How ‘Straight Tires’ May Just Save Your Life…And Transform It
I don’t get it...
How many times have you said these words to yourself??
I must have said them at least a billion times…in school, in a new job, in a new committee role, with a new relationship, with a new tech device, installing something in the apartment, using new software, making Ikea furniture…the list goes on and on and on!
Well, since losing my job in COVID-19 to joining my fiancé Kaid in our company, I’ve probably tripled that billion to three billion. Easy.
So many moving pieces, so many new ideas, so many learning curves I feel like I’m getting car sick…You name it, I ‘didn’t get it’.
At first.
Then, I started learning to just keep going. A phrase I’m sure can’t actually be attributed to one human being, but will always make me think of our mentor, Jim Rohn.
If you haven’t listened to or watched him before, stop everything now and go check him out. He’s been gone for many years now, but is still impacting lives on the daily.
This is easily one of his best talks.
Eventually, as I ‘just kept going’, things started to make more sense. But I still struggled to follow along with Kaid. He’d been strategizing on the business plan for years already, was deep in a community and coaching program already, and I was playing some mad catch up.
So while things became easier, I still felt like I was trying to screw in a lightbulb in the dark.
This started getting really demoralizing for me, but I persisted. It caused many confusing and frustrating conversations with Kaid as he tried to explain things and I tried to understand. At some points, I really felt like just quitting and going back to a corporate job. Back to the safety of knowing the path befor me, knowing the necessary metrics, and staying in my lane.
Blinders on…
But I stayed. I put my blinders on, so to say, and focused. Don’t get me wrong, this was NOT overnight. I got distracted. I got behind. I got upset. I got overwhelmed. And then everything got wayyy worse.
I was caught so deeply in a spiral of hopelessness that it started affecting Kaid too. I was really just drowning both of us with my lack of focus and discipline. But I kept on because I believed in Kaid and what everything stood for and I wanted to be part of it.
Epiphany Moment
Then, and thank God, because things were pretty dang bad, I had my epiphany moment. And it’s so simple and basic, you’re probably going to think I’m an idiot, and that’s okay. If this story helps even just ONE person through the struggle, then I don’t really care what the internet thinks.
I realized I needed to get back to the basics of personal development, starting with concepts we all learned around age 5 when we started school. I know, I told you it was basic…
-Listen to the teacher
- Read the lesson
-Do the homework
-Practice
-Practice more
-Execute
I had this epiphany/turning point after Kaid and I finished a nearly two week trip during COVID times. What should have been an amazing, joy-filled trip I somehow turned into a nightmare, for myself and for Kaid. I still feel bad even thinking about it.
But I was trying to work on the road, still struggling to piece everything we were doing together, and getting more and more upset about my lack of knowledge and competence.
Back to the Basics
That’s when I realized I needed to simplify things and get back to the basics. Like listening to the training modules, reading the books, doing the homework, practicing, and then executing.
And it applied to my daily habits too. Drinking water all day, going to bed at a decent time, moving my body, eating healthy food, etc.
When we were in Moab, we went 4 wheeling and the instructor gave me about a 5 minute run down of basically how not to tip the Rzr over and/or die on the Moab rocks. He said more than this, but the only thing I could remember the whole time I drove that dang 4 wheeler was ‘straight tires’. The instructor had said as long as your wheels are straight, you should be able to successfully go up or down nearly anything and be okay.
I’ve kept this mantra with me over the last few weeks. As I learn and understand more, things have gotten easier and now I feel much more in control of where I am and what I’m doing. But what’s helped me get here is ‘straight tires’. Getting sleep, drinking water, studying the plan, reading the coaches instructions, practicing, so I’m ready to execute.
Kaid and I laugh about this analogy now, and have even started yelling it at each other for motivation, “STRAIGHT TIRES!”, but I think it so perfectly describes what I went through and, if I’m being totally honest, am still going through.
The Road Map
So, all this to say…
it’s okay to not get it. Just keep your blinders, your headphones in, and your focus narrow. The learning curve flattens out eventually. You’ll have your epiphany moment too. It might not be while 4 wheeling in Moab, but it will be exactly when and where you need it.
The road map will reveal itself.
