When Pigs Fly

Did you know that pigs can fly? I have proof! My biggest fear in life is public speaking. It terrifies me. I once took public speaking 101 during summer college because I preferred to have 12 strangers watch me vomit rather than 100 of my university peers (true story!).

The vomiting would remain a theme for the next decade. Every time I spoke, which was as rare as I could engineer, I would vomit (in private, luckily). 10 years ago, the inevitable reality set in that I would need to speak in my career. You know, when the stakes were higher and where it's poor form to vomit on current and/or prospective clients. Therefore, I took the only step a desperate man would take: I started seeking out speaking opportunities to beat my fear into submission.

Those first few (or few dozen) talks were brutal. At first, the vomit was still there. But eventually, I merely felt like I was going to vomit. Big win! At some point along the journey, I even moderately enjoyed it. Fast forward to today, and it's one of my favorite things in the world. To me, there's nothing like the nervous energy in the minutes leading up to a talk, the euphoria of delivering a message I believe in, and the deep satisfaction I feel afterward, knowing I might have made an impact and once again conquered my biggest fear.

As I venture into this world of professional public speaking, I can't help but think about how my biggest fear has turned into a passion and a career. See, pigs can fly! Here's a little demo reel our media team recently put together. You’re the first people to see it outside of our little team!

Here's my takeaway today. I'm not special....yet, pigs fly. If that's true, and I hope you know it is considering I used the word "vomit" five times above, some pigs in your life need to spread their wings and fly. I have a feeling you already know what they are. You might have turned your back on them for years, or even decades, but the wait is over. Let those pigs fly!

The Stock Market Is Melting....or Is It?

Per usual, there's been a lot of talk about how bad the stock market is. According to the prevailing narrative, it's "risky," people have lost a lot of money, and it's not wise to put money in it. Whenever I wander into these types of conversations, I always ask why people think that. Inevitably, the answer is some form of "because it's lost so much money." 

First, I'm not belittling anyone here. I understand perfectly well why people have this impression of the stock market. If you watch the news, they consistently report the big red arrows pointing down......but rarely show the big green arrows pointing up. It's doom and gloom. If it bleeds, it leads. 

There's also the reality that the 21st century has started a bit (er, a lot) rocky. Over the last 23.5 years, here's what we've experienced:

• Y2K

• Tech bubble burst

• Worst terror attack in US history

• Multiple wars

• 2nd worst recession in US history

• Housing market collapse

• Global pandemic

• rampant inflation

• 4 stock market crashes (-46%, -54%, -32%, and -25%)

Pretty insane, right?!?!

So when people feel like the world is melting and the stock market is an absolute disaster, I get it. But what's the truth? Through all that, over 23.5 years, the stock market is up 6.7% per year. If you would have invested on 1/1/2000, your money would be worth 4.6x what it started as. You more than quadrupled your money. Re-read my list of chaos above.....then digest that the market has gone up 4.6x through all that. Crazy, but true!

Perspective matters, as I love to say. Our world takes simple, practical, and effective ideas, and perverts them into urban legends and half-truths. Truth matters, but there's so much noise in the financial world that it's hard to see it sometimes. 

Whether you're investing in your work's 401(k)/403(b), your IRAs, or other types of stock market investing, remember this concept, and don't lose any sleep at night! In the world of meaning over money, losing sleep over investments is not leaning into the meaning. You got this!

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Yesterday, we released a podcast episode about the same topic. If you have a friend who enjoys reading, please consider passing along the blog post. If you have a friend who enjoys listening to podcasts, please consider the same. You can find it on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. 

Note: The figures mentioned above are based on the S&P 500 and include the reinvestment of dividends.

You Don't Know Until You Know

Several years ago, I was listening to an Adam Carolla podcast when a caller asked an interesting question. This was shortly after Adam had released his second documentary film. To paraphrase, the caller asked, "How did you know how to make a documentary?" Adam's response was simple, but profound. "I didn't know how to make a documentary until I made a documentary. Then I knew how to make a documentary."

In other words, we don't know how to do something until we do it. There's rarely a playbook for us to reference. Instead, we must simply act. One foot in front of the other, step by step. We don't know what we don't know.....until we know it.

I bring up this topic today because of our big announcement last night. After several months of development, we're introducing our first canned beverage at Northern Vessel. It's a variation of our signature Oat Milk Cold Brew Latte. This has been one of TJ's visions for many years now, and it's surreal to see it materialize in front of our eyes.

Truth is, none of us know how to make a canned beverage. TJ knows how to make an amazing cold brew latte in the shop (which he's perfected over the last 4+ years), but creating a canned version is an entirely different animal. We don't know what we don't know.....until we know. After many meetings with food scientists, flavor chemists, and canning experts, we've finally finished the first iteration of our inaugural product. In the words of Adam Carolla, we didn't know how to make a canned beverage until we made a canned beverage. Now we know how to make a canned beverage.

This is one of my favorite things about TJ. He's as equally fearless as he is humble. He has no idea what he's doing, the humility to know he has no idea what he's doing, and the courage to figure it out. I wish I could can this energy (see what I did there?) and pass it around to all the people I know. It's ok to not know how to do something, but that shouldn't stop us from trying. I had no idea how to make a podcast.....until I had a podcast. I had no idea how to coach people.....until I started coaching people. I had no idea how to start a company.....until I started a company. One foot in front of the other, step by step. First we do it poorly, then we do it average, then we do it good, then we do it great. There are no shortcuts. We don’t know until we know.

Today's challenge: Find something you don't know how to do, then do it.

Letting Opportunity be Opportunity

We work, work, and work some more. All the while, we’re hoping that opportunity finally comes our way. We wait, wait, and wait some more. When will it finally happen?!?! So we work, wait, work, wait, and work some more. Finally, the opportunity of a lifetime slaps us right in the face. It finally happened!!!

We’re so excited for the opportunity, and of course grateful, but instead of just saying ”yes”, the self-talk creeps in. Is this really what we want? What if we fail? Maybe it’s too much work. What if we’re too successful? If it came to us, maybe it’s not as good of an opportunity as we thought. There are probably many more opportunities where that came from. The spiral begins. This is a pattern I see with so many people, in all different industries and contexts. I wish I could say I’m immune, but I’m not.

I was recently flirting with a writing deadline on my plate. I knew I owed my Media Director a first draft, but I didn’t produce it as quickly as I should have. She waited…..then waited some more. Finally, it happened. Fun article, great feedback, mission accomplished. Next article…..the same story unfolded. That’s when my Media Director dropped a little reality bomb on me. “Travis, I have colleagues asking me how they can get their people an opportunity to write for this publication.” Crap, I knew where she was going with this. I responded with a question, “Is this your way of telling me I’m taking this opportunity for granted?” Of course I already knew the answer. It’s never fun eating a slice of humble pie, but that’s why we need to surround ourselves with good people. They will feed it to you when it’s necessary to do so.

Another example. Northern Vessel, the coffee company I co-own, has two amazing opportunities in front of it*. Either one would easily be the biggest opportunity in the four-year history of the company. These opportunities have the potential to fundamentally alter the trajectory and direction of the company forever. While I wish TJ (NV founder) would have had these opportunities sooner than now, he wasn’t ready. But today? He’s ready today! He has the team, infrastructure, technology, brand, processes, experience, systems, and products to not only embrace the opportunity, but thrive through it. Then, there’s the work. These will no doubt be some of the hardest things he’s ever done or had to figure out. To be honest, it would be really easy for TJ to say “no.” There’s no risk of failing by respectfully declining. Since these opportunities came, maybe it’s easy for him to think many more will come in the months and years to come. TJ could have easily spiraled his way out of these opportunities.

TJ is built differently, though. He knows he’s ready. He also doesn’t take things for granted. If you’ve fought, failed, climbed, and clawed through as much as he has as a business owner (many of you know exactly what I’m talking about), you need to let opportunity be opportunity. Embrace it, give it everything you got, and accept whatever comes of it. Maybe you’ll crush it….or maybe you’ll fall flat on your face. But just make sure you don’t look back and regret not simply letting opportunity be opportunity.

* I hate not being fully transparent. My apologies for having to be a bit vague on the Northern Vessel front. I have full intention of sharing in more detail when I’m able! Stay tuned.

It Will Change You

It wasn’t long ago that I struggled to create written content for this blog. For three years, I would maybe publish 1-3 posts per month. That is if I published anything at all. The most I ever published in a single month was 7 posts (which felt like a massive accomplishment). I simply didn’t have enough content or enough time to do more than 3 posts most months.

Fast forward to September 2022. I was having a coffee with my friend and mentor, Gary Hoag. I was asking him some questions in preparation for introducing him as a keynote speaker for the event we were hosting that night. I wanted to mention his blog, as it’s a major part of his life and ministry. In this conversation, it was revealed to me that he’d published daily for approximately 13 years. That’s more than 4,600 consecutive days!!!! What?!?! Oh yeah, and he’s also one of the busiest people I know and travels the world monthly. Yet, here he is cranking out tons of amazing content. Of course he has a bunch of future posts in the tank and pre-scheduled, right? Nope! He writes each post daily. As he was explaining this to me, all I could think about was how crazy this friend of mine was (not the first time I’ve thought that about Gary!). Then, he added, “Writing daily will change you.”

I didn’t know what he meant at the time, but I would soon find out. It was shortly thereafter that I decided to start publishing The Daily Meaning 7 days per week. Considering I struggled to post even 1-3 times per month, the idea of posting 365 days per year sounded insane. Many trusted people in my life advised me not to do it. But I had a little Gary on my shoulder, repeating the phrase, “It will change you.”

Today marks the 150th consecutive day of publishing this blog. Gary was right! It has changed me in so many ways. I no longer write if/when a good idea strikes me and I have ample time to do it. Instead, I write every single night because hundreds of people are expecting to open their e-mail to find a new post tomorrow morning. After you do that enough times, it’s amazing how the time and the ideas magically start to appear. That rhythm, habit, responsibility, and opportunity has profoundly changed me in so many ways.

This post isn’t really about writing a blog. This post is about something in your life that feels so close, but yet so far. Something you really want to do, but it’s too scary to actually pursue. It’s something you want to be, but imposter syndrome prevents you from allowing yourself to go for it. The rhythm, habit, responsibility, and opportunity. These things are so powerful. Here’s my promise to you (if you decide to actually go for it): it will change you!

Facing Fears Head-On

I didn’t really sleep last night. I couldn’t get my brain to shut off after delivering my talk at the DSM Small Business Success Summit. The event was good, I think my talk went well (haven’t watched the film yet), and I received a lot of positive and powerful feedback afterward. What made the day so odd is what happened next. I drove home, changed into casual clothing, and immediately started preparing for my next talk (which is tomorrow). Only this time, the audience will likely be 10x the size.

Needless to say, it’s been a wild week for someone whose biggest fear is public speaking. Well, second biggest fear. My biggest fear is falling into a pit of snakes…..but let’s just hope that never happens. Many years ago, I decided I needed to face this fear of speaking head-on. It’s been a choppy process. When people ask if I like speaking, the answer is “I hate doing it, but love having done it.” I say that somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but there’s also some truth to it. The anxiety of the build-up is excruciating, but the delivery and feeling of accomplishment I get when I’m done is tremendous. It has become one of my favorite things in life.

If I’m being honest with you, which is what you signed up for by subscribing to this blog, imposter syndrome hit me hard yesterday. I’m surrounded by all these gifted speakers and here I am, some dude whose biggest fear is public speaking, feeling like I’m the only one who didn’t belong. That’s not true, of course, but why let common sense and rational thinking get in the way of a frothy panic?

Facing our fears isn’t a singular moment in time. It’s not like in the movies. It’s a long process that takes intentionality, persistence, and patience. I get a little better every time I step onto the stage. I hope to one day be a world-class speaker. But first, I have to be a bad speaker, then an ok speaker, then a good speaker, and so on. I’m trying to earn my way up, one repetition at a time.

Facing your fears sucks, but it’s also amazing.

Confronting Fear Head-On

I’m scheduled to deliver two talks this week. One is at a high school youth group and the other is a keynote address at a high school leadership conference. I couldn’t be more excited about these opportunities. They also kick off a series of speaking engagements I have lined up for the spring.

Confession: public speaking is my biggest fear. Ironic, I know. Several years ago, I had a strong desire to combat my fear of speaking. I knew I would be doing some level of public speaking in my career, and didn’t want to bomb, so I looked for opportunities to speak to other audiences as practice. I was a mess the first time I spoke on stage. Vomit was involved…..and sweating….and shaky hands……and stuttering. Did I mention it was a mess? I hope no footage exists of that first one.

Then I did it again, then again, then again. Each time, I performed a little better and I was a bit less terrified. Before I knew it, it went from my biggest fear to something I get excited about. For me, there’s nothing quite like the rush of knowing I have 30 minutes of people’s attention to possibly make an impact. Equal parts responsibility and opportunity. I still get nervous, and I’d definitely still call public speaking my greatest fear (well maybe #2 after snakes).

I don’t do it as much as I should, but I’m a big believer in confronting fear head-on. I have a list of things I’m scared to do, and hopefully I’ll get the courage to attack each one soon. I’ll end by sharing one. I don’t do well being in the wilderness, especially if it involves being wet and cold. I’ve addressed this fear somewhat through a men’s ministry trip I take each fall to the Boundary Waters. I used to be terrified of that trip. But now, I actually enjoy it (sort of). That means it’s time to step it up. Sometime soon, I’m going to do a solo trip into the wilderness. Just me, a canoe, whatever is in my pack, and three days of isolation. Just typing that scares me to death. That’s a good sign I should probably get to planning.

What about you? What fears do you want to confront?

The Chance to Make a Difference

I have several public speaking opportunities coming up in the next several weeks. I get equally nervous as I get excited, each and every time. The nerves and the excitement come from the very same place: knowing I have a chance to make a difference. Excited because I have a chance to make a difference, and nervous because I have a chance to make a difference. What an opportunity and what a responsibility.

There’s a chance I’ll fall flat on my face…..and that chance is far greater than 1%. I try not to think about that. I try to focus my energy on the chance I have to make a difference. That goes for these speaking engagements, but it also applies to the podcast, this blog, every client meeting, and even those moments I spend having coffee with a friend, stranger, or youth group kid.

When we wake up in the morning, there are a series of opportunities in front of us that day to make a difference. We won’t always succeed, but that’s not the point. The bigger question is, will I try? Will you try? Will we embrace that opportunity and make the most of it? Man, I hope I do. Please pray for me. I need it.

Let me know what you have coming up. I’ll pray for you, too!

You Can Always Go Back

I was days away from making one of the biggest decisions of my life. I was 99% sure I was about to resign from my career, make a complete 180-degree shift, and take a 90% pay cut to do something unconventional. To be honest, I was scared out of my mind. I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t eat, and my mind was continually racing. Then, I found myself sitting face-to-face with a trusted friend. Yeah, he too thought I was absolutely out of my mind. He told me as such, elaborated on why I was, then reaffirmed his opinion that I was, in fact, insane. But then, he added, “So what if you fail? You could always go back.”

Wow. I hadn’t thought of it like that before. In my mind, I was slamming a door in life, nailing it shut, then covering it with concrete. It’s as though I was forever locking my path in a new direction, for better or for worse. The reality is, I wasn’t. He was right! What’s the worst that could have happened? If push came to shove, and I fell flat on my face, I could always go back to my old career (or something resembling it).

While the idea of utter embarrassing failure didn’t necessarily give me a warm and fuzzy feeling, it did help put the entire situation in perspective. If my idea works, our family’s dream comes true. If I fall flat on my face, I eat a slice of humble pie and we move on to something else. The cost/benefit seemed obvious, though still scary.

3.5 years later, I’m living in both worlds. Our family is living our dream life…..and I’m eating little slices of humble pie along the way. It’s way harder than I could have ever imagined it being, but far more worth it than I could have ever imagined.

I’m not advocating everyone leave their career and take a huge pay cut to do something completely different. That just happens to be my story and I’m the one writing this. But you have yours. There’s something in your life you’re scared to do. You know what it is. Just a reminder: You can always go back.

What's Most Important?

Wow! I blinked and a year went by. 2022 was filled with so much beauty, struggle, uncertainty, wonder, and pain. Though many things didn’t go as I would have hoped, it was a wonderful year and I genuinely believe I served my purpose. It would be easy for me to dwell on my failures, but today I’m going to celebrate the wins. There’s much to be thankful for.

As we dive head-first into the new year, here’s my question: what’s most important to you? Many people will clearly know their answer…..then spend the next 365 days making decisions that are incongruent with it. This is my challenge to you today. Really think about what’s most important to you for 2023, then align your decisions with that answer. It’s a scary journey when we do that. To aggressively pursue our greatest calling despite cultural norms, financial pressures, and personal desires is a daunting task. But it’s a task worth pursuing.

To be honest, I’m scared of what it means in my life. I know what my answer is. I know what decisions I need to make to align with my answer. It’s going to be hard. Strike that. It will likely be one of the most difficult things I’ve ever endeavored. I’m ready (I think), and I hope you are, too.

Cheers to the crazy year we’re saying goodbye to, and the unlimited possibilities of the year upon us. Happy New Year, Everyone! The best is yet to come.

The Fear of the Unknown

I recently had an initial coaching session with a new client. They were excited to get started, but honestly more scared than anything. This is fairly typical and I expect that going in. I used to be surprised by this, especially from families who are obviously (to me) doing well. Here’s what I’ve learned, though. Most people don’t truly know how well they are doing (or not doing). All they know is their situation, and have little else to compare it to. They may feel like a mess behind the walls of their own home, and all they see from everyone else is the tidy curated exterior. This breeds a quiet feeling of failure.

So when we sit around a table and begin to look at their finances head-on, there’s a fear. It’s not a fear of the known, but rather a fear of the unknown. This may be the first time in a while (if ever) they’ve looked this closely at their finances. The fear of the unknown is almost always worse than reality.

One of my favorite parts of these meetings is when the couple shifts from a posture of anxiety and fear to cautious confidence mixed with building optimism. They go from the fear of the unknown to an understanding of reality…..and oftentimes a reality that far exceeds what they thought was possible.

This fear of the unknown is the same reason people don’t go to the doctor, don’t open their mail, don’t apply for that job, and don’t step on the scale. It’s that dang unknown. Just like all these other areas, when we step through our fear of the unknown in our finances, we’re often surprised that our reality is much better than what we’ve been fearing. And once we have awareness, that’s when the real work (and progress) begins.