The L.D. Sewell Podcast

Self-limiting beliefs and other peoples opinions often discourage people from taking the very actions that could help them change their lives for the better. What about you? Anyone ever tried to talk you out of doing something you really wanted to do? It happens all the time. The thing is though, you are the one with the ultimate power to decide to listen or disregard what you are told. In the end, it is you that must decide - and always remember it is your responsibility good bad or otherwise. Other people are not going to live your life for you. They aren't going to pay your bills either - so decide for yourself what it is you want to do. Trucking is a way to change your life and change it fast. In some ways, it is like a Tiny House or an RV that comes with a paycheck, provided utilities and other benefits too! Now don't get me wrong - there is no free ride in trucking - you will earn everything you get. But it is a way that you can make big progress and make it fast if you can handle it. So do some research and look into it - then decide if you want to pursue it further or not. Check out www.ldsewell.com for links under courses to my existing Udemy courses and keep an eye out for new courses that will appear in our own training center on our site over the next few weeks too.

So how exactly can you begin actually making progress toward building that better life? Believe it or not - it is simpler than you may think. In fact, it all hinges on just a few critical elements necessary to get started;

1. Mindset
2. Goals
3. Task Management Systems
4. Personal Financial Management Systems

You may place a higher priority on one over the other and rearrange the order - but one way or another you are going to need all of these things. There are many other things you may need and use along the way too - but all these are critical elements necessary to make serious progress in changing your life for the better. Visit www.ldsewell.com and sign up for our email list if you want to be informed of resources and tools as they become available. We have just released several new courses on Udemy and have more coming in the next few weeks. We are also getting ready to launch our own Training Center on our own site so there will be new courses available there too soon and our Shop will be open in the next few weeks and will feature products, tools, and resources to help you design and build your own version of a better life. A centerpiece of our products in the shop will be our Planner, Journal and Task Management Systems, We will also feature many other products and resources to help you. Enjoy this episode of our podcast and I will talk to you again soon!

The key to making things happen and getting things done isn't in making single big moves - but rather by consistently making small but steady progress each and every day. In other words, step by step by step - that is how you can realistically get from where you are right now in life to where you want to be. You can and should also use task management systems to help you see where you are going, stay on course and on schedule and assist you with getting the important things done each day. If you do that you will be among the two in ten who actually accomplish meaningful things in life. Too many people work their asses off - but in reality, they are just spinning their wheels and wasting their lives - they focus all their effort on things that in the big picture of life overall are near meaningless... So all they are really doing is just enough to get by in the normal world and the normal system. People I choose to work with don't want that anymore at all - they want to get ahead in life instead of just being normal and just getting by. To get ahead - as I repeatedly mention - requires a few key things;

1. Vision
2. Goals
3. Plans
4. Task Management Systems
5. Support (Information/training/feedback/community etc.)

Part of a good task management system will include checklists. Think about that for a moment - who uses checklists? Pilots, surgeons, the military, astronauts and many many others. Why? Because they work! There are simply too many things to keep track of and with all the noise and clutter in the world constantly competing for attention and the fact that it is very hard to always remember everything needed to be remembered time after time without ever forgetting anything, and in some fields forgetting a single switch or setting or key task will have severe consequences. That is where a checklist steps in and saves the day. In some of the things - such as the ones we mentioned - failing to remember key things can be fatal and otherwise catastrophic on much more massive scales depending on what is involved. That's why they use checklists - to do everything possible to make sure they don't skip or miss a critical step. You may not be handling life and death situations as a matter of business or part of your daily routine - yet in your personal and business life missing key things can still cause you and others in your life serious problems. So why not use a checklist when needed as part of your own personal task management system to help you accomplish more and enjoy your life more in the process at the same time?

Everybody wants more money and a nicer life... How about you? There are many ways to get it too. You can start a business of your own with very little money. Some cases you can do it with almost no money - if you have the right information. That much is true. It is also where the gurus come in - ready and willing to give you that magic formula information right now! They can show you how to start your own cash making machine that does not require you to know jack about jack, learn anything much, do any work, or wait for the payoff - you can have it all right now so quick and easy with their super duper secret sauce program. Just as fast as you can get out your credit card and pay. But it won't be cheap - it will be several hundred to several thousand dollars. But don't worry - it is pretty much a sure-fire thing - almost guaranteed (read the fine print - not really guaranteed at all!). Now don't get me wrong either - I love specialized information, training, and all kinds of courses - and I have taken hundreds of courses over my lifetime - some great, some not so much. But what I don't like is when people prey on other people and make promises they know are just very high priced slickly presented utter BS. There are many that fall into this category. Some other courses and systems ARE worth thousands of dollars and a very few are worth tens of thousands - but they are not entry level courses targeting the masses! They are highly specialized courses targeting a very select group of people who can afford them and who need the information they offer. These courses are good - and they are NOT the problem. The bad courses and systems are those DESIGNED and INTENTIONALLY targeting and preying on the working people specifically to extract as much money as possible from as many as possible in exchange for little to nothing of any real value. That type program is what I don't like - those that prey on other people and make promises they know are just very high priced slickly presented utter BS - and ultimately help no one - instead, they leave them far worse off than they were before. Even worse than that - they destroy their hope - so many just quit even trying and think everything is some kind of scam just trying to take advantage of them. Entrepreneurship is great - and you can make a great living - but it will require work, effort and a workable plan that is consistently acted on daily toward achievable goals. Should you take courses and get coaching, counseling, and support? Absolutely yes! The key is to choose a good company to get your training, products, and support from - and when choosing one keep in mind - any real true and long-term success will require WORK from you. You will have to learn new things, take action, and DO things consistently - new things that will be hard to understand and harder to do in the beginning... So choose something that makes sense and that you can make real step by step progress and that you don't have to go into hock up to your eyeballs to start making that progress either! The Bottom Line - There are SOME good and useful programs for beginning entrepreneurs - that have useful information that can really help you and that you can relatively easily afford. But for every good one there are at least 10 terrible ones out there just trying to fleece you - so be careful and proceed - but proceed with caution and buy what you need when you can afford it - and don't fall for way overpriced hyped up garbage in the process...

It's always going to be more about how you manage what you make than just the amount you make. If you make a million but spend a million and a half you have a problem and you will always be screwed financially. Insert any amount you like - whether you earn $300 per week, $3000 or $30,000 per week and anything in between - what matters is the ratio. You must spend far less than you make if you want to get ahead instead of just getting by. Look at all the movie stars and others who make or have made multiple millions - yet are broke or struggling now. Look at athletes and lottery winners - same thing. They have made massive amounts of money - yet they managed to piss it away faster than it came in and that is a perfect illustration of the problem of the perception that income alone is a solution - because it never is. Not by itself. The same thing happens on a smaller scale but still a ratio problem with most truck drivers - and others too by the way - and people always spend equal to or in excess (debt through financing all kinds of stuff) of what they earn. So there is where much of your attention should be focused if you want to get ahead instead of getting by - first get the ratio right - live below your means. Far below it. Next work to increase your income to - more income is better - if you have your finances under control. Use extreme methods - if you dare - and change your life dramatically and quickly. Use good systems for time and task management and plan out your trips to maximize your income. Consider other things you can do while you are on the road to increase your income, cut your expenses, manage your time better and overall improve your life...

How do you see yourself in your job? do you have a BOSS or do you have an Employer? These subtle word choices seem innocuous enough on the surface - but they hint at something far more serious - your own internal references and how you see your situation and your place in your job and the world around you. The dependent mindset leads people to feel they are not really the ones in control of their own lives. They see their boss as having more control over them than they have over their own lives! Sounds incredible and it is - yet this is how multiple millions of people see themselves and their roles in whatever they do for a living. On the other hand, the individual who sees him or herself as an Independent Employee and maintains an independent mindset doesn't see their situation the same at all. They view their work as a mutually beneficial professional relationship that is at will - one which they make the major decisions in and if at any point they are unhappy with their employer, they are ready willing and able to fire their employer and find a new one. They are confident in themselves and their knowledge skills and abilities and will act when necessary to preserve and protect their own interests. Now when faced with ultimatums and pay cuts and loss of benefits these people are far most likely to stand up for themselves and also reduce their contribution to their employer in terms of duties and responsibilities as well as overall time and effort - or simply to leave and seek better employment elsewhere at a better company - or to take their skills training and knowledge and start their own company of some sort. When the dependent mindset employee encounters the same situation - they cave immediately and they just put up with whatever their boss dumps on them - and with every new insult they lose a little more self-respect and become even more dependent on the company and the system as a whole than they were before. Any of this ring a bell - sound faintly or glaringly familiar to you? In the end, it's always your choice how you see yourself and how you live your life. Really. You DO have a choice ... So I recommend that you consider changing your mindset - if you are not happy with your lot in life - and try thinking and doing things differently.

Which Is Better - Buying Your Own Truck And Having Your Own Authority Or Being A Lease Driver? You have to ultimately decide for yourself - but in general becoming an independent owner operator is the best route to go in most cases - if you have what it takes to do it. Many don't. To be successful as an independent owner operator you need to be a business person in addition to being a good truck driver. Otherwise you can be the greatest trucker who ever lived and you will still fail. Too many make the mistake of assuming that since they are good truck drivers they are going to be good owner operators too. Often that is simply not the case. On the other hand being a lease driver requires little to no knowledge of the business of trucking. The company that is leased on to will handle most of it for you and point you in the direction of the rest - probably specifically on what you need to do. The down side is that they also control your freight and that means they control your fate - even more so if you are buying a truck through them. In that case you are captive. Now if you own your own truck and don't have it financed through them under any program - then at least you can cancel your lease and leave if you want to. Thats at least a little better. The reality is that many company drivers earn more and have fewer headaches than many lease drivers do. If you are brand new to trucking I highly recommend you get some experience as a driver and learn the business before you bite off on a lease purchase program of any type - and be aware there are still companies out there pushing these programs hard. Do what ever you choose to do - but make sure you know what you are getting yourself involved in first and what the risks are vs the rewards. If you take the time to do some research and learn about the business of trucking and get some experience as a company driver before you go buy a truck then you will do far better than those who don't.

Often people get frustrated with themselves when they fail to meet a deadline or a goal they have set for themselves - then they just quit trying and give up. They go back to being normal, and normal doesn't accomplish much. In case you don't know it already - you will fail sometimes - that's life. But what you do when you do is what really makes the difference in your overall success or ultimate failure in this life. You see the quitters quit trying - so they lose. They always will. That will always be their fate until and unless the day comes when they they decide to get up, dust themselves off and try again. If you look at the real back stories of the most successful people in history - in business and in all other areas of life - you find that common theme again and again. They never quit. Sometimes they fail. They get bloodied bruised and beaten - they get tired and pass out from exhaustion, and they lay there and rest a few minutes. They gather their wits about them and they get back in the arena and start slugging and kicking and making progress. Then they do it again and again until they accomplish what ever they set out to do. That's how you make things happen. Keep working at it and improving and day by day you get closer and closer until you reach your goals. So keep at it and NEVER quit!

In the world of trucking there are some things you don't have complete control over - particularly as a driver. Your load schedule itself may be set but what you do with the time between pickup and delivery is largely up to you. If you use a specific task management system and work toward written goals following a sound plan you will make progress. That is how you can begin building a better life and making more and more money in the process. This same principle applies to others in the trucking industry, dispatchers, freight brokers and anyone else. For that matter it applies to everyone regardless of what industry they are in. People who have written goals, specific plans and use a task management system effectively consistently outperform those who don't. So get a system and start using it. Nice systems are nice - but the essential elements can be accomplished even with a simple cheap spiral notebook. Take charge of your time and your life. This is so important in all walks of life - and it is critical to your overall success...

Everything in life has an opportunity cost associated with it. To choose to do one thing means to choose not to do another thing - or at least not to do it with full focus and attention. So you will have to continuously evaluate what needs to be done personally and what you can get someone else to do for you. We all live at a great time to be in any kind of business! The tools and resources now provided by technology give us all the ability to hire someone ANYWHERE in the world virtually and do all kinds of work for you efficiently, and that makes it very affordable to get access to all kinds of skills and specialized resources and labor too when needed. Even on a local level for simple labor - there are staffing companies and providers that can have how ever many people you need at your door step tomorrow morning ready willing and able to work - and then if you don't need them again the following day no problem at all. They are not your employees and the staffing company will simply assign them to another work location as needed. This works better for people choosing to do such work too since they aren't locked into an everyday of the week schedule and they can choose what days and time frames they choose to be available. Fulfillment centers have the resources, systems and personnel in place to process, pack and ship almost anything you can imagine from subscription boxes to individual products - all very affordably - and best of all, in a way that can be scaled with you as you grow and need the additional services and capacity. Computer platforms that are fully automated can sell, track, process and deliver all kinds of digital products for you even while you sleep! Personally I think all of this is great. Now anyone trying to cling to the old ways of doing things entirely is like a covered wagon manufacturer right after the automobile was invented and growing in popularity. In other words the companies insisting on the old ways of doing things have a very limited time in life left to adapt now - or they will perish too. When you are building your company do NOT model it entirely on old ideas, patterns and management systems because they will not work properly today and may not work at all in the coming future. That doesn't mean there are no lessons there to learn - and in fact there are some useful methods and systems - and parts of systems that will work. Just not entirely - so you do have to evaluate what works and what doesn't continuously as things continue to develop and change. So what are the most important tasks that YOU need to keep doing personally - and what can and should you outsource as soon as possible?