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Business Isn’t Easy — Stop Expecting It To Be & Reframe your Thoughts to Win
108 Plays2 months ago
Welcome back to another episode of The Better Contractor Podcast. In this episode, Brent gets real about the hard seasons of business. Not the highlight reels. Not the wins. The years that test everything. Too often, entrepreneurship is sold like a fairy tale. Freedom. Money. Flexibility. But anyone who’s been in business long enough knows the truth: there are seasons that nearly break you.
Brent breaks down why expecting life and business to be easy is the lie that derails most people, and how reframing adversity changes everything. When you expect challenges, they stop feeling like the end and start becoming something you move through.
#TheBetterContractor #ContractorLife #BlueCollarLeadership #ConstructionBusiness #TreeCareIndustry #LandscapingBusiness #SmallBusinessOwner #EntrepreneurMindset #ContractorMindset #BusinessGrit #BuiltNotGiven #HardSeasons #WinTheDay #LeadershipDevelopment
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Transcript
Introduction to Mindset and Resilience
00:00:00
Speaker
So in this podcast, we're going to talk about kind of four key things. One, reframing your mindset. Two, winners versus losers mentality. Three, forging and developing that grit.
00:00:12
Speaker
And then four, how to handle the hard season. And actually, I'm going to add a fifth as well. Remember that you are building a story. You wanna boss up your life? All you gotta do is get in with me.
00:00:23
Speaker
I don't even pay to get in the club. They know I'm a walking T. I'm presidential leaving the club. ain't stopping at no lights. You wanna be a boss? You gotta pay the price. Left wrist on frost.
Reality of Entrepreneurship vs. Perception
00:00:35
Speaker
Welcome back to another edition of the Better Contractor Podcast. So today, little bit of a different topic. So a lot of these are motivational, they're kind of helpful. This one's going to be helpful, but also a little bit honest. So what is it about? So I think a lot of times, and especially in the social media world, it feels like a lot of people view business and entrepreneurship as kind of like this fairy tale, almost like a Disney movie that it's It's always great. And it's all these all this freedom and money and just awesome challenges that come your way that you overcome every single time. I just want to say that isn't reality. And for the business owners that listen to this podcast, you are fully aware of that. But the reason I bring this up is I think there's a little bit too much of the.
00:01:18
Speaker
feel good on social and not enough of the real and the raw. And the fact is we have to face those raw and real and tough moments. So I think we should talk about those and what that looks like the best way to get through those. So,
00:01:34
Speaker
First, we'll start off with the lie.
Reframing Challenges as Growth Opportunities
00:01:37
Speaker
So expecting life to be easy is the lie that destroys people. If we reframe it, knowing that it will be tough, it changes how we often can face that hard time.
00:01:47
Speaker
Why? Because we expect the hard time. It doesn't come as a surprise. it doesn't come as a, oh my gosh, my world's falling apart. When you reframe it, that it's going to happen one way or the other, because this is the world and this is that's how it exists.
00:02:03
Speaker
All of a sudden it's not happening to you. You were dealing with it and you were moving through it. So you have to stop expecting that business, that life or whatever is just going to be positive the time and actually expect that it's not going to be.
00:02:18
Speaker
Reframe how you walk through that.
Building Resilience Through Adversity
00:02:20
Speaker
Also, let's be real. The seasons that you hate in life now um can often be the stories that you brag about later if you handle those right. So that's kind of the story.
00:02:32
Speaker
And then the grit is the final. Greatness is formed in those hard times. you need to lean into the fight. Actually, you look at the hard time that you're walking through, the difficult moment, and actually think, I'm going through this because it's preparing me for something more.
00:02:47
Speaker
Because to do the next level, I have to have a certain level of grit. I have to have a certain level of knowledge. You have to move up that ladder. And sometimes these hard moments that we go through in business and in life, that is actually what is preparing us to be able to handle the better moment that is coming. And that's just it's just being honest.
00:03:07
Speaker
So in this podcast, we're going to talk about kind of four key things. One, reframing your mindset. Two, winners versus losers mentality. Three, forging and developing that grit.
00:03:19
Speaker
And then four, how to handle the hard season. And actually, I'm going to add a fifth as well. remember that you are building a story. Sometimes that can help you kind of walk through it. If you actually think through the, Hey, in 10 years, this year sucks, but in 10 years, you know what? I'm actually going to be able to tell one heck of a story because I'm going to get through this year and it's going to be a story worth telling to others and help them on their journey through life as well.
00:03:44
Speaker
So let's start with reframing the hard season. To start off, know that hard seasons separate the great from the
Personal Growth & Reflection in Tough Times
00:03:52
Speaker
average. And how is that? There is a lot of people, business owners, entrepreneurs, just people in general, whatever it is, when certain things hit them in life, they derail.
00:04:02
Speaker
What separates the great from the average? I would consider that more the average, the the derailment. What separates the great is that they walked through it and they did not quit. You to stop asking why me and start asking, what is this building in me? What is this preparing for me in this next level, the next ah peak that I will be at? If you think of life as peaks and valleys, valleys being bad peaks, being your high moments, your good moments, there will always be both.
00:04:31
Speaker
And you can usually ask, what is this valley preparing me for, for the next peak? um And just as an example, and just being kind of real, I'm trying to think as I talk, if there's other entrepreneurs that I've talked to that have not had stories of bad, difficult times. And I really cannot think of any that at some point, and it's usually multiple times that have been in business long enough, they have not went through these really, really bad periods.
00:04:57
Speaker
And most of them have went broke or almost went broke before they then broke through it. And I know just, you know, can, and, my life. So this is 2026 that we're recording this podcast.
00:05:09
Speaker
And I can think of two different years, one of those being 2012. So we've been in business since 2007-8. So we're going on 17-18 years. And I can think of two years that were specifically hard, 2012 being one of those. And in that year, we had grown exponentially fast, which is a good problem, from through 2012.
00:05:31
Speaker
through two thousand twelve going from just like one to three employees 50 to 60 by just five or six years.
00:05:42
Speaker
And in the contracting world, especially in our world, you have a lot of heavy equipment, which at that young age means you also have a lot of debt. So in 2012, we had kind of a cash flow crunch, nothing uncommon for a lot of people in the space if you've had fast growth. And then we also had a few contracts that did not pan out that year.
00:06:01
Speaker
So obviously that became a very, very difficult year. And I can remember a few times that year, just like sitting on the downstairs floor of our house is wondering, Are we going to make it to the next day?
00:06:14
Speaker
Are we going to, you know Christmas of 2013? What am I doing? Am I still owning this business or am i doing something else? And going through those moments of just like doubt, that is difficult. But the one thing I will say, that bad year ended up forging myself so much better than what I was. is I was still young. I was in my low thirty s upper t twenty s at the time.
00:06:40
Speaker
2015, 16, and were some of our best years back then.
Grit & Determination: Path to Success
00:06:46
Speaker
And I truly do not believe if I had not walked through 2012, that 2016, for example, which is a really good year, would have actually happened at all.
00:06:56
Speaker
It was the grit. It was the knowledge. It was the determination that was developed in 2012 to not give up that allowed for 2016 to happen and even years a few years before that.
00:07:11
Speaker
but had i But then I was young enough that I did kind of have more of this different mindset of why is this happening? What did I do wrong? which What I do wrong is a good question to ask. But it was more of a defeatist mindset, even though I wasn't. Like I was still very much, we're going to make it. We're going to win today. We're gonna make it to tomorrow. and We're just going to keep it in repeat on that. But that definitely forced a lot more grit by walking through that than I had prior. So I want you guys to reframe that hard season.
00:07:42
Speaker
and and think that, hey, this may be what it is preparing me for the next best thing. This may be that great story that I tell others. This may be something where this story resonates with a client and I land that big client later because you're being real and they know you've walked through it and they know you can handle it.
00:08:01
Speaker
A lot of people can't handle this. I actually have respect for people who have walked through stuff like this in the business world. Learned from it and then flipped that script entirely and became super successful because of it.
00:08:13
Speaker
Because I know that they can walk through those difficult times. Everybody can walk through and do the easy stuff. Very few can do the hard stuff. So reframe that hard season.
00:08:24
Speaker
Second one, winners versus losers mindset. So winners, what do winners think? What questions do they ask themselves? How do I beat this? What is this teaching me? How do I come out stronger?
00:08:35
Speaker
They cut the distractions, they tighten their discipline, and they push through the misery of that moment. So winners have a can do, will do, take it one day at a time. I'm going to win today. I'm going to make it to tomorrow.
00:08:47
Speaker
What do losers think? This always happens to me. It never works out. They live stuck in the negativity instead of the focusing on the solution to fight their way out of it. And then oftentimes they numb themselves, whether that's alcohol, doom scrolling, avoidance of the issue altogether, or just making excuses for everything that happens that it was never their fault.
00:09:08
Speaker
Numbing yourself, avoidance excuses, guys, is probably some of the absolute worst behaviors you can have and do. If you listen to me or know me well, you'll know I kind of push back against any kind of drug use, alcohol, whatever.
00:09:21
Speaker
And the main reason being being for it is I have always been someone who watches and observes other people, people who are super successful. And I try to pick up on what is stuff that they do very, very well.
00:09:34
Speaker
And I cannot think of very many that I respect that I'm like, man, he was a hell of an alcoholic though. Like he was, he was good. He was a good alcoholic. I've seen alcohol destroy marriages. I've seen alcohol destroy businesses. I've seen alcohol create bad decisions. Never, ever, ever have I seen alcohol actually help a business person in any way, shape, or form.
00:09:55
Speaker
Except maybe socially, but I've seen it the other other way in that more more often than not. But my point is having that beer end of the day, getting drunk creates avoidance.
00:10:06
Speaker
And that will create an excuse. And guess what? You never actually move the ball forward. And guess what? That issue is still very much present the very next day because you lost that day. You did not win that day.
00:10:17
Speaker
So that's why I'm super against that, those different
Avoiding Negative Coping Mechanisms
00:10:20
Speaker
activities. But the next one is the power of grit, the true separator. So grit is doing the work even when you hate doing it. So especially when the season is difficult, obviously you probably don't want to do the work, but you have to, that's how you will get through it. So grit is doing it even when you know you don't want to need to choose long-term victory over short-term comfort.
00:10:45
Speaker
So that's where I'll talk about the big vision, the big goals, these overarching things that you want to achieve the overarching vision. You got to keep that at the forefront of your mind and you got to focus on winning that specific day.
00:10:58
Speaker
Every great person had a moment they wanted to quit. The key word is they did not. And that's why they eventually succeeded. Once you quit, you never know for sure.
00:11:09
Speaker
Could you have made it one more day? Could you have made it one more week? Did you quit a week too early? Was that next big contract? Was that way out almost there, but you quit a little bit too early.
00:11:21
Speaker
A lot of times that answer is unfortunately yes. Are there times you have to call it and move on? Absolutely. And I still say that's not necessarily quitting if you still took a moment to learn from it and you still took that moment to then create something newer and better.
00:11:36
Speaker
um The fact is hard season are are hard seasons build the toughness that you're going to need later. Grit and determination are built upon those actual things. So guys,
00:11:47
Speaker
Probably listening because you want to know how to handle those hard seasons and what are some actionable takeaways from it. So we talked earlier about reframing. So asking yourself, what is this shaping in me? What strength is this season forcing me to build and how can I flip that script?
00:12:03
Speaker
Then you need to control the controllables. So there's going to be things in that day when you say when the day, there's going be things that they're just completely out of your control. There's a lot of things that are in your control and that is your actions, your habitats, habitats, your habits and your attitude.
00:12:21
Speaker
And if you have a team of people underneath you, your attitude is going to determine the culture that they all have. If you go into your day freaked out and worried and upset, and you let all of your people see that, guess what?
00:12:33
Speaker
You're gonna create that same mentality with them. They're gonna become worried because it doesn't appear that you have any kind of plan and you're chaotic, so therefore they will be chaotic. But you gotta focus on what you can control and you gotta take action and do those things now.
00:12:46
Speaker
Earlier, we talked about cutting the numbing behaviors, drinking, scrolling, hiding behind it. It just simply delays it and extends that season. So if you're wanting to try to end that tough season in a year, a month, whatever it looks like for you, whatever is actually feasible, if you're doing those numbing behaviors, you're basically extending that season and making it even that much more difficult for you to actually get through it and win it at all. You need to choose habits that fix it, not habits that hide it.
00:13:13
Speaker
Personally, I would recommend the gym. I would recommend pouring into your family more. I would recommend faith. Go to the go to church, become active, volunteer, help others, but choose habits that are actually building you as a person and not tearing you down as a person.
00:13:30
Speaker
If you're like me, and I think there's probably some facts behind this with everyone.
Maintaining Core Values During Hard Times
00:13:34
Speaker
but I am more productive at work when I'm firing on all cylinders, cylinders being faith, family, and fitness.
00:13:42
Speaker
And if I am doing good or winning and all of those, it just makes work so much easier. But guys, that becomes even more evident in these hard seasons that you have all of those things working.
00:13:53
Speaker
So when you don't do it and you choose those numbing behaviors instead, and you replace the gym, with the bar or you replace not going to church or going to church with not going to church.
00:14:05
Speaker
If you ignore your family because it's just so difficult all day long, you are basically compounding all the negatives in your life and eventually you will have a life that is almost completely impossible to overcome.
00:14:17
Speaker
So guys, these hard seasons can feel overwhelming when you've got to shrink that battlefield. So earlier you probably heard us talk a little bit about like winning the day. You probably heard us talk about, if you listened to the last podcast, you heard us talk about creating like these non-negotiable action lists. And that's what I would recommend in seasons like this.
00:14:36
Speaker
Because the overall issue, whatever it is, however big it is, is going to feel daunting. It's going to feel overwhelming. and that's why I say win the day. You got to break it down to today. If you can win today, that means you made it to tomorrow. If you win tomorrow, that means you made it to the end of the end of the week, hopefully.
00:14:52
Speaker
You win that week, you make it to the next. Eventually, you have made it through that period. But the reason I say that is if you focus on the daunting, overwhelming, large issue, and you never break that down into actionable steps that you can take, it's very difficult to actually get the motivation to go through it.
Transforming Hard Times into Inspirational Stories
00:15:11
Speaker
Once you break it down into these very specific things, making a list for today, a new list for tomorrow, and you stack those days and you stack those wins, eventually you build that momentum. You start to build some confidence. and You start to believe you can actually get through this.
00:15:24
Speaker
And guys, you have to think that way so that you keep that momentum going and you end up winning in the long run. The next one is remember the story that you want to tell.
00:15:34
Speaker
So kind of the cool thing about this can be that this may be that thing in your life where you tell people in a decade once it's no longer embarrassing to you, or maybe you're telling maybe your son or daughter wants to start a business and you're going back through and you're kind of reminiscing about all the years.
00:15:54
Speaker
The season you're walking through that bad season can actually end up being the cool story where you tell people of how you got through X. So whatever you're walking through, how cool would it be to be able to tell that story of this is what happened?
00:16:09
Speaker
Here's the mindset that I approached it with, and here's how I got through it and here's where we are now as a result of how I handled that situation. So think about that story and think about what it will be like to tell that story. So we talked bit about vision casting. That is one of those things.
00:16:25
Speaker
Think about telling that story. What does that story look like? How did you handle it? Were you a better person at the end of this than you were at the beginning? What you don't want to be is the person who this thing hit and then all of a sudden they're divorced.
00:16:41
Speaker
They're ah out of shape. Uh, they lost their business. Their kids and family don't like them. That's what you don't want to be. You want to be the overcomer. So guys, as we close this out, if you're in this chapter currently, it sucks, but just know that this chapter might be the one that defines you in a positive way.
00:17:01
Speaker
Also, you need to expect the adversity. Actually run toward it. Realize that it is going to happen. If you're going through it now and you're about to get through it, there is a chance this happens again at some point. But realize you made it through this one. You developed that grit to allow you to walk through the next one.
00:17:19
Speaker
Life is a series of those ups and downs. And I think the more that we expect it, the better that we can walk through it. But guys, let the hard season shape the version of you that can actually hold that greatness. Accept the grit, this determination, and know that this is building you into the best version of yourself. And that's kind of the cool part of all of it. If you think of like, this is morbid, but think about being on your deathbed, for example, and you think through, man, life taught this life taught me that I walked through all these things and I still helped all these people. I still built this amazing business.
00:17:56
Speaker
I still have these amazing kids in this family that still loves me. I have all these things that even despite this, I still made it through. And that is the ultimate story that we can tell.
Community Support in Challenging Seasons
00:18:08
Speaker
So guys, if you are walking through this or know someone who is, please do share this podcast episode. I think this is one that is not talked about enough. on and on social communities and just in general is how to get through these hard seasons because we're all doing it.
00:18:22
Speaker
and I think it's important to realize that it happens. It's going to happen. If it hasn't happened to you yet, it probably will. But think we've got to be real about it because at the end of the day business is not a Disney movie either, just like marriage is not.
00:18:35
Speaker
So guys, if you like the episode, share it. Also, just a reminder, we do have a private Facebook group called The Better Contractor. If you are going through a period like this, you need some advice and some help,
00:18:46
Speaker
there's at least 2,000 other contractors, I believe, in that group currently, that if you ask, they are probably very willing to help you walk through it, give you advice. They probably walk through it themselves at some point. But also, don't just take. Also, give.
00:19:00
Speaker
Jump in there and see if someone else has something that you can help with. You give advice. You help them out. That's what it's all about. We want to lift the blue-collar community up and help everybody to do better because if you do better, we all probably do a little bit better. So, guys, appreciate you listening in, and I'll catch you on the next podcast.