Be Where and Who You Want

This Week's Summary:

Learned: Pursue your path

Planning: Emergency plan

Business idea: Targeting folders

Vet Opp: Water Country USA

I met: Water Ops

Stoic Quote of the Week

True good fortune is what you make for yourself. Good fortune: good character, good intentions, good actions.

-Marcus Aurelius

What I learned this week:

One of the most significant shifts for guys like me leaving the military is that we get to, no have to, take control of our lives. I spent my adult development years being told what to do. Yes, as a Green Beret, I had a lot of freedom of maneuver, but I was told what job I would do next and where I would live. What the standards where I had to follow, etc. There was freedom of maneuver in the missions I was assigned, but no one came to me and said, “Hey Otis, what do you think about a mission to stabilize the government of Haiti?” or any of the other places I went. I was told what to wear. I was told what time to be there. Everything in life was set. When someone leaves the military, especially those who spent their entire adult life in it, they are told that now they get to choose. They have to choose. It is a shock to the system. As long as someone else is telling you what to do, you have someone to blame for the crappy job or position that you are in. Yes, you must always make the best of every situation. That isn’t what I’m talking about here. I’m talking about the freedom to choose what you do and establish your standards of performance. The guys I work with aren’t afraid of failing. None of them ever are. They are afraid of choosing wrong in life. I find it ironic that we finally have the freedom to choose what we want to do, and it is so hard to choose that. Part of it is fear of taking the wrong path, and the other part is the inability to believe this is who I am and what I want. The latter is the real crux of life and applies to everyone. Deciding what you want to do and going after it without making yourself feel like a selfish asshole is the difference between living life and being who you are and waiting for someone to tell you who to be. I, for one, will spend the rest of my life taking the risk of pursuing what I want and possibly finding out that it isn’t when I get there. I’d much rather have that life than one where I am told who to be and when to be it.

Planning thought of the week:

A broke half-ass plan is better than no plan. Yes, it is always best to take the time to build out a complete plan with all the contingencies and branches lined up. The realistic part is that we rarely have the time or the people to do that. I may have done it once in my Army career, and that was because it was all I did, and the plan was to go to war with Iran or N. Korea plans that sits on the shelf and is updated every few years. The rest of the time, we take the time, slap together a plan and execute. Even a quick huddle before taking off in a random direction is better than nothing.

Business idea I heard about or thought of:

AI is again in my thoughts for this idea. I have a list of contacts, over five thousand, to give you an idea of the number. Out of those, probably 20% are no longer valid. The rest can be a gold mine of additional business. I want a tool that can sift through the other contacts, compare all my contacts with that person through all my channels, not just email, rate the conversations that were had, and provide me an order of merit list of people we should re-engage with based on not only the conversations had with each other and include information about their business and the conversations they’ve had on social media and other channels. Talk about building a targeting matrix! CRMs don’t do this. AI tools can.

Veteran opportunity of the week:

Summer is winding down, and it isn’t too late to get out in the water and have fun. If you live on the East Coast, then you need to check out Water Country USA. They are giving free passes to Veterans and three guests. Get out there while it’s hot! Learn more here .

Someone I met this week:

I talked with a couple of start-up entrepreneurs this week who are building some innovative water-borne crafts. The first one is a former Marine, and he is building what can best be described as a two-man amphibious assault vehicle. Ted Schroeder’s idea looks like a waterborne snowmobile—fast, maneuverable, and lightweight. I’m excited to check out his MVP in early 2025. The other one is an Air Force Veteran who wanted to build something self-sustained and survivable. He’s building self-sufficient sea-going homeboats that are solar-powered and grow their own food. Ben Woodason has quite the vision and is buying a boat to refit in his newly acquired shop in Virginia. Both of these ideas can have a significant impact on the way we fight battles and live. Let me know if you want to talk with either of these guys to learn more.

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