Can Vs. Can’t

“You can’t stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes.”

— A.A. Milne

We spent some time with my Queens mother, unsure what the name of a Queen’s mother is; let me see if there is an official name. Ah, it’s the Queen’s Mum. I love those English people with their crooked teeth and shitty food.  If you are new here, that is what we call a joke.

As we were taking in our food and drink, I saw a sign that said: “Can’s Only.” It was a sticky note that had been taped to the trashcan. I thought about that, penned a quick Mitch Hedberg style joke, and went on about my day. I’m starting to load up my notebook with concepts that I’ll later turn into bits, and then I’ll get on stage and bomb for five years before doing Joe Rogan; that’s the plan, well that’s the dream. 

So how bad is my joke writing skills? “I saw a sign the other day it said “Can’s Only,” and all I had on me was a Can’t, so I went home and will try again tomorrow.”  If you use the Headburg voice, it’s funny, well, funny to me.  I’ll work on that; there is something there, that is the foundation; I’ll build something that will earn a laugh; it’s my new little hobby. Enough attempted yuck yucks, here’s where my mind went this morning.

That sign is a good sign. There are all types of signs. Some remind us to STOP. Some say GO; others dictate we YEILD. But “CANS ONLY” reminds us that we have a choice between can and can’t. I am a can man and know others that are “can’t” folk. I believe I can do anything, accomplish anything, and can figure out a way through any story problem.

I try and limit the “I can’t” people in my life; my tribe are the Can Men and Women of this Nation. We can; we are Can Only.  Take the year 2020; somehow, we managed to make this our best year ever.  Our team pulled together, and after a scary March and April, the clouds parted, and we could see the sun. We got to work, albeit differently, in a much more effective way, and here we sit, well-positioned for 2021.

I watched as others used the pandemic as an excuse. I can’t because we are in a Pandemic; I can’t because I’m scared. I can’t because, well, you know the science. One of the gifts of my years was the meeting of people all over the country. LinkedIn became a great tool to find and connect with other like-minded individuals. I would find them, they might find me, we would Zoom and become friends and maybe business associates. 

One of these folks is named Josh; he’s a Jewish man living in New York City. He is one of the most expressive men I’ve met in my many years on this spinning blue ball. Each Zoom is a rapid-fire, question filled, mind dump on both sides to try and get the other person fired up with a unique idea or two. Josh is a big deal; he interviews people from all over the world; he is very selective with whom he speaks and works. He protects his energy.  

He’s very successful in life, a father, a husband, owns many businesses, speaks about blockchain and decentralized power.  He gave me some book recommendations. 

I woke up to an email from 1:41 a.m. Josh is a night owl, while I am a morning person. I’m in bed at 9:00 most nights up at 5:00 or 6:00; Josh works late, to each his own. If you want to know the quality of my friend, here are his book recommendations—the way to love by Anthony DeMello - a book that fits in your pocket.

Business Model Generation by Osterwalder - pivot your business. Stefan Molyneux’s podcast - he was de-platformed. I sent you a video by him from a couple of weeks ago, “Stand the F(*& Up” I want to reserve position #4 for the next book I read that rocks my world. Then, I’ll share it with you:-) 

I woke up at 2:00 a.m. and checked my phone for my first appointment; something told me I had an 8:00 a.m. breakfast. I confirmed at 2:00 a.m., set my alarm for 6:00, and got up to write my bull shit and clean up email before showering and heading to meet my new friends.  After a sip or two of coffee, I rechecked and discovered the breakfast is tomorrow, which means FREE morning of work; I’ve got a slew of appointments today, but my morning is open to relax, catch up, and feed my mind with glorious content.

I will jump back into Matthew McConehey’s book Green Lights, good mind food for these unique times.  A little walk on water for some being base, and maybe I’ll download one of the above for my tablet.

I would be interested in the one book you read that impacted your 2020; please share in the comments.  I shared with Josh my three foundational books that helped us build a successful company. Those are E-myth Revisited, Good to Great, and The Four Hour Work Week. He was not impressed. “You are better than that. You built the company on your interpretation of those books; you are a writer yourself, get the word out on you, how YOU did it.

My next book is stuck; I’m not sure why. I don’t have the energy to push it through, so I’ll wait for 2020. It’s a big book, the Rule of 8%, the cover is cool, and it’s ready to roll. But something is holding it up; look for a new Anson Ross book in early 2021; until then, there are 12 others if you like this morning soup.  Amazon, the evil empire, has been kind enough to offer them in their book store.

For those who needed a Parker Van Halen Thompson update, she and I have been playing throw the pink toy and retrieve during the making of this soup. She is right now waking up the Queen to make sure she receives her morning porage. It was an early decision, Mom will feed, and Dad will be the fun guy with the toys, walks, and sometimes discipline.  It worked well with our kids; let’s see how our family formula works with this pup. So far, so good.

A subtle reminder, be a Can Only person. When you hear can’t, you are making excuses for why you refuse to accomplish something. Not everything is possible, I can’t be an NBA player at my age, but with practice, I might score some points at the local YMCA. Know your lanes, focus, believe, and trust yourself to be the best human being you can be, not that you can’t be.   

“You can’t stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes.”

— A.A. Milne