Achievement Unlocked
Exactly one month ago, on January 12th, I wanted to try something. Could I run a successful business, manage our apparel business, launch a new website for another project, be a loving spouse, never miss a karate class or family meal, manage myself, and write a blog post every day for a month. I didn’t really have any intentions of becoming a “blogger”, that’s not my place nor my ambitions. It was more about pushing my limits. I have never been busier, I have never been as fully scheduled as I am right at this moment. When that happens, you…
Hardened
Hardening a piece of steel is a unique and fun experience, and at the end of the process you have a stable, trustworthy tool that can serve you well for a life time if you do it correctly. The art of heat treating steel is also metaphorically similar to our own challenges and struggles. First you heat the steel up to almost 2000° F… The molecules in the steel are going insane, it’s glowing red, and very sensitive to pressure. Does that sound familiar to when you are stressed? Blood pressure through the roof, sweating, angry, and sensitive to anything?…
Milestones
Milestone Achievement As I was working on a batch of knives at the grinder, Mrs. Scorpion 6 was over at this work bench with her laptop and binders, pulling more knives. It looked like any other day… But it wasn’t. Today was a very special day for us as a couple, as parents, and as small businesses owners. We pulled the very last of our customer preorders. For those that aren’t super familiar, we have been taking preorders since the day we started, almost 7 years ago. For 7 years, people have trusted us with their money as we made…
Keep Flying
Keep Flying the Airplane This blog post is going to caveat off of an earlier post I made where I discussed trusting your instruments, regardless of what your heart is telling you. A more important factor to this situation is to keep flying the airplane. I know this may sound silly, but the cockpit of an airplane can get overwhelming, and things can get out of control fast. Add to that, poor weather conditions, terrain, busy radios, mechanical problems or low fuel levels, and you have the perfect cocktail for disaster. If you research the NTSB and FAA crash statistics…
Sophistication
Sophistication is having, revealing, or proceeding from a great deal of worldly experience and knowledge of fashion and culture. I try to be as sophisticated as possible in my life. I keep up with current events/trends, run multiple social media fronts, travel often, and speak with experts from around the world to grow my knowledge. I had an instructor in college that told me to be a sponge, and just soak everything up. I do my best to exemplify just that. Well today, I received a low frequency hate message regarding a past blog post, and wanted to unpack this…
Cut Sling-load
A “Sling-load” is something that is attached to the bottom of a helicopter like a sack of groceries. Sometimes it’s a howitzer cannon, sometimes it’s a vehicle, sometimes it’s just a pallet of ammunition. In the U.S. Army Air Assault school, we dedicated a large amount of time studying, building, and being tested on sling-loads. They are extremely meticulous. No room for error. Once connected, and airborne under the helicopter, even the best built sling-load can start to oscillate around under the aircraft. This uncontrolled swinging can become highly dangerous, and if not corrected quickly can even potentially cause the…
Comparison
“Comparison is the thief of joy” – Theodore Roosevelt “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house . . . your neighbor’s wife . . . nor anything that is your neighbor’s” (Exodus 20:17) Here is a quote from Theodore Roosevelt (one of my favorite presidents), and the Bible. This is not just an internet search or some motivational guru. These are two heavy hitters… And I think they are wrong- well, except for the neighbor’s wife part. That’s really messed up. Seek help if that’s you. The rest of it though, I understand the intention of the statements, but I…
Be a Leader
You can divide leadership down into so many different things to discuss. We could probably go over leadership skills every day for three months and still need more time to cover it all. Tonight though, I want to talk about a theory of motivation called the “Hawthorn Effect”. Elton Mayo developed an explanation of motivation called the Hawthorn Effect, in which it suggests that employees are more productive when they know their work is being measured and have an input on their daily tasks. Think about it… Piece rate, commission, monthly counseling… all tools to motivate employees to perform. In…
Priorities of Work
In the U.S. Army Infantry, after you establish a patrol base or secure perimeter, you begin priorities of work. It always starts with weapons maintenance. Without that, in a combat environment, you are a liability to everyone. So you start by ensuring that your team’s weapon systems are clean, functioning properly and ready. Next is hygiene. Change your socks. Shave your face so the gas mask seals better. Repair or replace anything with holes. For the love of Chrysler, brush your teeth- your breath stinks and your team can’t afford you going down for a dental emergency. After that is…
Security isn’t Real
Safety and Security… Safety: noun- the condition of being protected from or unlikely to cause danger, risk, or injury. Security: noun- the state of being free from danger or threat. I’m going to need you to put on your logical thinking caps for this one, because it’s a difficult thing to comprehend. To be safe, means that you are protected, or whatever you are doing is unlikely to cause danger. To be secured, means you are free from danger. So to have security and safety would therefore mean you are not in any danger and are protected- unlikely to be…
Quit
Quitting… This is something that I personally think isn’t talked about enough, and definitely not understood. In this world, all you hear is never quit, quitting is for losers… you know the drill. But there’s a part of me that thinks this is a huge part in the downfall of society right now. We forgot how to quit… Smoking, gorging on food, alcohol, unhealthy relationships, terrible jobs etc. TOO MANY have forgotten how to quit bad habits, quit allowing toxic people into their lives, quit mindless jobs that aren’t fulfilling. We have wandered aimlessly into a fuzzy world of acceptance…
Limits are for Breaking
When you are navigating this wild place, you are constantly looking for options. Weighing a risk/reward as you work towards your goals. The human body by nature will always choose the path of the least resistance, because it doesn’t know when your next meal is. Your body is always in conservation mode. Well it’s 2023 now, and chances are, if you are reading this, you know when your next meal is. So let’s talk about pushing your limits… 12 years ago I was solo climbing Mt. Torreys in Colorado. It started as a beautiful sunny day, almost zero wind and…
Limits
“Don’t judge me by your limitations “ This is probably my most favorite quote, ever. Not only because it strikes painfully clear, but because I heard my father say it. I was a Crew Chief at a private FBO (fixed base of operations) at an airfield along the front range mountains in Colorado. For those that aren’t familiar with the area, the weather can go from mild to deadly in a matter of minutes. Mixtures of the mountain wave air, high altitude and colliding pressure systems get things spicy. This was one of “those” days. The airfield was basically closed…
Happiness
Look. In no guru of happiness… I don’t have a degree in psychology, nor am I a licensed therapist. What I am though, is experienced in a wide range of emotions from lows to highs throughout a wild lifetime of experiences in a short period of time. I have attended years of counseling at the Veteran Services Center in Arizona and have tried many medications to help balance anxiety, hyper vigilance, and trauma response from combat exposure. It’s been a real hoot. Here are a few things I have learned through these decades of experiences: Seek Help- it doesn’t make…
METT-TC
METT-TC Depending This was a mnemonic in the Army for when you were trying to plan an operation but you knew there were variables that needed to be accounted for once you were on the ground. The best, most well planned operation can fall apart in seconds, and usually does, once things really start happening. All the battle maps, local intelligence, photos from satellites, eyes on objective from scouts, drones, and mock objectives for rehearsals… just a small garnish to the entire dish. None of that really mattered once you were buried in dust clouds from helicopter rotors while hearing…
Celebrate
You’ve hit your goal. You won the game. You earned that promotion finally. You sold that account. You hit what you were aiming for. Congratulations! Take some time to celebrate the victory… But not for more than 24 hours. I bet that hurt a few of you to read didn’t it? A lot of people start to relax once they reach that objective, they take their foot off the gas and become complacent. They let down their guard and get comfortable. They kick off their shoes… I hate to rain on your parade here, but the second you do that…
Priorities
Setting priorities is a skill that takes practice…everyday… all day… Wish they would have taught us more about that in high school… The hardest part about setting your priorities is knowing which ones are actually worth fighting for, and which ones are the most important. Triage if you will. So, as you plan your goals to set your priorities, I want you to remember this: Your family is the most real, and most important thing in your life. Your children are the most important people in your life. If anything else supersedes those things, you need to reevaluate your decision…
Things That Don’t Lie
There are a three things that never lie… Yoga Pants, Drunk People, and Kids. This second grader is speaking more truth to everyone than almost any “life coach” has ever said in a $30k seminar. This kid knows he wants to be famous… He also knows that right now, he cannot have that opportunity because he is surrounded by morons. K. I. S. S. – keep it simple stupid The simplest solution is almost always the correct one. You know what you want to achieve. You know what your dreams and ambitions are. You know who you are and what…
Balance Your Budget
Anything that costs you your mental health is too expensive… Read that again. Anything that costs you- your- mental health is too expensive… You’ve all surely heard the story about giving and taking from your life in terms of withdrawals/deposits, but that is more attention and energy based. When your buddy has asked for your truck every weekend and brings it back with an empty tank- that dude is a withdrawal- financially and to your life. But what about your mental health? On average, there are 130 suicides per day in the United States alone. That means an American commits…
Get Over It
How many times have you been told this? And how did that make you feel? You always hear, especially in difficult situations, that you should never tell someone to just “get over it.” It doesn’t validate their feelings, it makes them feel even worse, and it doesn’t solve anything other than making you look like a pudknocker. However, you really do need to get over it… Whatever anger, hurt, loss, pain, suffering, jealousy, insecurities you are feeling and traveling through right now are extremely heavy. That doesn’t mean that these things aren’t important… You bet your ass it’s important. But…
Living on the Edge
I know, when you read that caption you came in here thinking I’d be talking about adrenaline and risky behavior. Not even close… I’m talking about a different edge, and something we need to be doing more of. I’m talking about the word audacity… Now there are two definitions to audacity thanks to the English language, and they are strikingly different. The first is the audacity to be admired for. Boldness, courage, determination, grit. The second is the audacity of your actions. Arrogant disregarding, ignorance, defying adherence. I feel that we need to have some audacity, in both spectrums of…
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