50 episodes! WOW! I have learned so much doing these and the responses I receive truly touch my heart. This was intended to be about business success, but that changed during the first episode. I just share experiences that I have had along my journey and it is such an awesome feeling when someone says they were inspired or it helped them in some way. I have never done anything more rewarding in my life!
I can sum up all 50 episodes in four words: Hard work – Faith – Gratefulness – Grace. That is the guaranteed formula to be successful in business or any aspect of your life.
For this episode I thought it would be fun to reflect on some of the messages and answer a few questions that I receive. If you look closely at the podcast cover photo you will see a moon pie. When I started these, I said I would eat that pie at 50 episodes. Well it’s a little crumbly now, but I opened it up and accompanied it with an RC Cola (of course) and turned on the mic. Lets go!
50 episodes! WOW! I have learned so much doing these and the responses I receive truly touch my heart. This was intended to be about business success, but that changed during the first episode. I just share experiences that I have had along my journey and it is such an awesome feeling when someone says they were inspired or it helped them in some way. I have never done anything more rewarding in my life!
I can sum up all 50 episodes in four words: Hard work – Faith – Gratefulness – Grace. That is the guaranteed formula to be successful in business or any aspect of your life.
For this episode I thought it would be fun to reflect on some of the messages and answer a few questions that I receive. If you look closely at the podcast cover photo you will see a moon pie. When I started these, I said I would eat that pie at 50 episodes. Well it’s a little crumbly now, but I opened it up and accompanied it with an RC Cola (of course) and turned on the mic. Lets go!
And then one of the things I'll do, I think I'll go down the felon station, get me a bottle of pop, go home, take a nap and go over to families and watch a little TV.
2
00:00:16
Good morning. Good afternoon. Or good evening, depending on when and where you're tuning in. This is episode 50 of the blue collar executive podcast. And I am your host Louis Toby Jr. Wow. 50 episodes. I haven't even tuned up my band Joe yet. Well, I said, when I read 50, I was going to eat this moon pie that you see on my cover page. So I'm going to tear it open, crack, open an RC Cola to company yet. Let's just see where it takes us. Let's go It is just amazing to me how much this little podcast gets played around the globe.
2
00:01:13
Oh, I love doing it. And I've learned so much. It is such a blessing. When I receive a message from someone saying they were inspired or motivated in one way or another, that is truly the most rewarding feeling and makes doing these all worthwhile well that, and this crumbling moon pie meeting, one of the lessons I've learned is that you hear from your critics far more than you receive positive messages. I guess I expected that it is disheartening, but it doesn't discourage me from continuing to do more after all. That's kind of the thesis of this podcast, keeping on the sunny side of life and not being pulled down by the negative. I never could understand why we are like this as a society. It seems like most people would rather tear you down or see a fail instead of offering support and encouragement.
2
00:01:59
I'll never forget hearing my mom talk about this when I was a kid. Funny how you remember things like this. I don't remember the details or who, or what she was talking about, but I remember her saying to me, why can't people be happy for others? She went on to say that when she saw someone get a new car or a new house, she was happy for them. But for some it causes jealousy and bitterness. Oh, well you can't please them all. I think I'm just going to take another bite of my moon pie and move on here. You know, I do receive many questions and emails, which I absolutely love. So maybe I'll just use a few of those as a guide here today. I received messages telling me that I don't understand because I've never lost a loved one or had a disability or been poor.
2
00:02:41
Well, I can check all those boxes. I've lost many loved ones, including my parents and two unborn children. When I lost my parents, it was devastating. And I miss them every day, but I know that that's in my past. I have to let that pain go and move on and trust in God that there was a reason for it. When we lost two children, we couldn't stay there. We had to believe that for some reason, God had a purpose and we just had to keep moving forward. My mom's so wanted grandchildren. And while she didn't get them here on earth, I believe she has to keeping her really busy in heaven. And God blessed us with three amazing kids. Poor. Let me tell you, I know poor. Now, when you say the word poor, you're talking about having little or no money.
2
00:03:25
Well, I've been, there is Jerry Clower used to say we were so poor mom took in wash and we kept it. You know, I never even knew we were poor growing up because mom and dad always made sure that we had everything we needed. I've had plenty of times in my life when the money ran out as a child and as an adult, but I've never considered myself poor for a minute. I stayed rich and love and fullness of my family and friends. And I have never been down or depressed about money. I didn't sit around and cry poor mouth. In those times I kept going to work. And when I was out of a job, I worked harder trying to find a job. I've been stuck many a times, but I've never stayed in the mud. As king Solomon wrote lazy hands, bring poverty, but hard work and hands lead to wealth, whoever harvest during the summer acts wisely.
2
00:04:11
But the son who sleeps during the harvest is disgraceful the appetite of the slug craves, but gets nothing. But the desire of the diligent will be abundantly satisfied. I would say that's pretty good advice. Considering Solomon was the wealthiest man to ever live on this earth. So he likely knows what he's talking about anyway. So yeah, I've been there. I mean, that's all this little podcast is, is me sharing my experiences along my journey in the key to it all is just keeping the faith and moving forward. We're all going to have roadblocks along our path. But as long as we're not dragging our failures from yesterday into today, we'll get over them. Okay. So another bite, a moon pie. This is actually pretty good. I wonder how long these things can stay fresh.
2
00:04:54
The question I get asked most is why don't you talk about current events? Well, in short, that would be a depressing topic. I don't hide from talking about them. And if I ever feel compelled, I will. The two headline topics right now would be pandemic and politics. And who wants to talk about either of those? I mean, I don't talk about the pandemic because I'm not an expert on it. And heck even the experts don't seem to understand it. You could say the same about politics. What a mess. If the folks in Washington can't figure it out. I certainly am not going to add my opinion. See, this podcast is about being kind to one, another loving, supporting, encouraging each other, despite who someone votes for someone's opinion about a vaccine, we all have different views and opinions, and we all have that, right?
2
00:05:41
So I would never use this platform to promote my views. Just love and accept each other for who they are and not who they voted for. Whether they got a poke or not. This message came from a childhood friend. Who's now a missionary in Africa. He said, I love your podcast, Lou, but is this the same hell raiser I grew up with? I was never really a hell raiser, but I did always seem to find mischief. Actually I would argue that mischief always seemed to find me. I mean, I wasn't a bad kid. Like it never got in a lot of trouble with drugs or theft or anything really dishonest. I was just a little mischievous. I loved to play good practical jokes on family and friends and the police chief.
2
00:06:22
I fought a lot, not because I had a lot of enemies. In fact, I don't remember having any enemies. As I tell my kids, fist fighting is just what we did before we had video games. I was a little reckless behind the steering wheel of a car. And that was years before I was even 16 and got my license. I would race anyone anywhere, anytime. And oh, I thought I was a duke boy. I ramped many cars. I did learn though. They didn't always land as smooth as the general Lee did. I once launched mom's 1979 Bonneville. So high that when I landed, I smashed the entire exhaust system that wasn't easy to explain to dad. This reckless behavior continued into my early twenties, even after I was married.
2
00:07:04
But as I started having kids and more responsibility, God grabbed me by the collar and said, enough's enough. So to answer your question, Phil, I can look back now and say that that was the turning point of my life. I can say that had I have stayed on the path that I was on you're right. I never would have read to any success in any aspect of my life. And probably wouldn't be sitting here talking to you today, but God has a plan and a purpose for all of us. And he cares about everyone. Even us, hell raisers. Here's a question I've received a few times, especially after I did that episode, burn your boat says, how do you find the courage to leave a secure job that you hate and jump and do something that you love?
2
00:07:45
That's a great question. I wish I knew a magic answer. You know, my favorite word is believe in fact, that's the background on my computer. I also have my favorite John Wayne quote, hanging on my desk that says courage is being scared to death, but saddling up. Anyway, I have these because I need to be reminded of them daily. See, to have the courage to do something. You have to believe that what you're doing is worthwhile. You have to believe that the reward for what you're jumping for, outweighs the risk. You have to believe in yourself. You have to believe in God. You have to believe it's the right thing. So you see the key word believe when you truly believe all of these things, you'll have the courage to jump.
2
00:08:29
The only thing that ever holds you back in anything in life is the opposite of belief. And that's doubt. And remember fear is usually disguised as practicality. I've gotten to the point in my life where I welcome something that scares me because anything else just isn't as rewarding. And Hey, at the end of it all, you can fail at what you don't love. So you might as well do what you love. Well, I have more questions, but my moon pies gone. So I reckon I'll bring this episode to a close. Maybe I'll just save the other questions for episode 100, that pie in RC Cola was delicious. Don't tell my doctor. I had that much sugar. There are some things he just don't need to know.
2
00:09:12
That's a good rounding out point for this episode. You know, we're so blessed to have great doctors and advisors to tell us how to live longer. And I highly recommend following all their advice. However, never lose sight of your own happiness. I'm a firm believer that the most important thing for our health is a happy soul. So don't be afraid to treat yourself every now and again to whatever makes your heart pitter patter. And on that same note, make sure you're treating others with kindness and things that make their hearts. Pitter-patter too. Yes, friends. We are living in crazy times and it can feel like this world's going nuts, but our lives can still be great. We are all in this together and we all have our own mountains to climb, but always remember that it's not the altitude, it's the attitude.
2
00:09:57
So wherever you're at on your mountain, find happiness and encourage everyone around you be a light for others. And with that, I'll conclude another episode of the blue collar executive podcast. I hope you found some value in it or at the very least founded entertaining. I hope your hearts overflow with love and happiness. And thank you so much for listening.