Authentic Achievements With Special Guest Andy Weins
🎙️ Authentic Achievements Podcast Episode 37: “From the Battlefield to Business: A Veteran Entrepreneur’s Journey” with Andy Weins In this week’s gripping episode of the Authentic Achievements Podcast, we have the honour of hosting a remarkable individual whose journey from the battlefield to business exemplifies the true spirit of resilience and entrepreneurship. Join us as we sit down with Andy Weins, a fourth-generation entrepreneur, U.S. Army Veteran, and acclaimed speaker. With a heart rooted in Wisconsin and a soul shaped by almost two decades of military service, Andy is not just a voice but a beacon of inspiration for Veterans, entrepreneurs, and anyone seeking to overcome self-doubt. His story is one of tenacity, triumph, and a commitment to empowering individuals and communities.
Through his consulting, teaching, podcasting, and writing, Andy emerges as a passionate advocate for Veterans, entrepreneurs, community engagement, individual empowerment, and environmental sustainability. His tactical advice, drawn from data-driven methodologies and battle-tested experiences, offers actionable insights for those looking to level up in their personal and professional lives.
Beyond his military service, Andy’s entrepreneurial ventures include Green Up Solutions (environmental consulting), Camo Crew Junk Removal (solid-waste removal), and Young Guns (a community of entrepreneurs dedicated to advancing their skills). His list of accolades is extensive, with recent honours such as the prestigious 2023 Waste360 “40 Under 40” recognition and the 2022 Outstanding Business of the Year—Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business award at the Wisconsin Governor’s Annual Conference on Diverse Business Development.
Tune in to this episode to discover the riveting stories and invaluable lessons from Andy’s journey as he shares how he navigated challenges, seized opportunities, and emerged as a leader shaping the future of both the waste and recycling industry and the entrepreneurial landscape. Prepare to be inspired, motivated, and equipped with practical takeaways to propel you towards authentic achievements.
Find out more at https://www.andyweins.com/ or connect with Andy at / andyweins 🚀 Don’t miss out on this empowering conversation!
Subscribe now and join us on a transformative exploration of success, dreams, and the relentless pursuit of authenticity. #AuthenticAchievements#Podcast#Entrepreneurship#VeteranSuccess 🎧
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Transcript:
Music]
0:05[Applause] hello and welcome to this episode of authentic achievements where I’m
0:11delighted to be joined by The Fabulous Andy wines and before I get into doing the proper introduction Andy welcome hey
0:18thanks for having me H I’m super excited about having you but before we get stuck in let me tell our audience a little bit
0:25more about you so Andy is a fourth generation entrepreneur a veteran of the US Army and a speaker through Consulting
0:32teaching podcasting and writing he’s an enthusiastic supporter of veterans entrepreneurs Community engagement
0:38individual empowerment and the environment he provides veterans entrepreneurs and Business Leaders with a tactical advice to level up trueu to
0:46his Wisconsin Roots wines is a Midwest reality check for anyone facing self-doubt his speaking engagements use
0:53datadriven methodologies and battle tested experiences to give audience practical takeaways with nearly two
0:59decades of military service including service during operation Iraq freedom and operation enduring freedom and
1:06continuing Service as a US Army Reserve career counselor outside of speaking his
1:11Ventures include Greenup Solutions which is environmental Consulting camo crew junk removal which is solid waste
1:18removal and Yung guns a community of entrepreneurs dedicated to advancing their skills he’s won numerous Awards
1:24through the years most recently being named a 2023 waste 36040 under 40 member
1:30which honors the next generation of leaders who are sh shaping the future of Waste and Recycling and a 2022
1:37outstanding business of the Year service disabled veteran owned small business award at the Wisconsin Governor’s annual
1:43conference on diverse Business Development you’ve had quite a journey there’s there’s a lot to unpack
1:50in there so much to unpack I I brought coffee we’ll be all right we’ll be
1:55fabulous so could we start with you unpacking a little bit of that Journey for us like kind of what’s got you here
2:02and and where do you see yourself next so the the journey like the that
2:07inflection point like I talk about I did a tedx years ago and I talk about we don’t get to Def uh pick the defining
2:12moments in our life and for me the I need to grow up and be an adult um happened on December 23d 2008 I had um
2:21got out of high school I started uh you know I started working then I joined the army then I deployed I volunteered to go
2:27to Iraq then I was homeless for a year then I bought bought a house and started working for my dad’s company and right
2:32when it was like I got the house I got the job I got the girlfriend I got the dog it all went to and and and that
2:39was that moment where it’s like okay now I have to I was I kept chasing other people’s dreams and doing other people’s
2:44things and then it was like okay now it’s you it’s you and your dog in your house against the world and very much so
2:51I felt against the world I was uh Angry and pissed off I was a combat veteran I couldn’t get a job because the economy
2:56was a and I spent a lot of time blaming the world for my problems and that was that Rock Bottom Point going
3:04into you know January of 2009 that was that okay now is time to you know get my
3:10feet below me and go and so that’s really when when I think about my life where is it where those inflection
3:16points that’s really where it was and what I started doing was driving around the Northwest side of Milwaukee picking
3:21up scrap appliances microwaves vacuums anything I could on the side of the road and recycling it it was something I did
3:28growing up as a kid with my dad we would drive around the nice neighborhoods the day before trash day and pick up things on the side of the road and that was the
3:35okay I can do this I I can do this and I can make this uh uh I can make I at that
3:41point I can I can make enough money to pay for my meals and pay for my mortgage that was it and so that that winter I
3:48lived on you know my cottage cheese sandwich winter so basically I could buy white bread cottage cheese and cream of
3:55wheat so that’s basically what I ate all winter um and that was really the first step into this okay it’s time to be an
4:02adult it’s time to be an entrepreneur it’s time to stop putting my time and effort in the other everyone else’s
4:07dreams you know I work for big corporations I work for small businesses I work for the US government now it’s time to start building my own dreams and
4:1415 years later here we are wow that’s that’s quite a gen I think sometimes we do have those we do have those moments
4:22and it reminded me slightly of the and I’m going to butcher the quote but the JK Rowling quote which is Rock botton
4:28became the solid Foundation upon which I build my future um seems to resonate so
4:34beautifully with the uh with the story you shared but that’s such a lot of
4:41um stages along the way I guess that helped you to build that inner strength and that
4:49resilience that we sometimes don’t know we have until it really comes to be tested as you said those life defining
4:57moments where it’s like Now’s the Time to to kind of get on with it and step up
5:03and and make the future you want rather than continue to to hold on to other
5:09peoples and I know when we chatted before you have um a lovely uh phrase of
5:14getting people to really think about whether or not they’re chasing their own dreams could you share that with us uh I
5:22I I I uh I have a lot of lovely phrases I’m not sure which uh which I’m I’m known for do the thing that is
5:29what I’m known for that is the battlecry I live my life with all too often in my life I’ve had the self-doubt I I’ve had
5:35this wounded inner child that feels as though I’m not good enough I I wasn’t good enough for my father because he was
5:41smarter and faster and bigger and stronger I wasn’t good enough for the bullies I wasn’t good enough to get the
5:46job because I didn’t have the degree and then and then I realized no then or then I was I wasn’t good enough to start a
5:52business I didn’t have the partner I didn’t the money I didn’t have the knowledge and I realized through time I was always good enough I was was getting
5:59in my own way I knew the answer right there’s a a a methodology I talk about in my book 100% not mine and it’s
6:06called the ud Loop it was developed during the Korean War for fighter pilots anyways it’s obser or it’s Orient get
6:13yourself looking at or observe Orient decide act I was the one I could get
6:19myself into a situation I could figure out what was going on I could make a decision like I’m going to do that and
6:24then I would falter because at that moment that wounded in her child came up and said you’re not good enough you’re
6:30not going to be able to figure it out and once I I learned to slay that dragon and started acting then and only then
6:38did I start living the life I wanted and so what I tell myself and I remind myself and then other people come back
6:43to me is say this is the thing you do that makes you different is do the
6:49thing we know good and well inside of us what The Logical next step is what the
6:56thing is that you know you’re spinning around your head the thing that you’re avoiding that’s the thing you need to do
7:02and when you do that life becomes better if you listen to people like goggin he says you know go hard every day he says
7:09do something that sucks every day and when you do something that sucks every day tomorrow you can’t do that same
7:14thing that suck because it sucked yesterday you already got over do something new that sucks and that’s how you get better in life is by slaying
7:22those dragons one at a time and Tak it on the thing people are often like ah I just don’t know what to do yeah you do
7:28yeah you do that’s excuse you do know what to do you’re choosing not to take that first step even if you even when I
7:35was about to say even if eliminate the word if even when you know it’s Gonna Hurt it’s like a a good meme or good
7:43just funny saying is like uh knowing it’s going to hurt and take the step anyways is called courage when it works
7:49out when it doesn’t work out it’s often called stupidity and yet I embrace that
7:55okay it’s better to fail today and learn today than it is to never fail and never
8:01learn so true and actually when we fail we only really fail if we stop trying don’t we because when we look back at
8:07you know when we look back at what we’ve what didn’t go right that time the whole thing won’t have been a failure bit it
8:14will have worked so you just have to look at the bits that work to do them again and look at the bits that didn’t work and go what could I do instead that
8:22might still might still move you might still move us forward that might still get there and we are Our Own Worst Enemy
8:28aren’t we we’re our own biggest critic and um I was certainly
8:33was was the the wounded child and got in my own way for a lot of years and said things to myself I would never dream of
8:40even thinking about another human being let alone saying them and yet we say
8:45those to ourselves and we use them as um a reason to hold ourselves back don’t we to to kind of put put ourselves in the
8:53place that we’re in and yet you know we live in a world of polarity the the courage can’t exist without the fear um
9:01and the fear can’t exist without the courage to get through it so if we’ve got the fear we’ve got the courage we’ve just got to believe and like you say go
9:07in and do the thing we’re fearful of because it never is as bad as we thought
9:13is it bad often it’s bad but it’s never quite as bad as we thought you know I
9:18spend so long like trying to um overthink challenging conversations I
9:25thought that I was going to have to have as a leader and I I afterwards was like why don’t you just rip the plaster off
9:31because you wasted days making yourself feel bad um overanalyzing what might
9:37they might say this and then this might happen and then this might happen and you get there and it’s never as bad but you’ve wasted a
9:42week planning it out in your head and and reenacting it with yourself um
9:48instead of to your point just getting out there and um I think was Ella ruselt who also used to say do something every
9:54day that scares you yeah and it’s you once you do all of a sudden you become
9:59less scared about things because it becomes something that you’re looking to do I haven’t been scared yet today no
10:04then I haven’t pushed myself hard enough I haven’t that’s correct right yeah if if you don’t look back at your day and say hey that kicked my ass then then you
10:11know what you haven’t pushed hard enough and that’s the thing there’s every you know there there’s plenty of sayings out
10:17there that say the thing and and whether what I say resonates or not it is find
10:23what resonates with you what is going to motivate you to live that life you know
10:28some people you got to go out there and live your authentic life and be yourself no what’s the thing you got to do right now right like you’ll get there you
10:35don’t know who you are until you do you do some and you’re like well that ain’t me like when I was in high school
10:40I wanted to be a drummer in a band so I bought a drum set and I got in a band and I was terrible and I didn’t get any
10:46better and it wasn’t natural and it’s like well I’m not doing that again so it’s like all right I figured out what I
10:51wasn’t what’s next it’s like all right maybe I’ll like it maybe I won’t let me let me give her hell and see what
10:57happens you you you mean you read about people I read about people from time to time that take it about h a habby in their 40s or 50s and they’re like oh
11:04this is why I was put on this Earth You Know imagine being 30 and be like ah I’m I’m setting my ways I’m good I don’t
11:10want to I don’t want to take on anything new it’s like ah is that garbage I played I played golf with a guy earlier this year he’s 86 years old he had two
11:18careers he had worked 30 years got a pension then he worked at Home Depot for another 20 years after that got got his
11:24retirement from there whatever and now he’s like yeah I’m working on my golf game he’s 86 years old working on his
11:29golf game we played nine holes he was our fourth we had three he jumped in he didn’t take a mulligan he kept track of
11:35his score and he goes yep I’m be back tomorrow working on it again 86 years old he’s had two full careers and he
11:40goes no one else my age goes out and does stuff he goes my my friends are in their 50s and 60s because everybody else
11:46is they gave up in their 50s and 60s and and they don’t get to enjoy their 80s he’s 86 years old still hitting balls
11:52every day because that’s what he chooses to do he chooses to work on his next craft I love that it reminds me very
11:58much of my great aunt who sadly we lost at Christmas um but she didn’t stop
12:03going to the gym until she was 88 years old she was the gym pinup girl at 80 um
12:08because she went three times a week but she never stopped right up until 95 um and you they her and my grandparents
12:15always used to say make every day a school day and live live every day as if it’s your last because one day you’ll be
12:21right but I think somewhere within that there was Sage advice it was like make sure you learn something new every day
12:26and don’t put off till tomorrow what you can do today tomorrow’s not promised so that’s correct make the most of it right
12:32now and it sounds like you know you you just embody that in what you’re doing now and then sometimes we have to have those moments that really knock us on
12:39our on the seat of our pants for us to actually realize that it’s now or never
12:45yeah and and you don’t get knocked down when you don’t stand up some people get
12:50knocked down and they stay there and they’re laying there wo is me I’m a victim we got plenty of victims in this
12:57world get out there go be a victor of your own story you don’t have to be the hero for somebody else’s story no be the
13:04Victor within your own story it’s your story I read something recently it’s
13:10like everybody is the the the lead actor actress in their own story and sometimes
13:15they play critical roles in other people’s or or they’re they’re merely you know merely in the audience or of
13:21you know or uh what do you call what do you uh uh uh what do you call the people that are in the background why I can’t think of the name now I’m now I’m
13:27forgetting words um background actors there’s a name for him whatever right
13:33extras see thank you thank you yeah or or extra right but the challenge is
13:38there’s a lot of people that that think as though they’re not telling their own story they’re like oh I have no control
13:45I I can’t do this I can’t do that it’s like yeah that would be the worst movie or worst TV show to ever watch if someone felt like they had no control
13:51over their future if they felt like they were only a victim they they weren’t even the lead in their own story because
13:57they give Credence to everybody else and everything else while they were playing the victim of their circumstance oh and
14:03I’ve been there I’ve been there I think we’ve all had those moments and you know I’m a big believer now that I’m not a
14:09victim of my circumstances I’m a product of my choices and I say this to my little girl all the time I was like yeah
14:16everything’s choice we make a bad choice and that’s okay it doesn’t make us a bad person it meant it was a bad choice and
14:22the beauty of choice is we get to make another one immediately afterwards so we make a bad one great we’ll just learn
14:29make it back so I’ll even challenge you even further uh I I I I get rid of one of my mentors told me years ago there’s
14:35no such thing as good news or bad news ping new information and what you do with it and so now I I I get rid of good
14:41and bad because what might be a good choice for you is bad for somebody else it’s subjective so it’s real simple now
14:46I tell people also eliminate the word mistake oh I made a mistake no you made a choice so here’s how it goes you make
14:52a choice and either works out the way you had planned or not that’s it that is the objective truth I I I wrote a book
14:59about words so I’m very particular about the words because the words you say out loud you’ve already thought about and
15:05the words you think about paint the the reality you have and the problem is people paint this fake reality right
15:12your your your podcast here all being about authentic achievements you have to be able to objectively qualify the world
15:19around you so that you know you’re not putting this overly bias spin on the world so instead of saying oh it was a
15:25good choice or a bad choice or it was a mistake no no you made a choice did it or did it not work out the way you had
15:31planned no it didn’t sounds good what can you do about it now and there’s no rhetorical questions in life yeah yeah
15:38when you start having that type of selft talk now you’re empowered it’s like okay well I asked the girl out what’ she say
15:43no cool is there another girl in the bar yes do you find her attractive yes go go
15:49forth and prosper right or why did she say no right maybe she’s having a bad
15:55day all ask her again tomorrow she doesn’t like tall guys okay well then you’re already right it’s like you
16:00weren’t going to marry her you just didn’t know it yet and and and now you do what’s next or some people will say
16:07oh I’m trying to lose weight let’s take like let’s take your aunt right goes to the gym three days a week and then someone will say oh I skipped my gym
16:14last week so I I only went two days it’s like okay are you gonna give up now or you gonna go to the gym and then people say I’m gonna go four days next week
16:20well hold on the plan is three days go three days you can’t make up for lost time the plan is three days except the
16:27fact that you didn’t go and move on with your life don’t make excuses don’t be in denial don’t boohoo don’t beat yourself
16:33up either right it’s a full spectrum like yeah I didn’t go to the gym last week I I need to make it to the gym three days this week and and and then
16:40you make it three days this week and you say Okay I I have a one-week trend of doing the right thing and need you count
16:45the weeks that it worked and count the weeks that you went by plan and now it’s objective and then you can celebrate the
16:51victories because you gave clear and concise goal and you did or did not achieve it and there’s none of this blame excuse denial that people
16:59will paint this picture so you have these lenses like oh no I’m good I’m great and then they go home and cry or
17:05they’re upset or they’re frustrated or they about the same things week in and week out no own your own fighting
17:12position oh it’s so true and I think we you everything in life is just a choice
17:18and we get to choose and we get to if we’re going to be if we’re going to choose to be a victim or we get to choose to be the Victor um because
17:25that’s about you what we choose and and you’re so right around the words that we use and you know again you one of the
17:32things that I say to my little girl when she sometimes she say only seven blesser so she’s she’s still young and still
17:38learning they come home and they’re so finite in their um description of
17:44themselves so I can’t color you mean you can’t color yeah I’m not good at coloring I’m not good at
17:50coloring yet put yet on the end because it me get better right if you just finish it I’m not good at this you’ll
17:56give up you’ll decide you don’t want to and if if that’s a choice that’s okay but don’t make it just become a reality
18:03subconsciously because you weren’t controlling what it was that you were doing because what as you say what we say inside and what we say out loud to
18:11ourselves eventually becomes our reality doesn’t it it turns into what we live
18:16what we say internally is louder than the we project on this world right
18:22it’s the thing said in the quiet places it’s the the thing said to ourselves
18:27when we’re d dreaming that’s the stuff that’s that’s that’s when you get you know the iceberg analogy that’s when you
18:32get below the surface and you start to get to the good stuff right there’s there’s analogies everywhere like you
18:37got a devil on one shoulder an angel on the other you got Jimmy Cricket in your ear whatever it is we all hear it some
18:44of us some of us are are um T are very intentional right whether it’s
18:49meditation yoga quiet time whatever they’re you’re intentional to to put your listening ears on right kids put on
18:55your listening ears right you’re intentional to listen to it for me it’s when I drive that’s my time my my
19:01girlfriend lives in Chicago so that’s about 90 minutes for me um I drive down typically on Friday afternoons and and
19:07and and Monday mornings and about I leave about 5:30 on a Monday morning I drive from her house to to to my work
19:14for 90 minutes no music no podcast nothing that is my time to think about
19:21what transpired over the weekend what am I going to be doing this this week and I play things out and I start listening to
19:27myself and I start listening to what are my priorities and I those are my those 90 minutes set me up for a great week
19:34because that’s my time so really focus inwards meditation um when I do when I
19:41when I meditate it’s amazing I do not make it a priority so I give myself the grace I don’t listen to music in the in
19:47the car that’s my time to decompress think it through and then when I start listening things make so much more sense
19:54you I can separate the symptoms from the problems so much simpler I can just I
20:01can figure out what do I have control over what don’t I have control over I can say the serenity prayer and the
20:06Serenity Prayer isn’t like oh I’m gonna pray it right no I’m gonna run everything through that filter right I’m
20:12gonna start with the wisdom to know the difference okay what can I control what can’t I control if I can’t control it
20:19why am I thinking about it some people will ask me I’ve heard this like well what are you worried about we went
20:24through some shifts there at work well what are you worried about I I I’m not I don’t worry I make decisions I see
20:30where the chips fall and then I make another decision and I make another decision and I make another decision and
20:36occasionally I changed Direction well we went down this path it didn’t work do we want to keep going down there because I
20:42said we’re going down there or are we gonna shift this way and go that way like it’s we get decisions every day
20:48every day we start with a fresh clock what do you do with those 1440 minutes
20:54each day that’s what defines you yeah I love that it’s it is so true and when
21:00you are much more intentional um you do find you know and I’m a big believer that we’re only given a problem we
21:07already know the answer to we’ve just got to dig deep and listen to the part
21:13of us that knows the answer um but we’ve built all these layers of um distrust
21:20with our intuition with ourselves with the um that doesn’t allow us to do that until we find whatever is our method you
21:27know for for you it’s for you it’s driving whether it’s meditation for me it’s journaling but that moment to just
21:33like just really get present with yourself and present with the facts that
21:40are in front of you so that you can then make the decisions based on the facts that you can see and we as you say you
21:46may get better facts later on you go you go a few steps down the road and you can see a lot more of what’s ahead of you
21:52and then you can decide do I like this road or not or do I want to make a different decision but at least you
21:58remain in control don’t you where of where you’re taking those choices where you’re playing that hand yeah and and
22:05and when you play the hand when you make those choices you get more information you get more facts and making decisions
22:13with the most mod information is the best choice we talked about earlier about choices that one of the things in the military I learn very quickly in the
22:20military is often going back to good or bad often there are not good choices or bad choices so we don’t speak in that
22:26language yeah we say what’s the best choice available you might be faced with two
22:32shitty choices use some form of methodology to figure out which is the better of the
22:37two and and that’s it and yeah you might not like it people I don’t like my choices well those are the ones you got
22:43you always have a choice there’s always a choice and there’s people that have been victims uh Mii cheski High
22:51Hungarian philosopher psychologist rather he was a p in World War II and he
22:57chose chose to focus on happiness right here’s a p in World War II under the
23:02Nazis chose to be happy and then chose to go to school and graduate and teach
23:07other people about happiness after being a p he could have made a lot of choices
23:13all of being poor he said here’s my current situation I can either be sad or
23:18mad or glad and I I will choose to be glad I will choose to find the joy
23:23within my situation I will choose to use my situation to inspire others that’s a
23:29choice there are people that are rap rape victims that end up having children and they love on that child because that
23:35child was brought into this world and that is their child that’s a
23:41choice I would argue your choices are not that complicated and yet you’ll say
23:47you have no choice once you start figuring out how
23:52insignificant this anxiety is you can paint this new reality for
23:58yourself and again I I am I am coming from the the the the the hilltop of
24:03knowledge because I lived in the valley of at times where I said woe is
24:08me I said earlier when I was 24 25 years old I’m like I’m a combat veteran I
24:14can’t get a job whoo is me I you know society sucks and then I kept screaming
24:19it screaming it from the floor OFA Valley and I would go anywhere where people would listen to me which was
24:24primarily the bar because there’s always people at the bar that will listen to you and no one ever helped me get out of the
24:30valley of my own why because I was in it by myself I had to figure out
24:35how to get out of it and once I figured out how to and started climbing that hill then I started seeing more I got
24:43more information I realized that I was not a victim I was choosing to be a victim on my circumstance I had the
24:49opportunity to be the victor of My Story by my choices do I take that hill or do
24:55I die in the valley I love that but you took back the pen
25:00you know as you said earlier we are the author of our own life and um it was probably about 10 years ago for me that
25:07I suddenly realized if it’s not a book I’m enjoying reading I’m the author I get to take back the pen I get to
25:13rewrite what happens next and you know language is really important I always think whenever life throws a change my
25:20way it’s just a plot twist and we all love a movie with a plot twist so it’s
25:25the best B I wonder where this is going to take us because it’s like you said it’s then dealing with that new set of information
25:32and making the best choice that you can in that moment with the information that
25:39you had um and and allowing us therefore to just keep moving forward when we
25:44chatted last you talked about um admire desire require which I loved could you
25:50bring that to life for us please yeah I I I I sit back and and everything in my
25:56life almost everything I don’t like to I I I’m guilty of speaking an absolute so almost everything in my life comes down
26:02to threes so I I I break it down that way and and so one of the threes that I
26:07use in my brain is admire require desire ultimately what is driving my choice and
26:14so I think about it so the highest need right is this is what I require Food Water Shelter I look at my maso’s
26:20hierarchy of needs right I I I I need to matter because that’s that’s self-actualization that’s high on M
26:27hierarchy of needs okay that that’s a need right that makes me a better person mattering to people right and so that’s
26:33why I come on podcasts like this that’s why I have a podcast myself that’s why I wrote a book it’s like I need to make an
26:38impact in this world that fulfills my need and I look at okay what do I want
26:45right those are my desires okay what do I want that will make my life better
26:50okay like what is it date night okay I don’t need it right SE self-actualization I just need to be
26:56good with me I like date night dat night’s night nice right spending time having a hobby I enjoy I like playing
27:01volleyball I want to play volleyball don’t need it it doesn’t I don’t I don’t make a great impact on the World by
27:07playing volleyball it’s good it’s social right there’s an aspect of it being accepted by society and yet I can go find that somewhere else I need to be
27:13accepted but I and I can accept it somewhere else right and there’s the things that I like right and that’s the
27:21the the like there and that’s the admiration that’s where I admire
27:26something from afar o I like that I like that new car I like that new suit right I often associate my likes to
27:34possessions because I like them I like when other people have them it’s nice
27:39and yet it doesn’t make me ultimately a better person the challenge is the likes
27:46are what often govern people’s decisions making that is keeping up with the Joneses for some of us old school people
27:52I said that the other day someone had no idea what I was talking about right keeping up with the Joneses that is the oh my neighbors have it now I need to
27:59have it right need to that is the I saw it on Facebook and now I want it no you like it had it not been presented to you
28:06you wouldn’t have even known it existed you wouldn’t even known it was an option you didn’t like it until you found out somebody else had
28:12it people want to chase it that is their shortterm satisfaction we live in an
28:18instant gratification kind of society and so people are constantly chasing those and I would argue and I will argue
28:25not I would I will argue that when your needs are met and you focus more on what you really truly require in this world
28:32you figure out what your why is right Mark Twain said it best there are two days in this world that matter the day that you’re born and the day you figure
28:38out why when you fulfill your needs your wants and your likes the things that you
28:45admire and desire matter so much less I figured out a few months ago my why in
28:52this world and it may change but today my why is to be so so unapologetically
28:59myself that others feel the need to be themselves when I do
29:05that nothing else matters when I can show up and be me voice my perspective
29:11to the world hear what other people have to say gain more knowledge have an impact on others around me make things
29:17better than the way they were when I showed up when I do that it matters not what I wear what I drive or who I
29:24associate with what matters is that I showed up is me and that is fulfilling
29:30and when I put my head down at night I can say that was it that was the defining moment I had
29:36today when you focus on your needs your life will get inherently better the challenge is and we talked about this
29:43the beginning to a certain extent people are not self-aware and then they don’t
29:48self-regulate and the key to self-awareness and self-regulation starts with
29:54self-reflection people think self-reflection is the last no no no it is the first step reflect back I’m 39
30:02reflect back on the last 39 years what did I do to get here today What mattered
30:07what really mattered now that I’m aware of what matters to me how do I show up every day
30:15and then how do I regulate in real time so I know that if I’m out in the real world and someone says they don’t like
30:20me I say good one less person great that’s new information for me to know
30:27great I was not put on this planet to be liked by you next question and why is
30:33that because I watched a six minute and 36 second video goldcast video Les Brown where he said people’s opinions of you
30:39are none of your business yeah I gave a for the first 30 years of my life what people thought about me I was in a
30:45shitty marriage I went through shitty situations in the Army I got kicked out of my platoon and eventually kicked my
30:51company in the Army which if you know about the military that’s a rare feat that most are not hoping to achieve
30:57right I was a victim until I chose to be a victor of that story I’ve been laid off of companies i’ I’ve had girls break
31:05my heart I’ve gone through it all like so many other people and yet once I started to realize wow the only person’s
31:12perspective that matters of that of my own and as long as I’m good with me I’ll gain other perspectives because I want
31:17to hear their perspective I want to hear what they have to say and yet if they’re gonna just cost me and go against my
31:23values I need not them in my life and it doesn’t matter if they’re blood it doesn’t matter if I’m known them for 20
31:28years it doesn’t matter if they’re my customer who’s paying my bills once they attack my ability to be so
31:35unapologetically myself they no longer serve me I do not need them I love that
31:42I think it’s so true and I know you know I did some I’m 50 um and I did the whole
31:47reflection later than you so mine was in my in my mid- 40s and gone through quite
31:53a lot and then realized actually what I need to understand is I’m the constant I can joke you know that if I were ever to
31:58write my Memoirs it’d be three divorces a stalker and an evil in a Critic because that’s true but actually I
32:04showed up in all of those so what was I doing how was I being where was I going and how do I change that and and a lot
32:11of it went back to learning to like yourself for who you truly are and
32:18understand where that is and to your point to be who you are and that was when I changed my my business to be
32:24authentic achievements which is I’m just going to be me and I read a quote and it really resonated for me because I’d
32:30spent years trying to be everybody’s cup of tea and I’m British you know we could argue about how we take our tea as much
32:36as we argue about politics and religion you just never win that battle but this quote was I’d rather be somebody shot of
32:43whiskey than everybody’s cup of tea and it really worked for me probably because I’ve got a glaswegian grandfather but it
32:49for the right people you’ll be that shot of whiskey and they’ll be yours and for the wrong people that they’re just not
32:55meant to be in your life and you’re not meant to be in theirs and therefore you can just step away with Grace and
33:01gratitude um and move forward in in your life and go do you not you you w you
33:06some people are the chapter and some people are an extra and some people are
33:13there for the rest of the book H and being able to discern for yourself what that is and recognize the one person
33:19that’s guaranteed to be there for the rest of the book is you so You’ best go with liking yourself because if not
33:25that’s going to be one miserable book to read is it well I like how you talk about your your three divorces your what
33:30is it three divorces stalker and what else was it an an evil in a Critic an evil an evil wait is that two people an
33:37evil and a Critic no so an evil critic an inner critic inner there we go evil
33:43in okay yeah so those five right okay so what’s interesting what I love about that is there is a difference and this
33:50is where a lot of people get off words so I want to explain this there is a difference between living in your past
33:56and giving giv Credence to all that and and showing your receipts so Miss Precious Williams who’s a international
34:02keynote um speaker she’s the pitch Queen uh she was on Shark Tank she’s amazing I’ve seen her live a few times in person
34:08I have the opportunity to spend one-on-one time with her she is the pitch Queen and what she talks about is show your receipts yeah show people
34:16right they weren’t there for the whole journey they didn’t read the whole book like you said the only character that knows all the ins and outs is you so
34:22show the receipts for me I joke I have two x fian and exwife why because I was ready to commit and
34:31that’s it because I was ready to commit let’s go do the thing right because I’m all about doing the thing right that’s the difference between stupidity and
34:37courage right well okay it didn’t work out and I have other receipts I talk about getting kicked out of the army I talk about getting kicked out of a
34:43company that I founded yeah those are my receipts right and it’s like oh those
34:49are failures like well you know what Steve Jobs got kicked out of the company he found it and things worked out pretty okay for him he’s one of the most
34:55well-known people in the 20th century and he got kicked out of his company so you know what yeah I’d rather be with him than some guy I went to high school
35:01with that works the same dead end job he got when he was 22 when he graduated high school and everyone will forget that he he lived so it’s like yeah show
35:09your damn receipts I don’t live there I’m not that person anymore I was that person and this is how much I’ve grown
35:16since then I got no problem being transparent authentic to your word to
35:21bring people along with the journey and show you all the crap I’m going to show you the good stuff I’m going to show you the bad stuff to the good and bad no I’m
35:28gonna show you what it is yeah you you decide if it’s good or bad I remember one of my favorite stories of all time I
35:34walked into steinhof which was a furniture store in our area I walked in it was right after I was going through my divorce I walked in the woman said so
35:41what brings you here sales sales pitch why are you here today I said I have no furniture and mind you I’m my early 30s
35:47at this point and I go I have no furniture she goes I I go my ex-wife took it all I’m going through a divorce
35:53and she goes congratulations what even congratulations she goes I spent 25 years in a bad marriage I knew it was
36:00bad it was comfortable I spent 25 years in a bad marriage I finally got out and now I work at Stein hles on the weekends
36:06commission only sales I’ve never had a real career in my life I have an apartment and I couldn’t be
36:13happier she didn’t look at my situation as good news or bad news it was new information and what she did with it she
36:19told me congratulations so ever sense that moment every time I hear someone going through a divorce I say congratulations and the people that get
36:25it get it and the people that don’t get it don’t get it and that’s fine I’ll take the
36:32chance that some people will get it because in that moment in my life I will remember that woman for the rest of my
36:37life in that brief briefest moments no idea what her name is that moment I
36:43remember they always say they don’t people don’t remember what you did they remember how they felt about what you
36:48did and at that point I felt empowered because you know what yes I should
36:53celebrate the fact I I should I will celebrate the fact that I made a
36:59decision in a in a crappy situation yeah and I think it’s you know
37:05I I’ve learned something from every one of the things that have happened all the receipts of which of which there are many and look at them all look at them
37:12all now and I’m so very grateful that I would I was gifted the lesson but I only
37:17was gifted the lesson because I went back and found it so I looked at it and said what have I learned what was this
37:22teaching me what was I supposed to understand from this choice so that I’m better
37:30equipped with with more information for the next choice because as you say the more information we have the better
37:36choices we make because we have more information and we do that we do that learning Andy I could talk to you all
37:42day very conscious of our time so if I could ask you to leave us with
37:49one pearl of wisdom that you wish you’d known sooner um but that you know now
37:55what would it be uh because I don’t like following the rules I’m going to tell you a pearl wisdom that I knew all my life and I’ve
38:02only recently embraced fully and it’s something my my father taught me that his father taught him and it’s my
38:09favorite quote of all time and I end my book with this quote and it goes right in line with my Battle Cry For Life once
38:16I I’ve known the quote and now once I’ve lived the quote life has gotten so much simpler there’s no hooks in your ass or
38:23trees in your way that I love that it’s so true isn’t
38:30it it’s so true we we try and control everything and yeah I I often go out and and walk in nature and go do not they
38:37don’t try and control anything you don’t see a tree arguing because it’s been stood in the same spot for rest of its life it just deals with the options that
38:46it’s got available and actually when we just trust that we are the same and take
38:51the action because I think that’s the bit that often stops this isn’t it you’ve got to do something as well you
38:56can’t just think it you’ve got to do it you’ve got to make that move but once you make the move the universe does
39:04conspire to help you it does conspire to bring things into view to help you keep moving forward it’s been such a joy I
39:12would love to do it again um but how can people get in touch learn more about you
39:17and um find out more about the impact that you’re having because you’re having such an amazing impact yeah you can
39:23simple as way go to my website uh w ww. andy wines.com from there all the things
39:29are there that’s it that’s go there uh pretty heavy on LinkedIn YouTube so all
39:35the places to find all the information and I I love it when people randomly
39:40will email me or text me um all my contact infos there i’ love to chat with anybody and everybody about anything
39:47that that’s how I learn more fabulous well it has been an absolute Joy I will make sure all of those contact details
39:53are in the notes below and until next time thank you so much for being here
39:58and sharing such insight and um such heartfelt wisdom um as your Unapologetic
40:07self and keep rocking that appreciate it till next time
40:15cheers
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