Two books from two authors about '80s movies came into the world within ways and ideas that they don't get to see how foolish they might act. How I didn't realize I was failing, but I totally was, and ultimately that failure helped me grow. You didn't relate to or want to be Jake Ryan or Ferris Bueller but.
Table of contents
- James Lawrence
- Continue Seeking Greatness
- Become Superhuman and Achieve the Impossible with Iron Cowboy James Lawrence
- You are a leader.
I mean, when we lost everything, in , I was either going to be complacent or I was going to face some challenges, some demons and fears, and come out on the other side of that. Looking back, that was the best thing that ever could have happened to us. It forced me to challenge. I would have never done this, I would still be miserable, writing mortgage loans, right? And just sucking at life! And so, because that happened, it forced me into a scenario where I had to become a problem solver. Are you approaching a different realm that anybody else is? And then overcome these at such a small level.
And then as you start to have these small victories — success breeds success, confidence breeds confidence — and as soon as we have these small breakthroughs, now we can start attacking your bigger fears, right? What is going to be the best version of me, and how do I find that? And so, I either come home with some of my worst ideas or best ideas, after my bike ride. My wife gets scared when I do these long rides. How am I going to overcome those? As a father, my biggest fear is not being the best person I can for them, right? We hold a high value on her being home.
She wants to be a mom and be really engaged with these kids, as do I, but I also have to provide and so that includes some travel. But I think one of my biggest fears is, not doing everything I can to give them a shot at being successful, or allowing them to suffer and struggle and giving them the tools to not be complacent or too comfortable.
Your greatest advice so far is to say, you hope everyone hits rock bottom. To love them at the highest level is to allow them to suffer. And to not pick them up when they fall, right? That is the greatest show of love. What does that look like for you, as a dad? How do you let your daughters suffer?
Fifteen, fourteen, twelve and ten are my girls, and just to…. We just allow them, and we give them guidance and we try to steer and set an example. Man, probably just as a husband and father, to lose everything. Just the last decade has been so hard on my wife and my kids. Figure out how to be perfect a minute at a time, and let go of everything.
And so, you start to put moments into perspective. And what does it look like in the next twenty days? And how do we conceptualise and make that breakthrough, to get to that next point? So, again, make sure to check it out, this is a great place to build your platform and your business, weebly.
But I think that was one of the coolest things that I got to experience on the 50, was those long conversations I got to have with myself. When was the last time anybody asked themselves who they wanted to be?
James Lawrence
Am I still carrying burdens? Am I still carrying conversations in my head, from a decade ago? And on the 50, I got to have every conversation! I mean, I had fifty really long conversations with myself. I got to forgive myself for everything in the past, I got to plan my entire future, and now I get to continue to try to be the best version of myself. To get through those last thirty, it was literally 60 second periods. And if I could put together a perfect 60 seconds, I had a shot at putting together a perfect hour; if I had a perfect hour I could put together a perfect day; if I had a perfect day, I could put together a perfect Now this is a rebirth, this in an alter ego.
You got to take care of yourself before you can take care of anybody else. So, for those twenty, I had to become the Iron Cowboy so that I could take care of my family the rest of my life. Was the conversations you were having, more about forgiveness or the future you wanted to create? I think you need a healthy balance of both.
Continue Seeking Greatness
You have to forgive yourself in order to progress, right? What was the hardest thing you ever had to forgive yourself for? You have to have a short term memory, too. You have to have a short term memory and be okay with not holding on. One of the toughest things I had to forgive myself for? That was a huge responsibly for me, and we had five little, little kids. But you got to let her suffer, you said. A little bit of suffering, a little bit of suffering.
Your alter ego is the superpower part of who we are. So when did you develop the Iron Cowboy as your alter ego?
- Kevin Lyndon.
- Secrets of French Design.
- Just Like Family.
- 30 Essential Lessons Every Network Marketer Should Know Despite Being Perfectly Imperfect!.
- Being Gods Man by Walking a New Path: Real Life. Powerful Truth. For Gods Men (The Every Man Series);
It became a brand in during the world record. I would wear a cowboy hat during the marathon portions, so my kids could see me coming. It was a brand on day thirty, is when it actually became the alter ego, when I had sharpened the toolbox enough. And the Iron Cowboy is just symbolic of the alter ego, right? And on that day in Connecticut, and for the next twenty days, that was the highest level of showcasing the Iron Cowboy.
Where does your mind go when you turn on the switch? Nothing can stop you, and during those twenty days, it was going to take an act of God to stop us.
- Ghost Country (Travis Chase Series Book 2).
- Little Victories: Perfect Rules for Imperfect Living by Jason Gay;
- Creative Problem Solving Thinklet (Facilitated Thinking Environments);
- Facebook for Social Enterprise (Social Media for Social Enterprise)?
- Be Happy Without Being Perfect: How to Break Free from the Perfection Deception by Alice D. Domar.
- Managing the Dragon: Building a Billion-Dollar Business in China.
- The Way Forward.
Now, how much resistance training, or mental toughness training, or just pushing through the pain, constantly, do you think it took for you in order for that to come out, where you define this alter ego? How many years of training? You know, I truly believe that it was over two decades. I mean, but you were just a human training the whole time? I mean, I was a horrible wrestler when I first started, and then went undefeated in my senior year, and so, just learned a ton. And it was in those ten days that their goal was absolute boredom. You had two ten minute breaks.
And so I learned a ton about myself, mentally in those ten days. They would stop it at night and you would sleep. That was kind of where I transitioned, I had one friend in Utah, I had won some money, and I had got fired from my job, and so I hitched a ride and had one friend in Utah, ended up meeting my wife, and still lived in Utah, ten years later.
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- Little Victories: Perfect Rules for Imperfect Living!
- Be Happy Without Being Perfect: How to Break Free from the Perfection Deception!
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Or can you develop it? Are you born with it, is it innate, or can you develop it? And you can take someone who has a small bit of genetic talent in a category, and work their tails off, right? There was a kid, growing up, wrestling, and he was a horrible, horrible wrestler. He showed up, and out worked everybody. And I came back to the club years later, and he won the National Championship.
And there was no way I would ever have said that this kid was going to do that. If you have a work ethic, you can overcome talent. Now, the perfect storm and the people that are at the highest level, have got talent and work ethic. Gift, plus hard work. You take a guy that has a little talent and can work hard? He can turn into something special. I believe I fall into that category.
And I find myself in that situation. But, growing up, was this a thing where you needed to prove someone wrong, or prove…? Day 30, is when I had a massive shift. It was the moment I stopped trying to prove everybody else wrong, and I started to prove myself right. Am I going to get up and do twenty more? I allowed my team to be the role players they were supposed to be. When did you realise that? What was the trigger for you to think that way? Lying on the side of the road, focussing on all the negativity on social media, just the backlash that we were getting, about decisions we were making.
Only then, will I allow you to criticise. Do something even close, then criticise me. The Story Of The People will get a good insight of really what we were dealing with behind the scenes. And then, of course, we have the book, Redefine Impossible, that kind of dives into all the behind the scenes and the incredible people we met along the way. Yeah, I think so. I needed to learn that lesson, I need to have that mind shift. I needed to let go, I needed to allow the wingmen, to allow Sunny, to allow my kids, to be who they are. And trust was one of the biggest things that I learned, was trust.
Trust your intuition, trust your gut. And I would have this alter ego of putting myself through so much pain, just to prove some kids wrong about me, or to prove a teacher, or a coach, or whatever it may be, wrong about me. And I would be willing to sacrifice anything to prove them wrong. And I would get big results. I would achieve all those goals, and prove them wrong and be miserable and unhappy.
Everything shifted, and I had just as much passion, just as much energy, without the stress and the overwhelm. And so, why not shift our focus and attention to things that thrive? And, like you said, in the experience you had, everything shifts, when you start doing things and doing them for the right reasons. Everything kind of just falls into place. Is there a certain [set of] practices you go through? Is there reading, is there prayer, is there meditation or something you think about to train your mind every day, still?
When you feel like you hit the wall, push against it as hard as you can until you go a bit further. Learn to play with pain — You must play the metal tennis match between quitting and going forward. This maybe the toughest challenge of them all as we are hard wired to avoid pain at all costs, but it is only through this pain can you experience the higher levels of joy on the other side.
I started pushing myself harder in my work, in my writing and in my personal life. When was the last time you pushed beyond your own self imposed limits? Now I am not saying you need to go out and run a four minute mile, spend half your life inventing the light bulb or summiting Everest, but… You are greater… A LOT greater than you think you are… So today, right now, write down one thing you are going to do until it hurts… Anyplace is a good place to start as long as you get started.
Seriously, write down one thing or better yet just go do it! Let me break it down nice and easy for you… You are a leader. Here is a short list of some of my favorite tales: As the leader of your life and business, you need to develop your self-leadership and model the behaviors and traits you desire from the people around you. Embodying your purpose and your grand vision for your life and business or the deep why and what you want for your life is crucial to your success.
Be responsible and accountable for your actions and reactions: Take ownership of your decisions, actions and outcomes. You are in a position of power. You always have a choice in how you react to any situation. Develop self-awareness in all areas of your life: Get to know your habits , the good and the bad. Understand your underlying beliefs and behaviors. Know which ones are strengths , which ones are challenges and which ones sabotage your Brilliant Obsession.
Cultivate Emotional Intelligence EQ: This ties right in with self-awareness and is crucial to all of your interactions. You know money plays a huge role in your life and, if you allow, money can dictate many of your actions or inactions. Understanding your personal finances and knowing how they interplay with your business and life is crucial to self-leadership and success. Diet and physical fitness impact every emotion, thought, action and outcome.
Become Superhuman and Achieve the Impossible with Iron Cowboy James Lawrence
What you put in your body and your level of activity directly affects your brain chemistry and energy which determines your moods, energy and the ability to get important work done, spend time with your kids and do the things you love to do. Create goals, systems and habits to succeed: Without goals, systems and habits, you are nothing but a rudderless ship afloat in the ocean of life. To be successful, you must establish goals, systems and habits which move you forward.
You must break bad habits and instill great habits. And you must use systems that push you out of your comfort zone towards your Brilliant Obsession. Take focused action immediately and effectively to get the powerful results which move you towards your goals. It all starts with you.
And you can do this. Because, you were born to be great. You were born to lead. You are here to succeed. Deploying this simple concept will allow you to easily multiply your results. Been there and done that The difference between what you know and what you do is an area worth some very deliberate attention. And it all starts with… Executing on the simple stuff first I write posts about topics that probably often seem pretty simple.
Start right now today and really look at your learning gaps. No matter who you are, there exists a gap somewhere between what you know and what you do. Where will you start? Be leery of nothing less than super fantastic all the time. But… Not everyday is going to be filled with rainbows, unicorns and buckets of money. The problem is, perfection sells and to some extent we all crave that perfect fabulous life.
And I, for one, am thankful and grateful for all of those because it allows me to be free. Free to live in the present, to be a continual learner and to be an explorer. Ultimate potential, not perfection is the name of the game. You get to enjoy each and every victory no matter how small. Join me in pursuing our ultimate potential This post originally started out as your standard Thanksgiving thanks and gratitude post, but it evolved into something a lot more than that. So give thanks to everything you have in your life and then give thanks for being who you are.
Say no in order to say yes to what matters most by:. As soon as you add it to the list, start making plans to cut it. If you could do it for someone you love, you can do it for yourself. Tasks that eat up a lot of time, are fiddly and take you away from the things you need to focus on in your work and business. Give them a chance to shine. Give them a job. Give them a stretch assignment. When I get a client request, I go through my Greatness Priorities.
I get asked to do a lot of things for free or at a seriously discounted fee. What are your priorities? What makes a request an easy yes and what, when you think about it, makes for an easy no? Would you like a few more tips to help you decide what you say yes and no to? Jump over to the Cool Stuff tab on my website for an infographic you may want to share it with your colleagues and spouse!
We have some major renos in progress. As we build the future home of Greatness Magnified a converted barn , the rest of our property looks disastrous.
You are a leader.
But this would feed into the belief that things need to be perfect to be professional. What if it were a reminder that life and business are perfectly imperfect, but we need to just keep going? Perfection trips us up all the time. We need to look our best. What if we looked at the toll it was having on our kids, partners, staff? What if it was actually making us less accessible and relatable as people and professionals? Imagine the possibilities if we embraced our imperfections. We just needed to be great. And we a lready are…great. Can we agree that any evidence you see about perfect lives, bodies, faces on social media is not the full story?
See the beauty in whatever surrounds you. Sure, most of our property needs a lot of work, but I can also look at the gardens across the front of our house that, with my mom, we lovingly planted. I can remember the joy we spent together. I can remember the care we spent picking each plant. Our front door has scratches on it. Spiders love to form nests around our light fixtures we understand a by-product of living on the water. But do any of these things matter? I no longer feel I need to apologize for these things or try to clean them before every client visit.
But instead, if we look at everything else around it we will see beauty. How is perfectionism robbing you of your time, focus, attention, patience, compassion? How is it creating tension in relationships with staff, co-workers, suppliers, partners? How is perfection stopping you from trying new things, taking a risk, following your passion, getting something completed? And is it worth it? I know many entrepreneurs, whether it was a side hustle or a full-time business, who started out excited, optimistic and energized about what their business could do for their life and that of their family.
Family-centred entrepreneurs who had high hopes as they should! Yet, the reality I hear so often is that people are frustrated. Not only are they not seeing these things, they wonder why they embarked upon their business in the first place. In my first year of business, I had a mandate of being a family-centered entrepreneur. However, my lack of boundaries a carryover from when I worked full-time seeped into my entrepreneurship habits.
Sure, I had to make my business work I had no Plan B , but the whole reason for making the change was to be more available to my family. Only I could change that. It would be easy to think that I would have to make a trade-off. Earn less money to have more time. More family time or time for exercise. Grow small and steady and keep my ambitions at bay.
What I found, however, was that you can fall back in love with your business without sacrificing the things you want and need — a good income, a good lifestyle, a happy family. It starts with believing, from a place of abundance, that you deserve success of your own design, and that it can happen. The alternative is that you feel resentful, exhausted, deflated. That you have no white space in your brain or time in your calendar for creativity and creation. That you let your health be sacrificed leading to problems on the short and long-term.
That you feel you can never win, no matter how hard you try. Your family can win. Here are my top three tips on becoming and staying a family-centred entrepreneur without sacrificing profits, passion, and people-relationships:. When you have a request from a client, there has to be an order of priority in which you use to evaluate if that is the right client and the right engagement to accept.
For example, I had the opportunity to spend a month and a half doing some pretty exciting international speaking and coaching work that would allow me to grow as an entrepreneur and exponentially grow my network. You want to attract clients and businesses that also prioritize lifestyle and family; by sharing that you are a family-centred entrepreneur, they may actually be more likely to want to work with you! If you want to be able to travel more, if you want to be able to do creative things, if you want your family to be brought into the business more, those opportunities will become available to you.
Recently, I brought my daughter to a speaking engagement in another province. This professional association was mostly female with their demographic rapidly changing to an entrepreneurial model. It was perfect timing to have the keynote speaker share a visual message to the membership that they too could find ways to get the family involved in supporting their businesses!
If you an incorporated official corporation, consider ways in which you can build shareholders into your business. This means I can pay them for work they do in my business e. Check out my friend, Tim Packer , a talented artist, who now has his son doing videos and social media full-time! It gives us a reason to get away from our house, from the office, and take stock on important things like: This is what I do in my business to stay family-centred. You can be a family and lifestyle centred entrepreneur too maybe you already are! Enjoy the best of both worlds.