Living out of a suitcase isn't all fun and games for sure. It's very annoying in fact. This week is the start of national dance competitions and patience is in very short supply as 5 people live together in a hotel room designed for 2 small asian people.  It's a tough gig on its own for anyone normal, but especially hard for someone like me who has to have everything just-so...  My small amount of grace is waning thin much to the sadness of those that surround me... my family.

Don’t fly too close to the sun... you’ll fry, crash and burn to a crisp. These are the thoughts that race into my brain as I sit here on the balcony in Rocky Point sipping coffee.  "I made it."  I survived the onslaught of work that I placed in front of me to get to this moment.  Four days away with my wife and a few great friends free from work and the busy-ness of being a parent with no schedule or major decisions that HAVE TO BE MADE.

It feels good, honestly.  But, I have the sinking suspicion that I barely got here by the skin of my teeth.  I almost didn't make it... and that scares me.  I have worked tirelessly over the last 6 years to build this business.  If you were to add up and average the work week I have put my heart, soul and efforts on the line for 5 Words Media (my day-to-day business) it would probably run dead-shot in the 80+ hour work week.  That's not healthy.  I'll be the first one to admit it, but the exhaustion pace and the desire not to fail is something that I was willing to live with more than the actual realization of becoming a failure.

How different would your life be if you lived with courage 100% of the time? How different would your thought-life be? How different would your emotions, relationships, and perspective be? These are the thoughts that run through my mind in those moments when fear grips me.  When the desires I have for my business , life and family seem just out of reach.  I am afraid and I run to my mentors or podcasts to search for the answer that will "fix my current situation" and stow away my fear and it hits me...

“I always choose the fuel option.”  

This isn’t one of those posts about living large or look rich to be rich.  This is just a look at a simple choice that I made a long time ago after I realized that life is short and that time is in short supply.  As an starting entrepreneur, your time is the most valuable asset you have.  Because, in a party of one, if you are not working one side of the business, then the business isn’t working.  

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind. Time has been stolen every which way from my day and when I did manage to have a moment to spare to write a post for Divergent Entrepreneur, I found myself plagued with the single question:  "What if its not good enough?"

Writers for centuries have been asking this very same question and using the term "Writer's Block" as an excuse to give themselves breathing room to break through on their next novel, poem or even small blog post.  When in reality, at a deeper level something more sinister is going on.  

Hard work is all it takes to make things that keep you up at night a reality. Your dreams are valid and they are a window into a potential reality if, and only if, you are willing to do the hard work it takes to make things happen for you.  I know that people "know" that it takes hard work.  It's not like in this day and age with information so readily available that people are unaware that it can be a down-right uphill climb some days to start a business.  It's just that they are not prepared for the level of difficulty at which the work becomes hard.  

Happy New Year!  The celebration rang out through our neighborhood in Peoria, AZ and I woke to the sound of fireworks at midnight when my jet-lagged brain thought "here we go again."  2018 had come and I was not even close to being ready for it.  2017 was an amazing year of firsts.  First time on a cruise.  First time traveling to Europe.  First time my business became a multi-million dollar venture.  First time publishing a book & first attempts at becoming a serial entrepreneur all climaxed into a glorious crash of epic proportions.

What are you waiting for? This is the question I often ask people that say that “some day” they want to do something different, unique and amazing with their limited time. Being a Divergent Entrepreneur means that you buck tradition and go against what others deem as ordinary.

The day after a launch can be a double-edged sword sometimes. In one moment you feel a sense of peace and release and on the same hand you feel a sadness that what you were building up to may be over.  You spend a moment early in the AM collecting your thoughts remembering that feeling you had when the first person said "hey, I preordered your book!" to the scary pit in your stomach when you realized that they were actually going to read it.  

That sense of dread is the same feeling a parent has when they send their kid out on stage or the sports field of their child's choosing to measure themselves against their peers in full view of a watching audience.  But, that small moment of dread faded to a new sense of excitement because "I know what is next and you don't."

When I first sat down 6 months ago and uttered the phrase "I am going to write a book" it was followed up with a second sentence "and so should guys."  That sentence was directed to the gentlemen across the table from me.  A group of individuals I called to meet at a coffee shop one morning and spun a crazy idea of building something completely different than any of us had built together before.  A business that would take the knowledge, beliefs and core principles we had learned over our many years as entrepreneurs and deliver it in a compelling way to those who needed guidance.  

Two of those men stepped forward and their Origin Stories are almost complete.  I am excited to be a part of their journey and share what I have learned in these first few weeks with stepping out first, communicating a vision of how I see the world of business and being a resource for those thinking of doing what they love to do occasionally the main pursuit of their passion.

Someone once told me that "Life is not a sprint, its a marathon."  That sounds lovely, but honestly I have learned that it is more a series of sprints separated by periods of reflection and readjustment.  While we wait for our two authors own individual stories to come, we have something else coming and you can only guess what it is... 

I will let you know soon.  Till next time DE Community!

After I finish reading Origin Stories: The Rise of Ministry Man, I am happy to report that the stories and insights held within I have personally witnessed in the author’s life these past 15 years.  Daniel Gourley is one of the most creative and dynamic people that I have ever known, and it has been exciting to see this creativity, vision and passion he has for people summarized so nicely in the pages of this book.

Over the past 5 years, I have seen Daniel display each of the core principles he talks about emphatically in this book.  I have seen the good times and the joy that success has brought as well as the hard times that all of us entrepreneurs have been through on the road to building a business.  One thing that I know to especially true about this book is Daniel’s value for the people he employs and the customer’s he serves daily.  I have witnessed firsthand the community that has been built internally in his business at 5 Words Media and externally amongst his customers, most of which who have become life-long friends.

I would charge you to dig deep into these pages.  Every question that is asked is intentionally focused at you building a business that has no place for average.  The business that Daniel has built and calls for you to build will truly change your world and community you find yourself in.  So, strap in and get ready to step inside the mind of someone who has managed to stitch together a winning formula for creating a business centered around service, passion and honor.

Kevin Lawrence
The ROCK Group