In my list of 7 goals for the year, goal #3 was “Eliminate any distractions in life not vital to success.” I thought about this one before putting it down on paper because it did mean that some things in my life would have to go this year. Also, the quote isn’t totally mine alone; I heard a speech a few years ago where Nick Saban said something similar about taking anything out of your life that wasn’t allowing you to be your best.

To me, distractions come in several forms.

First, there are people. I have always been taught and thoroughly believed that I was in the people business. People buy the product that I am selling and people create the product that I sell, so I live in a world revolving around people. But sometimes, you have a set of people in your life that simply distracts you from the task at hand. They do or say things, either to you or about you, and when it makes it back to you – the time spent mentally thinking about them is simply no good. So sometimes, you have to take people out of your lives who are distracting your mental power to perform at the level you want to perform at. There have been several times this year with friends and some family that I have chosen to eliminate from my thoughts simply because they are not and probably never will be willing to help me succeed. That may sound a little heartless but I find myself in a place where I want all the time to myself that I can get, and if you are not part of the solution, then you are part of the problem. And problems have to go. Plus, these are the type of friends/family that never offered to pay for dinner, buy the beer, or come pick you up to go somewhere, so see ya later.

Next, there are habits. I used to enjoy habits like sleeping in a little on the weekends or looking at Facebook at night before going to sleep. Now, I have started waking up early on the weekends to read my work emails, send follow-up notes, and when I do go to Facebook, I  usually go there because I am looking for someone or specifically at something. Also, things like alcohol use to be a bigger distraction. Everybody loves to have a couple of drinks or unwind after work (which I still do), but not to the extent that I used to. By limiting the days or the amount of alcohol, I have found that I am much more functional and on top of my game even more than before. The truth is that I really like it. Being more focused and paying more attention to everything gives me a great feeling. Better than that of a habit that had no great rewards.

Lastly, there is the mental trap. I used to get angry at situations or issues that would occupy my thoughts. Sometimes, I would think about them for days, and there was no outcome that was going to be productive for me in any way. So, by not allowing these things into my mind and simply accepting situations or issues for what they are, I find there is a whole lot more of my time and energy to expend in other areas. Focusing on things you can do something about or how to make situations better for people in the future rather than harping on what went wrong in the past has taken a big set of distractions out of my mind and freed me up from being in a mental trap.

So, to sum everything up: Dump your friends/family that create drama, put down your Facebook account and the beer can, and don’t harp on situations that linger in your mind. Get things in and out that do not help your ability to be successful.

Eliminate your distractions and you will be surprised at what all you can accomplish.

You go through life every day, and you sometimes feel like nothing can ever surprise you. There’s not going to be anything in any given day that’s going to shock you or change your outcome of how you go about your day.

But then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, somebody gives you something out of a simple conversation you had with the most unsuspecting person to create such a gift that you’re just blown away and truly at a loss for words.

I was getting my hair cut the other week, and the person who cuts my hair has really become a good friend of mine. We talk about life, our kids, current events, the country, everything going on in our daily lives. One thing that goes on a lot in my life is hunting. I’ve always loved to hunt. I grew up hunting, I’m now starting to take my kids hunting. Hunting is part of the fabric of my existence and my life. While getting my hair cut and talking about hunting, I made the comment that I was out of ammo for my rifle. I only had three shells left. Luckily, deer season was ending, and I wouldn’t need any more until next year. My hairdresser said, “My husband probably knows where to find some ammo. Tell me what kind you want, and I’ll see if he can get it.”

I kind of shrugged it off in disbelief because, in the year 2021 with everything that’s gone on in the world like Covid, riots, and raids on the Capitol, finding ammunition is one of the hardest things to do. So, I shrugged it off and kept talking, and she said again, “No, seriously, tell me what kind of ammo. My husband is really into guns and can probably find it.”

I get a call last night. Her husband has not only found the ammo but has bought me four boxes of it. When I try to repay the favor, she simply won’t take the money. It’s the kind of surprise that completely blew me away and is a great reminder that sometimes it’s great to show up in people’s lives with something that is such a big surprise to them that you absolutely leave them speechless.

I absolutely loved the first part of the year. It’s such a refreshing time to reset, get refocused, and make new plans for the remainder of the year. I always do it with a very positive mindset because I know that attitude is everything, and good things happen to good people.

As I go through every day, I have to deal with a balance. There’s a balance of how much you do in all aspects of your life and what it takes to get the most out of every day, every situation, and every person that you come in contact with. Keeping it all balanced can be very difficult. It can be difficult because sometimes you want to move faster than other people are willing to move.

Sometimes, you have objects that are in your way that you need to figure out how to move. And other times, you can’t seem to get yourself to slow down enough to actually enjoy what all it is you’re doing.

It’s hard to keep a balance when you want everything to happen yesterday. It’s hard to keep a balance when you’re trying to get more out of people than they probably know they can give. It’s hard to keep a balance when every day you feel like you’re ready to play in the Super Bowl, and some people don’t even know there’s a game going on. But I think the art of keeping it balanced is when you can accomplish everything that you want to, get everything that you can out of those around you, and go home at the end of every day and feel accomplished in what you’ve done. It creates a very positive mindset, a very good life, and it just makes everything more fun.

As I go through life in living day-to-day, it’s starting to become real that people come and go in all areas of your life. Some you’re really happy to see enter your life. You’re happy to be around them. You enjoy their company, the friendship, the relationship, the caring and compassion that they share with you and vice versa. Then sometimes, people leave and you miss that.

They leave for whatever reason. Either your paths grow apart, or your interests no longer align. Sometimes, people leave simply because they don’t like you or something that you’ve done, or maybe how you run your company or live your life. As I was thinking about this over the week, it seems like, with every flip of the calendar, the amount of people who enter and exit my life always seems amplified. While up early this morning, reflecting on the day and the week I’ve had, I started thinking that sometimes your life may just feel like a Southwest Airlines plane.

Southwest has a great motto that says they put passengers on and off a plane faster than any airline in the industry. They fly from city to city picking up and dropping off people. They do it 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. As I reflect on recent people both entering and now exiting my life, I couldn’t help but laugh to myself this morning that I’m almost like a Southwest Airlines plane. Moving around at a very fast rate of speed, taking people on, letting people off, but smiling and loving life throughout the process.

As I fly across the country tonight, I reflect back and think about my day – a random Tuesday in January, which use to be such a slow time in my life. Things never got busy until the big months, the March-August times when things use to be just wide open and every day seemed like a fire drill. Now, as I cross over millions of homes relaxing, I am still working. It is what I call “running with the blinders on.” I do not have a care in the world about what is happening on the ground under me but just like a racehorse runs without a clear vision of what is in front of them – I am drowning out the noise of the world and moving as fast-paced as I can from day-to-day.

Days use to get measured as “today was a win” or “today was a tough one – let’s start over tomorrow.” But the emotions seem to be compounded where literally every day seems like there are multiple victories and also going along with it are multiple upsets. It really is fine. I guess that things are moving at a much more rapid pace than even I have ever felt before, but I think that just is a sign that there is more going on each day. There seems to be less time to enjoy a win because there always seems to be a challenge lurking around the corner. Though, I think that if I am being totally honest, I enjoy the challenge just as much as I enjoy the wins. When you have the blinders on, you really don’t let either one of them (wins/losses) get in your way. You are simply moving as fast as possible to everything and anything to elevate your level of play.

Then there is the people aspect of winning and losing. You feel compelled to share the wins with everyone around you – everyone who had a hand in fostering the win. But the losses you want to keep under the rug or tucked away in a corner where no one ever has to deal with them but you. This is probably not the best idea for my long-term sanity, but it seems to work and really doesn’t bother me nearly as much as it did 10 years ago. Wanting to praise people for the victories and wanting to shield people from the fear of loss/defeat in my mind means I never want anyone to have to experience some of the agonies that I deal with and endure. Sometimes, I think to myself that I wish people around me knew the real beauty of what it is like to run with the blinders on – it can sure make life a whole lot more enjoyable.

Then there are the people who want to talk down about you – yet they never or have never had the guts to talk about anything to you. These are the people that are secretly rooting for your failure. They are the ones, some even who act like friends but deep down inside want to see you blow up into a million pieces because they are so amazed at how miserable at life they have become. They have no problem bashing you to other people or publicly cheering on others who are pitting themselves against you. This is where the blinders go into overdrive. If someone is so upset by what you say and what you do that it consumes them – then they have clearly lost control of their own life, just like a racehorse that never was able to get out of the starting gate.

Running with the blinders on is truly a beautiful way to go through life.  You only care about 2 things: running faster and getting to the finish line.

The more I think about my role and responsibility in my company and in my personal life, one phrase really starts to come to mind. And that is being in the driver’s seat.

Like a race team where you have a team full of people working on a car to make the car be as fast and as competitive as possible, there still can only be one person in the driver’s seat. Being in the driver’s seat for me has always been fun. It’s always been the limelight. It’s always been where all the excitement, fear, anxiety, and success all culminate into one place. That has always been what’s driven me in my career.

But what I’m starting to see in a different light is not just all the things that culminate to the person sitting in the driver’s seat, but the responsibility that comes from all the race team, mechanics, pit crew, everybody relying on the decisions you make to be able to win the race.

Just like a driver is the one who is crowned the race winner, given the checkered flag, and a large trophy to hoist up, the driver doesn’t get there without everybody who makes the car what it is. Those who put the car in a position where it can win a race.

Therefore, it’s up to the driver to properly drive the car and to find ways around the competition, ways to shave time off their lap time, ways to be better, ways to be more effective, and most importantly find ways to not be in a position where you make bad decisions.

As the new year begins, as we’re looking to do bigger and better things than we’ve ever done before as an organization, my mindset has really transpired into what it truly means to be in the driver’s seat and all the responsibility that comes with that.

I used to never, ever set yearly goals. I didn’t set them for myself, for the company, for anything. I just always worked as hard as I could and figured if I did everything I could, things would turn out okay. And for the most part, for many years they did.

It wasn’t until about four years ago that I actually started setting goals for myself. I follow what is probably a very different goal-setting practice than most people. Here are a few things that will give you insight into how I have evolved to set my own goals.

1. Never try to have them ready on the first day of the year. In most businesses, especially ours, you’re doing so many things right up until the very end of the year that you don’t really have time to think much about the next year. I always give myself through the 10th or 15th of January to have my goals laid out on paper.
2. Try not to make them too complicated. Keep them simple. Each year, I write down five to seven specific goals that I want to achieve. None are super simple, but none are also over-the-top hard, but they make me have things I have to push and strive for to achieve.
3. Keep them short. Each one of my goals is no more than one sentence. In fact, most of the sentences can fit on one line on a piece of paper so that I don’t have to have long, lengthy things to read.
4. Put them on a piece of paper. I keep mine on a small card in my briefcase, and I look at them at least three to four times per week. It’s a great way to reflect while traveling, to look at first thing in the morning, to remind you what you are trying to accomplish for the year.
5. Tell other people. I find others who can help me stay accountable for my goals so that I have a realistic way to achieve them.

That is how I’ve set goals and become successful each year ever since I began this process.

As I think more and more about the day-to-day decisions I have to make, I go back to something an old friend and someone who helped me greatly in business named Jack Griffis sent me this summer. It was sent via text message and his quote was, “This mission statement reeks of you!” Now, while I won’t take the credit for the following mission statement, it was taken from a company that started from scratch in the 1970s and became one of the leading global brands today. This was their original mission statement, and you can find the name after you read all the way through the 10 points. This is the best way that I can define my mindset at the current time.

1. Our business is change.
2. We’re on offense. All the time.
3. Perfect results count – not a perfect process.
4. This is as much about battle as it is business.
5. Assume nothing. Make sure people keep their promises. Push yourselves. Push others. Stretch the possible.
6. Live off the land.
7. Your job isn’t done until the job is done.
8. Dangers:
   1. Bureaucracy
   2. Personal ambition
   3. Energy takers vs. energy givers
   4. Knowing our weaknesses
   5. Don’t get too many things on the platter

9. It won’t be pretty.
10. If we do the right things we’ll make money damn near automatic.

The company that wrote these was Nike.

It really doesn’t even feel like work at all. I find myself saying this to myself a couple of times a day. While the demands of my job and stress can sometimes be overwhelming, those are simply moments in time and it soon passes.

But on days like today where I am getting to meet with clients that I truly enjoy, and work alongside with people who are looking out for your best interest, and get to do it while traveling across the country getting to go to places all over – it really doesn’t even feel like a job or work.

I have heard people use the saying that “if you love what you do, then you will never work a day in your life.” And while I have never used this saying, I believe it to be very true.  

Flying around from place to place, staying in nice hotels, and eating out for just about every meal may be a lifestyle some people dread. But for me, it is more of a way of life. I certainly miss time at home and with my family, but you learn so much about your clients’ business while traveling to see them. And you learn so much about yourself when you have time alone. For me, it makes me a better and happier person.

Every day can be a vacation if you let it.

Years ago, I read a book called “The Energy Bus.” It was given to me by a good friend and client, Pat McGrath.  Pat was always great at giving little nuggets of motivational advice, and I always simply felt better when I was in his presence. After reading this book, things were no different. Even though I read it years ago, the most important lesson of the book came back to me this week.

Monday started like any normal Monday for me. Moving fast, a slight bit of tension about all that was about to happen in the week in front of me and several important things that I needed to get accomplished early.

That is when the glass broke. Like someone through a brick through my window. I got hit with some very disturbing news about several people who I have the utmost respect for and have devoted quite a bit of time to helping them develop their careers. The news wasn’t what one may deem as catastrophic like ill health or having a severe accident, but it was the kind of blow that just hits you in the stomach when you realize not only were people not sticking to their core values but also they were acting in a true sense of undermining me and my mission.

This ate at me for about 12 hours. Then, while flying from one city to another, I looked out the window and noticed how beautiful the mountains looked going up and down the East Coast and thought about a key topic from the book “The Energy Bus,” which was called Energy Vampires.  Meaning you let all the problems suck out all your energy rather than focus on things and people that you can actually do something productive to make better.

I cracked a smile and thought back to what the book talked about and how you have to devise a plan to make it out of energy-sucking circumstances and focus your time and energy on things that you can actually do something about.

Now that my plane is starting to descend, I find myself eagerly ready to turn on my phone and call anyone but one of these energy vampires and get them off my mind and out of my life.