Hard to Believe I’ve Made It This Far

Stoic Quote of the Week

Learning how to live takes a whole life, and, which may surprise you more, it takes a whole life to learn how to die.

-Seneca

What I learned this week:

We did it! We made it to another year on the calendar. Not a small feat considering the life I’ve lived to this point. Living in the mindset of how far can I go? How much can I do? The doctor doesn’t know what he’s talking about. And, you can’t make me quit. This attitude has gotten me through a lot, most of it in overcoming physical burdens and hardships to test the mental toughness I have. The test never ends, in case you were wondering. Life is about living to the fullest and not wasting a minute, living with intention for what I want to achieve and do, even if the intention is to sit back and watch Ted Lasso. With the new year beginning comes the new plan. There is no better reminder to set a plan for what you want than changing the calendar to a new year. I create a yearly plan that sets the path to what I want to accomplish this year. Then each quarter, I develop the goals that I want to achieve that move me along the path to successfully executing that plan. I don’t always accomplish those goals; if I did, I’d be lying to myself. The year’s plan and the quarterly goals are things that I want to accomplish and do. Sometimes, life happens, and those goals aren’t achieved, which brings me back to the calendar. At the end of each quarter, I review the goals, celebrate the wins, and evaluate what to do with those I don’t achieve. Then I create the next quarter’s goals, all referencing my year’s plan. Simple, right? Truthfully, that part is easy for me. The tough part comes in sticking to my plan and priorities and not falling into the old habit of reacting to everything else. If you haven’t put your plan together or developed some goals, I encourage you to take an hour this week and do so. Take control of your life and live with intention.

Planning thought of the week:

The best part about a plan is that it gives you a known point to fall back onto. We all drift off course as we move forward. (Ask me sometime about land navigation drifting.) When you have a plan, you have a known point to return to and try again when you veer off course or try some new thing that doesn’t work. The plan is the tool that guides the entire team’s actions, even when things go wrong. The plan is still a reference point that everyone is familiar with.

Business idea I heard about or thought of:

Every fall, my hunting buddies and I set up elk camp in the mountains North of Gunnison, CO. We live in a tent and cook over a fire for a week. It’s a great experience and a great opportunity to step off the grid because there is no cell coverage. But life doesn’t have to be hard, just to be hard. One of our elk camp neighbors had a really cool and simple tool that just amazed me. You see, I’ve been building, lighting, and blowing on campfires for 50+ years. And the best way to get your fire burning hot is to get your face right down at the bottom next to the fire and hot coals and blow a gentle breeze on it. That extra oxygen heats the flames and gets the fire burning. The tool that our neighbor had was a telescoping stainless-steel straw. He used the straw to blow right into the heart of the fire with singing his eyebrows. What a super simple and great idea. If you campfire or even have backyard fires, then you will want, no need, this tool.

Veteran opportunity of the week:

American Corporate Partners is an amazing resource for transitioning soon-to-be veterans. Their purpose is to help veterans find meaningful employment post-military service. Their success rate is amazing; 86% of vets who go through the program are still in the same job after one year! You can learn more here .

Someone I met this week:

I met Willi through some random LinkedIn searching I did this week. You never know who you’ll meet and what that can become. Willi is a hunter and has his own hunting show that he has been doing for ten seasons! I watched an episode this week, and it is a great story about a bunch of guys trying their hand at hunting. It also fulfills a critical piece that I expect in all hunting shows; they show the misses. Too many of these original “reality” shows don’t show the empty freezer at the end. Pure Hunting does. Check it out on Sportsman Channel.

Link to current The Cam & Otis Show podcasts Ep 132 I’m Not a Creator, I Just See Better Ways-Michael Quinn Founder of HireMilitary .

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