Take the First Step

All right, so here we are. It is another Wednesday, and I’m out here on my back deck. I got the birds singing. Chirping. I love the spring and summer. I love being able to get out here and hang out in my yard. My yard actually doesn’t look too bad. You can see a little turtle over there in the background behind me. That’s kind of cool. That thing weighs like 250 pounds. I had to pressure wash him. He got a little bit of moss on his back shell. Anyway, big giant tortoise my mom gave me years and years and years ago.

Anyway, I don’t think you’re here for that. You’re here for Wednesday. So, Wednesday Workshop, what are we going to talk about? Well, today we’re going to talk about people who don’t take the first step never take the second step. I read the quote, and it’s kind of cool.” If you’re not willing to take the first step, you’ll never have to take step number two.” Maybe on some people’s front that sounds cool. If I don’t take a step, then I never get hurt. If I don’t put myself out there, I never get hurt. But you also never grow, you never learn, you never experience life, you never experience joy.

If you’re not willing to take the first step, you’ll never have to take step number two.

Yes. Sometimes you experience pain. Yes, some people let you down. Yes, life can be tough. It can punch you in the gut. But if you don’t take a step, if you don’t try, if I wouldn’t have made the steps 24-25 years ago almost and went into the IRS, if Karen and I wouldn’t have gone down to Salem and signed the paperwork, if we wouldn’t have started Northwestern Enforcement, if I wouldn’t have worked and walked into that first client and offered what we have to offer, which wasn’t much at the time, it was just a belief in myself and a belief that I understood that people needed better security and they needed to feel like they were treated correctly.

If I wouldn’t have made those steps, then I wouldn’t have had to take the next step or the next step, and heck, I wouldn’t have so many wonderful men and women like yourselves around us if I wouldn’t have taken those first steps.

If you don’t take the first step, then you never have to take the second step, but you never experience the joy.

Yes, there’s pain. Trust me, these little purple bags under my eyes are not because I got a tattoo. It’s a lot of hard work, but I took that first step, and then the second, and then the third, and then the fourth. Here we are thousands and thousands of steps later, and I got amazing men and women like yourselves that are walking with us. I can’t tell you how appreciative I am for you walking with us in this way.

I can imagine that some of you are wondering about taking steps, and it might not have anything to do with starting a company. Maybe it’s doing something better for you, your family, buying a house. If you want to buy a house and you say, “Well, but Chad, it’s not like it was when you were a kid,” well, I know. The 1700s was a whole different story.

The important thing is that if you want to buy a house and you say, “Well, it’s nothing like when you were young,” I get what you’re saying. But the minimum wage was like $1.82 when I was younger. I remember Karen getting out of college. Guys, this is transparency here, but when Karen got out of college. They offered her a job for $6.50. She had a degree and she was making $6.50 an hour. That was her first job out of college. Don’t tell me that it’s too hard to do something because of inflation or whatever.

You can do anything you put your heart and mind to.

My son David has over $1,500 in his bank account. All you have to do is save. Now, some of you are sitting there saying, “Well, but David doesn’t work. That’s just you giving him money.” It’s not me giving him money, it’s him putting cans away. It’s him studying and working hard. Same thing with Jonathan. Jonathan has almost $3,000. It’s about making a decision. He’s got 600 bucks in his wallet right now because he’s got good grades because he reads books. He gets paid for that. He does his chores, and he’s done other things throughout these last five, six, seven years since he was old enough to carry a broom. I’m teaching my kids how to save.

You want to buy a house? You want to do something with your life? Read a book. I’ve explained this time and time again. Most books are about 300 pages. Ten pages a day, you’ll read a book a month. Twelve books from now, you’ll be into spring of next year, and you’ll look back and you’ll be smarter on twelve subjects or maybe one subject but twelve different variations of it. Who knows?

I tell people all the time I read a book on marriage every year at least one. Not because I have a bad marriage, but because I don’t want to have one. I read books on finance because I don’t want to be poor. I read books on leadership. Because I want to be a good one. I read books on tactics because I care very much about the tactician in me. To be a good leader and a good example of how to shoot and how to direct people to be prepared in crisis. I read books. So, you have to take that first step.

Whatever is going on in your life right now, take that first step.

I don’t know what it is for you, but take that first step and then take the second, and then take the third. Like me, 30-40 years from now you’ll be thousands of steps in. You’ll look back in the rearview mirror and yes, there were some hills to climb. Yes, you might have fallen down, scraped your knee. Yes, you might have been treated badly by others. You might have had some people that you trusted walk away from you. But life is still worth the journey. It’s still worth it. Don’t quit. Don’t not start. Take that first step.

God bless you on this beautiful Wednesday. I want you guys to have a wonderful week, and I will see you next week. Can’t wait until our barbecue coming up in just a couple of months. It’s going to be a lot of fun, so get yourselves prepared for water balloon fights. Get yourself prepared for some potato salad and some good food and hamburgers and hot dogs and fellowship with your fellow soldiers who are out there working with you. Some of them are on the other side of the week you’ve never met. Get prepared for that.

You guys have a wonderful week. God bless you. See you next week, and remember, be valuable. Nothing less will do.