One of the foundational aspects of being an entrepreneur is how intimately your business is tied to your personal life, for better or for worse.
When things are good, they’re great. You’re crushing it. All of the pieces of your life are moving in unison, like a well-timed orchestra. The business supports and complements your personal life, and your personal life gives you the energy and space to go 100% in your business.
But when it’s bad, it’s really bad. When your personal life gets torpedoed, so does the business. The ship sinks beneath the waves until it runs aground or hits bottom.
While we’ve still been running classes thanks to our awesome instructors, it’s been pretty obvious that any media production and appearances by yours truly as the lead instructor have flatlined.
In the span of less than 90 days last year, I discovered my ex-wife was cheating on me, divorced her, moved out of my house and back in, blew through my savings and racked up debt trying to stay afloat, and left the country on an extended overseas deployment. To say my life was upended is an understatement.
I don’t want this to come off as a sympathy-seeking, sad-boy, woe-is-me post though. I’d rather choose gratitude. Sarah was a lying, cheating, pathological narcissist, and my life has been infinitely better without her. The people who matter stuck around, and loved me without question through all of this. As bad as it was, it would have been a lot worse without family and friends to lean on.
Although this isn’t the deployment I would have chosen for myself, I love the Army life and I couldn’t ask for a better group of guys to do it with. I’m learning a lot and building up a great stock of stories for around the campfire.
And most importantly, the SARCRAFT story isn’t over, not by a long shot.
Creating and re-creating this business has been one of the great character development experiences of my life, and every time I’ve had to rebuild it, I’ve learned something about myself. Every setback has been a lesson, and one that’s made me stronger, tougher, smarter, more patient, and more disciplined. I’m certain this time will be no different.
If anything, it weaves the ethos of what I believe deeper and deeper into our DNA. It’s the things we talk about all the time. Tenacity. Resolve. The refusal to back down no matter the odds. Being hard to kill. And above all, the will to PREVAIL, come what may. I look forward to picking up and carrying the weight of what’s been given to me.
I’ll be damned if I quit now.
Quitting would be a betrayal of myself and everything I stand for. And an insult to my family and everyone else who’s believed in me, as well as the instructors like Steve, Buck, Mark, Phil, Stephen, and Shaun, who have tirelessly toiled alongside me to keep this vision alive.
In the meantime, expect class offerings to be a little more limited and responses a bit more slow. Running a company from half a world away is challenging. We’re offering most of our core Essentials classes, but most advanced level classes and private training will probably have to wait until I get back. If you want to support us but if you’ve attended every class on our current schedule, spread the word, share our posts, write a review, refer a friend. It all adds up, and it’s all appreciated.
We’re not going anywhere. We appreciate you all, and I’ll see you on the other side.
#PREVAIL
– Alex
