Day 360 – Make a resolution and keep it.

So one of the rituals of this week of holiday purgatory is to decide on a New Years Resolution.

In 2012 at least 45% of all American committed to some kind of resolution. The top 10 resolutions are :

1) lose weight

2) getting organized

3) spend less, save more

4) enjoy life to the fullest

5) staying fit and healthy

6) learn something exciting

7) quit smoking

8) help others in their dreams

9) fall in love and

10) spend more time with family.

The University of Scranton did a study that showed surprisingly, that 75% of all resolutions make it through the first week. Only 46% make it past the six month mark. Oddly the study also revealed that 39% of people in their 20’s will actually achieve their goals this year as compared to only 14% of people over 50 will achieve what they set out to do.

Making a resolution is not hard and there is no secret to it. The latter is also true for sticking to them and actually achieving your resolutions.

Make your resolution tangible – make sure your resolution is something that you can see and measure. Things that are ambiguous like being happier need an anchor to give you some stick of measurability to see if you are on track.

Be specific – it is not enough to simply say I am going to lose weight. Be bold and choose a number! It is hard to hit your target when you really do not know what it is.

Come up with a plan – break your goal down into manageable steps. 50 lbs of weight loss may seem like a huge number but it really is only 1lb a week. One pound is equivalent to 3500 more calories burned than consumed. 3500 calories a week is only 500 calories a day which can be easily done by walking half an hour and not going back for seconds one meal a day.

Write it down –  I cannot express how important this one is. There is something magical about writing down your goal. Write it down and put it somewhere you will see it every day. I suggest the bathroom mirror, Every morning and every night you will see what you have written down and there is some cool stuff that will go to work in your sub conscious. Do not skip this step.

Share your resolution –  this is where accountability comes in. If you do not tell anyone what your resolution is it is easy to let something slide and then it just disappears with echos of, “I will try again next year” or some other kind of negative talk.

If you have never embarked on this journey of a New Years resolution I encourage you to do so. None of our lives are so perfect that we cannot find an area to improve in. Follow these simple steps and look back as one of the proud in a year and be grateful for how much better your life is. Share your resolutions with me and lets make 2015 awesome together!

Day 338 – My mentor, and so much more.

I have talked many times about my wife and how supportive she is. I have shared with you how awesome my kids are and that I truly feel blessed. I have many people in my life that believe in me and support me, even cheer me on no matter how crazy the idea.

Every Entrepreneur should have in their life one good mentor. It is priceless to be able to seek advice from someone who has gone down the path you are going before you. This is true in any endeavor whether it be sports, business or relationships.

This seems to be obvious for me but, I see people all of the time asking the wrong people for help and advice. If you wanted to run a marathon, you would not ask your overweight uncle for training advice. If you wanted to learn how to have a long successful marriage that lasts a lifetime you would not ask someone who has been married 5 times. The same holds true for business. If you want to learn how to be successful you don’t go to the guy in line at the welfare office, you find a successful mentor that is willing to help you.

Somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 years ago I met a very important man in my life. We were a young family and I had just become a Christian. We landed at a small Foursquare church and that is where I met Ron.

Ron and his wife Tina were the first couple we met. They were ten years older than us but, we had kids the same age. They invited us over for dinner and we started to get to know them. I know that is a concept that may seem weird by today’s standards just remember that I will be 45 in a couple weeks, we did things like that in the old days.

I was immediately impressed with Ron. He really seemed to have things figured out. He had a great marriage and family, he had a heart for God, he was intelligent and witty (just ask him), and he was an entrepreneur. Ron had started a string of coffee shops in Japan. I think he had around a dozen shops before Starbucks even imagined going to Japan. He had created a brand that was very popular and it seemed that things were really going well for this guy.

Ron is the epitome of an entrepreneur. He has been in the trenches for a long time and I have had a first hand seat not only to his success but, also to the challenges and lows. It was during a couple of his lows that I really began to respect him even more than I admired him. I watched as everything he had worked for years to create was taken from him and destroyed. He was put in a situation that no one, including myself, would have blamed him for just throwing in the towel. Instead, Ron rolled up his sleeves and started over. In just two years he created and started ecobrew. That product is in roughly 35,000 brick and mortar locations, and he employs about 20 people. He leads by example in every aspect of his life. He is not afraid to be open and show his imperfections, in fact he will even make fun of them. Facts are facts and anyone who knows Ron knows he is a man of integrity.

Most of or relationship over the years has been Ron pouring into me. He has helped me in so many areas of my life beyond business. He gave me my start in the coffee business giving me a job working at a local espresso stand and taught me everything. He and his family opened up their home for about two weeks while we were homeless waiting for a home to be ready to move in, he has given us money in hard times, and helped me through one of the darkest times of my almost 25 year marriage. It has definitely been a relationship that has always been tipped in my favor.

I got to spend about an hour with Ron the other night and I walked away again so blessed to have an example in my life. I truly cherish this man and hope in some way to repay him for everything he has done for me.

Day 330 – Even Jesus was doubted by those familiar with him.

My devotional reading this morning talked about how Jesus was rejected in his own hometown.

 Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.” Mark 6:4

This was Jesus’ response to people in his hometown criticizing his ministry. They doubted that he could be responsible for such wisdom and miracles because they were familiar with him.

Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. Mark 6:3

Familiarity is sometimes not your ally. Especially if it involves change. Have you ever tried to do something and you got excited about it only to have a family member or close friend scoff and shake their head at you? They make some comment that completely takes the wind out of your sails. They are usually forming an opinion about your ability to carry out your idea. Let me say that again. They are forming an opinion about your ability to carry out your idea. It is important to realize that their opinion has nothing to do with your actual idea. In most cases they do not even think about the idea enough to give it merit or not. That is why someone else can come up with the same idea and they will have an entirely different view based on their knowledge of the person sharing the idea.

I have been an Entrepreneur most all of my life. I have started several businesses and spent a lot of time and resources on these ventures. I get comments all of the time like, “what are you up to now?” It is almost entertainment for some to see what half brained idea I am currently working on. To some I am just the guy who has been unemployed for 2 years and had to go back to work in a warehouse because he failed again.

On the flip side of that coin there are a lot of my business peers that are familiar with me in a different way.

I get emails from other business people on a very regular basis asking me for my advice. I have peers who no the struggle of a start-up company and can appreciate what I have been able to accomplish. I have people bringing me ideas all of the time. I recently just signed a non disclosure with a gentleman that is about to revolutionize an industry and wants to make me part of his team because of my contacts and experience. I am respected as a start-up entrepreneur that has created and brought products to market. I understand supply chains. contract manufacturing, and have stood toe to toe with billionaires and heal my own.

Yes, it is a bit of a stretch and no, I am not comparing myself to Jesus but, the principle applies the same. We are all more respected outside of our immediate sphere of influence. That is a lesson that has taken me a while to learn and I encourage you to remember this the next time you have an idea or want to make a change. Understand the source of the comments coming back at you. While the people close to you love you and care for you, they do look at you through tinted glasses.

Day 303 – Less time equals more.

You know how you always imagine if you had more time you could get so much done?

I have found recently just the opposite to be true. It seems when I have less time I actually get more done. I am more efficient and deliberate with how I prioritize and do things.

I shared a few days ago that I need to get a job. My worry has been that I will not be able to really do what I need to get done. The fact that is starting to emerge is that I think it will be fine. I will be smart with the little time I have and I will do more of the right things when it comes to business. It is not always about doing. If just doing were the key to success, more Americans would be millionaires.

No one needs to tell Americans to work harder. We work more than almost any country on the planet. Our problem is that we just “do”. We are like a rat in a maze frantically searching for food. Constantly busy constantly working but, are we really doing the right things? Guys like Donald Trump and Tony Hawk are so much farther ahead of where I am at because they do more of the right thing. Successful people have figured out what do do. They have identified the right things to do and they spend all of their time focused on those things.

When my back is against the wall and I have very little time I find myself the most productive because I am focused on the big pushes. The things that will get the most results in a short period of time.

I think that by getting a job to just survive and pay bills until all of this can work is going to be good because of the obvious but, also because I will have more days like today where I spend time doing the right things. The things that matter, the big things.

Too much time for me is not necessarily a good thing. Lets see how this new chapter plays out.

Day 293 – Dad there has been a shooting and we are on lock down… I am safe.

Nothing is more frightening than one of your children in a very dangerous situation.

I got a text from my youngest today that no parent wants to get.

Just minutes after shots were fired and the campus went on lock down Cort sent us a text telling us that, “Shots have been fired and we are on lock down, I am Safe” Of course my first reaction was are you kidding me?! Then I was just glad he was safe. Over the next two hours we were learning what was happening from kids inside the school. Heard that two were dead including the shooter and four other students had been taken to hospitals and in critical condition.

I know this is a business blog mostly but, more importantly this is my blog. My feelings and experiences right or wrong in anyone’s opinion so this is just me getting my thoughts out. This may or may not be something you agree with and frankly I do not care. We each get to have our own opinions and that is what makes this an amazing country.

This kid whose name I will do my hardest to forget is no victim. He was an aggressor that took at least one human life and tried to take more. He was not mentally ill, he had no previous history and used a weapon that was legally acquired. He hunted and was an outdoorsman and knew exactly what it meant when he put the gun in his bag to take to school. He knew how to use the weapon and what it could do. This aggressor in this case made a very conscious decision to take a gun  to school and to open fire on fellow students over a breakup with a girlfriend.

This is the kind of thing that no amount of con control or background check can prevent. There was no Bullying, he was not teased, and was not an outcast. He was a person that made a very conscious choice to become a criminal of the worst kind.

I have been filled with a lot of emotions today. I had a kid in that school. I have another son whose girlfriend was right there and saw blood on the floor. I have had girls break up with me for another guy and I have been mad sad at thought my life was over. I have access to guns since I was 11 years old.

I made choices during those times of despair in my life. I made the right choice and dealt with it. I cried in my pillow and I did not eat. I stomped my feet and talked back to my mom. This young man made a choice and for that choice he is accountable. I will not feel bad for him I will not glorify in anyway his choice, He was the aggressor and NOT the victim and does not deserve to be treated by any means in the same way as his victims.

I pray for his family. I pray for the loss of a child. My heart aches as any parent would when they lose a child. I feel so bad that they were not able to see just how bad he was hurting. He chose to mask or hide that and he alone is accountable, not his parents, not the ex girlfriend and not the gun, him.

I pray for the families touched by this horrible crime. Tonight there are parents that will not ever see their daughter again. There are parents and families at hospitals praying that their kids make it. For that I pray.

For the victims and their families I pray.

Day 290 – What the hell have I been doing?

Spent some time listening to Darren Hardy today.

He is one of my favorite authors and motivational speakers right now. I started an online course of his a while back called Insane productivity and I have been slacking. That is an embarrassing statement but I am sharing because this blog is my accountability tool. I listened to a module today that I have listened to before but, it was just what I needed to hear.

I have allowed myself to just get way too distracted by unimportant things lately. Distractions that are a complete waste of time and I really need to weed some of them out. Here it is almost November and I actually have a ton of things to get accomplished. Not to mention that it is harvest time again so I just got even more busy.

I will be putting things through the priority filter for the rest of the year and putting the hammer down.

It is officially fall and this is the time when Apple Pie Moonshine shines. It is a very fall time drink. I will be planning some tailgating events and really hitting the restaurant and bar accounts hard to utilize the season to gain momentum. We know that a few retailers are looking at the product for a reset after the first of the year and it is imperative that we throw up numbers.

We lost a well connected salesman at the distillery and I have some slack to pick up. Trying to figure out where he left off. We have a lot of good things going and we need to keep the momentum going. No time for Facebook or Netflix during work hours.

I am back to the schedule that I implemented back in June. Head down one foot in front of the other. Amy, crack that whip babe! You too if you are reading this blog. Keep me accountable!

Day 278 – Competition is a given.

Competition is a great thing.

Competition is a big part of the American marketplace. It can be healthy and promote growth of individual companies and the economy as a whole. Competition can also breed some negative things.

Sometimes there are companies or individuals who are threatened by competition. In these instances, things can take an ugly turn. I have become witness to people, not just specific to my field but across many others who turn to negativity instead of innovation to compete. I have seen people attack other businesses in order to try and protect what they feel entitled to. I believe that there is room for any quality business or product.

In a free market place we rely on the customers to make the choice on whether a product or service is any good. They vote with their wallet and that should be it. If your product or service is better than others people will buy yours based on quality and value. If your product is losing market share because of another product you simply need to improve your product. That seems simple right?

Then why do companies that loose market share resort to things that harm the competition instead? I have seen legislation passed to affect the competition. I have seen people get involved in local politics to create zoning issues that affect their competition. I have heard of all kinds of corporate espionage designed to take out and hurt the competition all for the sake of someone trying to hold onto market share with a product that just may not be popular anymore. In the end it is the consumer that loses.

Take the Tucker Car Company for instance. Preston Tucker sought to build the car of the future with innovative safety designs such as a padded dashboard, a pop out windshield, disc brakes, and a third headlight that swiveled while making turns. He was head to head with big car companies that simply did not want the car to exist and wouldn’t let Mr Tucker acquire the steel or supplies he needed. Today Tucker’s 475 acre Chicago production plant houses a tootsie roll factory and a shopping center. Many of his ideas were later instituted and we enjoy them as standards in today’s vehicles.

Competition is a good thing for the consumer and for business. A great new product or service in any category brings more consumers to that category as a whole. It forces us as business owners to constantly be improving and proving a better product. If someone makes a better widget than you or has improved on your service than you have to work to improve your product. Anything else is just wrong and eventually even if you succeed in removing your better competition you will still lose customers because there will always be someone else coming along with something better.

Don’t be this guy

Day 270 – How secure is security?

Security is one of the basic human needs.

I think most of us live in a false sense of it in our daily lives. We were told when we were growing up that if we did well in school and went to college we would get a good job. That good job would take care of us until retirement.

We go to work every day under the impression that the building to the place of our employment will be standing and the doors open. How many stories have we heard in the last decade about people going to their secure job only to find out that it was all an illusion. In the blink of an eye their security blanket of a good job was snatched away from them, often without a notice.

Maybe it was downsizing. Maybe the owner sold the business to retire and the new owners just want to bring in their own people. or maybe the owners just lost their lease and have no money or no where to relocate and start over.

Being an employee you are totally at the will of someone else and have NO control over your future. You may have faith in your future and believe in security but it is really not there. As a business owner or entrepreneur we have a LITTLE control over these thing. We can purchase property, grow smart and even in slow times cut back on staff to support ourselves.  A little is more than none and still not total security. It is more stressful as a business owner but, at the end of the day I know that I have more control over my future and an owner than I would as an employee.

I have people ask me all of the time, “How do you do it? How do you go without having a guarantee of where your next dollar will come from?” I tell them that I am no different than them. They have no more guarantee than me and I am just taking a longer road than most that will take me to a potentially higher peak than most as well. The trail is hard to find and follow but for the brave it is worth it.

I find security in being in control of my own destiny and choices. Security is based on the results of my personal efforts and no one else’s. While it may seem a little less secure, in the long game I think it is the better choice.

 

Day 265 – I will have the last laugh

Ugh.

Many times in business you learn lessons and learned lessons usually come from challenges. 2 years ago I learned a lesson on national TV. I learned the lesson of reality TV.

While the experience was fantastic it was bitter sweet. The editors of the show took an hour of material and forged my life and business into entertainment for the masses. Anyone who has seen my episode knows that it did not go that well. At least the version that we saw did not go very well. When I was actually there it was very cool and I got some good advice and I learned a lot. What we saw was an embarrassment.

It is something that I have really tried to put behind me but, thanks to reruns I cannot. I am forced to re live this every time we air. Now you would think this would be easier to move on from than it actually is.

With every airing I get emails and tweets that are nothing less than cruel. I am an entrepreneur and this comes with the territory. Anyone who steps out and takes risks is susceptible to criticism but, it is hardly constructive.

The fact is that I will never give up and I have a lot of great things happening. I should not care but I am just a man. I love how people watch a show from their couch and are experts in business and love to tell me how dumb I am and personally attack me.

I have something to say to them all. Keep watching because I am a winner. I have a dream and a purpose and it is bigger than them or their opinions. Their words are fuel and while they hurt they also motivate me to keep moving forward.

I am doing something that most choose not to do, I am paying the price for my dreams. I do not make excuses and I press on in the face of adversity. I have the balls to walk into a room of millionaires and address them as equals. I I walked down a hallway that only a few hundred people have ever walked down and I put myself out there. I do it every day. I am determined and I will succeed.

So as you sit on your couch and hope for more, I am doing the work and paying the price. I am Roger Sullivan and I am a winner.

Day 264 – Look Ma! No nap!

I survived!

Lets look at some of my accomplishments of the last 44 hours. In the last 44 hours I have slept 3 hours, written 3 blogs, spent 5 hours in the car had a meeting with the economic developer for Snohomish and made over 300 gallons of delicious spiced apple cider from scratch for our largest batch of Eve’s Apple Pie to date!

I know I said I would be tired and my day would be SO long but, the truth is I love days like these. It is days like these that I will be able to look back on and see how the construction blocks of my success were laid.

My hard work and sacrifices made possible by the support of my wife and partners. No one will ever be able to say that I did not work hard for everything I have accomplished. My journey is one of digging in and crawling for every single inch.

My struggle is no different than any other business owner out there. We all work hard and are paying the price demanded for our dreams. The battle field of success is the great equalizer. There are no shortcuts or secret paths, there is no special treatment, and there is no privilege. There is only struggle and pain. The struggle and pain are directly proportional to what you have asked of life.

It is true that the bigger the desire the bigger the price and I hate to break it to any of you but, there are no blue light specials and no sales.

You see life will give of you whatever you ask. Do not try to talk to me about privileges or hardships. If you live in the United States of America that stuff is bullshit and just a crutch. I will not waste my time arguing that truth. I will be happy to share my story of so called “privilege”  any time.

Like I said, life will give you whatever you ask for. Life makes a very fair deal and you can either take it or leave that deal. Whatever you want comes at a price. One simply needs to be willing to pay that price. Most everyone would love to live a lifestyle free from worry of time and money however, there is only a very small percentage of the population that are will to pay the price for that. Those individuals live a life that most cannot because they did something that anyone can but, chooses not to.

The easy thing is to talk about how lucky they are, how nice it would have been to have daddy’s money, or any other number of justifications why we cannot do what they did. The truth is that we can. I can tell you about a man living on the streets in Las Vegas just over a year ago. No job and no home. Today he is a millionaire. I can tell you about a girl who was poor and abused by her step father when her mother died, went to work for the mafia as a kid and was sent to a school for girls. She ran away from there and was homeless until debuting at the Apollo Theater Why did they get so lucky? They asked of life their dreams, looked at the price tag, shook hands and just went to work. No excuses, no hand outs, and no quitting. They. Just. Did. The. Work.

This life is all about decisions. Decisions that only we alone can make. When I am in the quiet of my mind searching for what to do and how to do it I CHOOSE to listen to the voice that says I can. The voice that says I can’t is a faded memory that was often disguised as an excuse. What voice do you listen to?