Believe And Change

Good morning team. Alright. It is the last Wednesday of the month of August. I’m sitting here out again on my back porch, early in the morning. Sun just came up a little bit ago and I was reading from John Maxwell, and it got me to thinking.

I wanted to share with you what I read this morning. An attorney, Kerry Randall, said, “Contrary to popular opinion, life does not get better by chance. Life gets better by change. And this change always takes place inside; it is the change of thought that creates the better life.”

In a very similar way, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt “The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.”

I want to unpack that for a second on this Wednesday Workshop. Change, change of self. How you think.

Your doubts today, prevent your tomorrow.

So what are your doubts? What do you think?

I know I’ve had mine. I know that I’ve experienced in my time, in my life. Times when I didn’t know if I was smart enough. If I was capable enough. If I was willing to sacrifice enough to accomplish the things that I want. I know that some of you are hearing those words and you’re saying to me “Are you kidding, Chad? You seem to be the most tenacious person I’ve ever met”. Well, I guess I can put on a good front. But I have my doubts from time to time. It takes that change of you inside, what you believe, and how deep your belief goes.

Do you believe in yourself? To have that belief in yourself, you have to stay focused. Which means sometimes you have to stay above the naysayers and the things around you. The people around you. Sometimes the people you associate with are like a bunch of turkeys. Just gobbling up you, and talking. Or you could say chickens, in the yard, pecking at you constantly. There’s a real truth to that pecking order thing.

What do you believe in yourself? Do you believe in yourself?

Do you believe that you have what it takes to get to your next level? I think you do, but only you believing in you and then putting forth the effort to change, to do something different. Whatever it is you want to accomplish, it is going to take sacrifice. It is going to take change. It is going to take some tenacity and drive on you to do something different than you’ve ever done before. Then you got to stick with that, consistent, very consistent for months, maybe even years.

If somebody told me it was gonna take 25, almost 25 years to get to the place I am today. Would have I taken that journey? I don’t know. Because sometimes we always want that quick fix, right?

Here, recently, somebody won $1.2 billion, almost $1.3 billion. Now, they didn’t get that much. The gross thing about it, after taxes, and all that and everything, they got like $400 million now. Some of you are sitting there going, “Chad, $400 million, that’s enough, I could live on $400 million”. I get it. I get it. But compared to 1.2 billion, the fact that you only get about 30 some percent of that when it’s all said and done, that’s pretty crazy. But again, now, I’m getting off course a little bit, maybe.

My point is that to change you and what you do.

You have to stick with that change.

And you’re not going to get the quick fix. You can’t microwave your reality to the point where it’s going to be great. If you did try to microwave your reality to greatness, typically we leave it in too long. We don’t cover it up correctly, and all we get is spaghetti all over and sauce. We have to clean the microwave when we’re done. Because we do it wrong. Doing it too quickly is not the right way to do it.

Some of you know I like to smoke meat. I like to smoke my food. Do you know why? Because it’s at a low temperature, for a long period of time, but the food always comes out magnifique. It comes out so juicy and so well done. But it takes a long time. It takes a long time.

You can grill a steak in just a few minutes in a pan. I’ve done it and it still tastes good. It really does. It really does. I’m a good cook. Those of you who have eaten my cooking, you know that. The fact of the matter is, is that when you smoke your meat when you smoke your vegetables. I love smoked asparagus! Now I’m getting a little bit hungry. Maybe you are too but my point is, it’s a slow process. For us, it’s the same thing. For change, it is a process. It is a long-term process of growth and learning that we have to take, and we have to be consistent with.

So let me ask you on this Workshop Wednesday…

What do you need to work on?

What is the process that you’re driving towards and what are your goals? We’re getting into the fall; school is going to be starting soon. Maybe you’re taking a class at the junior college, maybe you’re online with the university. Maybe you’re just reading a book, right now, maybe you’re digging into a book I’ve recommended recently. Or maybe you’ve just started here, and you’ve heard about verbal judo and you’re picking it up for the first time.

Whatever you’re doing to better yourself, take that next step. Take that next step. Read a book. Get up a little bit early, before the sun. As we’re getting into the fall, that’s a little easier to do. This summer, you have to get up at 4:30-5:00, before the sun. Pretty soon you can get up at almost 6:30. So, in just another month, or two you’ll be able to get up at 6:30, and you’ll still beat the sun up. But my point is, get up, get a cup of coffee. Got mine here. Get a cup of coffee, sit down think process, study, read, and make that change in your life for the better. It’ll take time.

When I first started, I had hair. Now, I don’t. So, like I said, take some time.  

Better yourself. Be that change.

Long term. You will benefit, your family will benefit, your friends will benefit, and most likely your community and the team you work with will benefit. Because of what you’re doing to better you.

 All right so on this Workshop Wednesday remember to be valuable because nothing less will do. Keep working towards that change. I believe in you. You need to believe in you. If I believe in you, you can believe in you. But you have to believe in yourself.

All right God bless you guys. I’ll see you next week and next week it will be September. Awesome! See you guys then, bye!