When to Make a Change

Chris Albert 00:00:00 (link to this point)

On. What is up, everybody? Welcome to another edition of the Warrior Soul podcast. I have my brother, Albert, who is back. Took a little hiatus last week. We might get into that. But we wanted to we wanted to address the question that had come up from the week before last week's episode, which was a young lady named Heather who asked when you should quit, when you should keep going, when you should push forward, and when you should pivot, when you should change gears and try something else.

And I actually gave my 2¢ on this last week. So if you guys aren't familiar with this question, first off, to refresh yourselves, go check out the week before last week's episode. That was a episode that Albert and I did. We were just talking about life and talking about the journeys that we both had. And then last week, I I specifically addressed Heather's question.

But, before we get into this, Albert, how the hell are you doing, man?

Albert Carrasco 00:01:04 (link to this point)

I'm I'm doing really good. You know, a lot of moving parts. Life is busy. Always have something going on. But me as a person, I'm doing really, really awesome.

Chris Albert 00:01:15 (link to this point)

That's great, man.

That's great. You look great. You look phenomenal.

Albert Carrasco 00:01:18 (link to this point)

Thank you.

Chris Albert 00:01:19 (link to this point)

Took a little journey last week, and you you're back from that. But, what do you think of this question? Because we were talking a little bit before we hit record. I gave you kinda my perspective. Just a refresher of what my perspective was for those of you who who listened last week is that I think that we're constantly told not to quit, not to quit. It's it's go forward at any cost, do things. And my philosophy on the whole thing is that, yeah, I don't I don't like quitting something that's valuable.

But I think that there's times when we need to quit, particularly if we're doing something that that isn't helping us or that that, you know, maybe we're going in the wrong direction. Maybe we're working really, really hard at something, but it's the completely wrong strategy. And we're just so bullheaded. We don't wanna change strategies, and we don't wanna quit. So, Albert, I wanted to to to get your perspective on this question.

Albert Carrasco 00:02:17 (link to this point)

Okay. It's funny because you this whole thing comes down first to me to the power of words. Right?

So because of the type of people that we are, we pay a lot of attention to the choice of words. And something that comes to mind is quitting is just such a negative connotation. Oh, you're a quitter. You know, don't ever quit. Like, all of these things in, like, movies and just pop culture where you're a complete piece if you're not seeing things through to the end. And I actually think that it's really good to be determined and driven and seeing a project to the very end and, you know, like, oh, yeah. I worked hard. I never gave up.

All these romanticized things of, like, what getting to the end and being successful might turn into. But in order to acknowledge that half and for that half to be very valuable, I really believe that the foundation that that effort stands on has to be solid. So that foundation is, were you supposed to be doing that stuff in the first place? Mhmm. And we talked a lot about authenticity in the last episode, and we'll continue to talk about authenticity.

So let's say that even me. Right? I joined, and I went to officer candidate school. I actually declined my commission. Some people would say that I quit and that I didn't become an officer like I always thought and that I didn't do this, and what was the point of doing all this stuff.

But to be honest, I can sit here and say that I wasn't supposed to do that, period, from the beginning. And it's taken me a lot of time to understand that, but it just wasn't in my cards. And, sure, I could have sucked it up and done this and all this. Like, my life would be completely different, but I took on I would have taken on more than I was supposed to. And so I think that everybody who's on the fence right now about whether or not they should give up, continue, pivot, whatever, it's like, well, where are you right now in terms of the foundation of this, topic?

Chris Albert 00:04:35 (link to this point)

I think I think that's so important, you know, that foundation you're mentioning because I think that when people are doing something difficult, right, we always we try to think about, a finish line. Right? And one of the things I was thinking about last week is that, you know, in life, there actually isn't any finish lines. Right? Like, if you get, let's say, you you want this career.

Right? Let's say you became an officer. Right? The finish line wasn't graduating officer's candidate school. That was an artificial finish line.

Right? Because you would then have to go on and and lead marines and and live the life of a marine corps officer day in and day out. And then, you know, you'd get through being a second lieutenant, and then you get to be a first lieutenant, then a captain, and then a major, and then then all these different things. Right? But I think that that we falsely create these different finish lines in our heads, and what we forget to to to realize is that if we get what we want, we're gonna have to live with the result.

Right? And sometimes we're not thinking about what the day in, day out life of that of that is. We're thinking about, oh, what kind of, what kind of glory am I gonna get from reaching that particular finish line? You know? And I've got a very similar story to yours where I was working on a PhD for for eight years, or or four years before I figured out that it really wasn't something that I wanted to do.

It was something my grand my my grandfather and my my great uncle wanted me to do, and I was completely doing it for the wrong reasons just to get that that PhD after my name and not really thinking about what the life of a professor actually was or what I'd have to be doing, you know, in the day in, day out after I'd already gotten it. You know? You're muted for some reason. There you go.

Albert Carrasco 00:06:32 (link to this point)

Yeah. Okay. I I definitely agree with everything you said. And as you were talking about that, it was reminding me of again, we're gonna end up covering topics pretty regularly be because we need to. That that's the way that we can all learn, and it sticks in our head.

Right? So you have to remember that happiness is ultimately the only thing that matters. And I know that people are probably thinking, oh, well, you gotta make money. You can't be happy if you make no money. Okay.

Sure. That's true. But, you know, that's where, like, at the end of the day, if you're really happy with what you're doing and you're not lying to yourself about other parts of your life that are not happy, you can make money doing what you love. But, again, you have to go all in on that. You have to be relentless and, like, make sure that there are no holes in your plan.

So if you start a business and it's something that you really like, you know, the authenticity will come through. And I hear this a lot too because I've worked, again, with nonprofits with kids for entrepreneurship programs. They'll talk about how, like, well, that idea was already done. And it's like, well, who cares? If you love it, you will make money with it.

For example, if you think, like, when McDonald's are let's just use them as an example. They're a huge burger chain. Well, Burger King didn't sit here and say, oh, I can't start Burger King because McDonald's exists already. In N Out didn't do that. In N Out said, oh, I don't care.

I'm gonna come in here, I'm gonna take my space. In fact, In N Out has the most simplest menu of all fast foods. It's meat and cheese with some vegetables, and it's all the same. Right? So if you start looking at the com the competition, there's so much competition in every industry, but it's that whoever started these things believed in themselves, and they have I I would imagine that they loved it enough to do that.

So with that said, like, start thinking about, like, these other trades. Right? Like, somebody wants to go be a massage therapist. Well, you there's two ways to look at it. You can say, oh, well, there's, like, things like Massage Envy or, like, whatever subscriptions or there's all these places to go.

If you wanna do it on your own, then do it on your own because, like, your skill has to be so good that people are gonna want to come to you. But if you don't love it, then your skill's not gonna be that good because you don't love it. So people aren't gonna wanna get a massage from you. Right? I'm using the massage as an idea because it's one of those things where you can tell if your massage therapist is good or not.

Chris Albert 00:09:04 (link to this point)

Right.

Albert Carrasco 00:09:05 (link to this point)

You know, you're like, you cannot fake that.

Chris Albert 00:09:07 (link to this point)

I think about that a lot because, like, I you know, my my girl, Shauna, she goes to to this this guy. He's a European osteopath. And I went to him once to fix an injury, and it was a bad injury. Like, my my calf was, like, fused. And then, like, I couldn't move my leg.

And he he fixed me up completely within two sessions. It was the most painful thing I ever went through in my life. Wow. But, like like, completely did tissue manipulation. And this guy works, like, I mean, constantly.

He's taking client after client after client. And it's not what you gotta think about is not how you're gonna feel during that first massage of the day, like, performing that, but but after your tenth massage of the day. Right? Like, I remember this being a personal trainer. Right?

Like, loved training. Like, I love training people. I think it it was it was an amazing part of my life for a long period of time. I liked creating transformations, loved creating transformations. I loved, you know, putting people through workouts, loved challenging them, loved bringing them closer to their goals.

But I gotta say, like, you know, after, like, my tenth client of the day, a lot of my energy was gone. It was just my desire to help these people that was carrying me through. You know? And and I think that that people forget that. It's you gotta same thing with being a marine.

Right? Being a marine's great on graduation day from Parris Island, but when you've not slept in seventy two hours and and, you know, there's there's nobody coming to relieve you in on on watch or anything like that or you got, you know, all these different your your your your, squad leaders bitching at you for this or that or anything, you know, the that that part could suck. You know?

And and so I think people forget, like, it's not just the glory that's involved in getting somewhere. There's also the responsibility.

Albert Carrasco 00:11:09 (link to this point)

Yeah. I agree. I do agree. And as you were saying that, it it made me realize I actually haven't commented on my personal example because I'm I was going through this myself with screen printing. Right?

So I printed and shipped stuff all over the nation for other people. And in the beginning, to be honest, I I I'm realizing this recently that I loved making money, but I didn't love screen printing other people's stuff. I did enjoy when people would come pick up their shirts and be like, wow. That looks so cool. And, you know, they love it.

So that was that was rewarding because I get to see someone be happy, somebody be excited. But on the flip side of that, when people are really pushy or really needy, that is not fun because, I am working with somebody who wants me to be on their timeline, and I can tell they do not care about anything that's happening in my world. All they want is their stuff now. And even in this industry with a two week turnaround for a big job, they're like, well, why is it gonna take two weeks? And it's like, sorry, bro.

The the world does not revolve around you. Like, there is other stuff. There's also tons of jobs ahead of you. You know? That's part of the calendar.

But I can't say these things to them. I I mean, sometimes I explain it in a softer way. But those clients made me realize, like, actually, this isn't fun. I don't like this. And so I started to realize, well, do I bail on screen printing it entirely while I try to figure out the Warrior Soul gym stuff we're talking about?

I was like, no. That would be silly because I'm losing out on a lot of money. So then what is the pivot? Right? The pivot is to invest my time and energy and resources into rebuilding the retail brand of this, which, again, I'm very excited about, and only taking clients for the screen for, like, big screen printing orders that actually pay a lot of money, and they're low maintenance, and I don't have to worry about them.

And this has been about two and a half months that I've, like, really been taking this more seriously. Believe it or not, it's not it hasn't even been that long. And it's been amazing because I'm realizing, dude, people will pay. Like, people, like, aren't always going to be in my face about, hey. Where's this?

Hey. Where's that? Oh, can I see a sample? You know, like, or whatever. Like, can you send me a picture when you do the first one?

I'm like, oh my god, you guys. Like, can you chill?

Chris Albert 00:13:53 (link to this point)

Yeah. No. I I agree with you there. I definitely, like so one thing that that you understand when you come into business, especially when you're dealing with customers, is that they sometimes expect you to be superhuman. And one of the problems with being a business owner is that you often you you find yourself wanting to be superhuman.

Like and I'm not like, everybody wants to be superhuman, but, like, bending over backwards to try to figure out ways that you could do this and that you could do that, and that can lead to burnout. And one of the things that I think you did there that's really smart is you said, okay. Well, I don't wanna quit this, but what's a smarter way of doing this? Right? Because because I think, like, again, particularly those of us who served in the military, we have this idea that everything needs to be as hard as possible, and and sometimes we'll make things harder than they actually need to be. And they don't always need to be that hard. Right? They need to be a business business is hard enough in and of itself without, you know, making it even harder. And and I think that the the the job of every business owner is to figure out how you could do it as easy as possible, as efficiently as possible while giving the absolute best help you can when you're when you're when you're putting stuff out there.

One of the things that I learned recently is as a, somebody who's running a company right now, and I'm in manufacturing. And I recently got my Six Sigma certification, Lean Six Sigma. I got my Six Sigma yellow belt. One of the things that that Toyota, the car company does, and they make a very big point of this with their employees, is they they make it a point never to overdeliver. Never to overdeliver.

Right? A lot of us are like, oh, man. You know, if you're a business owner, you've gotta overdeliver on everything. Let's think about it this way. If you've got a thousand clients and you're starting to overdeliver and they come to expect you to overdeliver, that's a sure way to overextend yourself.

And if you're overextending yourself, you're not even gonna be able to deliver, let alone overdeliver. You know? So I think a lot of us, we we come into this with a with a a screwed up mentality. You've gotta deliver exactly what you promised, but you shouldn't be overdelivering, and you shouldn't be bending over backwards every time a a customer comes in. And and if they're doing that to you, if you're doing it's not them doing it to you.

It's you doing it to yourself.

Yeah.

Albert Carrasco 00:16:34 (link to this point)

So on on that note with the over delivering and stuff like that, I mean, these are basics where what came to mind is how we can become almost addicted to our own chemicals. Right? So that means that, for example, being under stress and high intensity can become a lifestyle. And some people listening might be like, what is this guy talking about? Because that would have been me before.

But I'll tell you this. There were times that I would get these really big jobs, and I would get so excited, and I'd be like, oh my god. That's gonna take forever. And I'm just gonna print until two in the morning, three in the morning, and do it the next day, and I'm not gonna sleep and this and this because I wanna like, I I had created some, like, wild ass thing in my head, and I would work on weekends. Right now, I I leave my shop at five, and I so I can go train at 5:30.

I don't miss my training anymore. There are times that I'm a little late, but that's so important to me that that's a boundary I have where work is not taking over my training anymore. And some people, to be honest, they'll say, I can't train because work's too much. Work's too much. Well, okay.

If you believe that and you wanna that year to be your story, it will be true. But until you decide, I don't wanna tell that story anymore that I can't train because of too much work, then then you're gonna gonna stay in the other energy. And the other thing is that, like like I said, I take weekends off now.

The only time that I'm gonna work on weekends lately is if I have a creative project that is fun for me to work on where it doesn't feel like work, or it's something that, like, I'm like, you know what? Me next week is actually gonna be really thankful that I do this today, but I'm only willing to give it three or four hours max and the rest of the weekend still my weekend. You know? But if not, I'm like, nope. Alright.

I I can't give him I'm not gonna give up a whole Saturday, or I'm not gonna give up a whole Sunday. And, again, for the people who do this, I promise you, I've been there before where I had no days off, you know, because I thought I'm so dedicated, and I'm not quitting, and I'm doing this and this. No days off. But, again, we're masters of our reality, and at the end of the day, we get to pick what are we gonna do with our time every day. And if we die tomorrow, are we gonna be happy with the life that we lived, or are we gonna be like, dang.

I should have spent more time with my family on the weekend. I should have done this or that, like, taking my girlfriend out more or all types of stuff. You guys your your head's already going to places.

Chris Albert 00:19:18 (link to this point)

Yeah. No. That's a huge question. That's a huge question. I mean, like, yeah, you really gotta think about that.

Like, at the end of your life, what are you gonna wish you did more of? You know? And and I think that for some of us, you know, if if you truly love what you're doing, then then it's gonna be that thing. But but, you know, if you've got a girlfriend or or wife or kids and things like that and they're they're you're in a great relationship, you know, and you're sacrificing that relationship for for for you know? And and, again, there's there's sacrifice that needs to be made.

Right? Like, you you definitely need to to put in the work and everything like that. But if you're overworking yourself and you're not taking any time for those human relationships, you're putting yourself into depression and an early grave. And and there that that's it. You know?

Albert Carrasco 00:20:09 (link to this point)

Yeah.

Chris Albert 00:20:10 (link to this point)

I've definitely done that before so much, and it's I think we all have.

You know? At some point.

But but, yeah, I try I think, like, one of the things I I ask myself is, alright. What what at the end of this, like because sometimes I'll I'll come home and, like, there'll be a million things I could do. Right? Like, I could I could could keep I could keep working on my on my my day job work. I could go do comedy. I could go to jiu-jitsu, or I could spend the night and and hang out with my girlfriend.

And I think that one of the questions I ask myself is, okay. What am I gonna get out of each thing? Right? So, like, jiu-jitsu is gonna light me up and it's gonna I'm gonna learn something new and it's gonna be awesome, then I'll choose jiu-jitsu. If I feel like I need to to spend some time and and have a great conversation with my girlfriend, then I'm gonna choose her.

You know? And and a lot of times, there is. Like like, I know I put off, like, okay. I'm working all the time, and I'm I'm I'm I'm training all the time. But there's been a lot of days where I will actively not go to jiu-jitsu or I will not go train at the gym because I just wanna have a conversation with my girlfriend.

Like, last night was one of those nights. Like, we sat there, I and just had to get some stuff off my chest with her, you know, and and kinda talk about the future and things like that. And, you know, I think that that that there's value with that. You know?

Albert Carrasco 00:21:45 (link to this point)

Yeah. I agree. And that goes back into, you know, checking in with ourselves for what's our inner truth. Like, what what do I need the most right now? And, I mean, even that includes, like, let's say, for me, I know I said that I don't miss my training and whatever, but if there's a day where I know that I'm so tired that because I've been, like, just going ham, like, both maybe, let's say, training and working, and I'm like, dude, you know what?

I probably just need to go home and chill and lay down and just be in my space and be comfortable. I'll do that, and I won't feel guilty about it. You know? And and there are people who will feel very guilty. Like, oh, I'm such a piece of crap.

I didn't go train today or whatever. And it's like, why gotta do that? Just be nice to yourself.

Chris Albert 00:22:31 (link to this point)

I've definitely done that to myself so much.

I mean, like yeah. I mean, I got up last night, I didn't train. So this morning, I got up at 5AM and and and trained. So I was like Yeah. You know?

And it's to some extent, it's impossible to turn that off. You know? I I my brain is gonna do what my brain does. But at the same time, you have to recognize that, and you have to get outside of it, and you have to to point it out for what it is. And and when you do that, it doesn't control you anymore.

You can actively, like, you can actively observe yourself and then step outside of it and then, you know, make better decisions in the future.

Albert Carrasco 00:23:12 (link to this point)

Mhmm. And I think that something that came to mind with that too is that we all have a set number of needs that need to be met every day. So those can be emotional, spiritual, physical. I don't know. Let's stick with those right now. So if you go train, maybe that's only meeting your physical needs.

Right? But then what about the others? Did you give yourself your other needs? Like, how do you fulfill all of these needs every day? And if you're listening and you don't even know what those needs are, then you need to identify what those are because that's ultimately how you create a blueprint for, like, how can you live your best life every day for you because it's different for all of us.

Chris Albert 00:23:55 (link to this point)

Absolutely.

Yeah. Absolutely. No. I I I I agree with you completely there. I think, like and that's a point.

Like, how can you create your best life for you? Right? Because your best life is different from my best life. My best life is different from Jocko Willink's best life, and and, you know, so on and so forth. So I think, like, that's that's a really important point, and and you have to constantly think about what that is.

And that's why being in tune with yourself, you know, journaling, meditation, constantly checking in what yourself is so important because you gotta decide what your best life looks like. Yeah. Know? So but that's I gotta jump in a second here. Anything you wanna you wanna close up with?

Albert Carrasco 00:24:42 (link to this point)

Yeah. I think the the only last thing that I had in mind that actually hit me pretty hard when we were talking about, you know, just kinda like closing out your day and the possibility of it if we had to reevaluate our life tomorrow or how we've been living. You mentioned, like, you know, there are people out there listening who have kids, and it it it just I felt something really powerful. So I wanna comment on that because everything that we are as adults can be traced back to our childhood.

I don't have kids. I I don't know if I will. It's just such a big responsibility. But what I felt like I wanted to say too is, like, you know, part of, like, getting to really know your kids and having a true connection with them and trust where your kids will tell you everything that's going on and not be afraid and that they're happy because you're ultimately the example that they see. And they're gonna emulate you whether they're aware of it or not for the good and the bad. So it's one of those things too where if you're a workaholic and you're just like, yeah.

But I love my kids. I love my family. I give them everything. I'm always working. But, again, right, there's this other piece where it's like, but you're not here.

So I don't see you. I don't know you. And I can say that because, like, it's something that me and my mom have been revisiting lately because me and my mom actually started talking after honestly, I left at 17. We've talked very little. But I was telling her how, you know, mom, I understand that you loved me the best that you could, but I needed something else.

And it wasn't taking me to a restaurant or buying me food or telling me that I don't have to worry about rent. You know what I mean? Like Right. It was not financial. I I needed my mom.

And and it's been, you know, a work in progress with her. She's been a lot more open than I was expecting. But I think a lot of that has to do with how I'm handling it, not her. And you know what I mean? Like, I'm 33.

So if you're listening, you don't wanna have your child be missing from 17 to 33 and have them come around that many years later.

Chris Albert 00:26:55 (link to this point)

Right.

Albert Carrasco 00:26:56 (link to this point)

Like so I don't know why I just really felt that one, and that's all I gotta say for now.

Chris Albert 00:27:00 (link to this point)

No. I think that's that's an important point, and I definitely wanna have kids, and that's something I think about a lot. You know? Like, our memories, they get formed when we're children, and and and so many things impact us. And that is a huge responsibility.

And I think that, again, being conscious of that, there's a lot of people who just aren't conscious of that. They treat their kids like they're actually adults. And and and what I mean by that is not by, like, giving them responsibility or respect, but by thinking that the things that they're doing around them aren't impacting them the way they are. And and that's an important thing to realize, man. And, dude, it's always great talking to you.

I I'm looking forward to our conversation next week. Look. If you guys are out there and and you have a topic that you want us to cover here on the Warrior Soul podcast, do us a favor. Either DM me at on Instagram at at Warrior Soul Agoge, or you can send us a message over Facebook, or you could send me an email at chris@warriorsoulagoge.com. We we're we're always happy to cover any topics and and really, really looking forward to seeing what you guys have for us.

Also, we've got some awesome gear that Albert has been designing, some some clothing. You can check that out at warriorsoul.shop. We've got some great new shirts coming out that'll be out very soon. These are designed by Albert, printed by Albert and his team, and and you guys will will love these. We've got some classics up there too that have been up for a while.

And, what else do we got going on? Any any other shout outs you wanna put out there, Albert?

Albert Carrasco 00:28:42 (link to this point)

No. I'm very close to some other announcements. So for now, I'm good with what you got.

Chris Albert 00:28:47 (link to this point)

Awesome, man.

Albert Carrasco 00:28:48 (link to this point)

Awesome.

Chris Albert 00:28:48 (link to this point)

Well, that's all we got for today, guys. We'll be back at you next week with some more awesome topics, and, get out there and live your best lives while you can. Peace out.

Albert Carrasco 00:29:00 (link to this point)

Alright. Thanks, Chris.