exciting morning -> ugly-crying lunch ... [🐝U]

Yesterday I started the day talking to a new prospect I was genuinely excited about.

About 4 hours later, I was on the floor of my trailer - snot-flowing ugly-crying

Same day.
Opposite ends of the emotional spectrum.

Charles Dickens said it best:
“it was the best of times,
it was the worst of times”

Yup!
You can say THAT again!

Life swings between extremes.
Sometimes both show up before lunch.

When it all feels like it’s “too much”

The point is this:
Good, bad, & ugly often show up together.

But our brains are wired to fixate on what isn’t working
& skip appreciating (& celebrating) what is.

I start my coaching calls with
“tell me what you DID do this week”
because we’re experts at beating ourselves up over what we didn’t

Start with what DID work.
What DID you do?

or as 1 of my favorite mentors says…
“What are you celebrating this week?”

The ONLY things you CAN control

There’s a lot we can’t control in life.
Actually … most things.

But we can control what we do next.
& how we respond.

We’re responsible for both.

On a personal level, I’ve struggled with this a lot lately.

This property has stretched me in ways I didn’t see coming.
→ Financially.
→ Physically.
→ Mentally.

There have been many moments I’ve wondered,
“Have I made a mistake that’s going to cost me a lot more than money?

I’m overextended
I miscalculated
Did I bet on something bigger than I can carry?”

It’s not just inconvenient or annoying.
It’s expensive (in time & money)

& yesterday was another 1 of those “are you kidding me?!” days.

The contractor showed up with the wrong materials.
Again.

Then he blamed everyone else.
Including me.

An hour later, the trailer’s electrical system failed.

By 1:55 pm I was sitting on the floor of my trailer.
Phone in 1 hand.
Head in the other.

Ugly-crying to solar guy #2.

Not just frustrated.

Wondering if I had just made a 6-figure mistake trying to force something bigger than I was ready for.

That’s the moment most people don’t post about.

It felt like a comedy of errors.

The kind that’d make a hilarious Netflix series.

Just… not in my bank account.

more mistakes
more delays
more $$

There’s been a LOT of second-guessing, questioning my sanity, etc over the property

& yes … I absolutely threw myself a pity party.

Dramatic internal monologue included.
→ “Why does this always happen to me?”
→ “What did I do to deserve this?”
→ “This was supposed to be the dream, not hellish nightmare.”

So what DID work?

After the meltdown, I forced myself to shift perspective.

Because here’s the truth:
→ I can’t control the contractor.
→ I didn’t cause the wiring failure.
(everything wears & tears & eventually needs replacing)
→ I definitely don’t control the weather
(though I’d like to have words with that pesky groundhog over 6 more weeks of winter)

BUT…
Other parts of my life are “working”

Business is going well
It’s busy
New potential clients
More coaching calls
I’m getting better at saying NO to “time-vampires”
& better at scheduling my day

It’s not perfect.
& it’s never going to be.

That’s OK
Because perfection isn’t the goal.
Progress IS.

Life’s 1 big “tweak-&-test”

Life’s a lot like marketing.

You try something.
Measure what happens.
Adjust.
Try again.

Better?
Do more of that.

Worse?
Go back to what worked & test something else.

That cycle never ends.

Except the feedback on this property sometimes costs 4-5 figures.

Focus on what you DID do & what you can control
→ You DID send the connection request
You can’t control if (or when) they accept

→ You DID follow up with a prospect
You can’t control if (or when or how) they reply

But you can control whether you keep showing up anyway.

Because our success is built on controllable actions (& reactions).
even though we can’t guarantee outcomes.

Don’t stop 3 feet from gold

Have you seen the meme of the miner who stops digging just before reaching the treasure?

It’s based on a real story from the Alaska Gold Rush.

Exhausted prospectors often quit when success was closer than they realized.

They’ve tried
They’re tired
So they stop & walk away.

The modern phrase is “3 feet from gold.”

There’s even a book about it from the Napoleon Hill Foundation.

Based on prospecting during the Alaska Gold Rush.

The first guy was exhausted.
Broke.
Convinced there wasn’t anything there.

He sold.

The new owner hired an expert.
Moved over 3 feet.

Hit gold.

That’s it.
3 feet.
1 step.

Sometimes the breakthrough isn’t miles away.
It’s just past the point where you’re tired.

The point isn’t “never quit,”
It’s that breakthroughs often happen right after the moment you want to quit.
& you try 1 more thing

The people who have breakthroughs aren’t necessarily smarter or luckier.
They just keep taking responsibility for their actions even after others stop.

We don’t control how fast results appear.
We DO control whether we keep digging.
& we decide how much
& the tools we use

What I can control is whether I shut down…
or whether I wipe my face, make the next call, & keep going.

So this week, here’s what I’m going to control …
→ how I show up to support my clients
→ what I share so they realize you don’t have to be perfect to be successful
→ where I spend my time learning & growing
→ when & how long I make time for different tasks

Now it’s your turn …

Stop disqualifying your own effort.

Notice what IS working.
Celebrate what you DID do.
Take responsibility for your actions (& reactions).

Then take the next step forward.
No matter how small it seems.

Progress never looks glamorous.
Sometimes it looks like crying on a trailer floor…
& showing up anyway the next morning.

EG

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