TACTICAL BUSINESSMAN

Gerritt admits he used to struggle with Tiger Woods syndrome. Just like Tiger Woods was an élite golfer, Gerritt was an élite law enforcement officer, but that level of success didn’t translate to his personal life. Just like Tiger Woods was praised for his golf skills, Gerritt was praised for his work, but his wife wasn’t as impressed by it. You can be the best of the best, you can make hundreds of millions of dollars, but your wife and kids are impressed by your time and attention.

If you want to be successful at something, the first thing you have to do is show up, but then what? Gerritt decided to go for his first full marathon, so he googled “how to run a marathon” and even put in 4 months of training. He did finish, but not without learning that there was a lot to learn if he truly wanted to be successful. Gerritt shares that this goes for anything from running marathons to running an ad campaign, the first step is showing up, but show up with all the tools needed.

Gerritt recalls a police training he attended almost 15 years ago, about liability and mitigating risk. It was long, boring and corny with a, “Can you hear the train coming?”, punchline. Years later Gerritt would come to realize that he and many others do just that, hang out on the tracks even though they hear the train coming. Whether it’s in our business, our relationships or even our body, we need to heed the warnings and be able to course correct or we'll be hit by that train every time.

Have you ever been cruising along, checking things off your list, and then you feel like you hit a wall and suddenly nothing is working for you? Last week Gerritt felt unstoppable, he had just released his first book and everything was going smoothly. Today, however, Gerritt almost couldn’t complete his morning workout and spent hours dealing with technical difficulties. What turned things around for him? Humility. Taking a step back, admitting to needing and accepting help.

When embarking on new goals it’s great to have a mentor, someone you watch and learn from, but ultimately you have to find your own way. Gerritt recalls his first undercover mission after watching and learning from his mentor, it was a blur and felt unnatural. We often get caught in this trap of trying to “fit in”, to dress like others, act like others, but what would happen if you were just you? We’re all here because of who we are, not our ability to act like someone else, so let’s own it.

Gerritt admits that he used to struggle with time management, especially when it came to the boring and time-consuming paperwork side of law enforcement. He would put it off, let it build up, get reprimanded and then grudgingly take on this mountain of work; something had to change. Now he’s sharing what he did to simplify the time-consuming tasks he didn’t enjoy, so he could spend more time on the tasks he did enjoy. The best part, you can implement this method in almost any area of your life.

There are so many different learning styles out there, Gerritt shares the most productive for him is learning with the idea of having to teach someone else. Have you ever heard the saying, ‘when one teaches, two learn’? If you want to really cement something in your brain, teach it to someone else. Not only will this help you, but you’ll empower your whole team by spreading knowledge.

In this episode of The Tactical Businessman, Gerritt tells a thrilling tale from his time as an undercover agent before he gets real about the effects a porn addiction had on his marriage. The word addiction is strong but, like alcohol or drugs, porn is used to mask pain and sedate us. Regardless of how often, a majority of men admit to turning to porn to mask dissatisfaction; it’s just too easy. Gerritt urges men to put in the hard work now that will actually serve you and your relationship.

Consider this: If we didn’t question politics, we’d still be English. Someone has to be willing to question the status quo, we have to look for the more effective options and then we have to fight for them. This can relate to almost any area of your life that you wish to progress in. Gerritt relates this philosophy to everything from his time in law enforcement to his marriage and encourages you to use it in your own life.

Did you know that the average length of war is 10.4 years? If you find yourself thinking you can go in quickly, defeat the enemy and then be done, then you’re thinking of a battle. If your goal is to win the war as a whole, you need to be ready to lose some battles and keep on fighting. Whether it relates to yourself, your body, your relationships, your business, Gerritt challenges listeners to ask themselves if they are ready to go to war for peace?