Given the new experiences I’ve had this week and the fact that we focus on helping “Legacy” companies navigate unchartered territory, I thought this was an appropriate title to this week’s newsletter.

If this is your first time here, WELCOME!

This is a weekly look into the journey of growing our Venture Building Studio and all the discovery, lessons, and adventures that come with it.

In Today’s Blog:

• • • Wins/Lessons from the week

• • • Preparing for the Unknown

• • • Weekly Take-Away: 👉 Living in the Moment 👈

Weekly Wins:

• Last week, I mentioned a TikTok video that went viral (38.5k views, 541 likes) for RemainSafe. This week, it’s up to 44.5k views and 623 likes. It’s got almost 200 hours of playtime and 20% of people watch the full video (hot dang…). Most importantly, it’s resulted in a few quotations for Commercial Storm Shelters. That’s the metric that matters. Cost to make/produce/film/edit and post this video? $0 –> Let’s GO…🚀

 Viral Storm Shelter Video

• My first colonoscopy was a success… Two (2) polyps removed and 7-10 yrs till my next colon cleanse appointment. All jokes aside, please consider getting one. The risk/reward is totally in YOUR FAVOR. And, people are getting colon cancer younger and younger (aka 40 yrs old). I’m 46.

Pre Surgery… Removed a 3mm and 6mm Polyp…

• Venture building continues inside BlackSmith Ventures. Brick by brick… We signed a new Associate Founder for one of our ventures and are super optimistic about the direction we’re heading. Plus, we looked at several new ventures with industry rich founders disrupting LEGACY industries with TECH. Last week, we inked a deal with a LATAM firm full of tech disruptors.

 Our Venture Building Firm: BlackSmith Ventures

Weekly Lessons:

Wanted to share three (3) attributes that will help anyone inside your organization.

• • • Open, honest, direct communication is always better than people-pleasing

• • • Put people before profits.

Communicate, communicate, communicate to “Align the Golden Thread” inside your organization.

Preparing For The Unknown

When we don’t know what’s coming, whether in life or in business, it’s good to be ready for anything.

The vast majority of my audience is entrepreneurs, founders, and business owners and you know this ALL TOO WELL.

This week, I learned a lot about being prepared, both from a health perspective and through our work at BlackSmith Ventures.

Here are some easy tactics I’ve used along the way that may help you

👉 Make Plans, Be Ready for Anything: I love planning… Sorry to break it to you, but plans always change. So, embrace this with open arms, an open mind, and expect the unexpected. Don’t you love those 5 year projections. Ah, so cute. How about a 1 yr goal? Sweet, right? I’ve found that the brass tax of business building and preparing for the unknown is to break life down into:

30-60-90 day plans that focus on 3-5 key goals

👉 Your Purpose & Why is Your Wingman – Don’t Leave Them: The hardest part of life, in my opinion, is decision making. I’m by nature a very decisive person. That’s good and bad. But, on what basis should we make decisions? I’ve learned that I MUST vet every decision through the lens of

“What Am I Chasing and Does This Decision Align with that?”

👉 Keep Learning: I’ll sum this one up in two ways. (1) Failures are lessons and should be celebrated not mourned and (2) Closed Mindedness is the kiss of dealth for us founders. This one is simple… Only allow in what aligns with your goals, ambitions, and energy.

Eliminate all noise, negativity, and naysayers.

👉 Build Good Relationships: When you’re doing great – you attract. When times are hard – you repel. Be careful who you let in in the good times and remember who stuck with you in the tough times. I did not spend time on my network early in my career and I really regret it.

People and Relationships have been the Tipping Point for me throughout my career.

👉 Maintain A Positive Mindset: This is my favorite. Let me illustrate with a small story from this week. This week was the State Championship for High School Track. My daughter had a HUGE PR in the girl’s race. YEAH.

My Daughter Post 3200m Race – Huge PR For Her

That’s not the entire story, though.

In the boy’s race, senior Shipley Smith (a great friend of ours) was projected to finish 4th, 5th, or 6th.

The 3200m is an 8-lap race and after 6 laps, the leader was 100m in front of the chase pack.

With one lap to go, we yelled like crazy for Shipley and he put the hammer down.

In turn 3 of the final lap, our cheers increased… Shipley passed each person in the chase pack and sprinted down the lead runner to WIN the State Championship.

Each lap, we was smiling.

Each lap, we cheered louder.

This, my friends, is the power of positive mindset.

Way to Go Shipley. So proud of you.

Lastly, find what works for you! We are each unique, different, individual people and that is wonderful.

I didn’t start out knowing these tactics, but I have learned them along the way… Some the hard way. Find what works for you and feel free to take and try any of these.

Weekly Take-Away: 👉 Living in the Moment 👈

Let’s be real…

Tomorrow is not guaranteed…

Yesterday is a memory…

Today, this hour, this minute, this moment is our time to shine.

Ok, let’s define “our time to shine”.

I believe this means to do what we are led to do in this moment that aligns with our purpose and why.

For example, my goals are to maximize my PURPOSE and WHY in four (4) ways:

Faith, Fitness, Family, and Fun.

So, every thing I do should align with my PURPOSE and my WHY.

Couple of thoughts:

1. Do you know your PURPOSE & WHY

2. If YES, then do all your activities align with that Purpose and Why?

3. If YES, then rest in being present in the moment – knowing that you are enough.

The trap for me in the past is doing too much or going too fast and outrunning my coverage. Doing this leaves you exposed and you risk wasting time, money, and resources (aka energy).

I hope you enjoyed this week’s edition.

For more on me and what we’re building, you can find me on all social at AndySmithLife.

I post daily on Linkedin and have chosen this platform as my desired place to host the newsletter because this is where I started posting content three years ago. It changed my life forever. For behind-the-scenes looks into a day in the life, hop over to Instagram stories.

My motto when it comes to my “WHY” and “PURPOSE” for producing content:

Content –> Connection –> Conversations –> Opportunities

And, as you know…

Opportunities Lead to IMPACT

That’s why we are here… Until next time my friends… – Andy