And we are live. Welcome back, everybody, to Beyond the Tool Belt episode 312. I am your host, Ty Cobb Backer, and thank you for joining us on this Wednesday edition. We will be back after our short intro from our sponsors.

It's reality. Built in the trenches, forged through mistakes, paid for with scars, no shortcuts, just real leaders doing real work. Every week we pull back the curtain on the weight of real leadership. If you're still standing, you belong here. Please welcome your host of Behind the Tool Belt, Ty Cobb Backer.

Hey, hey, hey, welcome back, everybody, to Behind the Tool Belt, episode 312. I am your host, Ty Cobb, and today, family, today marks a special day. I mean, it really is. I don't know if anybody realize or can fathom. I know I can't. I can't digest 312. 312 episodes. Six solid years of showing up every single week. Live, no matter what it's going on in life, no matter what is going on in business. And that doesn't even count the endless episodes that we've done at roofing conventions, trade shows, and everywhere in between. So, so first I just want to say thank you. Thank you to everyone who has followed us, inspired us, pushed us, made fun of us. Thank you. Seriously, sincerely, thank you for growing with us, you know, and for for letting us be a small part of your journey. You know, this community, it means everything. It it really does. Vic and I were talking about that a little while ago, right before the show here, where um, you know, this community is everything. And and now with us wrapping up, you know, the year and a uh brand new one right around the corner, today's episode is is going to be, you know, pretty much all about setting intentional goals and removing people, places, things that don't serve our, you know, our health, our wealth, our spiritual well-being, and uh learning how to you know ride out the highs and the lows and the ebbs and flows, all the good stuff without losing ourselves. And uh this this one for me is is gonna hit home. Uh so uh let's talk about the the power the power of uh consistency. I don't think there's any better topic to end the year out outside of uh consistency. And uh, you know, when I look back over the past six years of of going live every single week, consistency is probably the the most and number one thing that that I'm proud of. Um because let's face it, consistency isn't sexy. Okay, it's not glamorous, it's not um, you know, nobody gives a shit. Nobody knows, you know, how consistent you're being in. And it's it's not anything that that anybody claps for. And and uh I want to just give a big shout out to you know Vic for being as consistent with me on this journey and anybody else who has followed us and helped us in any way, shape, or form, you know, from the early days of of Shane DeGary's basement to when Chris Baker and I were were rocking and uh being creative and and uh throwing out some of our best ideas and and some of our most creative work is the foundation of of where this this is all started, you know, um and and the consistency. Yeah, we wouldn't be here. Um, you know, consistency is is everything. It's it's how it's how a business is built, it's how um a reputation is built, it's how a life is built. And you know, the truth is, you know, consistency, um nobody it doesn't care. You know, it doesn't care how you feel today, it doesn't doesn't care that uh you're tired, it doesn't care that your phone is is blowing up or or if things at home are difficult, you know, consist, you know, consistency ask you know only one question. Did you show up? Right? The greatest aren't great because they got lucky, they're great because they refused to quit on the days when people most people would quit. And look, you're listening right now because somewhere inside you is a desire for more, okay? More for your family, more for your business, more for yourself, okay. Consistency is the price for admission for that more, okay? It's the toll you pay on the way to greatness. And if you want 2026 to look different than 2025, you don't need more motivation, okay? You don't need the perfect plan and and like God knows I've waited, waited for the right conditions, the the right weather patterns, the right people. Doesn't it doesn't, that's not you don't need a perfect plan to get started. What you need to do is suit up and show up, and sometimes even shut up, right? You need to show up when you're tired, you need to show up when you're stressed, you need to show up when no one's clapping for you. You know, 312 episodes, right? And I feel like we're we're just getting warmed up. I feel like we're just getting started. We have new goals that that we're setting with intention, okay, for 2026. And we've been working on these goals, not starting today, knowing you know that January 1st is right around the corner. And if and if you haven't set any goals, that's okay. That's okay. I've sat in my office January 1st, that Monday morning, kicking myself in the butt because I didn't know what we were gonna do for marketing for 2026, and that's a true story. So I called a meeting, Vic and John. What are we doing? Sorry, I was asleep at the wheel, it's probably traveling all over the country or whatever it was. And uh the golden goose was getting ill because old tie backer was more focused on the golden eggs that this goose was was laying, right? We do, we all get caught up in stuff, you know, and and and that's okay. It's it's never too late. That's my point. It's never too late to to start setting goals, and it doesn't have to be January 1st, okay? It doesn't have to be the quarter before, you know, doesn't have to necessarily be the quarter after. There's there's never no good time, you know. It's the time is now. That's that's the perfect time. And and uh, you know, so when you're setting goals, you know, and and not not just the kind of goals that you scribble down on a post-it note, and God knows and Dick knows, and anybody that's ever been in my office knows I have I live off of post-it notes. I live in notes off of you know my iPad, my iPhone, my MacBook. I got notes everywhere. Okay. But nothing beats the old trusty post-it note with the sticky back. Love those things. Still have at least a dozen of them on my on my desk right now. But these aren't the goals I'm talking about. Okay, not the goals that you know we forget come January 15th, and I'm guilty of this. I'm talking about intentional goals that align and that are measurable. Okay. Yesterday we had a meeting, and I kept asking my team, when are we gonna start? And when are we gonna finish? And we we got to do an inventory of our shop. And I think I was annoying them because I was holding them accountable. Okay, what day are we starting? What team are you formulating? And when are we gonna have this finished? Okay, I'm so guilty of leaving things open-ended, whether it's delegating something, whether it's a goal I'm setting for myself, I've learned to become much more intentional, intentional, and and putting things in place to be held accountable. Okay. So it's also a reminder for myself that if I'm making somebody else accountable, then I better lead by example. So the three categories that I'm I'm kind of, I don't know, some of them I'm super intentional about, some of them not so super intentional about, but getting better at. Um one is my is my health, health goals. Talk about it all the time around the people um that I'm with on a day-to-day basis. I share with them things that I'm working on, things that I'm eating, how I'm eating, what I'm not eating, how I'm sleeping, new things I'm trying in the gym. And um, a big place where I find this accountability, I'm gonna give Eric O a big shout out. Because I was slacking a little bit on our bi-weekly call, and he has set up uh an accountability group. And at some point in time, I believe I'm going to be assigned an accountability partner. So on one of the last calls that I was on, not the one yesterday, but the one the time before that, they they were going around the room and asking us what it is that we wanted to work on. What where are we slacking? What is something that we want to improve? And of course, I brought up my health. Because let's face it, I'm not getting any younger, right? And I know body and motion stays in motion. Vic and I also had that conversation a little bit ago. And so I let the cat out of the bag. I'm having issues with my back, I'm having issues with my hip. And there's there's these stretches and exercises that I have to do. Um, I gotta be super intentional about parts and pieces of my body. And if I'm not, then it's only gonna get worse. I have arthritis in my hip. Um, you know, and not that I'm trying to avoid surgery, but there are ways that I could improve the flexibility of my hip and the mobility of my hip and the flexibility of my back and my spine and and my hip flexors and my glutes and and all of the other parts and pieces that that connect all that stuff together down there that I've ignored essentially probably my whole life. You know, because when I've worked out, I ran, I've, you know, I lifted weights, I worked on my shoulders, my triceps, biceps, um, you know, my chest, uh I've you know, but never thought, you know, too intensely about my core, my back muscles, and and those love handles that just mysteriously appeared one frickin' day back here. And uh, and figuring out ways that I can get rid of that stuff and strengthen, strengthen up those, those muscles. So I I essentially shared that with them. And see, and that's that's one way that I hold myself accountable is that I I reach out to people, I get vulnerable with people, and I let them know where I'm at and in hopes that somebody in that in that crowd will um, and I knew somebody on that call that that Google Meet was, you know, there's Joe Huffman's on that call. That dude's the freaking biggest meat head that I know. Um, I know exactly, I know he knows how to take care of his body. He, you know, so I knew I was gonna get good feedback. But but it started with me getting vulnerable. I had to get vulnerable because I always want to walk into a room and act like I know everything and I'm the smartest guy in this room. That's just human nature, I think, for most of us, right? But but we don't learn that way. We don't continuously to keep, you know, we won't keep learning if we're walking around thinking that that um we have all the solutions and all the right answers and stuff like that. So I have to seek, have to seek help in certain areas. And one of those is my health goals. And Eric gave me some good feedback too. Um, but not just not only physical health, but but uh mental health, um, you know, and and um, you know, my spiritual well-being, you know, am I spiritually grounding, grounded? You know, um, how's my emotional discipline? Okay. Um, you know, these are all things that I'm I'm really truly, and it seems like every time around this time of year is when, you know, I start digging back into, okay, where did I slack over the past 12 months? Where where have I fallen? Where where have I failed? Um, you know, because this is this is the deal. If if we're not well, we can't lead well, okay, whether it's our household, whether it's our division, our department, uh, we just can't work well with others, right? And um, so that's definitely something I'm being super intentional about too. Um, this this this year moving forward. And I would say the other one would be um wealth goals, okay, and wealth and success. And and uh you can slice that up, slice and dice that up any way you want to. And I don't necessarily mean um fortune, you know, or fame. When I talk about wealth, I talk about um, you know, what what wealth means to me is, you know, time, time freedom, uh, financial control, uh, making decisions without fear, okay, being okay with myself, feeling feeling good in my own skin, um, creating opportunities for for others, um, being surrounded by people that love me, support me, and and my family's health. Okay, and that's what I mean by wealth. All of those things. Yes, it can mean monetary things, but everything that I just touched on is what uh wealth means to me. Okay, and and per providing opportunity for other people is probably at the top of the list. And of course, my my family and surrounding myself around people that love and support me and don't poke holes in my dreams and and um you know, just uh want to disagree and argue and and push back and create a whole bunch of fucking drama, right? Um, you know, so purpose and and uh you know, people that that share my purpose and and have that spiritual alignment, right? Because because um if if the inside is at war, okay, and I'm only speaking from experience because I've had turmoil, war going on inside my head, going on inside my heart. Um, the outside world will never bring peace, right? It's all an inside job, and we talk about that just about every freaking podcast. Um, and I can't emphasize that enough, right? We got to get right with ourselves, right? If we want to get right with our families, we want to get right with our coworkers, we want to get right with our business, whatever. It's gotta, it's it's an all it's all inside job. Right? It's usually, and it usually takes place behind closed doors where you're not getting that applause, you're not getting the clap, you're not getting that pat on the back. Okay, it happens on the garage floor. It happens when you drop to your knees outside of your bed, you know, when you roll out of bed in the morning and you drop to your knees. That's that's when it happens. No one's back there to pat you on the back and say, Way to pray every morning, Ty, or or when I pick the phone up when it feels like 10,000 pounds and I'm struggling with something, but I know somebody's out there that that has the answer to my solution, okay, and being vulnerable. That's where real real growth happens. Okay. And this is the thing about goals. Okay, most people set goals based upon you know the person who they are right now. Okay, I'm guilty of it. I've done it, I've done it for decades. Okay. But your goals should be set by who you want to become, your future self. I think I got that from Ed Milette. Your future self. I'm sorry. That was a pet Patrick Bet David um line. Which we talked about him a little bit this morning, too. Choose your enemies wisely, bud. So that version of you that wakes up early, okay, that eats better, that leads better, that leads stronger, earns more, loves more deeply, right? And gives more generously, okay. Let that person set your goals, okay? Write them down, say them out loud, okay. Review them every morning, beyond January 15th, every morning. Write it on a post-it note, whatever, put it in the notes, put it on your calendar, you know, so you get it notified every morning, whatever it is you have to do, whatever, whatever devices you have that you work on every single day. Let those goals be the first thing that you see in the morning before you scroll. Let those goals be the first thing that pops up in your head every morning, instead of waking up with that anxiety or that thousand-pound gorilla sitting on your chest. Because I've done it, been there, did it, especially this time of year, around the holidays. Shit starts to get tense, shit starts to get tight, worry starts kicking in. I didn't do enough, I didn't earn enough, I am not giving enough, like whatever, all this crazy jive crap. Okay, and if it's creating anxiety in your life, dude, my phone is blowing up. Um don't you know? Don't you know? Anyhow, um review them every morning, okay? Because goals without repetition are just wishes. It's just, it's just hollow words, okay. Goals without accountability are fantasies. Ben Nair did that. I can't tell you how many times, that I lived with broken promises and wonder why my my self-esteem is low. Okay, because self-esteem comes from all those broken, low self-esteem, comes from all those broken pop promises that you make to yourself every single day, every single week, year after year after year after year. However, if you stop breaking those goals, it would have the reverse effect and give you high self-esteem. Just start, takes one step, go for a 20-minute walk. You'll feel much better. I love walking. Walking is such a spiritual thing for me. After about 20 minutes, I love it. I end every single workout with at least a 30 minute walk. Every single day, damn near. I try to take one day off. Okay. Goals without action are nothing. Okay. Action. Goals should actually be an action. Word should be a verb or a noun. Is it a noun? Verb? Verb. Okay, we're gonna make goals a verb moving forward. Okay, I'm gonna coin that shit. I'm gonna coin it. Okay. So one of my goals, and I set out, I set out last year to do this. And it's a process, takes time, right? And that's removing people, places, things, and situations, right? And now this one, okay, this is a tough one. This is a tough one for me, right? Every year, and especially right now, as we head into the new one. Um, I'm doing a what I call a life audit, okay. A good one, honest one, something that's gonna probably be a a painful inventory of what is serving me and what is draining me. Okay, people, right? Unfortunately, it's it stems around people. And let me tell you something, okay. You cannot embrace your future self, okay, while holding hands with people from your past who refuses to grow. Okay. And that took me a long time, and that I had to change people, places, things, in order for my my spiritual well-being, my mental health had had to improve. There was just certain people that I couldn't run with anymore, whether it was due to um old stories, past things that we did together, what, whatever, whatever, whatever. Um, and um, some people, some people are just refuse to level up because your elevation exposes their stagnation, you know, and and they don't like it. They're always continuously trying to pull you down, pull you back, and and tell you you can't do it, you can't do it. Nobody's ever done that before. I've heard that. Dude, do you know how many times I've heard, I've heard, no one's ever done that before. Tell me I can't do it. Seriously, tell me I can't do it. We'll pull some shit off. Right? We were told we couldn't stream live for 12 hours straight. I think we went longer. We figured it out. Facebook was different back then, and we're going back a couple years ago, a couple few years ago when Facebook wasn't the same today. I'm sure you might be able to stream live 12 hours straight today on some platform. I don't even know if Facebook will still let you do that, but we did it. We pulled it off, we figured it out without skipping a beat. Okay. I'm not gonna tell you how we did it, but we did it, and uh, because we got a great team, that's how we did it. Anyhow, so if someone is is continuously, constantly, you know, draining your energy, brings drama, feeds your doubts, mocks your dreams, right? Or only calls when they need something, right? You need to create distance, unfortunately. You need to limit the amount of time that you spend with those people because some of these people are your family, some of these people are friends, lifelong friends of the family. Um, could be a coworker, could be, could be whatever. There's sometimes there's just no way to avoid these people. Um, so you got to limit your time. Um, you got to figure out how to handle that situation when that situation comes up. Um, or you just need to avoid those situations. And I'm not talking about people necessarily when I say situations, but I've put myself in a lot of stupid situations that just drain me, drain me financially, drain me spiritually, drain me, you know, just wear me down to a nub. And when I look back and do my life audit, I realize that I'm the one that put myself in all these situations. I'm the one that surrounded myself around these naysayers. I'm the one that brought the drama on. Whether I started talking shit on somebody or bringing drama to the table, I'm the one. Okay. And listen, removing people doesn't always mean cutting them out. That's not that's not the that's not the point that I'm trying to make here. Sometimes it means changing their access level. Okay. Not everyone deserves a front row seat in your life. Some people deserve the balcony seat. Shit. Some people outside the building, that's the seat they get. Okay, doesn't mean you gotta cut them off places, right? There are environments that that keep me small, there are environments that that keep my thinking small. There are environments that just aren't conducive to my mental health, my spiritual health, or my well-being. There are places where my old habits live that I choose not to go back to today. Places that trigger the worst version of me. Okay, and and some of you know exactly what I'm talking about. Um, and I just choose not to go to crazy town today. We don't go to crazy town. We just don't. I avoid it, like the plague. I don't have to. I like my life today. I like it, I love my life. And if these environments, you know, um, if your environments don't challenge you, right? Don't stretch you or inspire you, you need a new one. You need, you need a new one. If if if if the people that you are around, you know, and that's the thing too, when you try to push someone or ask them to do something different and they push back, nine chances out of ten, they're probably not your people. Okay, if someone's not willing to try something that they don't normally do on a day-to-day basis, or I don't know how many times I can count where I've surrounded myself or I've been around people where it's like, hey, let's do this, or I was asked to do something that that's not not my forte. Okay. I I worked for people. I've tried so many different things. I was that yes guy. I was that go-to guy at any place that I've ever worked. I wanted to learn how to do things. I knew that I would become more of an asset. I wasn't one of those people where it's like, well, I don't get fucking paid to do this stuff. Like, those are the people that you don't want to be around. You want to be around people that are like, yeah, hell yeah, let's do it. I can do this. I'll figure it out. There's YouTube for crying out loud today that will show you. There's there's AI, there's, there's, there's all these things that are out there, these tools, these devices, these platforms, you know, to allow you to stretch your mind, become an asset, be a winner, right? And and not, you know, and I'm gonna use the the word loser loosely here, but that that person that just pushes back or doesn't show up, you don't know if they're coming in, or all the yeah, like you it you're just hurting everybody. And it's like you get these people that are like, well, show them, and I just won't come in today. Well, you're not just hurting that person that might have pissed you off, you're hurting every single person within the organization. Not only are you hurting your check, your paycheck, right? And and thinking super small, okay, but you're hurting the homeowner that we had scheduled that day. Okay, you're making us all look bad. And when this is in fact, like we're only as good as the weakest link, we're only as good as the person that calls off every other day because their butt hurts. Okay. Um, just wanted to put that out there because, and and if it's not, and I guess if you're that person that acts that way, if that environment isn't conducive to you, then maybe you should move on. And a lot of times when you think the grass is greener someplace else, until you're gone for about a week, you realize how good you really had it, the freedoms that you had, the opportunities that were presented to you, and and and the accountability. We all need held accountable, right? Accountability isn't a negative thing. Okay, so if the environment doesn't challenge you or stretch you or inspire you, then you need to find a new environment. It works both ways, right? You know, um things, right? So, so um the things that I want to when I'm doing my life audit, I guess unhealthy habits, old stories, limited beliefs, um, excuses, right? Everybody's got them, distractions, addictions, um, chaos that we tolerate. Um, sometimes the things that these are the things that that keep us stuck, right? Um we feel like we can't live without them sometimes. And and the truth is about that, is like you can't grow while holding onto what is actually holding you down. And I think the hardest part about that is is is identifying it. You know, I love them too much, they love me too much, they they can't live without me if I'm not around, you know, because I've been in really bad healthy relationships, whether it's a significant other or or a work relationship or or or whatever the case might be. And it's like I didn't even realize that by me pouring into somebody as much, and I'm guilty of this, and I'll I'll I'll pour into people and I get taken advantage of. I don't even, I can't even see the fact that they're holding me back. They're holding us back, they're holding the entire department back, they're holding the entire company back, they're they're they're holding the entire division back, they're holding our family back, they're holding, you know what I mean? It's like these people are like cancer that we surround ourselves with sometimes, and we think they need us. And, you know, and they manipulate us into thinking that we can't live without them. That is the worst. God, thank God I don't have to live that way anymore. You know, and I'm sure as there's somebody out there listening right now that might even be upset about the things that I'm saying, which is fine. Nine chances out of ten, if if what I'm telling you is upsetting you, it's because it's true. You're having a hard time looking at yourself right now. But hopefully not. Hopefully, hopefully everybody here can relate to exactly what I'm saying because you might have somebody in your life, you might have a situation in your life, you know, and a lot of it has to do with procrastination. We're procrastinating, taking care of the shit that we need to take care of. And we talked about that. I wish I knew what episode that was, because I think I have a pretty good outline framework on how to deal with procrastination and moving the needle every day and making that call and making that text message, taking care of the things that need to be taken care of that are holding you back or holding you down or weighing weighing heavy on you. Anyhow, the truth is, you know, you gotta let those things go. You know, and if 2026 is not the year, it's not it's not the year that we're gonna carry around dead weight. It's gonna be it's gonna be for me the year that um we're gonna travel light. We're gonna travel light this year. Okay. And um, you know, and it's not gonna be perfect. We're gonna have to figure out how to get through the ebbs and flows, okay. Life has seasons. People come, people go, people die. There's gonna be shit that happens, right? Business has seasons, okay. Um, there are going to be times when you're winning, there are gonna be times when you're getting punched in the mouth, okay? Because we all think we have a plan until we get punched in the in the mouth. Okay, I stole that from Mike Tyson. It's so so true, so freaking true. And if you're listening right now and you know exactly what I'm talking about, here's the thing about the ebbs and flows. Okay, um they're not the problem. Your relationship to them is the problem. Okay, most people think setbacks are signs that they're doing something wrong, they're going in the wrong direction. Okay, I get setbacks all the time. Okay, the pain starts to get great, okay. That's where the growth happens. Okay, but I'm here to tell you sometimes a storm is proof that you're closer to the breakthrough than you think. Okay. Diamonds are made under pressure, okay. Champions are built, right, in adversity, right? We've all heard these things, right? When the momentum slows, right? Don't panic. Ben there did that panic. Panicked, right? When the results dip, don't quit. Okay. You bick that ball up and you dribble that thing down the court and you slam dunk it. That's what you do. You start planting seeds, you water the hell out of them, you get off your ass, you get busy, you do stuff, right? And when people leave, let them. Okay. Ebbs and flows are not signals to stop, they are signals to adjust sometimes. Okay. Hold the vision, stay flexible with the plan. Trust the process. We've heard that a hundred freaking times, and remember this that every storm runs out of rain. Every storm. Okay. So roll with the punches. Okay. Never back down. Let's talk about resiliency. Okay. Life will throw swings at you. Business will test you. Trust me. People will doubt you. Okay. Plans will fall apart. Have plans fall apart all the time. But your ability to roll with the punches, to absorb the hit, right? Keep your balance. Reset your stance. Okay. That's what makes you unstoppable when you can continue to keep forging forward. Our ability to roll with the punches, okay, to absorb the hits, is what defines us. Okay. Not quitting. It's not necessarily the goal that we're trying to reach. It's it's the journey is what defines us, is what makes us. It's the it's the lessons learned along that journey. Okay. It's not the goal that will define us. It's not the goal. It's not even necessarily the goal. Especially if you're you're anything like me, where I move the goalpost. You know, I'll move it. But it's who I'm becoming along the journey that's important. The things that I get through, the lessons that are learned, the relationships that I've forged, the questions that I asked, and the things that I've learned. Um, that has, I feel like at times, at moments, more more so than than not, has has made me feel feel unstoppable, even in my weakest times, because I've stayed consistent and and disciplined over the years, where, you know, even when I'm off a little bit, I still feel like I'm outperforming most people, um, which is a good place to be, but I can't ride on that laurel. I gotta move the goalpost. Gotta keep gotta keep it moving, right? Um, you know, when most people get hit, they fold, right? They they feel they start experiencing that pain. They're like, oh man, oh man, I must be going in the wrong direction. Nah man, through pain comes growth. You know, when leaders get hit, that's when we learn. That's when we learn. And um, so every punch, every punch should teach us something, okay? Um, how to protect our peace, um, how to manage pressure. I'm getting I'm getting a little bit better at that. Um, and how to trust our instincts. I don't know how many times I've ignored my instincts, but the one thing that I've learned over time is is to you know stay calm, you know, especially when I feel like everything around me is just shaking, like there's a huge earthquake, you know, and and I've learned to, you know, never back down and and uh just keep forging forward and and not letting fear control, not not letting fear control me in a negative way. So, you know, and it means not letting um fear make my decisions for me and not making decisions too quickly based on fear. Okay. I think that's probably one of the biggest things that I've learned that I've I've made decisions entirely too quickly based upon my short-term emotions. Okay, so I've I've made decisions that affected long-term outcomes, long-term situations based off of my short-term emotions. And, you know, I've also um have done that based upon other people's short-term emotions too, that I've allowed affect the company as a whole, my family as a whole, because I was intimidated by having a difficult conversation because I was afraid that I might hurt somebody's feelings. And feelings are short-term. Okay. So the sooner that we can have those difficult conversations or walk through those difficult times, um, the the the quicker the better we're gonna feel, right? And and feel feel the growth eventually start to happen. And and then when another situation comes up that might not be as bad or or as bad or maybe even worse. And if and if we kind of reflect back to some of the hard times that we've walked through before, we can say to ourselves that that um, you know, we we've made it through this before. We made it through something similar to this, or even so-and-so has gone through something like that. And if they done it, I can do it too. Okay, but that's if you're surrounding yourself around good people, good, good, motivated, less dramatic, drama-filled people. Okay. Um, and remembering why you got started, okay, because sometimes I'll get lost in the sauce and and and and refusing to let anything or anyone, you know, knock me off my path. So, anyhow, so I'm gonna try to bring this all together. All right, because where are we at here? About 39 minutes into it. I feel like my throat's been getting sore. I think it's the air in here. It is sucks. I have to do something about that. Howie, where you at? Listen in? Howard. Is Howard in the building? Okay, anyhow. So, phew, so here we are, six years, Vic. 312 episodes, freaking countless stories, lessons learned, unbelievable guest, okay? A tribe of people who show up, right? Every single week. We got people on here that you know show up every single week to listen to this. They they support us, they comment. Every now and then we'll get that chucklehead heckler in there. Um, that just motivates us, you know. Yeah, screw them. Right. But as we head into the new year here, I just I want I want you to remember this, right? Be consistent, set goals and that demand a better version of you. Okay, remove the people, places, things that steal your peace. All right. Expect the ebbs and flows. Prepare yourself, do hard shit. Okay, do hard shit intentionally. So when the ebbs and flows come, you can say to yourself, I can lift 300 pounds with my legs. I can get through this. And don't be afraid of them. Don't be afraid of the ebbs and flows. Okay. Roll with the punches, never back down. All right. And keep your spirit in alignment. Okay. Because a tool belt isn't just something you wear on the outside. Okay. It is something you built on the inside. Okay. Strength, honor, vision, character, discipline. That's the real tool belt. Okay. So thank you guys for celebrating six years with me. And thank you for tuning in to episode 312 of Behind the Tool Belt. If today brought you any value, share it with people who need it. Okay. If you haven't already, make sure that you are following us, like us, love us, review us, all that good stuff. It's about to get bigger yet. Know that we got big plans. I love you guys. I appreciate you. And always stay hungry, stay humble, stay committed, and keep building from the inside out. Because that's really what it's about. Anyhow, I'm Ty Backer. I'm the host of TC Backer, or I'm sorry, the host of Behind the Tool Belt. We'll see you next week.