Sunday was the first day of Daylight Saving Time in America. We all gained an hour of sunshine but lost an hour of sleep. Which is a pretty good trade, unless you are a vampire.
Late Sunday afternoon I told my 14-year old son Johann that it was time for us to go to the gym. Not surprisingly, he told me he didn’t want to go. He said he was tired. I told him that I was too. But that we were going to go lift weights anyway.
When we got into the Jeep I knew it was time for a Father-Son talk. Thankfully, it wasn’t going to be one ofthose Father-Son talks where you have to use all the anatomically correct language and try not to giggle.
Me and Johann the moment I first held my book.
As we pulled out of our neighborhood and headed towards the gym I told Johann that I was about to share one of the most important lessons I would ever share with him. And I wanted him to listen closely. Here is what I said:
The Daylight Saving Day Lesson
You will always be tired. For the rest of your life, you will be tired every frick’n day. And being tired will always be an excuse you can use to get out of doing anything.
But if you use the ‘I’m tired’ excuse you will never accomplish great things. You will never have big successes. You will never break away from the massive pack of average.
When you are tired, you have to go anyway. Work anyway. Compete anyway. Exercise anyway. Maintain your best habits anyway.
Become the type of person who does things despite being tired. And you will build momentum. You will separate yourself from others who use being tired as an excuse to not do what they know they should do.
You will do special things. You will make something great of yourself. You will make your parents proud. You will make yourself proud. And you will know that you are a badass. A badass who gets tired, like everyone else. But when you are tired and don’t feel like doing hard work you do it anyway. That’s how you win at life.
-Dad
Key Takeaway
You will always be tired. Don’t use it as an excuse. Go anyway. And use it as proof that you are a tough mofo who does the necessary work, even when you are tired. Because that’s what great people do.
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In 2016, after having been an employee of three successful companies for 19 years, I became an entrepreneur. I left behind the predictable employment, the benefits, the 401(k) and the Free Lunch Fridays.
I pushed all my chips to the center of the table and bet on myself when I launched the advertising and idea agency, The Weaponry.(The chip reference was supposed to be a poker thing. Not a potato chip thing. #JustClarifying)
Me and a wall at The Weaponry.
But when I left my job as the Executive Vice President and Executive Creative Director of the largest advertising agency in Atlanta to start my own business it never seemed crazy to me. Because I knew a lot of other people who had started successful businesses. They seemed a lot like me. And they all looked like they were fed, sheltered and clothed. (Wait, yep, they were definitely clothed.)
My man Troy Allen started a design agency before starting the wildly successful Rise Brands.
I knew a bloggle of bloggers before I launched this blog.
I knew a stockyard of people who invested in stocks before I bought stocks.
I knew a neighborhood worth of people who owned rental property before I properly rented my property.
Writing my own book didn’t seem hard. Not even the hardcover.
Always Remember:
You Are Becoming More Like The People You Spend Your Time With.
Your peer group is your mirror group. To upgrade your likelihood of success upgrade your friends. Surround yourself with doers and diders. It creates positive peer pressure that pushes you to do better, more impressive things. The Joneses I know are badasses. And I want to keep up with all they are accomplishing. (Shout out to Bryan, Jill, Adam, Patti, Garrett, Kristen, Sharon, Courtney, Arnita and Rachel! Sorry you guys didn’t make it into that new truck commercial.)
My college teammate Bryan Jones is hard to keep up with, but I am trying.
Key Takeaway
Your friends are your on-ramp to success. Surround yourself with others who have already done the next big thing you want to do. It decreases the perceived degree of difficulty. It increases the odds of you successfully completing the same challenge. And the more successful your peers are the more insight they offer to all you can accomplish in your lifetime.
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We could all use a good role model. Someone to model our behavior after. Someone who has work and life figured out. Someone who inspires us to think better about the big picture. For some that person may be Jeff Bezos, Sara Blakely, Jesus, Kim Kardashian, or Willie Nelson. To be clear, not all role models are created equal. No judgment. (Ok, a little judgement.)
If you are looking for a role model to pattern your thinking after I have a suggestion. Look to Hedge Fund Managers. (You thought I was going to say Bezos, didn’t you?) Like Jeff Bezos, the people who run hedge funds are among the wealthiest in the world. They bring in clinically insane amounts of money for their funds and their investors.
But the money itself is a lag indicator. It is a result. Which means you have to jump in the DeLorean and go back to the original lead indicator to see what makes the hedge fund manager so successful.
At the foundation of the hedge fund is a very simple philosophy. It’s a mindset that any of us can follow. The hedge fund is built on this basic belief:
No matter what happens, I will win.
-Hedge Fund Managers
The fund managers place Big Ben-sized bets on what they expect to happen. They place educated bets that derive from studying the past. They place data-driven bets on the future. And they place smart bets that I assume come from eating a lot of Smarties.
Yet all investment funds do this.
What sets hedge funds apart is the hedge. (Not the popular landscaping boundary made of bushy greenery.) The hedge in hedge funds means that you also place bets that things will go the opposite way that you expected or intended. Which means that you put contingencies in place to capitalize on shifts in markets, conditions, and trends. Or to protect yourself in case a dictator with small tators decides to invade a peaceful neighbor and jack up the world economy.
The hedge fund manager expects the unexpected and expects to win anyway.
I am an entrepreneur. But if you cut me open (please don’t) you’d probably find a hedge fund manager. Because I believe that I will win no matter what happens.
2020
2020 was considered by most to be a doo-doo dumpster fire year. But there were many people who ended up benefitting from the pandemic in significant ways. I was one of them. Because the pandemic created new opportunities. My business, The Weaponry, did well because of how we responded. My personal life benefited from more time with my wife and children. I had more time to exercise than I usually do. I used the gift of time during the lockdown to write my first book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? Because I simply decided that no matter what happened, it was going to benefit me.
Key Takeaway
In every situation, there is a way to win. Find it. Think like a hedge fund manager. Find your way to profit no matter which way the wind blows. See the opportunities disguised as bad news. Swim when the sun shines. Read when it rains. There is always an upside. Find it. And make it work for you.
*If you know someone who could benefit from this message please share it with them.
+If you’re on a personal growth journey check out my new book What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? on Amazon. It features 80 life lessons the universe is trying to share with you.
Life is an all-you-can-eat buffet. And I want to devour it all. My mouth is watering every morning when I wake up. My alarm clock is like Pavlov’s dog’s dinner bell. It has me rising each morning like Drooly Andrews to the sound of that music.
There are 3 areas of life’s buffet that interest me most. And none of them are Charlie Sheen-ian.
My 3 Driving Desires
I want to know everyone.
I want to read everything.
I want to visit everywhere.
I know this trifecta is impossible to accomplish. Probably. I can’t actually go everywhere, read everything and meet everyone. After all, I am not the Pope. (The hat doesn’t work with my hairdo.) But even unfulfilled, these 3 desires are important drivers. Like Donald and Minnie.
Key Takeaway
These 3 food groups are essential to your growth, wisdom and creativity. These are the 3 great sources of knowledge. The person who devours the most will know the most. Because the more you know about people, places and things the more you know about life. And the more you know about life the more you know yourself.
*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.
There is money, time and energy. You can use any of the 3 of them to acquire the things you want.
The exchange rate for these 3 currencies can vary greatly. And just like wampum, travelers checks and Chuck E Cheese tickets, there are good uses for each.
If you use money, you can have things quickly.
If you use energy you can force the things you want into existence.
If you use enough time you can get anything you want. But squander your time and you will get nothing, and not like it.
The combination of time and energy creates force. It is the amount of force you create that determines how quickly you attain the things you want.Including money.
Key Takeaway
Understand your currencies. Know which of them is most accessible to you right now. Know which one is most valuable for each of your needs. And budget them to get everything you want in the proper order.
*If you know someone who could benefit from this message please share it with them.
We all have multiple identities that form our self construct. When you were young they were simple. You were a boy or girl. A son or daughter. Maybe a brother or sister. Or perhaps you saw yourself as a Bo, Luke, or Daisy.
As you grow, evolve and participate in more activities you add identities. You become a student, a girl scout or a baseball player. Throughout your schooling and into your career your identities expand and multiply in interesting ways. All of which morph your self construct, without the need for hallucinogenics.
Your identities influence how you see yourself. But they also determine how the world sees you. Your identities help broaden your self-image and give you more flavor, complexity and stability.
I’m a father, adventurer and Corn Palace visitor.
Here’s a partial view of my identity stack:
Father
Husband
Son
Brother
Uncle
Friend
Christian
Entrepreneur
Creative
Marauder
Badger
Dude ( I recently entered this when asked for my gender)
Vermonter
Wisconsinite
Adveritisng professional
Blogger
Patriots fan
Bucks fan
Red Sox fan
Perpetually but non-offensively immature
Exerciser
Initiator
Problem Solver
Homeowner
Adventurer
Adding Identities
In the past year, I have added a surprising number of new identities to my self-concept. Especially for a seemingly full-grown human.
Coach
Before last spring I would never have called myself a coach. Despite the fact that I coached a youth flag football team for 3 seasons. That just felt like the type of coaching that non-coaches do because the kids need a coach to be able to have a team. In other words, I simply identified as a dad doing some coaching. It’s like a dad playing the role of a chaperone, instead of adding the identity of bodyguard, or animal tamer.
But last spring I became a legit high school track and field coach when I started coaching the shot put and the discus for Homestead High School’s girl’s track and field team in Mequon, Wisconsin. In fact, 2 weeks ago I attended an all-day and all-evening event for track and field coaches in Madison. That really made me feel like I should walk around with a whistle or a stopwatch around my neck. Although you don’t really need either of those things to coach the shot put.
This was my best day of coaching. All 4 of my athletes threw their best ever. And I wore the shortest socks I own.
Then, last fall I began coaching youth tackle football. That was a multiple-times per week thing. With real strategy, conditioning and hype. I have a logoed polo, a hat and a picture of me and other coaches and 16 boys in full uniform looking very serious together to prove that I am now also a youth football coach.
Me and Magnus after our last game of the season. We played on turf, which is why neither of our uniforms are dirty or grass stained.
Author
The week before Christmas I published my first book called What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? Now, I add author to my self-identity. Despite the fact that I have been a blogger for nearly 7 years, author feels different. It’s more official, more difficult to attain. More respected by others. And authors get asked to sign their books way more often than bloggers get asked to sign their blog posts.
The time my first book emerged from its brown, paper Amazon cocoon. (As seen on the table.)
It’s hard not to add the author identity when the internet adds it for you. Here is how my online footprint has expanded since I published my book:
The other surprising new identity that I have added to my self-construct is Speaker. I have done a lot of public speaking throughout my life. Over the past couple of decades, I have seen myself as a business professional speaking about what I do or things I know. But now it feels different.
Me speaking to a round table at the Milwaukee Athletic Club. Here I am demonstrating the starting position for juggling watermelons.
Since I published the book I have received many requests to speak at local, state and national events. I have booked 6 speaking engagements in the past couple of weeks. It is an exciting and enjoyable new addition to my self-identity. And it helps me spread more positivity and inspiration with the world. Like Jonny Fortunecookieseed.
Dog Owner
As if all of this wasn’t enough, at the end of January I also got my first dog ever. Now I add dog owner or dog haver or whatever this makes me to my life resume. It may seem like a small thing compared to the attention you receive as an author, entrepreneur or public speaker. But when you come home to that wagging tail and face licks it is special. And when I am picking up dog poo, it’s hard to deny that I am a real Dog Dad.
Key Takeaway
Adding to your self-identity keeps you growing and evolving. More self-identities not only make you more interesting and creative, they add to your stability and resilience. Multiple identities help expand your social circle. They expand your reach and influence. The more identities you have the less likely that any one of them has the ability to negatively impact you. Conversely, the successes you experience in any identity helps to add to your overall self-esteem. All while making you a more interesting and valued contributor to your family, friends, communities, and planet. So go on with your bad selves.
*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.
A great life is built by establishing great routines. When you establish a strong routine you feel like a train picking up momentum as you roll down the track. Like Casey Jones, driving that train, high on… life.
Stacking several days, weeks or months of exercise, reading, writing, work or practice together is like laying brick after brick of progress. The cumulative effect turns into something substantial, noticeable and differentiating.
However, life isn’t easy on your routines. You will regularly encounter obstacles, events, and conflicts that disrupt your flow, Jo. This turbulence knocks you around and attempts to dislodge you from your productive habits.
But remember, turbulence is temporary. A plane flies in and out of turbulence, which shakes the plane, throws the passengers about and halts the beverage and peanut service. That’s why God invented barf bags.
But turbulence is simply a pocket of disruption. One of the greatest skills you can develop is the resilience to snap back into your routine on the other side of the turbulence. After the travel, the cold, the work crunch, the Covid, the kid’s needs, or the big test you need to get right back into your best habits.
Don’t allow the turbulence to ruin your mindset. Continue to lean into your habit mentally, even when the turbulence compromises your ability to keep your commitment. Keeping the connection to the commitment is critical to maintaining the momentum. (Which is like two alliterations in one.)
Key Takeaway
Turbulence is an unavoidable part of life. It will throw off your routine and threaten your habits. But hold tight to your commitments. And jump right back into your routine as soon as the turbulence passes. It’s how you ensure that your commitments always conquer your excuses. That’s how you win at life.
*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.
When I was a kid MacGyver was one of my favorite TV shows. The hero of the show, Mac MacGyver, was always finding himself in precarious situations, typically involving nukes, Russians, and bombs with timers. MacGyver faced certain death in every episode. Which, of course, was the appeal for young Adam to watch.
But spoiler alert: MacGyver never died. He always found a way forward. He survived by detecting and collecting the scraps of stuff around him that he could use to save himself. A bit of gum. A paperclip. Some harmless chemicals that when combined created all kinds of harm to the handcuffs, ropes or unharmable doors that restrained him.
This sums up all you need to know about MacGyver. I love the tagline: He acts fast and thinks faster. I would add that his hair was always in place.
The thing that stands out to me today about MacGyver, other than his sweet era-appropriate mullet, is that he had a finally-tuned radar that could detect things that could help his cause. He noticed items that the rest of the world simply didn’t see. Because if the bad guys trying to ruin MacG realized the potential in those bits and scraps they would not have left them within his radius when locking him up and leaving him for dead, or worse…
Human Radar
One of my significant assets is that I have developed my own human radar. I can scan a situation and find the valuable scraps that were left to help me find my way forward. Except my scraps aren’t usually paperclips, dental floss or mullets.
My bits and bobs are things like contact information. I may notice a book reference, a motivation quote, or a class. It could be a person near me who has a contact or experience that is highly valuable to me. Or a relevant example that I can use to help teach or coach.
My lifesavers could be as simple as reminders to drink more water or get more sleep each night. They could be random QR codes that make me realize I can use such codes to allow for quick and easy book purchases by people who come to my book talks. Or my lifesavers could be round fruity candies with a hole in the middle. In other words, these items are varied and random. But they are all there to help me find my way forward. Or to satisfy my sweet tooth.
Key Takeaway
There are little bits of lifesavers all around us. The key is developing the radar to recognize them and their ability to help you. They could be people, quotes, contact information, books, technology, or reminders that you need at the moment. But when you can recognize the solution to a problem you are facing or the answer to the question you have asked, you are in a powerful position to receive all the great things waiting for you.
*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.
Motivation comes in unexpected ways. Motivation is always in you, either in a dormant or active state. Like lava. (Or magma to be geologically correct. Which is like being politically correct. Only you’re trying not to offend the more sensitive rocks.)
There are times when you don’t feel your own motivation at all. But there are other times you’ll find your motivation hot and flowing, like red hot lava. When that happens you experience excitement and visions of new possibilities becoming reality.
When you feel that motivational lava flowing through you it is time to channel your inner Young MC and bust a move. It’s time to plan, call, create, write, organize, go, do, buy, move, schedule, or whatever your motivation requires you to do next.
Because here’s the important truth to remember about motivation:
You have to act before your motivational lava cools.
You get a small window to transform your hot motivation into results. The universe is constantly bombarding you with distractions. When they come along they cool your lava. And when your lava cools your inspiration and energy go dormant again too. Like the genie going back into the bottle. Or Lady and The Tramp going back into the Disney Vault.
Key Takeaway
Your motivation will ebb and flow. When it flows you have to ride the wave. Make as much progress as you can when you feel the heat of your own motivation. If you do, the progress itself will create more heat and more motivation. Which has the power to create transformational results. Just like lava.
*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.
If you want to do great things you have to see yourself as capable of great things. Because in your life you are The Great Empower. You are your own Wizard of Oz. You get to bestow courage, heart and wisdom to yourself. You get to turn the knobs, flip the switches and pull the ropes on your own machinery. And you get to give yourself sweet pyrotechnics, and a really big head.
However, you are also The Great Limiter. Because you will never be more than your perception of yourself.
If you see yourself as a middle manager, then you will never be the CEO. If you see yourself as OK you will never be great. If you see yourself as a thousandaire, you will never become a millionaire. And if you see yourself as a background actor you will never be the star of the show.
But if you see yourself as amazing and full of potential, you have what it takes to realize that potential. You can learn and grow. You can strengthen, deepen, and wisen. You can turn yourself into anything. Like that cyborg from Terminator 2. Or Eddie Murphy’s make-up artist.
Spend time with others who believe in themselves and who encourage you to believe in yourself too. You’ll quickly realize that if you believe in yourself and are willing to learn and improve, you have everything you need to do anything you want.
Key Takeaway
Think big thoughts. Believe in yourself. Picture yourself on top of the mountain. Then just keep climbing. It’s the only way to get there.
*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.
Adam Albrecht Blog 