The Sprinkler Nerd Show

The Sprinkler Nerd Show

By Andy HumphreyEducationLeisureHow ToHome & Garden
Download on the App Store

The Sprinkler Nerd Show episodes

  • #088 - What You Think About

    "You become what you think about." 1956 - That was the year Earl Nightingale recorded the motivational speech titled, "The Strangest Secret", and the secret he delivered was the concept, "you become what you think about."

    2002 - That was the year I discovered (purchased) a CD version of this speech from Barnes & Noble in Columbia, Maryland. I was fresh out of college and had started my first sales job for Chapel Valley Landscape Company; irrigation sales of course!

    Earl's simple little phrase changed my life - it was like everything just clicked. I got it. Everything just magically grew into place. Not quickly, and not in any particular order, but everything that I thought about back then, has now become (mostly) true.

    Not only do you become what you think about; the power is that everything becomes a choice. You have a choice. You get to choose all of it.

    Equally important is that who you choose to be, only matters to you. Not to anyone else.

    I often get caught here. Being or doing something that isn't exactly true to me. Learning to focus on what I really want takes both practice and intention. What do I want? Who do I want to be?

    What has helped, is choosing to surround myself with people who get me, who support me, and who help me become the best version of my future self.

    Thank you for being here with me, I appreciate all of you, and I love hearing from you - even one sprinkler at a time ;)

    Are you who you thought you would be?

    I'd love to know.

    9 min
  • #087 - Entrepreneurs Don't Complain About Problems

    "Entrepreneurs don't complain about problems -- they solve them".

    This quote is from Porter Erisman, the former Vice President of Alibaba Group, joining the company just as it moved out of founder Jack Ma's apartment. In Porter's new book, Alibaba's World, he wrote about this concept and it hit me hard!

    Could this be why people often refer to me as positive? Are all entrepreneurs positive? Perhaps, and, either way, it got me thinking about different personality types, and what makes an entrepreneur tick.

    Through my lens, problems really are just opportunities that are yet to be solved. What could be an interesting way to reframe this, is that not all problems need to be solved, and when you look like that, the problem becomes a choice.

    To solve or not to solve, that is the answer! Yes, no, or not yet...

    Either way, the problem is no longer a problem, and there is no need to complain.

    9 min
  • #086 - The Candle Society

    Okay, I'll add notes. These are the exact notes that I scribbled before hitting the record button. This is NOT word-for-word, but I thought it would be fun to share my brain dump, and maybe you'll find it interesting.

    ==========

    Do you know that when they were trying to put the light bulb into production, THE CANDLE SOCIETY, yes apparently there was such a thing, The Candle Society protested against the light bulb because it was dangerous. And FORD, Ford was actually protested against when they tried producing the car - and the reason for the protest - can your guess - I'll give you a moment - but it will make you laugh - the reason for the protest - "the car can't go through the woods, but my horse can". So they tried banning the whole thing. As humans, we tend to like to consume things that are new, but we are not that good at adopting them. Just like the Technology Life Cycle Curve that I spoke about in the last episode. We like buying that new car, but then the following year when there is a facelift, most people don't like the facelift and it takes time to grow on them because as human beings we are actually not that good at change so we keep things down. Remember how I spoke about the technology chasm? I'd like to propose a potentially simpler explanation. I'd like to propose that those us who use technology to improve our business, are "pre-chasm" people. Remember, this is made up of only 16% of the human population, 2.5" are the INNOVATORS, while 13.5% are the EARLY ADOPTERS. I'd like to propose that for this percentage of the population, change comes easily. And that my friends is what makes technology difficult. Technology alone is EASY. CHANGE is hard. And as we just discusses, 85% of the population does not like change. So, if you are going to use technology to improve your business, or, you would simply like to improve your business in any way, you must begin to become familiar and comfortable with change. Change is the answer. How you run your business today, may not be how you need to run your business next week, next month, or next year. Be Open. and be Open to Change. Be a light bulb, not a candle.
    10 min
  • #082 - You Are An Entrepreneur

    Honestly, I can never spell that word.

    The E word.

    Entre....what what?!?!?

    Luckily there is spell check and I nailed the title, lol.

    Please enjoy this episode, and my reminder is that you stop moving the starting line. Stop telling yourself you'll do it later, or you need to have _____ before _____ can happen.

    Just go fucking start.

    Peace out,

    Andy

    9 min
  • #080 - Be Persistent, Look For Alternatives

    Nugget of the week:

    If you don't get the answer you are looking for, keep asking, and then keep asking, then ask again in a different way, and then go find what you are looking for on your own.

    Why?

    Because nobody cares as much as you do. And if you really really care, you will find what it is you are seeking.

    This also applies to your customers. Advocate for them, on their behalf. Have their back. Look for alternate options that will give them what they need.

    Care about your customers as much as your customers care about themselves.

    19 min

About The Sprinkler Nerd Show

From the publisher's feed

If you are a Landscape Entrepreneur this show is for you. Andy, a former contestant on the ABC hit television series Shark Tank, irrigation technology expert, and multimillion-dollar eCommerce entrepreneur brings his curiosity & creativity to tease out the secrets of successful landscape influencers and business owners.