Routines Are Comfortable

Stoic Quote of the Week

Epithets for yourself: Upright. Modest. Straightforward. Sane. Cooperative. Disinterested. Try not to exchange them for others. And if you should forfeit them, set about getting them back.

-Marcus Aurelius

What I learned this week:

I have always loved the feeling of adventure that comes with travel, even when that travel takes me to a familiar place like my hometown to visit Mom and Dad and Ms. Suzanne's Mom and Dad. There is still that feeling of a change of scenery and pace that makes it feel like an adventure. And, anytime you put your life in someone else's hands, like a commercial flight there and back, there is adventure there. When the adventure is over, it always feels good to be back home. Whether it was a weekend trip for a month or more, it feels good to be home. Home feels good because there is familiarity, and we all feel comfortable with familiarity. Familiarity gives us a sense of safety. The sense of safety and familiarity comes from our routines and habits of being at home. Everything from the bedtime routine to the lunch routine. All of these things provide us comfort. Our routines give us space in our minds to think about other things because if it is a routine, there are little to no decisions to be made. It is something that we just do. Some routines are more challenging to restart than others. One of mine is getting up to work out. That's the first thing I do when I'm at home. I get up and go to the gym and work out. It's part of my self-maintenance, and it's been part of my routine since I joined the Army. There is comfort in it. But the irony is that my mind doesn't want to restart the routine after taking a trip. My mind says, "You don't need to do that. You should sleep in because you are tired after your travel adventure." I know that the lazy side of my mind tries to convince me to stay in bed. It is always tough to get back into our routine once we step out of it. When I remember why I have the routine in the first place, I get up and work out because it helps me have a better day and gives me the energy and focus to help others. Then I do it. I get up. I get back into my routine. Don't use a break in your routine as a reason not to return to it. Remember the reasons you created the routine in the first place.

Planning thought of the week:

All plans are wrong as soon as you start to implement them. They will always be wrong because the plans are based on your best guess with the information you have when you create the plan. But the plan gives you a baseline that you can return to when things go off the rails. The plan is the thing that everyone knows about and is the point you can return to see where you need to go. It's like a known point on the ground that you return to when you are misoriented.

Business idea I heard about or thought of:

The next big thing. I don't know what that is, but I know it will happen without us being aware of it when it does. The next big thing will likely be AI related, but maybe more people interacting in person related. The more we have tech in our lives. The more that tech is our connection to others, the more we crave personal interaction and the human touch. Think of the times during the 'rona that you have a virtual cocktail party. Yep, it was better than nothing, but it didn't fill the gap. Nothing fills that space but human-to-human interaction. So much is lost in the virtual space. I've noticed an uptick in networking, events, trade shows, and just basic, let's all get together again. Retreats are back on the docket for individuals and corporations. Don't get so wrapped around the axel talking to your AI chat buddy that you forget the one thing that it can never replace, human-to-human interaction.

Veteran opportunity of the week:

I'm going back to this one because I think it is an important piece of our economy, and a huge gap still exists in the manufacturing industry. Heroes Make America provides free training to veterans and can be used as part of your transition through the DOD Skill Bridge program. Learn more here.

Someone I met this week:

First, I'd like to apologize to the guy who had the appointment after me at the VA yesterday. My fifteen-minute appointment turned into an hour appointment because Darrel and I got to talking. We talked about everything from vacations in Mexico to segregation based on a person's sect or class to apple pie. It definitely made the time flow much quicker and provided some great thought-provoking discussions, like, how good would that apple pie be if it had bacon? According to Darrel, it makes it great, and the next level is bacon ice cream on top of the pie. We didn't solve any world problems, but we did have fun, and Darrel once again proved that the problems with the VA aren't the people; it is the systems that have been created.

Link to current The Cam & Otis Show podcast episode Torrance Hart - Founder of Teak & Twine | Cam & Otis Ep. #253. Please note that we updated our show's webpage to https://www.youtube.com/@thecamandotisshow.

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