlight and it's not even close was @AustinLinney taking time out of his day to share his hard earned wisdom and insight with my daughter, Adrianne, to help her grow in life and business. Literally teared up and pumped my fist at one point hearing him share truth bombs that were landing and helping her to make better decisions going forward.

The outdoor office is officially open for spring.

Out on the lake with the kids today.

Seriously, so should I tell mom to stop that it's not going to make a difference in the long run or should we keep sticking it to them. :-)

A Pretty Good Lyft Last week in Baltimore, Uber charged me $85 for a trip that usually costs $20. I looked into the way their "surge pricing" model actually works, and didn’t like what I learned. So today, after checking out of my hotel in Oklahoma, I called Lyft instead and was picked up by a guy named Mike. He was driving a red F-150. It was clearly a work truck, full of tools and lumber. I sat up front. “How far to the airport,” I asked. “Fifteen minutes,” he said. “You in a hurry?” “Not really,” I said. “Are you?” “Never.” As we merged onto the highway and settled into the slow lane, I asked Mike if he was a carpenter in real life. “Among other things,” he said. “Jack of all trades?” “Well, I don’t know about that,” he said. Back in the seventies, I was a plumber’s helper. Then I worked for a spell in the heating and air condition game.” “How was that?,” I asked. “Hot and cold,” he said. I honestly couldn’t tell if he was making a joke or not. His voice had a classic midwestern drawl, and there was no expression on his face as he stared out the windshield. “After that, I started carpentry. Trim, then framing. Then I moved on to building custom cabinets in rich people’s houses. Figured out how to build spiral staircases and furniture. Did pretty good.” “You retired now? “No. I build campers these days.” “What kind of campers?” I asked. “I build them small ones you can tow pretty much anywhere. They call ‘em teardrop trailers. Got really popular during the lockdowns. I build ‘em by hand, one at a time.” “Yeah? How’s the quality,” I asked. “Pretty good,” he said. “Got a website,” I asked. “Sure,” he said. “Gotta have a website these days.” “What’s your website called,” I asked. “Mike’s Pretty Good Campers.” I still couldn’t tell if he was messing with me. “Your company is called 'Mike’s Pretty Good Campers?'” “I like to manage expectations,” said Mike. "Under promise and over deliver?" "That's the idea," said Mike. "Is that what you were doing before you picked me up just now? Building a pretty good camper?” “Yup. But I was starting to get frustrated. And I don’t like to work when I’m frustrated. So, every now and then I gotta step away.” “And drive a stranger to the airport?” I said. “Never too frustrated to drive,” said Mike. “Driving relaxes me. Besides, we ain’t strangers no more, are we?” “No,” I said. “I suppose we’re not.” As we turned on Airport Road, I said, “So what’s the plan? Drop me off and wait for another call? Or head back to the shop and finish building that pretty good camper?” “Ain’t decided yet. Guess I'll see how I feel in a few minutes.” “Good plan,” I said. “By the way, if I like your website, do you care if I share it on Facebook?” “Why would you want to do that?” he asked. “I’ve got a few people who follow me on social media,” I said. "I'm not sure why they do, but they do. Maybe some of them are in the market for a pretty good camper, custom made by a quasi-retired carpenter who drives for Lyft when he’s feeling frustrated?” “Can’t hurt,” said Mike. “Once people see these things, they fall in love with ‘em. They got whole conventions all over the country for teardrop trailer owners. Thousands show up. You wouldn’t believe how people decorate ‘em and such.” "I don't know about that, Mike. I'll believe pretty much anything these days." As we pulled up to the airport, Mike asked me what carrier I was on. “American,” I said. “Right here is fine.” “Pre-check?” he asked. “Yes,” I said. “Well then, you don’t want to get out at American. Let me take you all the way to the end, otherwise you got a walk across the whole dang the terminal.” We pulled up to the curb at the very end of Will Rogers Airport. I hopped out, as Mike dragged my bags out of the bed of his work truck. “You look familiar,” he said. “Have I driven you before?” “I don’t think so,” I said. “I would have remembered. Thanks for the lift.” “No problem,” he said. “Was the ride okay?” “It was a pretty good lift,” I said. Somewhere behind his mustache, Mike might have smiled, as I walked into the only airport in America named for a cowboy who never met a man he didn’t like. There, I boarded my plane and checked to see if there really was website called “Mike’s Pretty Good Campers.” Son of a gun... Credit - Mike Rowe

On my last motorcycle ride before I left Thailand I kind of whispered a prayer as I took off from my house. "God it would be cool if there were elephants walking on the road for my last trip." He did one better.

My friend Scott is buying a church to convert to a hunting/fishing lodge across from the fire station he already owns. $90K purchase $30K renovation Should rent for $500 a night and he anticipates about 200 rentals a year. = $100K gross income. He has experience with hunting lodges and AirBNB. It should work out swimmingly for him. BUT his last AirBNB was going to be a houseboat that is not sitting at the bottom of a Marina. 😜 Life happens, keep going.

Love it. I was inspired to go into business when a friend asked her mom to take her to Paris for the weekend to go shopping and I knew the real estate they owned was paying for the trip. Bought my first small apartment building at 23.

Where do your Standard Operating Procedures live? We have been building ours in Google Docs and Sheets but's getting a little cluttered.

Haha. You should go for the record!

Does anyone in SMB use OKRs as laid out in Measure What Matters or do you find KPIs, big rocks, or something else most helpful?

He is Risen! Happy Easter.

Just had a guy get upset that I required a background and credit check that was going to cost him $30. Do people rent places without background checks? Is there anyway that is better for potential renters that also protects owners?

We were living in Thailand and I got a text from a friend in another country in Asia "There is no time to explain but you need to go rescue this girl, Amy" They gave me Amy's phone number and I texted her and then called and we came up with a plan of where I would pick her up. She was working for an anti-trafficking agency I was familiar with. Typically our rescues were people entrapped by traffickers not the people who are supposed to be helping. The boss was narcissistic and controlling. Amy had felt increasingly unsafe after she said she was going to leave and voiced some of the reasons why to the boss. She had a ticket to fly back to the states on Thursday but this was Monday morning and she had just purchased another one to fly that evening and needed a ride and a place to hide for 8 hours. After the pickup we came back to our house and hung out in our living room with my wife for the day and then we dropped her off at the airport that evening and made sure she made it through security OK. Afterwards I had two reflections. 1. My friend could have called and spent 90 seconds telling me the story instead of "There's no time to explain." 2. I love it that my friend didn't take time to explain the situation because there was 15 years of trust built up and they felt like the 90 seconds was better spent getting Amy to safety.

I almost always try to encourage them at one point on the call for who they are and something they did or taught me. When I was 16 my dad had me follow him after I got home from school to drop off one of our cars at someone's house who bought it. When I got there I found out we were actually trading it for an old pool table that we didn't need. I started to tell my dad we didn't need it and he told me to be quiet and we would talk about it later. On the way back when we were in the same car he told me that this was the nicest car this guy had ever owned and it was 10 or 12 years old. He said, "Yes, we could totally afford to give it to him. But if he buys it, even if he buys it with a pool table, it will give him dignity and increase his self respect." I realized at 16 that my dad knew a lot more than me and it reinforced what I already knew, that he was a good man on top of that.

The island story is awesome and crazy!

This is what we do on a daily basis: A business signs up with us. We optimize and rank their business on Google Maps, making them more visible to local customers. Our efforts: Boost their online presence Drive more leads through organic traffic Fuel business growth by attracting more local clients They watch their business grow with a steady flow of new leads and loyal customers. This is the dream: Grow your business without limits.

My latest client built his own indoor soccer stadium on his property. He invited me to join about 20 guys in a friendly league he started. I played last night for the first time in 3 years. SO MUCH FUN!

We lived about 4-5 hours away for 7 years then moved to Germany for my last two years of high school. It was a fun way to stay connected and I still have most of the letters my grandma wrote to me over the years.

Adult Kid Parenting Hack When we were young adults my wife and I were told we didn't come home enough and didn't stay long enough with the 'rents when we did. We felt like we came home frequently often skipping trips to see friends and it felt unappreciated. Intention we set: We decided we would never guilt our kids into coming home and that we would always woo them back and we bless them to not be here if they choose which they have on occasion even for significant holidays with nary a word from us. We told them we'd buy their gas and Chick-fil-A stops for trips home. My wife loads up on all their favorite snacks, detergents, deodorants, chocolates etc for them to take back home or college. When their friends come my wife finds out ahead of time what they would like if she doesn't already know. If it is a kid that grew up with our kids she'll likely already know some of the things they like. We do fun things, go out to eat, play games and have great conversations while they are here. They love the house and how relaxing it is to look out over the meadow through the large picture windows or to hang out on the deck in the sunshine. My son left at 3:30 am this Sunday so he could make it back to college in time for a round of golf and we found this note when we woke up. Intentions for the win.

When @FounderKyle invites you to his house but doesn't send you his address. 🤣😎

Agreed. A friend just recommended reading the book the Anxious Generation because of how much technology is impacting everyone but especially kids.

Getting in better shape and spending quality time with my daughter this weekend. Fun hike up Read Mountain in Roanoke for the sunset.

We helped a client increase $5 million in annual revenue last year. My staff was creating a sales page. I told them, "It sounds like too much, just say we can help people increase up to a million a year in increased revenue." We have helped at least 3 clients increase over a million in annual revenue.

Turns out @FounderKyle is a real person and not just an anonymous X account. Thanks for the great conversation and advice on my business.

39: The number of school years my kids collectively had before college. ZERO: The number of conversations I had with teachers or coaches in defense of my children or expressing frustration at the job the teacher was doing. I always coached my kids to have the hard conversations that they needed to have. One time my daughter was crying in the car because of how she was being treated by the principal who was a power hungry, world class biatch and making things very difficult for my daughter as the senior class president. After my daughter had a cry about the situation she collected herself and I offered to go with her to have the conversation she needed to have, "No, she will just treat me even worse. I'll deal with it and be fine you don't need to go with me." -It's been over five years and I still dislike that person for making my daughter cry. Everything in me wanted to raise up and stop the circumstances and express my frustration. BUT my daughter was right. She needed to do what we had been teaching her for 18 years: Take responsibility for the situation and deal with it even though she was being treated poorly. She did and and her, "deal with awful people muscle" grew. Shitty people are always out there and part of a successful life is learning to deal with them and minimize their impact on you and your goals as much as possible.

Confidence comes from Competence. Not Affirmations.

So true.

‘Merica. Shooting clays at Duck Island Lodge in the Outer Banks.

My wife writes guests names on a wall hanging before they visit. She never mentions it, but at some point during their stay they see it, make a remark, smile and feel loved. Feel free to pop in anytime, but if we know you are coming, we'll make sure you name is on the board.

Sherpas don't measure the number of personal summits but rather the number of people they have helped summit. What if we measured our businesses by the number of lives we improved immensely including both employees and customers?

He’s not threatening you, he is challenging you. Big difference.

4 sentences into my journal before I realized I was writing one sentence a line like on X. :-)

My wife and I first met 34 years ago today in Germany. I am the guy in the short shorts on the van and Jen is next to me. We celebrate each Aug 5th. :-)

If you get Google Reviews, you might want to bookmark this ideal Google review response. I wouldn't make every review like this but every tenth review to be filled out like this would be good and adding elements of this type to the other reviews is a good thing. In every review response you want to: 1. Express your appreciation 2. Drop in keywords and locations 3. Paint the ideal end picture or result in the minds of prospective clients reading your reviews.