Monday Motivation: What Do You Do When It Gets Hard??

Happy Monday, everybody. Hope everybody had an amazing Father's Day weekend. To all the dads out there, just give it 1 second here. And then, of course, Juneteenth today. What an amazing day. Filled with sadness, hope, and all the above. Some 100 plus years ago, right. June 19, 1865. Right. You know, two some years after the Emancipation Proclamation, you know, all the soldiers from the american troops, you know, declared all enslaved individuals to be set free and actually happened, right. So two years plus, two and a half years plus after the emancipation proclamation, so.

And, you know, some hundred and some odd years later, in 150 years later, I think we'd all agree that, you know, civil rights and ways in which we can show up for other individuals continues to, needs to be better. Look no further than George Floyd's situation two plus years ago in our backyard here in Minneapolis St. Paul. So always remember how you're showing up for every individual, every individual, no matter what individual of color or otherwise. So just always remember that on Juneteenth. Next is, you know, I just want a quick hit.

So hope everybody had an amazing Father's day weekend celebrating Juneteenth. And then last but not least, here is, you know, our product officer Alec Dewitts ran the grams marathon this weekend. So congratulations and kudos to you, man. 2 miles jaunt from two harbors, Minnesota, all the way to Duluth. So congratulations. Way to go. 2 in exactly 3 hours and 25 minutes. So he ran at an amazing clip. Way to go, Alec. Incredible job. I'm so proud of you, brother. As I was there to watch, I was there to watch you cross the finish line.

And we couldn't really connect post marathon because there was so much chaos with all the individuals there. But you did an amazing job. The one thing that I want to share about that is, you know, my message today is about, you know, stopping, quitting, enduring, continue to go through. So, you know, a lot of people sat at the finish line and they watched the first wave come through the fast. You know, the Kenyans that were coming through in 2 hours, which is just ridiculous if you think about it.

And the Kenyans came through, and then the next wave of individuals came through maybe by the three hour mark or somewhere on that ballpark, right. And then the next wave came through around the 4 hours and 5 hours. That's normal to finish a marathon, but while I'm sitting there, I'm having lunch and I'm having, you know, an opportunity to sit through this and watch this go. I'm still trying to find Alec. And ultimately, there's individuals that are still finishing 6 hours later, right. 6 hours later.

And furthermore, there's individuals waiting and cheering them on, right. Showing up for them. And just like, you got this, you got this. And some individuals, you could tell, like, their knees, their ankles, all the things, right? But do you know how many individuals actually finish a marathon that they sign up for? 99%. 99% finished that race, which is crazy to think about, but. Right. So I encourage you to think about your race, you know, your race of life, right. It's not just one day, but it's.

It's all about it, right. And how do you show up, you know, when times get tough? How do you show up when, you know, things don't go your way? You know, how do you show up when you have to sit and watch paint dry for a while, right. When you have to watch the grass grow? And in the reality is, very few people can actually sit in the pain that the way they need to. To endure the way they need to, to reach goals, achieve milestones, stick with things, follow things through. Right. So let's take it a step further.

My personal situation. I started a company several years ago, and you talk about, like, distributions and all those other things that you hope for when you start a company and whatnot. I mean, we're seven years in. I've never received a distribution check ever. Right. Ever. I've never received a distribution check. But also, that's not what I did it for. But we certainly have salaries. We certainly have that, but we never received a distribution that never went out to everybody. That just never happened in seven years.

You have to be okay with the fact of what you're actually doing it for and why you're doing it. And those individuals heading back to the marathon that signed up for that race, that they don't care about the two hour finisher. They don't care about the three hour finisher. They have their goal to suffer and endure and do the hard things to reach their finish line of life. And their finish line of life just so happened to be June 18 or, excuse me, June 17, 2023, grandma's marathon. And I just can't commend those individuals enough that stuck with it, went through the hard, figured it out through the process, right.

2 miles did what they needed to do in order to keep going and keep the jaunt going. And what you're going to find is marriages, business, relationships, partnerships, friendships, relationships, all the thing, all the ships. What does that look like for you, you know, from an enduring perspective? And how do you show up to endure? And what does that look like to get through the hard and. And how do you work together as a team in order to achieve goals, to dream bigger, to do amazing things, either as teammates or as individuals.

2 miles. Way to go. Unbelievable marathon. You did incredible. We're all so proud of you at Cadre. Wonderful job, my man. Awesome. Way to crush Juneteenth. Let's not forget that. What it actually means, what the importance of it. Let's be educated and informed and the Father's day, right? So as far as Father's day is concerned, I hope everybody had an amazing Father's day weekend. And you remember what Father's Day really is all about. You know, building that confidence and growth with those individuals that you're raising that they can do amazing things in this world.

Support others, love more, care more, do all the things that are important and why we show up. So with that being said, have an amazing week, do something special, treat everybody with respect and dignity, and be good to one another. And always give it one more endure because you can do it.