Are You Ready When Things Open Back Up?

Episode #363

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Episode Transcript

Doug Holt 0:00  

Would you be worried if your business was left and attended or things opened up? Do you have the capacity right now? Many business owners here in the States, it was like the UK, but they can’t find minimum wage workers, right? They’re offering bonuses to bring in minimum wage workers. Restaurants here in the city that I’m in are closing on certain days. So what’s your plan with your relationships? Like I’m going to this birthday party tonight, there will be a ton of other couples. If I were in there, my wife would go. I’m going for her. Would I be worried? Hello, everyone, and welcome to another episode of The Powerful Man show. I am your host, Doug Holt, with my co-host, Tim, The Powerful Man Matthews. Tim, once again, welcome back, man; it’s great to have you back on the scene.

Tim Matthews 0:44  

Welcome.

Doug Holt 0:46  

So Tim, I got a short one today for this episode. But I want to talk to you about something that a lot of guys aren’t thinking of. And I think they should; it’s things opening up with COVID right now, all over the world in the UK, and in the States, restaurants are opening up people out and about summertime, spring towards the end of spring, beginning of summer. And it’s just in the air. You can feel it’s palpable that people want to get out of the house, they want to travel, I’m flying over to the UK. We’re doing our first alpha reset in a while at the end of June, which is one of our most popular events. And we’ll be doing more and more of those. But the thing that most guys that I talk to you aren’t thinking about is your plan is? When do things open? Do you have a plan? Because life’s going to be different? There’s a lot of things that are going to happen. So in the area of business, you have a plan, when things open up, the supply chain starts to get refilled, so to speak, or are there going to be issues in that we’re going to have ups and downs here. But I think we’re on a trend, as things reopen here in Europe and the States anyway. I know other countries are still having a lot of issues. But what’s your plan for your business? Have you thought about that? Because things will change. A lot of us got hit with COVID. And we weren’t able to plan what we pivoted as business leaders as quickly as we could. But now things are going to open. 

So it’s on you if you don’t plan it. But also, what about your relationships? Things are going to be different for your kids. Are you ready for that as a father? Are you ready to do that? Are you ready to step into that role as things open up for them? If you have young kids, and they’re going to start seeing people without masks on? And maybe they don’t even know it? My kids are used to everybody wearing masks. They’re minimal. So that’s going to be a change. And then what about your wife? She’s going to be exposed to a lot of other dudes, a lot of the guys, and things aren’t haven’t been going well. Things are going to be different, right? There’s going to be a lot more opportunities. There’s a lot of chatter that we hear from some of the guys and some of the men that have been through the program or what have you in a single guy, a lot of chatter about people saying, hey, what, when I can go out, and I feel safe to go out, I’m going on a rampage, a dating rampage. We’re going to be hanging out with as many women as possible etc. Now, this is chatters, and this guy talks locker room talk. But this will bleed over into the gyms into the spas into all kinds of different industries. Whereas you say, Tim so eloquently, where it’s the right guy at the wrong time. The guy hasn’t taken time to work on the relationship properly. He hasn’t taken time to reconcile things. And now his wife is going to be out there. It’s going to be out in the real world, doing barbecues; I’m going to a party, I’m going to a birthday party tonight. It’s going to be a bunch of couples there and things of that nature. 

Now, luckily, my relationship is solid; I don’t have to worry about what my wife is doing. But for a lot of guys out there, they’ll be a little concerned. So a question I guys I want you to think about is, what is your plan? What is your plan for your business? Maybe we look at the five territories. So the five territories again, ourself, health, wealth, relationships and business. What is your plan for each of those territories? As things start opening up in the world? Take time to think about that? Do you have a plan? Is it solid? What do you want to do? What is it now? Your health might not change, although you might have more opportunities to do things that have been closed down. Especially group-type events, if you like to do yoga, CrossFit or whatever it is that may have been closed in your area might be opening up. But what about the other areas? What is your plan? And do that? And we’ve talked previously about black box thinking in a previous podcast and something Tim you do well, where you look at the worst-case scenario that could happen. But what is your plan? What’s going to happen? Would you be worried? If your business was left and attended or if things opened up? Do you have the capacity right now? A lot of business owners here in the States, I don’t know. It’s like in the UK, Tim, but they can’t find minimum wage workers right now. 

They’re offering bonuses. To bring in minimum wage workers, restaurants here in the city that I’m in, the town I’m in are closing on certain days of the week because they can’t staff it. And so, what’s your plan with your business? relationships? If I’m going to this birthday party tonight, there will be a ton of other couples, good-looking couples. If I wasn’t there, and my wife was going, I’m going before her. Would I be worried? Do I have something to worry about? Or if my wife said, Hey, I’m going to go out with the girls, and we’re going to go to the bar, or we’re going to go to a concert? Are you going to be worried about it? Are you worried about where she’s going? Are you worried and concerned with what’s happening? And if the answer to any of these businesses and relationships is two easy ones for me to look at, wow, I don’t have a plan. And crap, I am a little worried. Now’s the time to take action. Don’t take action afterward. COVID, we didn’t know it was coming. So everybody took action afterward. We didn’t know. Some people took action immediately and said, this is changing things. I’m going to pivot, some people waited six months, and their businesses failed. Or they weren’t able to pivot in time. This is coming. So the onus is on us as men, right? The onus is on us as men to plan for the change, and it’s going to be a change. Are you a leader in your household? How are you going to lead your family so that you feel safe? I know some people listening to this; they feel safe now. And that’s great. But how are you going to leave that because there are going to be conversations your kids are going to be involved in, there are going to be different, there are going to be situations they’re going to be in, they’re going to be different, just the way it’s going to be. The same thing with your relationship; things are going to be different. Are you ready for that?

Tim Matthews 6:38  

Yes, it’s interesting as well. COVID has shone a light on many things that haven’t been working in relationships, now people have been cooped up together, and they can cut it. They could get away with it before because they’d leave early, leave them early, go to work, come back. And they might have spent as much time with one another, they could have been distracted by things outside the house, but then put them together 24/7, and COVID has shown a light on things. And it’s going to continue to do so when things muck up. Because if you’re not ready and don’t have a plan, imagine it like a worldwide date night. Or a worldwide date week, your wife or whoever is going to see a lot of that, I imagine anyway, she’s going to see many people going out and taking advantage of things. A lot of dates are happening, maybe for example, and if you haven’t planned something, and if you haven’t taken advantage and seized the initiative, then you’re going to stand out more than ever, as well.

Doug Holt 7:45  

Hey, sorry to interrupt the show. I wanted to ask you a question. Do you ever feel like something’s just missing, like there’s something more out there, and you just can’t put your finger on it. I get it. Go over right now to ThePowerfulMan.com/freedom to discover the system that other businessmen just like you are using; we’ve included 10 case studies, ten men just like you who have found the solution and found their way on their path. But we want to share that with you; go over to ThePowerfulMan.com/freedom right away. Now let’s get back to the show.

Tim Matthews 8:26  

So I think you raised some great questions about how you handle the conversations around safety and boundaries and so on with this. And at the same time. If you’ve not already planned it, it’s kind of like Christmas. The whole world is going to be doing something at the same time. If you don’t buy your wife a Christmas present or maybe Valentine’s as well, then you kind of stick out, and it’s the same here if you’ve not planned perhaps a trip to go away together. I’m sure you’ve spoken about things during COVID. How do you wait when things are up and back up? Wouldn’t it be great if it would be great if we did this? We went there and tried this food I’ve missed in this restaurant? This is your opportunity to be able to plan. I mean, wow, you guys must have so much ama in the tank of places you want to eat at, trips you want to go on, your things that have been missing you and your wife. And also, guys, this is an opportunity for you to really go out there on your road and be filling your cup and coming back to the relationship very full, and arranging things for your wife on her own as well. However, the kids do this thing for you, take this bag with these things in it, and you’ll be good. So it was a real opportunity for you guys here, a real chance for you to stand out. And it’s going to go one of two ways, and there’s going to be no middle ground with this. You’re not going to be able to half-past this. You’re going to have to go all in and be prepared and organize some great things, showing that you’ve listened, or you’re not, and it’s going to stand out. 

And that might be the thing that seals the deal if the relationship has become rocky during COVID and then things reopen, and you’ve not arranged some of these trips or restaurants or the other things you’ve spoken about. Is she then going to think? I’ve given some hints here for the past 18 months. I’ll be listened to. Does he care? Is he that bothered? Point a little bit of weight during COVID as well during lockdown is true, though, right? Some people have stopped working out, been drinking more, and turned to food. All sorts of excuses come in. That is a great topic, a very timely one. So if you’re in this position, guys, I strongly urge you to talk a lot about guys listening to this and some taking action, some not. But if I were you, I would get your journal out tonight in the morning, and write down what some things I can plan are? How can I do this? And you’re probably going to face some resistance. You have to put some thought into it. Maybe about the safety aspect, but don’t get caught out. Don’t get caught sharp.

Doug Holt 11:24  

I love your Christmas analog. Whether it’s Christmas, Hanukkah, Ramadan, whatever holiday you might celebrate, it’s coming. It’s the same time every year. And how many guys get caught, the last day the night before? Oh, crap, I need to buy presents. And they run to the store and buy whatever’s left, which is crap. So many guys, and the excuses are horrible. If you’re one of these guys, hey, look, I get it. At the same time, you’re out of reasons. It’s just coming—every year. I’ve been their man, where I’m like, Okay, I’m going to get on this. It’s October, and I’m going to start planning. The next thing I know, it’s like December 24. I’m like, Oh, shit. What happened? I had so many other things to focus on. Well, this is similar. We know this is coming. This is all opening up opportunities never before opening up and even in good marriages. It’s, things are coming out that you want to be prepped for. You don’t want your wedding to be good. You want your marriage to be great. Intimate, connected, you want your business to be great. Not good. Good. It’s not good enough, is what I always say. And that’s where you want to focus, guys. So could you sit down, write that I recommend it? Carve out an hour in your calendar. Right now, carve it out; hey, I’m an hour. I’m going not to disturb my thinking time. Write down your five territories, self, health, wealth, relationships, and business. What is my plan? Things are changing in the world. 

What is my plan to take advantage of these opportunities? Because otherwise, you’re going to be stuck there on the 24th day of December, so to speak, knocking on the door that’s not going to open. Please let me in. So I can get a gift. Please, I’ll buy anything. And I’ve seen this happen. When I was in college, I paid my way through college, working in a retail store one time. And on the 20, the day before Christmas, people would come in, and they would buy anything. They were buying kid’s toys for their wife so that they had something for her to unwrap. And I can only imagine how pissed she would be. Don’t be that guy. It’s don’t be that guy. is what I’m going to beg you guys. And that’s how you do it. So sit down, carve out an hour, write down the five territories again, that’s self, health, wealth, relationships, and business. And then what’s my plan? What’s my plan if things open up? Where are the possibilities here? For me? And then how can I mitigate those? How can I collapse time by learning systems and programs in these areas that will help me accelerate things, make things better for myself, and utilize that leverage your resources and resourcefulness? 

Tim, I love that analogy. So, guys, it’s up to you to take action here. And as always, if you’ve been here with us for a while and you’re getting some value out of these podcasts, I’m going to ask you again, as a favor to myself and Tim and the rest of the men involved in the movement is to leave a review. And that’s how other men like you find this, and they avoid being there on the 24th of December. Just leave an honest, authentic review. It means a lot to us to allow other men like yourself to find us and enjoy this movement in this community of great men. And of course the future for the first time with us. Head over to ThePowerfulMan.com/bonus and grab a free training session. It’s free training; there are no strings attached. Make sure you get that. Well, there’s a string attached. I’m going to ask you to apply the training into your life, so you get some value out of it because that’s what we’re here for. Gentlemen, as always, I love having you with us. That’s a wrap for us here today at The Powerful Man show. We’ll see you next time. As always, take action.