Dan Waldschmidt's Blog, page 11

When Lofty Dreams Demand Unpleasant Sacrifice.

It was April 22, 1951, Donald “Lofty” Large and the boys in B Company found themselves face down in the dirt. “Lofty”  laid in the ditches by the Imjin River, holding his breath and waiting for the order to be given to attack.

At 20 years old, he was at war. Defending troop routes against the Chinese. Fighting against communism.  His night was spent watching the fireworks in the sky from gunfire and returning fireworks of his own. The rest of the time he spent huddled in the cleft of a shallow hole. Hoping to avoid the damage of enemy gunfire.

The smell of gunpowder stuck in his nostrils.  It seemed the ringing in his ears never ceased.

His company had the fight of their lives ahead of them that night.

This attack would pass. But it would soon be followed by another. Over and over and over. Seven attacks that night, to be exact. Historians would later name this the battle of Gloster Hill.

During the last attack, Lofty was shot in the left shoulder twice. He had two open bullet wounds and least 18 pieces of shrapnel in his arm. He also had a tracer from the same weapon embedded in his ribs.

He had narrowly escaped death. Shot to pieces and surrounded by an enemy much larger than them, B Company was soon forced to surrender.

That is when the real fight began. Lofty and his company were forced on a ten day march to a prison camp. With bullet wounds festering. Barefoot.

Forced to give up his boots, every step Lofty took was a painful one.

Sticks, thorns, and stinging bugs tore the flesh from his feet. His wounds felt like burning lava inside his damaged shoulder and chest.

His feet screamed. His legs gave out. But every time he fell, he got back up. Despite the agony, he marched on. He marched for his life. Staying down meant a bullet in the head from his Chinese captors.

He limped into camp barely alive. He would spend the next 700 days fighting for his life.

It would be two years later before he received any medical treatment for his bullet wounds. Days before his release as a prisoner of war, a Chinese doctor removed the tracer round from his ribs, but not the shrapnel in his shoulder.

He would leave camp a skeleton of his former fighting self.

His arm had atrophied, and he lost almost all movement in it.

He had been starved — going from a fighting weight of 217 pounds down to barely 136 pounds at the time of his release.

After his return home to the UK, Lofty was offered a medical discharge from the Army. But he wasn’t ready to give up the fight just yet. All he had ever wanted, since he was a child was to go to war. So he declined.

He was determined to go back into the battle. Not just as a regular. As a badass operator in Britain’s elite SAS unit — a fighting team equivalent to the US Delta Force. A group of the best-of-the-best warriors.

He worked tirelessly to recover —  while serving his duties in the quartermaster’s stores and in the regimental police of his local unit. He conditioned and rehabilitated his arm on his own. He had to. No doctor would help him. They told him that his arm should be amputated. That getting use of his atrophied muscles would be impossible.

But Lofty proved them wrong. He battled through the pain. But he knew what he wanted. And he was willing to pay the price. It took time, but his arm recovered. He beat the odds.

Lofty decided to go big. And got accepted into the SAS.

He completed the brutal SAS training — twice, in fact — and was ready to deploy when he had a freak accident on his motorbike. He broke his ankle in several places. This would prevent him from being deployed. Or so you would think.

He just decided to keep the situation to himself.

Being no stranger to pain or the endurance of it, Lofty didn’t think twice before he wrapped his ankle, put on a boot two sizes too big to accommodate the swelling and pushed through the daggers of pain. With every step, he could feel the pressure on the broken shards in his ankle. He could feel the swelling. He could feel the heat of the pain.

He knew that if he could endure two years of torture and starvation and untreated wounds, Lofty knew that he could endure a few weeks of ankle pain.

But it wasn’t a week or two. The pain wasn’t about to stop with untreated broken bones. He had signed up for service that was full of unpleasant sacrifice.

He was asked to lead a team that was sent into the jungle to locate enemy special force bases and report back the location.

For fourteen day stretches, the men would have to be silent, never uttering a word to each other knowing that the slightest noise could cost them their lives. They couldn’t bathe. They couldn’t smoke. The only thing they could do was eat the same bland meal every day. Curried bullied beef. Curried sardines. Curried everything.

There was no limit to the pain the jungle could inflict.

They would go to sleep in the jungle and wake up covered in leeches. Having to pull them off every part of their bodies, even the most private ones. They suffered bug bites that they couldn’t slap at because it might be too noisy. They got rashes everywhere from the brush and the elements. Not scratching was a mental exercise in itself.

Mission after mission, Lofty and his team found victory. Tracking, locating, targeting and destroying the enemy. “The trick is to do it and hope to Christ you get away with it,” he would tell his unit.

And “get away with it” they did,

On Lofty’s last mission, he and the other soldiers were required to complete an 8,000 foot climb in the dark of night. It was like climbing up the side of a cliff ten times higher than the Empire State Building in New York City.

It was a mission that seemed impossible to almost everyone. Except Lofty.

They each carried packs on their backs full of special operations gear that weighed 120 lbs — more than half of Lofty’s body weight. One wrong step would mean instant death.

Every step  — every climb — got heavier with the supplies on their backs.

Lofty felt his previous ankle injury with every movement. And every time he heaved his backpack to a more comfortable position, he was reminded of the bullets and shrapnel still lodged in his body.

For ten hours, they climbed, one foot in front of the other.

Raw agony. A test of human persistence. Lofty encouraged his men with every step.

The packs got heavier, but they moved forward. The mountain got steeper, but they would not stop. Their steps got slower, but they pressed on. Following Lofty, the man they looked up to.

When they finally reached the top, they surprised the rebels — easily defeating them. Another victory for a man who understood that big dreams require sacrifice and pain.

That was a lesson he would spend the next 27 years teaching as an instructor in the Army with one of the SAS’s two reserve regiments.

Even at the end, he practiced what he learned in the jungle. Fighting for his life. Fighting leukemia. Fighting through his pain. Never complaining. Always smiling. A warrior willing to do what was uncomfortable.

Big goals demand unpleasant sacrifice.

Lofty knew it. So do you. Now you have act like it.

Instead of avoiding anything that makes you hurt, you have to embrace the discomfort. It is what you powerful.

It’s what gets you closer to what you want to be.

Stop giving up on your dream just because you get banged up. Life is going to treat you unfairly.

You are going to feel pain. A lot of it.

There is no escaping it. No avoiding it. It’s on you to push through it. To find success. To follow your dreams.

You’ve heard the phrase: “No Pain. No Gain.” It’s the truth. What you go through, you grow through.

There is no path to success that avoids discomfort.

There is no opportunity for greatness without pain.

You have to decide. Do you want to be good or feel good? Do you want to make progress or excuses?

Lofty made his choice. Now it’s on you to make yours.

Pete Scholey, in his book SAS Heroes: Remarkable Soldiers, Extraordinary Men wrote perhaps the most compelling description of Lofty’s inspiring leadership: “When I joined the elite SAS unit, I was told that the best way to survive those first years in the squadron was to pick out someone who you thought you would like to be. It wasn’t until later in my service that I learned that most of us had picked the same person — Lofty.”

It’s On The Other Side Of A Battle.

It’s a battle out there. The daily journey that you undertake isn’t meant to be fun or friendly at all times.

A lot of the time it’s a struggle. A struggle to stay focused mentally. A struggle for financial resources. A struggle to stay motivated.

It’s natural for you to feel like you’re always in a fight. Especially if you’re going places.

Creating progress requires friction.

You going to feel pain in your life.

It is natural and necessary to be uncomfortable.

There is joy you feel in achieving progress. Satisfaction and fulfillment in looking back and noticing how far you’ve come.

What is often confusing is the feeling of dread and anxiety you feel when approaching what needs to be done.

Once you realize that there is discomfort and stress in forward progress, you start to question how much pain you’re willing to endure and if it’s going to be worth it in the end.

The truth is that it’s never easier than you expect it to be.

It hurts more then you want to hurt.

Success is a little more elusive than you think it will be when you first get started.

That doesn’t mean you give up or back away from your dreams. It’s just a reminder that it’s a battle. And the person who wins the battle, is the one who is willing to sacrifice and endure hardship.

If you give up now, you get nothing. No awards. No honorable mention. No wealth, fame, or empowerment.

Whatever it is that you want for yourself, it’s on the other side of a battle. A few of them.

So toughen up. Get your head straight. It’s not meant to be easy. It’s got to cost you something.

This fight you’re in right now is one of them.

Until Then, You’re Going To Stay Stuck.

The answer is out there. You’re not the only one facing the problem that is in your way right now.

Others have been there before and figured it out.

You’re there now. And even though it feels like your situation is all-consuming, the answer is out there waiting for you to discover it.

It’s not going to come to you automatically. You have to seek it out.

You have to be obsessed about the answer.

Here is the most important thing to remember — without humility you won’t find your fix.

You can’t pretend like you have it all figured out, and actually figure it out. You have to pick one.

Success requires you to be vulnerable. To admit that you have a problem and are desperate for solution.

That’s not easy or automatic. Especially if you bold and determined.

Your natural reaction is to throw back your shoulders and pretend to everyone else around you that you don’t need help.

That you have it going on. That you’re the person who needs to teach, not learn.

And that’s exactly why you’re still stuck. That’s why you’re frustrated.

Your answer is out there. You just won’t find it acting that way.

When you’re ready to change, the answer will appear. When you’re humble and ready to learn, you’ll see the solution.

You’ll find the answer. Until then, we’re going to stay stuck.

There Isn’t Room for Everything.

There isn’t room for everything. 

There’s not enough space in your life for both negativity and inspiration. They won’t fit. You have to choose one or the other. 

You have to choose between bitterness and acceptance. You have to choose between believing the best in others or assuming the worst. 

You can’t do both at the same time. 

You don’t have room for both compassion and conflict.

More importantly,  your choice has a significant impact on your results and lifestyle and destiny. 

Your results show your choices. They tell the real story of your life. What you’re thinking about. What you believe. What you choose to value.

Which is why it matters that you do whatever it takes to avoid negativity. To push it out of your life. To stay away from those who wish to bring it closer to you.

There is excitement and adrenaline in being angry and hateful and bitter. There is adrenaline in talking down to others so that you feel better about yourself.

But once the emotion is gone, you’re left empty — emptier than when you started.

It’s a drug. You don’t control it. It controls you.

You can’t handle it in small quantities or walk away from it unscathed.

Your future depends upon your ability to stay inspired. Your results determine your lifestyle.

You’re not just sacrificing happiness by choosing to be around negative people. You’re sacrificing wealth and beautiful experiences.

What a horrible choice. Inconceivable. But all-too-common if you’re not careful.

Protect your motivation like the treasure it is. Safeguard your inspiration and positive perspective. Fight to keep your beliefs alive.

It’s the small things that trip you up. The unfocused rage. The debilitating negativity. Friends who care more about drama than about you being successful.

There isn’t room for everything. You have to make a choice. Either keep hope alive or let it die under the burden of other people’s negativity.

Make room for inspiration.

The Superpower You Wake Up With Each Day.

Everything is a choice. You realize that, don’t you?

No one can force you to do anything.

Make no mistake, other people are going to try to pressure you. They are going to try to force your hand.

You might even have a gun to your head at some point — literally or figuratively.

But you still get to make the choice.

You are in complete control of your life. Even when things seem to be spiraling madly out of control.

You’re the one calling all the shots.

Some of them subconscious — like what you think or how you feel. Those are habits that you either neglect or cultivate.

In truth, it’s the details that determine how quickly you get to where you want to be. It’s the things that you excuse away. The reasons you give yourself for not improving.

Those are choices that you have been entirely control of. No one else.

No one is forcing you to be sloppy. No one is forcing you to make excuses for your bad behavior. No one is forcing you to stay in bed or point the finger at other people.

That’s all you. And it’s you who can change any part of that right now.

If you don’t like where you’re at right now, change it. If you don’t like where you’re headed right now, change it.

Why wait until things get so ugly that your choices are limited and your friends are few?

That is the power of your choices.

That’s the power of believing that you have a choice. That you always have an option to do it your way.

But why use that option to make excuses? Why use those decisions to excuse away mediocre performance?

You’re working way too hard trying to pretend to others that you’re awesome. You can use that same effort to just be awesome.

It takes time. It won’t happen overnight. Nothing is automatic, easy, quick, or in a straight line.

But that’s okay.

You can choose to do the hard things because you believe that they will get you closer to where you want to be.

You can choose to forgive people who do you wrong, knowing that bitterness is just a distraction.

These are just choices. And you get to make them.

 You get to decide everything — that’s the superpower you wake up with every day.

Right now you have unlimited control over your life and your destiny. Believe it.

Let that truth soak into your soul. Let it possess you. And propel you. Towards that place you’ve always wanted to get to in your life.

Being The Warlord Of Your Destiny.

“It’s very sad for all of Kokang,” said a former soldier of her death. “We have come to say farewell to our leader.”

On July 13, 2017, in the hills of Burma, “Uncle Olive” passed away peacefully in her sleep. She had retired years earlier to the beautiful countryside, guarded in her secluded compound by a militia of loyal fighters. She was the world’s most fiercesome warlord you’ve never heard about before.

She didn’t set out to rewrite history books. She just knew that she was different. Instead of trying to be what other people told her that she should be, she lived life on her terms.

And that changed everything.

Olive Yang was born in British Colonial Burma in the late 1920’s. Her family was considered royalty in the region, so expectations were high, but Olive was not the type of “princess” her family expected her to be.

Quite the opposite. She had no desire to become a princess. Or even act like a little lady. She rejected the idea of motherhood or getting married.

Instead, she chased after her brother’s girlfriends and dressed like a boy.

Her people expected her to have her feet bound and marry a prince. Instead, she became a warlord and a drug smuggler. She ruled an entire corner of the world.

But it wasn’t easy.

Her parents, and the rest of the royal family weren’t willing to tolerate her nonsense for long.  As soon as they could, they forced her to get married. To her cousin.

Where she was forced into sex until she became pregnant. She didn’t want or need a child. She was a child herself. Overwhelmed after giving birth to her son, Jipu, she left him with a wet nurse and made a mad dash for the hills of Burma’s remote Kokang region. Never to return.

Over the next fifty years, she would turn those hills into her empire. Ruling with power and genius opportunism. She provided a unique service — guarding caravans of raw opium through the hills to the Thai border.

It was a man’s business. But she decided it was her business.

Soon “Olives Boys” — as her militia of hundreds of pistol-toting warriors were known — controlled a worldwide operation. At home, she ruled over a region the size of Luxembourg.

Her shipping routes in the Golden Triangle grew to be the second largest source of illicit opium in the world. Her secret? She was the first person to use trucks, not mules, to ferry opium through the Burmese highlands. She built a financial empire as big as Pablo Escobar in his prime.

And how did she use that wealth?

Besides wooing famous Burmese movie actresses, she plotted the demise of communist leaders.

A woman fighting against dictators.

She was cunning and ruthlessly efficient in her craft. Using the opium trade to fund her anti-communist crusade.

She was good at it. So good, the CIA decided to get behind her, secretly giving her weapons to keep her militia in full force on the ground.

She bucked conventional wisdom at every turn. Wearing men’s clothes instead of dainty dresses. Cutting her hair short instead of letting it grow out. She was openly gay in a world that punished such behavior by death.

Weirdly enough, her nickname for much of her life was “Miss Hairy Legs”.

A name given out of humor and respect by her loyal fighters.

She spent years in prison where she endured horrendous torture and sexual abuse. She faced death threats from her government and power struggles from leaders within her organization.

She was Olive Yang. No one else. She did things her own way. Not asking permission or waiting to be told what to do. It was truly living on her own terms.

And then, at the peak of her power, she stepped down. Retired from being a warlord. She gave the entire operation over to one of her lieutenants, Lo Hsing Han, whose job was to carry a jar of cigarettes for Ms. Yang.

Wealthy beyond measure. More powerful than the military of the country she lived in. Wise. Capable. And witty.

She was all done fighting.

So she gave it away and settled into a simpler life — further earning the respect and adoration of the rebels in her country.

In her late 60’s she was called out of retirement to help her people negotiate a peace treaty between the Burmese government and the Burmese rebels. That treaty unbelievably lasted twenty years, until 2009, when fighting again broke out.

By that time, Olive Yang was wheelchair bound and living safely in a compound full of militiamen who called her “Uncle Olive.”

She wasn’t supposed to be any of that. Or do any of that. She was supposed to look pretty and marry smart — living out her life in luxury and wealth.

But she wasn’t about to let that happen.

She was determined to live life on her own terms. To direct the course of her destiny.

She was accountable for her behavior and took ownership of her choices. But through it all, she offered no excuses. No explanations. No equivocation.

She was the warlord of her destiny. She fought for the right to live life her own way.

Whether you agree with her choices or not, you have to admire someone so committed to success. Someone so dedicated to getting to where they want to be that they stop at nothing in pursuit of that dream.

So what’s your excuse?

What is stopping you from standing up and standing out? You automatically start the game in a better position than Olive.

You probably won’t face torture, rape, or sexual abuse. You might face some mockery and skepticism.

Stop crying about it. Grow up. Take ownership of your dreams.

Be the warlord of your destiny.

Dreams Are Free. Progress Isn’t.

Did you think that it was going to be easy? That you are going to get the lucky break that no one else in your position will get?

Come on now. Stop being delusional.

The truth is that you have a dream, but so do a lot of other people. The world is full of people with dreams.

Having a dream doesn’t make you special.

It just makes you a person — a person just like everyone else around you.

It’s not your dream that determine your greatness. It’s your resolve. It’s your ability to put in the unrelenting effort that progress demands.

You have to be so obsessed about building momentum that it is all you can think about. You don’t have space in your brain for anything else besides getting to where you want to be.

It’s not going to happen for you if you’re not entirely consumed. It’s just not.

You’re not a bad person. You just don’t want it bad enough.

That’s tough to hear — but it’s the truth. If you wanted it bad enough, you would be acting differently. Wouldn’t you?

You wouldn’t be looking for shortcuts or trying to duck doing the hard things.

You would be “head down” pursuing your dream with every fiber of your being. You would be reading different books. Books that help you realize progress towards your dream.

You would be spending your money differently. You would magically find that money you never seem to have when it comes to paying for a coach or a mentor or a digital course that accelerates you closer to your dream.

You would be spending your time differently.

Less TV. More dream. Less sleep. More dream. Less whining. More dream.

You’ve become good at the wrong skills. You can make great excuses. You know how to sound sophisticated while blaming other people. You can chill out like a champion. Taking a break is your thing.

Imagine what you could accomplish if you were burning with passion.

Imagine the possibilities that would emerge for you if you were obsessed entirely with turning your dream into reality.

You’re not guaranteed that life will be fair to you.

You’re not promised another day.

Easy is the result of first doing what is hard.

Stop looking for luck, and simply use the moments you have to create results. Today is that second chance you’ve been asking for.

This moment is an opportunity for you to change your future.

It’s the same moment everyone else around you has.

Quit bragging about dreams you will never accomplish and put in the work and humility to make progress.

Be obsessed about momentum.

Where you are right now in your life is the direct result of what you did in the past. Where you go next is a result of what you do now.

You Decide Your Future.

What would you do if someone told you that you only had three years to live?

Charlie Wedemeyer got the shocking diagnosed of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) when he was in his early 30s. Better known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, the disease was a death sentence.

He had been healthy all his life. A shocking specimen of human achievement.

The quarterback superstar of the Punahou School football team star in high school, he was named Hawaii Prep Athlete of the 1960s. After playing football at Michigan State University, he married his high school sweetheart, Lucy. Together they had two beautiful children. A son and a daughter.

Their lives were perfect. No sign of disease.

Until Charlie’s hands started getting weaker and weaker.

He could barely hold the chalk he used to share game plans on a blackboard. He finally went to the doctor to see what was causing his increasing pain.

Can you imagine how he felt when the medical team told him the horrifying news?

He might live a year. He might live three. But he was dead already.

As the news crashed down around him, all Charlie Wedemeyer could think about were all the things he had never done. And all the things he wouldn’t be able to do. He thought about not seeing his children grow up. About not being able to walk his daughter down the aisle.

About not being able to see his son play the game they loved so much. About not being able to hold the love of his life, Lucy.

He left the doctor’s office — and sat in his car and cried. Long, painful tears. He was devastated. Not only would he not get to do and see all those things, but his family would have to watch him die.

That was something he wasn’t willing to allow to happen.

He going to fight. He was determined to win. In an instant, Charlie decided he was going to beat this. Death was not going to be the outcome.

“I can beat this! I can’t quit. Please don’t let me quit…..Promise!” He asked his wife, Lucy.

And she didn’t. Even as his symptoms got worse.

First, he couldn’t do a task as simple as opening a jar. Then, he couldn’t put his pants on by himself. He hated accepting help from his children.

It was embarrassing that his eight-year-old son had to help dress him. This was not the way it was supposed to be. He had been an all star football player.

He was strong and fit. Or at least he used to be.

He should be able to stand up in the morning. His wife should not be keeping her ears at attention at all times for the “thud” his body made as he hit the floor….. again. And again. And again.

He went home to Hawaii to see his family and a local shaman. He was willing to try anything that would help him beat this terrible disease.

But his health continued to deteriorate. The long, slow death curse was becoming a reality.

Los Gatos High School, the school he coached at, didn’t want to renew his contract. After all, how could he coach if he could barely live? But Charlie wouldn’t quit.

“Who is going to teach those boys about life? About not giving up? You are going to have to fire me, because I will not quit.”

Charlie continued to do what he loved — coaching football.

Through slurred speech, he called plays. In a wheelchair, he sat on the Los Gatos sidelines, Lucy next to him, coaching his team.

Even though he hated having his children and Lucy do everything for him, he smiled and joked and never let on that he’d rather be able to do it for himself.

It was a fight every day. Every month. Every year. One year. Then two. Three. Four. Five. Six.

It was year seven when death came close. And everything changed. Charlie was rushed to the hospital. The sickness had paralyzed his lungs, leaving him unable to breathe. He had to be put on a ventilator and lost his ability to speak. He could no longer call plays.

Lucy remembered Charlie’s words, “Please don’t let me quit.”

And she didn’t. The disease crippled his body to the point where he could only move his eyes, lift his eyebrows, and move his lips. But together Lucy and Charlie fought for the coaching job he loved.

She read his lips as he called plays. Shouting the routes to the quarterback. Positioning the defense. Coaching. Leading. Guiding.

The team didn’t win the championship that year. But it wasn’t over.

Charlie and Lucy were back on the Los Gatos field the next year. Not only did they coach a young team, but they coached that team to the victory Charlie had always wanted.

They won the state championship.

That was the last year Charlie coached. He stepped down to focus on the fight for his life.

For thirty two years, Charlie battled a disease that was predicted to kill him within three. He refused to give up. Refused to settle. He continued to smile, joke, and keep his positive outlook on life. He continued to show up at all the Los Gatos football games every season with a smile on his face.

“Pain and suffering are inevitable— we all experience it. But misery is optional.”

Charlie would not allow misery to control him. He kept his sense of humor with winks and facial movements.

He made it his mission to make everyone feel better about themselves.

It was 2010 when Charlie Wedemeyer lost his battle with ALS. He was 64 years old.

He had defied all the odds, living three times longer than the longest life expectancy for the disease. At his funeral, the HP Pavilion was filled with hundreds of his former players and friends. People loved sharing stories of their time with Charlie.

Despite losing his speech, his ability to walk, and all ability to be independent, he continued to encourage people to do more. If he could fight this battle, there wasn’t a battle any one else couldn’t fight as well.

That’s the secret to success — fighting.

Choosing progress over pity.

You aren’t owed a good life just because you are a good person. You aren’t guaranteed a successful future just because you try hard.

The truth about life is that sometimes bad things happen to the best people. Sometimes good intentions yield poor results.

Success is not about the resources you have but how resourceful you can become.

You might not find yourself fighting for your life right now, like Charlie. But you might find yourself fighting to make money, to get in shape, to better your health, to get that raise or promotion.

Living is your choice. Winning is your choice. Fighting is your choice.

Some people will tell you you’re wasting your time.

And it might feel like it most days. Just know that you get to decide the story of your life.

You decide how you’re going to respond to the circumstances life brings you. You are the captain of your destiny.

Your past does not decide your future. You do.

We Failed At Podcasting. So We Did It Again. Better.

Can I share a behind-the-scenes story about failure? My failure.

Almost two years ago we started working on a podcast here at The EDGY Empire.

As we begin to talk about putting together a production of our own, we began to throw around some really crazy ideas. Our dream was to put together a series based on the real life stories of ordinary people who lived life heroically.

When I wrote my book, we had developed over a thousand stories, so I figured sharing those stories via podcast wouldn’t be much more difficult than writing about them in a book or doing research.

Boy, was I wrong. In every possible way. Seriously.

Don’t get me wrong — the entire experience was wonderfully educational. Call it a trial by fire. We ended up doing 38 interviews and capturing almost 70 hours of interviews.

We would then listen to the audio and come up with a possible story arc before going back and chopping up the audio to tell that story. When that was done we would create a story narrative and draft voiceover copy that I would go into the recording studio and dictate.

My Chief of Staff would take all of this raw audio into his superhero lab and combine the interview audio with the story narration, adding in sound effects and music to create a single episode.

If it’s not clear, let me be a bit more candid.

Each episode we created took us about a month’s worth of work — over 100 hours to bring you a 12-minute episode. It’s no wonder that our Ordinary Heroes podcast only lasted one season.

Even with considerable plays and some great vibes in the podcasting community about our new brand of storytelling, keeping the podcast alive just became impossible. So I killed the project.

Not an epic failure. Just a disappointment. Thousands of dollars worth of recording equipment and audio software no longer being used.

Until a month ago.

I was having brunch with a new friend of mine who challenged me to kick-start the podcast again. But to do it differently this time.

“Just talk to people,” my friend said. “Teach them something. You get paid a lot of money from really big companies to either speak from a stage or sit in a boardroom advising very important people. What if you could take all of that experience and behind-the-scenes strategy and bring it to people who are going about their daily lives?”

For some reason, that conversation struck a chord with me.

Here’s what I heard my friend say, that he never actually said out loud. “Don’t do interviews. Everyone else is doing interviews. Stop trying to copy them. Don’t make the podcast so complex that you can’t get the episodes out the door. Use your talents and assets and experience to help people with simple, contagious insights.” 

Just make it happen. Stop thinking. Do.

I called my Chief of Staff on the way home from that breakfast meeting and told him that we were going to relaunch the podcast.

Here’s the kicker: we decided to go live in exactly one week. We had to be able to pull this off in a matter of days. Not weeks. Not months. A few days.

I’m proud to announce that we hit our goal and that we’ve got a great strategy for bringing you high-quality content on a regular basis.

We’re going to bring you as many episodes as you can stomach. We’re going to keep it simple.

Each episode will be under 20 minutes.

I’ll be talking to you from the heart, sharing stories, anecdotes, and real life lessons that I would share with the billion dollar companies that hire me on a regular basis.

There is no charge for this. No upsell planned.

Just me learning a lesson in bringing great ideas to life. Learning from my accidental failure.

So I am happy to be sharing with you the Edgy Conversations with Dan Waldschmidt podcast. The name isn’t a surprise. The guy behind the mic isn’t a surprise to you.

Listen in. Join the conversation. You’ll find our podcast in all the awesome online spots. Whatever you do, don’t do nothing ;-).

iTunes
Google Play
PocketCast
RSS

Everyone Isn’t Already Doing The Easy Things.

You probably heard yourself say it before: “If it were easy everyone would be doing it.” It’s witty. And it seems true. But it’s not.

It’s easy to make a phone call and talk about something that you’re passionate about. You might call that selling or pitching or cold calling. It’s really just you having a conversation. It’s easy.

But not everyone is doing it.

It’s easy to read a book and learn a new skill for which you need some improvement. By learning, you are getting better. Which means you’re likely to make more money and achieve success faster. It’s not hard. It’s easy.

But what was the last book you read?

How do you ever expect to do anything hard if you’re not willing to do the easy stuff?

It’s easy to try to make more money.
It’s easy to learn something new.
It’s easy to keep moving forwards.
It’s easy to be accountable for your actions.
It’s easy to follow up on promises that you’ve made.
It’s easy to tell the truth instead of lies.
It’s easy to take a look at the details.
It’s easy to put in work each day.
It’s easy to invest in your own success.
It’s easy to avoid making excuses.
It’s easy to lead yourself towards greatness.

All of that is easy.

And a thousand other things that you’re too busy to get started on right now.

It’s easy to try and care and work because those things get you closer to where you want to be.

Staying stuck — now that’s hard. Feeling busted up and hopeless inside — that’s miserable.

The truth is that not everyone is doing these easy things.

Maybe you’re one of those people. How ridiculous is that?