When I Started My Business I Was Younger, Now I Am 37

Happy Birthday to me. Yes, today is my birthday, along with Miley Cyrus, Snooki, Robin Roberts, Rick Bayless and many others. Oh, and today is Thanksgiving, too. Happy Thanksgiving to you and to your family.

Much like Thanksgiving, celebration days are great days of reset and reflection. They are great days to think about what works and what doesn’t; the challenges and successes you have experienced and what you want to change about your career and your life. I like to reflect transparently and honestly so that I can address my challenges and replace them with opportunities.

I also love the timing of this day (Thanksgiving for most, my birthday for me), in that there is still a solid month left in the remainder of the year. As I reflect on goals created at the start of the year and the steps I took to achieve them, I know that I don’t have to give up on those not completed just yet. Effort, in many cases, is just as good as accomplishment. Steps toward success with true learning are valuable.

At this time of year, I like to reflect on two boxes: life and business. Within those buckets, there are a lot of things. “Things” is a good word to use, as the reflections are not always connected through dotted lines.

In business, I use this time to think back to when I started our agency and how far I have come as a person, as a boss, as a businessman and as a future visionary. When I started No Limit Agency*, I was 27. At 27, I didn’t have a wife or kids or a home. At 27, I had a lot of bullies in business, as I was creating a competitive business in (at that time) a franchise industry that was super small and super supportive of my competition. My competition would bad mouth me at any given opportunity. The bad-mouthing was, at that point, about my age. “Why would you want to work with a kid?” “That kid is too cocky?” “That kid tries to push non-traditional things like social media.” The insults were frequent, harsh (and harsher), and focused on my lack of experience and age.

I also had my support systems. My future wife, Sharon, several clients who have been with me for the whole ride and many friends who have helped shape me and guide me through any troubled water that attacked – like the bullies.

A lot of great things have happened in our business – two cities, five offices, several business extensions and tons of great people.

The experiences over the last 10 years have taught me much about myself, about restraint, about really listing to the lesson my parents taught me and about if you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all. My maturity is getting better (it’s not perfect, as I still lover Nerf guns).

My skin is thicker, my creativity is greater and my drive for excellence is unstoppable.

Today, 10 years later, the insults are still prevalent and the segment challenges still exist. Don’t worry, though, I have learned how to deal with bullies (remember, I was the fat kid, this isn’t my first rodeo). However, what’s interesting about the insults is that they are not against me anymore, they are against we – and “we” is greater than “me.” We can let those insults fly off our backs much easier.

In business, I have a lot I still want to accomplish and a ton of energy to do so. We will create an amazing agency that will do amazing things. We are creating excellence.

Turning 37 means I am in my upper 30s. From a personal standpoint, I have a lot of great things to reflect on. I now have a wonderful wife (Sharon), two beautiful children (Jagger and Lennon) and a home. While those great life accomplishments bring additional responsibilities, they also bring me great relief and support for turbulent days. They are my rocks – my foundational support needed to light another fire for the next day.

In life, I have already, at 37, gotten everything I have hoped for, and more. Life is short and I try to make the most of every day. And when the day is turbulent, there is tomorrow.

As you reflect on your business and your life, are you satisfied? Are you taking the right steps to accomplishing what equals happiness for you? Use days like Thanksgiving to be thankful for everything you have, but also as a moment to dream about what else you want in this life. Set goals, write them down and go achieve them. Even when slow out of the gate, don’t let a year that’s almost over prevent you from taking action steps toward winning.

I look forward to the next voyage around the sun, and to this point next year when I get to experience reflection again.