HANDS AND DAYLIGHT

Death comes to everything with a heartbeat. Economies are strong in war, farmers and butchers deal death to provide our food supply for 300 million people. Few of us continue the traditions of hunting and gathering, planning and preserving, gardening and growing. We turn a blind eye to how food is grown, killed and processed. What will they say about us in 100 years. Will they teach our great grandchildren how we created injected animals and plants, will they say we partook of a barbarous communion of genetically modified flesh and fast food that is no better than injesting soylent green?

What will they say about us using fossil fuels, burning wood, creating landfills, mining, processing, burning, refining.

For the most part, I'm ok with the way we live. There are things I would like to change, but compared to the way it was, I couldn't be happier to live in this land, raise my children in this country, and believe in this flag and what it stands for. I love that we can harvest and burn wood, that we can mine ore and make steel, that we can refine crude oil into fuel. In 200 years will my way of thinking be extinct?… Probably…

Words are our greatest tool. Words are free for anyone. As kids we said, "sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me". The truth is words can be a blessing or a curse. They can build empires or cause wars. Bridges can be burned by words said in haste. And the right words chained together can literally change the world. Shaking someone's hand, looking in their eyes and letting them know "HERE I AM". That's how real deals are crafted, that's how trust begins. If a word comes out of your mouth, you yourself need to believe it.

His family has been in Maine's wood industry for three generations. Out to prove himself, and with his hands and daylight, Brody Cousineau overcame many obstacles, including rewiring his brain as a young child due to his extreme Dyslexia, now his superpower. Striving to prove the family name after dropping out of college, every time he made a mistake, he also made as he says a "tuition payment". From running a mill at 22 years old to pushing through the economic recession, this podcast is filled with laughter, sadness and wisdom. Brody shares with us his deepest thoughts on failing to fail, and always finding yes.

As an entrepreneur, it's our duty to pull the best out of our team each and every day. We need to be even tempered day in, and day out. We need to motivate individuals, teams, new hires and seasoned vets. Respect cannot be forced upon someone. You can not demand respect. Respect is earned many ways. Employees ARE your piers, they are are the lifeblood of your business. They are trusted with company secrets. They are the voice on the other end of the phone when customers call. They are the ones putting your master plan in action. Without them, nothing exists. They come to work each day from unique living situations, different lifestyles, and diverse backgrounds. And every single person on this planet has something to offer this place before they leave. It's our job as leaders to help them tap into their full potential.

People are an interesting creation. Each one of us has free will. We are all born with this innate ability to know right from wrong. It's in our DNA makeup. But the smarter we get, the easier it is to mix the two. The smarter we think we are, the easier it is to convince ourselves of just about anything. Man is the only creature that has freedom to dream, and look at the earth as a playground. We have the intelligence to pull raw materials out of the earth, mixing them and forming them into whatever we want. We are also smart enough to survive in comfort, unlike the rest of the animal kingdom. We pre-plan our meals, shelter, family, lives. We don't run on instinct alone like other two and four legged creatures. We are designed, and driven to build, invent, create, dream, and explore.

I believe, that once distilled, there are three types of entrepreneurs. The first type is the one who wants to start a business because they want to work for themselves. They see working for themselves as "freedom". Even if their business owns them, and their time, the sheer fact of not having to work for the "man" keeps them engaged in their work. Many times, this person is a sole proprietor, or has a handful of employees. They are happy with paying their bills, taking a yearly vacation, coaching their kids ball games. They are content and enjoy defining their daily schedule. They take challenges head on, They work hard, play hard, and are truly living life to its fullest. They yearn to have a financially healthy lifestyle, not looking to build an empire. That's OK… because happiness is defined by the individual person. Success is defined by how the individual interprets it.

If you are one of the select few who live on this earth with a business mind, understand this… Statistically speaking, 75% of the people you employ on your journey will not make it to the end with you. Few will stick with you as the trail is blazed. Most will leave, or be asked to leave. A saboteur may weasel their way in, like a wolf in sheep's clothing. A good apple one day, may start to rot and stink the next. Before you know it, a rotten apple has turned the whole batch rotten. I've learned the hard way, I once lost my cult of culture, I lost the answer to the question "why". I've been on the forefront of an event that I blame on my own youth, and the result of having a young entrepreneur's mind. But, this rule of 75% loss, I've changed to a 75% gain, so how do we get there?

People ask me what is jujitsu. I say, jujitsu is what allows a man to be free. Jujitsu is what frees your mind from the noise. Jujitsu is not a religion, although, it is spiritual at times. Jujitsu is about trust Trusting yourself, trusting your partner, trusting the positions. Jiu Jitsu is about letting go. Letting go of what your brain naturally wants your body to do. It's about letting go of ego, letting go of that primal instinct you as a man believe you have. That part of your brain that says in a fight you would win. Because men are built with a block in their mind, some call it a warrior spirit. But having the spirit to be a warrior is futile without training. That block in our brain disguises the truth. You are naturally numb, you are born numb to the truth. It's why young men can walk into battle, it allows us to feel invincible.

To be great at something, you don't have to start with having a bunch of money. You don't have to start with catching a lucky break. The only thing you have to start with, and the most valuable thing that you have been blessed with is your mind! Every great thing in this country and in this world formed first in someone's mind. The minds of men and women, and children...YOUR MIND, is the most valuable asset in the world. When you wonder why CEOs get paid tens of millions of dollars, it's because that organization, that corporation, that enterprise, is investing in what's in that person's head.

If you are a young entrepreneur or starting a business from scratch, there is no such thing as Friday's and Forty hours. You need to work until the work is done. Make hay while the sun shines, that's not just a saying, it's an actual statement of what needs to happen. Get used to structuring your entire life around the health of your business. Plan on always being on call for whatever part of the business needs your attention. I think when entrepreneurs are young and ambitious, but lack experience, they have a distorted view of how much actual work will be done by them and them alone. NOTHING can be built in 40 hours, over a five day work week, especially if you are building an empire. Those building empires don't have timelines. Their week doesn't start on Monday, and end on Friday. The ultimate goal is to have financial freedom, freedom from time, freedom to do the things in life that can only happen with entrepreneurial independence. It's easy to be blinded by grandiose ideas. But you will put more work in, then you ever thought imaginable. Any business takes a minimum of three years to start making some type of profit, if you're lucky. Plan on three years, 36 months of 100 hr work weeks, 3600 hours. That's a start. Unforeseen problems are inevitable regardless of how streamlined your business plan is.