*Transcript from the attached video

These are three things that I inventory every day, mentally or in my notebook or on my phone. But they have to be done at least mentally. when I go to bed, did I learn something today? Almost every day I learned something. Nine out of 10 days or more.

Did I earn?
And that’s a broad statement. And I bringing in the cashflow that I need to make sure that I’m saving, that I’m not in debt, that I’m, feeding my family well, that I’m able to provide the things that they, need and would like. But also, did I earn my way in my household? Did I earn Respect of my family, my wife my daughter. Did I earn my right to be here?

And then lastly, returning.
Sometimes that might be writing a check or a making a small charitable contribution. But that’s not the only way to return. In fact, it’s probably the least important way to return. The most important way that you can return is to look at it as. I’m not returning a favor to you because you’ve done something nice for me, I’m not paying it forward. anticipating that something nice is going to come for me later on. I’m returning all of the blessings that I’ve had, all of the lessons that I’ve learned, all of the good things uh, good fortune, and I’m putting that back out into the universe through whatever medium that may be, whether that be through Exclusivia and sharing insights or in sharing little life hacks or things that I’ve learned that week, it might be through helping a, neighbor.
My hopes are that if I’m doing good things for people, that there are other people out there doing the same, expecting nothing in return, if everyone would just operate that way, we’d be in such a great place. It really would be.

*Transcript from the Video

I like to encourage the young men that I work with to have a plan a life’s plan. I believe that if you have a goal, you’ll get there quicker. And I think most people will agree with me, and we all know that if you write your goal down on paper, you’re exponentially more likely to achieve it than not.

And so I’ve thought about this. Just about everything you buy today has an operating system and it has an operating manual. You buy a washer and dryer, it comes with a manual troubleshooting guide, et cetera. You buy a, new set of speakers that they come with an operating manual. Life doesn’t come with one. And I think that’s really interesting. I think that the operating manual is, Really something that is inherently taught through your family, through your community, through your relationships. And in that operating manual, there are a lot of wrong answers. There is a lot of bad advice.

The intention is often good, but not everyone has it all figured out. I think that’s important to know. Nobody is perfect the advice that we give is done with the best intention. But it’s not always the right answer and it certainly is not always executed upon. But the mentor-mentee relationship is one again, of judgment but yet uplifting advice, encouragement, and sharing of best practices. And so I always encourage the young men that I’m working with to have some type of a plan.

You get in the car and you start driving, you’re gonna end up at a beach most likely, I’m assuming. No flat tires, breakdowns, et cetera. No detours. But which beach are you going to? We have a beach called Corpus Christi. Well, it’s not the finest of sand, and the water’s not clear and blue and magical.
But if you were to travel a little bit further onto, let’s say, Destin, Florida, it’s like a paradise, right? And so if you want to go to the beach figure out how many hours it’s gonna take you to get there. If your vehicle’s ready to go how much gas it’s gonna take, you have to stay overnight and just plan that out.

If you wanna show up at the beach and you wanna show up at the right beach, have the best experience, you have to lay it out and life’s a lot that same way.
And it’s okay to get.In the car and realize you want to take a, detour and go over to, new Orleans on your way, or that you decided the weather didn’t hold out. So you’re gonna end up going to a museum or a concert or maybe in a different location. But just have a plan.

If you’re just chasing money, it’s going to be very difficult to wake up each morning and be fully motivated. Making money usually is a byproduct of a very higher purpose. Solving a need, solving a problem. If you want to make money, serve others.

It’s important to set up boundaries in your life. If you don’t, all the extra stimulus and noise will become a distraction from what matters most.

When I was younger, I didn’t get a lot of formal education. Most of the things I learned were hard-won from just working hard and making mistakes. I’ve made my share of them and one thing I’ve learned is how important it is to seek out the insights of people with more life experience then me. Today I am much more intentional about seeking out people with experience so I can learn from them and perhaps avoid some of the mistakes that I may make on my own.

A mentor and good of mine once told that you shouldn’t think of your home as a financial investment.
It’s supposed to be your refuge. Your retreat. The place where you and your family feel safe so that you can refresh, re-change, and re-focus.
This was something very powerful for me to hear him say and I think something that would help others. The demands of life and business can really pull at all of us. So setting up our home environment in a way that gives us the space and privacy that we need to relax will help us to live our best lives.
This doesn’t mean the home needs to be overly large or overly extravagant. It just needs to be our own comfortable place to shut out the noise of the world for a while. When I go home, my mind set completely changes. I turn off the work mode, and it’s time for family.
It’s a mindset shift that is liberating. I believe it makes me better in the other areas of my life as well.