PhilMackey.com

It’s been a while since I checked in here. That’s because of an insane work schedule that usually consists of no less than 60 hours per week, and sometimes upwards of 90.

I’m obviously not really posting much baseball/sports content on this site anymore. You can find plenty of that at 1500ESPN.com. Sometimes I’ll double post on PhilMackey.com, just for kicks.

I’ve had a lot of people ask, “How’s the new show going? Do you like working with Reusse? Is he as grouchy as he seems?”

In short, the show is going really well. And it’s been a blast working with Patrick, Cory Roufs, and Tom Pelissero every day. They’re all great dudes, and they’re all very talented and awesome at what they do. And yes, Reusse is grouchy sometimes, but in a teddy bear sort of way.

From a poker standpoint, we’ve generated over $500,000 in prize pools since December in the first four Minnesota State Poker Tour events. As a whole, the poker business is way down these days, especially in Minnesota. But we’re still doing well and will continue plowing forward, because the tide will turn as soon as online poker is regulated once and for all.

Hopefully this doesn’t sound too preachy, but I wanted to share a few items that I’ve either learned and/or been working on recently. After all, it’s my website, and I can write about whatever I want.

Thinking out loud:

- Nobody is stopping you from getting whatever you want. I think this one is hard for most people to wrap their heads around. (And I’m talking about life, careers, etc. — not crimes, where police officers obviously CAN and DO stop people from doing things…).

I shake my head when I hear folks complaining about external factors that seemingly prevent them from getting what they want at their job, or in life, or in any big picture scenario. Those are all irrelevant, limiting beliefs.

People who get what they want in life — think specifically about the people we put on pedestals, and the people we envy — almost always share two main traits:

1.) They generally work harder than their peers at whatever it is they are trying to accomplish

2.) They usually develop a game plan of some sort and stick to it, despite the inevitable bumps in the road.

A lot of times we put celebrities, business people, famous people, and other successful figures on pedestals and live vicariously through them. For many people, it never clicks in their head that they TOO can achieve the same things — or, at the very least, can achieve more than they think. Instead of living vicariously through others, why not create a cool life for ourselves?

Of course, a lot of people are content just chilling, and that’s cool too.

- Don’t worry. Be happy. So many people think in terms of, ‘Once I get that new promotion, then I will be happy.’ Or, ‘As soon as I’m caught up with these bills and this pile of work, then I will be happy.’ Or any other similar example you can think of.

It’s all B.S.

There will always be another pile of work, or a new rung to climb in our careers, or another obstacle for us to overcome. It never ends. The way to be happy, I’ve found, is to accept the current moment as it is (good or bad) and focus on the process. I’m fairly certain happiness isn’t something we find. It’s something we already have.

If you are a good person who provides value to the people around you, and if you live life productively, generously, and optimistically (while also providing some sarcastic and cynical tweets for the greater good, and for entertainment purposes) — call it a personal Code of Conduct — the “process” will likely be the most fulfilling part.

Better to latch onto the process than the results, because results can always fluctuate.

- Expanding comfort zones. Fear nothing. This is hard, but totally worth it — something I work on and battle constantly. I’m not talking about going skydiving tomorrow or anything like that (although, that would be interesting…).

Just pushing the limits socially, through business, taking risks, etc.

- It doesn’t matter what people think. Another tough one, because we are socially conditioned to always worry about what people think, at least to some degree. Now, that doesn’t mean we should all go around slandering and insulting each other, using, ‘I don’t care what you think,’ as an excuse.

I’m saying that if you know you are an awesome person, and if you KNOW you are good at what you do, then what significance do others’ transitory opinions have?

Conversely, if we constantly worry about how others perceive us, how is it possible to REACH full potential? It’s almost impossible.

- Sing loudly. Or just don’t sing at all. And mix in a couple dumb dance moves once in a while.

I, for some reason, made an appearance on the Twin Cities Live Man Panel, in front of an audience — and two other panelists — who are nowhere near my target demographic.

As you can see, the 15-hour workdays and lack of shaving have caught up…