5

 

 

 

month ever.

12:57 PM, Tuesday, December 9th, 2014:   It's impossible to write this any better than I did 1000 entries ago when I turned 30 in Central Park...     On December 9th, 1994 I surprised my girlfriend by flying her to NYC and proposing at the 10th bench from the right on the south side of The Lake. I wore the black hat, the Ireland pajama top, the raggedy old green army jacket, jeans and black boots. No place in the world symbolizes my life better than this bench.   However it's probably not in the way many newcomers to "The Journey" would assume. I'm not still in love with Burgundie, although she is very precious to me. I'm not really heartbroken by our eventual divorce, 10 years tends to heal those wounds. No, this bench, this park, this city means so much more...   I made the realization about that bench in '05 and it healed so much. That bench means "jump". It means "believe". From that bench I jumped head first (and crashed as hard as I could) but I never stopped. Hell, even after that 30th birthday entry the amount of "jumps" and "crashes" MULTIPLIED. They were even bigger heights and even grander falls... with some remarkable success thrown in for intrigue. Always coming back to that bench and this magical date. This date that is now, gulp, 20 years old today...   ...and in true Journey fashion I just secured a gig that made it quite clear my "jump" into businessman with RentTheDelorean.com is not only going to do well, pay off the car, and be profitable in the years to come - it will do so passively. An out-of-state booking simply on the strength of my website rebuild, the videos within and search engine optimization that gets me on the first page - without ever having to "market". They're coming to me. Often, I'm not even having to quote - I just get an order. All the work I put into being professional and competitive with my pricing mixed with the graphic art design and video? This is now a passive family business that runs itself. Hell if I were to sell the Delorean at some point in the future, the business - RentTheDelorean.com - could very well be worth as much as the car. It's stunning to me how much regular business is predicated on good strategy and hard work. Show business is nothing like this. Good strategy and hard work is a given... timing, luck... someone else's notion of what "talent" is at that moment? That is showbiz. No this business is a lot more like construction. Creative, fulfilling and it has very little to do with luck. You could say I'm lucky I got that out-of-state gig, but you could also say I positioned myself to be there when 2015 arrived. That is timing, but it's timing I understood and took advantage of. Those not in the right position? Will be left behind...   And the cool thing is? Life is zoooooooooooooming. Hats & Minigolf is still my main focus and since RentTheDelorean.com is such a passive business now I can devote more time to everything else including spending time with the kids. So lucky, so fortunate.   No idea what to put for this entry's video so I figured I'd show the strangest gig I've gotten lately. A homecoming half-time show driving an 80's homecoming queen onto the field and the current homecoming queen onto the field. It's as bizarre as it seems. I'm living this weird life that takes me to times and places... well, in fact, it feels like I have a time machine. Suddenly I'm at a baby shower although my wife isn't pregnant. Suddenly I'm at a 6 year-old's birthday party although my children are 1 and 2. Suddenly I'm at a high school football game although I'm decades from myself or my children actually having one of those. Next month I'm gonna be in Arizona at a sales meeting making more in a day than I have in a year. Then, hopefully, watching the Buckeyes in the championship with Jimmy in the hotel room later that night. It's fucking bizarre and wonderful. I feel like I have a time machine. Because I would never be in these situations without it.   Anyway, here's the bizarre video that captures this out-of-body experience I have at each gig...     ...such a colorful chapter of this journey.   A big thank you to my old college classmate, Chris Johnson, who gave me some tips on search-enginge optimization. In Journey lore he's literally a "God" because he single-handedly changed my life with the tip:  "TAKE OUT EVERY DIME YOU CAN ON YOUR HELOC, THEY'RE GOING TO FREEZE THE ACCOUNTS" in 2008. I did, and THEY did, and that money fueled my entire life (and strangely still is). I've since paid off that HELOC thanks to the IMAX stock I bought when I took the money from the HELOC and I can't imagine where I would be without his tip. Tip of the hat to you, Chris.   Anyway, I just had to write an entry after nailing down that booking on the 20 year anniversary of such an important moment in my life. This business is indeed just a chapter - and now almost certainly an on-going spoke of the wheel fo my life/ There will be other jumps and "beliefs" as I continue to create, but it sure feels unbelievable to believe in something that everyone thought was crazy. I don't want to name names but when I announced the Delorean business. Anyone who cared enough to give an opinion? Said quite clearly "you're insane". I just knew I could do it better than anyone else and so far I am. 2015 is going to be a spectacular journey...   ...just like the other 15 Journey years before them. ;-)   Adam