Hey!

Good morning. Heath here, writing to you from our home in southwestern Colorado.

As someone who grew up in Texas, there's something magical about Colorado summers (one being little to no mosquitos and 75 degree days).

Taking advantage of our summer here, our friend Joe Hendricks took us to the mountains last week to celebrate our 10-year wedding anniversary with some epic photos! Sharing here just because why not?

After interviewing adventure photographers like Joe on the RV Entrepreneur Podcast years ago, Alyssa always wished we could've gotten married in the mountains and had awesome photos. Now we do. She bought a new dress, I wore the same suit, and it was an amazing day. (Also that river was COLD!)

In today's email, I wanted to share something that has drastically changed how I approach our business and life. It's helped me reframe negative thought patterns, feel less stressed, and be more appreciative of my current situation.

But before getting into the email...

Last month, we acquired a website called RV Obsession (our second biz acquisition!) covering all things RV.

We branded and redesigned the site and are sharing new weekly articles like The Best Small RV Campervans in 2024.

Would love for you to check out the site and share any thoughts or feedback you have as we try to transform this website into something awesome :) Oh, and so grateful to so many of you who reached out about a writing position. We've brought several people on to join our writing team and are pumped to see how these blogs will grow with this team!

Okay, moving on to today's email.

The Story We Tell Ourselves

In the fall of 2020 I attended a retreat alongside 15 other founders building companies in Colorado. A founding member of Tech Stars (a global startup network) hosted a session at our retreat, and one of the questions she asked stuck with me.

She asked, "What is the tape reel playing in your head?"

When I first heard this question, I wasn't sure what she meant. She was trying to get to the heart of how we were doing mentally and emotionally while building our companies. She wanted a real answer and not the "things are good, busy" answer we give in 99% of life scenarios.

When it was my turn to answer, I tried to be as honest as possible about my mental tape reel.

Here's what I said:

"I can't slow down because if I do, someone else will beat me. I can't take a moment off because if I do, I'll lose. My competitors are beating me, and we are already behind."

I had never said these words aloud—not to mention in a room full of peers)—but I meant them.

These words had been my daily tape reel. Said another way, they were the story I told myself about my life and business. It was a story about being behind, losing out, and not having enough time.

What came from the conversations that followed I carry with me regularly. Now, when I'm feeling down or upset, I start to question the story I am telling myself.

The problem with telling a negative story.

Other than it makes us feel bad, our thoughts and what we obsess over become a self-fulfilling prophecy. We either subconsciously or consciously bring what we focus on into the world.

If we tell a negative story to ourselves, that story has a way of playing itself out.

For me, that looked like constantly feeling stressed and overwhelmed, and like I didn't have time to do anything but focus on my business. It was leading me to burnout.

An alternative: Tell a better story

Since I left Campground Booking in 2022, I've struggled with the story I've told myself.

On my better days, the story I tell is inspiring.

I sold a company, and now I get to spend most of my time with my wonderful kids and wife. We've traveled the world, creating memories and a dream life.

But on most days, the story I tell myself isn't inspiring. It goes something like:

What am I doing with my life? I feel aimless. Am I ever going to build or create anything of value again? Will I ever be excited about my work again?

Depending on the day, how I slept the night before, and my energy, the story I tell myself changes. The situation itself hasn't changed, only the narrative I tell myself about it.

What about your situation?

Most of the time we don't get to pick the situation we find ourselves in. Yet, we always get to pick the story we tell ourselves about the situation.

Are you telling an inspiring story or a disparaging one? Are you telling yourself a story where you're the hero or the victim?

This topic can feel soft, but I genuinely believe it's life-changing and life-giving when you are thoughtful about the tape reel you are playing in your head.

Key learning (for me): Just because a tape reel is playing in your head doesn't make it true. It's just a habit of your mind. You can retrain it to tell a better and more empowering story.

Why I Shared This Today

Honestly, I've struggled with feeling a consistent direction over the last couple of years. Until I sold my business, I had clear goals and a path for directing my energy. Now, that path is less defined. We have some investments we've made and projects, but it's vague.

But instead of feeling aimless, I'm choosing a different story.

The current story I'm telling myself about our lives is that we are creating businesses that give us freedom during a special time in our kids' lives. We invest in areas we know and love (aka RV Obsession) while over-indexing into time with our kids, health, and making memories.

Cheers to writing a great story.

Heath