Innovation and Commitment: A Personal Journey
Introduction
I developed an acronym to represent our company values, aiming to motivate our employees and communities. I strongly believe that education and the support of those who help others succeed are vital in our quest for innovation.
Education and Personal Background
Education takes various forms, with our school systems focusing on academic studies. I admire the teachers who have dedicated their lives to our well-being. It’s important to recognize that academic studies are geared toward those aspiring to become successful employees, which encompasses the majority of us in the United States. Irrespective of whether we agree or not, most of us have experienced this academic system.
Personally, I did not finish my high school studies and stopped pursuing education after completing the 10th grade. However, I obtained my GED the same year and dived into financial education and entrepreneurship at the age of 17, utilizing my academic skills in these ventures. Despite facing many challenges, I have persisted and refused to give up. I have invested millions of dollars in various business ventures and have learned valuable lessons from each experience.
Lessons from Experience
Repeating the same actions and expecting different results is, as it's said, the definition of insanity. For me, the greatest failure is not attempting something at all. Understanding that many people do not openly share their experiences, I decided to share my valuable lessons on how to overcome setbacks and emerge unshaken, for the betterment of future generations.
Innovation
The letter "I" in my acronym stands for "Innovation - to continually improve!" When I say improve, I mean every single aspect of your spiritual, personal, physical, and business life. Striking a balance is crucial, as you can immerse yourself for some time, but not for a lifetime, without damaging other aspects of your life. At 58 years old, I have spent 40 years building companies. Throughout my journey, I have faced divorce, child custody battles, bankruptcy, and numerous lawsuits.
From these setbacks, I have learned that having a strong financial IQ is essential alongside academic studies. Every setback requires a reevaluation of your mindset and the silencing of that inner voice urging you to give up and settle for mediocrity. Realizing that your subconscious mind works based on your ingrained beliefs, you must constantly rewrite your story in your subconscious mind to push yourself forward. Your subconscious mind can either cheer you on or act as your adversary, and the choice is yours. There is no right or wrong, only the results you desire.
Personal Story of Discipline
When I was about 12 years old, my uncle, Mike, passed away due to heart problems and drug abuse. I was angry at him for what I deemed as selfish behavior, and I channeled this anger into running 8 miles every morning before school. No one had to wake me up or convince me to do this; I had trained my subconscious mind to consider it the right thing to do. This discipline allowed me to excel in sports without even realizing the power of my mindset on my accomplishments.
My negative energy was channeled into positive energy, much like a car battery that provides both positive and negative charges. With my thoughts channeling negative energy into positive energy, I quieted the negative voice inside me, allowing the champion mindset to emerge. I disciplined myself to train as a world champion, and I trained extensively, ate well, and convinced my subconscious mind that I was the world champion. When I entered the ring, I visualized my opponent already on the canvas, knocked out. It became real in my mind and manifested in reality. I was not just a contender; I was the undisputed world champion!
The Role of Innovation
It's important to remember that people's accomplishments often go unnoticed. Many hours of hard work are invested to perform at each level, but not everyone sees this effort. The world can be cruel and heartless, but to innovate, create, and change the status quo is quite exhilarating for those who believe we can make a difference. No one starts thinking about failure until someone plants the seed of that useless word in our subconscious mind. The definition of fear is “false evidence appearing real”. I have one life to live, so I choose to live every day like it is my last day!
Innovation starts with you learning to change, evolve, and be open-minded to new possibilities! To reboot, to restart, and to transform with persistence to get the result you want takes courage in the jaws of defeat. Innovation begins when you start each day with the thought process of what can make you better, constantly looking for improvement. Amid chaos comes great opportunity. Change will never be easy because people are looking for answers that will become the new norm. In this pandemic, many companies faltered from resistance to innovation, but many experienced great growth because they were open-minded to the change of innovation.
LMS and Innovation
LMS survived through this pandemic, being open-minded to the change of automation. We started 40 years ago, adapting and changing constantly because of our loyal clients who insisted on change. I am constantly asking, “Is this the best way or best result for our clients?” LMS starts within the organization by asking associates, “What can we improve on?” How do we make our organization a better environment; friendlier, open to suggestions, and listening to our associates’ needs? Starting within has helped the associates listen to our clients’ needs and improve our systems. Quality of service has become very important in our commitment to our associates and clients alike. So, this also must evolve with our innovation processes to get the results we are striving for. The cost of doing this has weighed greatly on our bottom line for 38 years. The last two years in this pandemic have paid immensely in customer loyalty, financially for OUR CLIENTS, and I feel vindicated for my choice of commitment to innovation.
Commitment
Vindication does not mean puffing up your chest or constantly reminding people that you were right. For 38 years I was, off course, for too long. Innovation takes vision, humility, and determination to see things through to the end of such results. You must see it in your mind first, then write the plan to the blueprint stage, and then ask who can help you accomplish the reality. LMS for many decades looked into many different fields to identify systems and processes that could cross into different industries. I have personally read several hundred books on the subject of business and have taken bits and pieces from each. I immediately implement the ideas into the war room where we dissect each stage and identify how to integrate the changes into our systems. The war room starts with associates’ feedback on how LMS can use this information.
Change is never easy for many, especially when you're in the habit of doing things in a certain manner. LMS determined that gradually implementing these changes with a timeline and involving your associates with openness it will tremendously make things easier. In the book McDonald’s (Behind The Arches), John F. Love breaks down the creativity of each stage and each individual that helped transform McDonald's into the corporation it is today. I have personally read this book several times as I implement my systems, processes, and products into LMS’s assembly line.
The Butterfly Effect
Innovation takes courage, discipline, persistence, and the love to change the status quo! I can continue to write many more sentences on innovation, but I believe if you read this far you know that change starts with YOU! Innovation = An Idea + Implementation - Reboot then (consistency, persistency, and determination)!!!!!!
Commitment and Personal Experiences
C = COMMITMENT You need to care for a better result, a desire that you can make a difference, a passion to change the status quo, and love what you do to be able to commit!!!! Clients and communities know if you genuinely care by listening to their concerns. I was told that you can have sympathy for people which says, “I hear you but I don’t feel you”. It’s not until you have empathy that you hear and feel an individual, that truly starts the journey of understanding.
I strongly believe in marriage, and I have been committed to my marriage for 35 years. This result came after failing in my first marriage, I believed that all I had to do was work, pay the bills, etc, etc, etc… I didn’t understand the word commitment! When you say "I do" in the ceremony, what does that mean to you? Or your spouse? It’s one thing to be responsible for oneself, but to be responsible for another individual is quite an undertaking for that matter. Even more so if children are involved; that is a different level of commitment.
Early Ventures and Challenges
I have 40 years of experience in business, filled with setbacks, resets, and adjustments to my mental, physical, and spiritual blueprint. My first business venture was a tow truck company I started in 1983. At that time, I was working for my dad's body shop when he suggested we get into the tow truck business. With my dad's connection to Mcferrin Motors and my brother Joe, we launched P & M Wrecker service. I was 19 years old, and my brother was 18 and just graduating high school. I worked in the body shop during the day and operated the tow truck at night.
I faced many trials and errors as I worked to achieve what I thought was success. Grossing a million dollars in my first business made me feel invincible, until the oil bust of the 80s taught me otherwise. The oil bust and tow truck business might not appear related, but they were profoundly interconnected in oil-based cities and states such as Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. The downturn in the oil industry led to a drought of secure jobs, and what I thought was a secure company became subject to a metamorphosis effect. Individuals and their families began fleeing the affected states.
Financial Crisis and Personal Impact
This had a domino effect, causing us to struggle to make tow truck payments, shop notes, and even the hefty 16% interest on my parents' house, which we had refinanced. I also had to juggle to keep my personal affairs in order. The overall effect was repos, foreclosures, bankruptcy, and divorce, all at the same time. I found myself in a state of panic, desperately selling off anything and everything that the company had accumulated.
I was committed to holding down the fort and defending it at all costs. This is why I believe that good people will make bad choices and bad people will make worse choices. When money becomes scarce, people become desperate, especially without counseling, mentorship, and the support of family and friends. My first experience with a recession included everything I needed to fail significantly. My emotions were all over the place, and I was failing miserably at every solution I came up with.
I often blamed "I" instead of acknowledging "we," "us," "team," and the support of others, which contributed to the chaos. It seemed like a hurricane with no eye, with wave after wave of winds topping 200 miles per minute, heavy rain, hail, and floods of debt that could not be paid. This chaos impacted my personal life and relationships with family and friends. Instead of analyzing my options, I ventured head-on into the storm, not realizing that many more storms were heading my way.
Watching the movie The Perfect Storm with actor George Clooney, I realized that...
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