Well that depends, can you afford to paint your room?  It is the New Year and I was given my monthly motivational talk by one of my coaches, with every post he asks me, WHAT ARE YOU SELLING?  Here goes, the first one is always free.   I will teach you how to speak painter today.

In a small town deep in South Louisiana you will find a way of life that dates back to the early 1900s. It is in this small town that our story begins.  A boy of no more than three was walking in the ditch with a net catching everything he could when he caught a blue crawfish.

One day, a young boy was walking in the woods with his trusty hunting dog when he stumbled upon a turtle. Curious, and doing what dogs do, she sniffed the turtle's rear, and the turtle began to talk. 

When my wife and I were thrown into the ocean of uncertainty called entrepreneurship, the first thing I looked for was a life preserver.  For nearly two decades, I had been surrounded by highly skilled, ultra competitive superstars.  Suddenly I found myself swimming with my lovely wife, an artist. I'm grateful she did not drown me after some of the stunts I pulled over these past six years. 

From as far back as I can remember, I was either building something or taking something apart. The latter is likely because I broke it from playing too rough with it. I grew up in construction, and the 17 years I spent in Oil & Gas were spent in well construction.

I spent a good many years of my previous career in Business Development and Sales roles. I learned so many things: how to sell, analyze a market, position a product in a portfolio, develop new products, etc. What I really learned was how to price to close a deal.

How does one make money? That almost seems like a rhetorical question, yet I will attempt to answer it the best way I know how. I currently make money by offering goods and services to clients. Previously, I was a W2 employee; I sold my time for a salary + benefits.

What does it take to be the best? Is being the best defined monetarily or with trophies and plaques? As I write this post I reflect on my journey; the futility I encountered when wanting so desperately to “get it” while those around me seemed to just move effortlessly.  I have come to realize that it is a journey, and some of the things I do today took damn near 10,000 hours to learn.

I knew from a very young age that I wanted to blaze my own trail.  In my youth, I was an avid outdoorsman. We had a camp in the middle of the forest, and I spent most summers there when I was not working. I remember on more than one occasion getting lost. I used to follow animal tracks for hours, and the next thing I knew I was lost.  I loved getting lost. There was something primal about having to find your way back home that thrilled me. I loved how my mind would jump between fear and confidence. This thrill seeking started around the age of 10.