You'll be surprised how many bad things come rushing to the forefront of your brain at once.
Every Wednesday I have to take my little girl Skylar to dance class that’s a few minutes from my house. I have a routine:
Make sure I post everything no later than 7-7:30am. This includes future posts set-ups with social media, a YouTube video, LinkedIn article, two podcasts, a Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn post.
8-8:30am eat breakfast.
9:00-9:30am YouTube LIVE.
9:30-9:40am it’s time to get Sky and Daisy ready to go to Skylar’s dance class.
But on this day, that wasn’t happening. As I’m rushing around the house with this checklist of items in my head, I walk to the car. Once in the car I put the key in the ignition ready to go. I turned the key and as I was ready to leave the car to get the girls ready, the car was making this clicking noise.
So bizarre. What the fuck is going on?!
The car wouldn’t even start. I was perplexed. Of course this was something that blindsided me at the absolute worst time of the day. Not only did I wake Daisy from her nap early but the car wasn’t starting and time just seemed to be ticking away.
At this point, I’m ready to start using curse words like a crazy man. I don't understand what could possibly be the problem. As I scratched my head, I thought of the car desperately needing an oil change.
Of course that’s when all of the worst possible things that could happen flood my head. The car could have to need a(an)
Alternator
Starter
Battery
Oil change
(Worst case) engine lock? New engine? No… better not.
The thoughts of the world ending with these issues that I had swirling around in my head kept increasing with intensity with every passing minute.
Daisy was crying like a crazy person because she was hungry and distraught. Skylar was confused as to why we weren’t getting in the car already and mentally I was being challenged to keep it all together.
When in Doubt, Remain Calm
This is the hardest part for most people. Being in complete control of their emotions. Being an entrepreneur and a dad have many similarities. The car not working was not something I saw coming, it blindsided me. I had to react with quick thinking but (most importantly), I had to make sure that I didn’t show any real emotion towards being upset to Tiny (Skylar).
See because if I show my anger and frustration, that won’t help the situation for her. Her only thought process was getting to twirl in her tutu and wear her tap shoes for 45 minutes. So for me to cancel all of that because the car isn’t working, that will crush her.
I remember saying to myself ‘just breathe.’ It’s one of the things that Michelle tells me when she can see that I’m headed towards pure anger. She knows I can have my moments and one of the things that I work to remember is to just breathe. A simple tactic to help me remain calm and have a clearer mind when it comes to making quick decisions.
They Only Remember Your Actions
One of the funny things about parenting is that your kids hear none of what you say to them but they can tenacity everything you do. It’s something I didn't realize until my son started emulating all of my silliness and some of my bad behavior.
I remember thinking to myself, yikes, I have to watch what I say around these guys now.
One thing I will always and forever remember were the times my mom was stuck in a tight spot. It was usually connected to finances so when the lights got cut off or the cable disconnected, it became a big deal to the rest of us kids. I remember how cool she played it though. As of this was her master plan.
The image of her remaining calm even though the sky was falling, was on of the things I’ll never ever forget to this day. NEVER.
It literally taught me how to be whenever I’m caught in a tough situation like that. So with me in this right spot with Skylar and dealing with Daisy crying her head off, I remained calm and started troubleshooting the car.
Nothin.
When it came time to break the official news to Skylar that we weren’t going to the dance class, she got sad. Now on the flip side, had I been frantic and/or in panic mode, this wouldn’t have sat well with Skylar and ultimately it could’ve turned into The Meltdown of the Century.
We never went to dance class yesterday (Wednesday). I was able to let Sky down easily by telling her about the car not working. It almost didn’t even phase her. Mind your, she loves dance class but since I able to remain calm and deliver the news calmly (earlier when the car broke down), it wasn’t so bad now to tell her the finality of it all.
The funny part about all of the troubleshooting and all of the possibilities that I could need a new battery or a new engine (yikes), I later found out that it was the because of the dome lights were left on inside the car.
I couldn’t believe it. I was that involved with what I was doing to the point that not even something as simple as dome lights ever dawned on me.
This is why you need someone always looking out for you and what you don’t see. As an entrepreneur, you’re not going to see everything. You’re going to get blindsided by the dumbest shit and you won’t have much time to react. The question is, are you ready to get your mind in the right place or are you okay with remaining stagnant?
Your Storm Won't Last Forever - Fred Blumenberg
It’s a true honest question that requires a true honest answer from your self. Answer it correctly or forever be stuck in mediocrity.
Do you, be you
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