Tgim- a late edition!

Team,

Anger as motivation is some of the best fuel there is.

The below hangs on my dad’s desk.  Has for years.  His motivation is the company he used to work at.  They sued him when left.  Bashed him.  Told him he would fail.  Told his customers he would fail.  They mocked him.  He was “at the top” at that company, and then he was the enemy.  He still uses that as fuel 31 years later.

Find that pain.  Use it as fuel.  Here just a few of mine I think of – boy this makes me uncomfortable -(oh yeah, here is the soft underbelly of Joel, this is where you see inside me, but who cares, this is ME!)  You might find this all nuts, you probably will… but it’s my life.  I can’t change it.

25 years ago, way back to high school.  I was 3-19 in my last basketball game.  I was convinced I was the best player in the state that year.  No one could stop me where I wanted to go, I had big plans!  No one was going to crush my goals.  No one stood in my way.  Then, in my last game I missed 16 times.  Yeah, weird I still think about this right?  I do.  I think …never again.  Never again will I miss this much at anything.  I will OUTWORK THEM.

I have a friend.  He’s smarter than me.  He’s more athletic than me.  A better person than me. He has a rare disease. He’s in a wheel chair.  He has a hard time talking.  He can’t drive.  He can’t hunt can’t fish, can’t play catch with his kids, can’t go out for drinks, can’t golf…can’t, can’t, can’t.  He can’t be very influential in anything he does.  He’s never complained to me about it.  Ever. HE CANT.  I CAN. I MUST.

My sister died 17 years ago.  Her fiance who was like a brother to me after she died, he died two years later.  Then never had a chance to live an adult life.  So I live for them.

They tell me in my dreams:  Live for me!  SO I DO.

More you say?

All the haters, that told me behind my back (I heard them) After your dad retires, this will fail.  Joel didn’t earn this.  The son is a kook, he will fail.  They are growing too fast. They are too big.  They are losing focus.  You can’t sell flooring.  You won’t make it Brookfield.    It will never work.  You don’t know a thing about building.  You can’t sell cabinets in Wrightstown, the market is too hard.   You can’t hire people with no experience.  You can’t just keep trying things, all this eventually won’t work.  You are just a little lumberyard in Campbellsport, you aren’t a real business.  You aren’t a leader.  You aren’t much of anything.  You talk too much.  You can’t focus. You can’t raise margins.  You can’t just have fun and make money.  You can’t give that money to charity.  You don’t know this industry.   You are too young. You are now too old.  I hear it. I HEAR EM ALL .  

AND THAT MAKES ME MAD AS HELL, and what also MAKES ME GO!

This is my story, it’s kind of weird and probably makes very little sense to you.. that’s ok.

We all have our story. 

IT’S OKAY TO BE ANGRY.  TURN IN INTO POSITIVE FUEL.  TODAY, BE MAD AS HELL, AND THAT WILL DRIVE YOU TO A POSITIVE GREATNESS YOU DON’T THINK IS EVEN POSSIBLE.