Welcome to Elevate with Elsner. Join us for inspiring conversations with individuals who have transformed their lives and are making a difference through the work that they do. And now, here's your host, Blake Elsner.

Welcome back to another episode of Elevate with Elsner the show where we keep it real raw and rooted in purpose. Today's episode is one of those laugh while you learn moments because let's face it, none of us are perfect. We all are battling something. I'm talking about the hair that's growing everywhere except my head. Why sloths are more productive than we even think. And what does that have to do with your growth? Plus, I'll give you some life updates. And I'll let you in on things, where it's headed, what we're doing, what new projects we're taking on, and a little comedy routine here. So even if things are a little patchy along this episode, we're gonna have a little fun, and I hope you stick around and listen to it, because I gotta tell you right now, I usually have guests, like most of you know, And you're listening and going, well, why doesn't he have a guest? Every once in a while, I like to be the main character. I like to update people. I like to jump in and say, hey, let's change it up a little bit and keep people on their toes. So I'll start with a little hair joke, right? So listen, my hairline and I no longer are on speaking terms. It's like my body got confused. Let's stop growing hair on his head and just start sprouting it from ears, elbows, eyes. I mean, everywhere but the top of my head, I can grow a piece or a strand of hair. It is absolutely fascinating and I don't understand it, never will, but that's just science. How do I tie that all into the human experience? It's because we're not perfect. We are all imperfect. I deal with that on a daily basis where I wear a hat all the time. But hey. We all have our flaws, and as long as you're OK with your flaws, it's really not a big deal. We are here for such a short time. And most of us are just doing the best we can with what we've got. And you have to sit back and thank yourself sometimes for having hair at all, for just having eyes that work, ears that can listen. It's the little things in life that we really tend to forget. I'm focused on my hair on my head. Meanwhile, I don't even appreciate myself being able to turn on the water every morning. That's the mindset shift that we need to all partake in. So today's actually while I'm recording this, it's going to come out. Um, actually I'm bumping everything back a little bit cause I wanted to do this. So it's going to be out this week and I'm actually recording this on a Monday. It's the 31st. We're going to bring it out. It's going to be April 2nd when this comes out. So that's how fast our podcast and our team over podcast launch lab can produce these podcasts. So if you have any questions about starting a podcast, launching a podcast, Send me a message. You can even send it a message on Spotify, on the fan mail, any aspect of that. So it's actually National Crayon Day. If you have children, you know that, or toddlers, for some reason, they love to eat crayons. I don't get it. I guess it's the wax. I don't know, but I'm always having to take crayons out of Lottie's mouth. Another thing is Lottie had her first birthday party and we had a petting zoo. It was a lot of fun. Until I looked at the lawn after and boy, I never realized those animals. We had a cow, a pony, a pig, a goat, a sheep, and they were back there loving life. I mean, that grass had just come in, it was green. If I ate grass, I'm sure it tasted like a filet to them because they never looked up. They didn't care if anybody was around them, behind them, touching them. They were just enjoying that green grass in the backyard and props to those animals and props to the company for, for doing actually the guy who handles the animals was awesome. Gave all these kids a bunny ride. So if you want to know who that was, um, Send me a message, I'll get you in touch with them and you can have them come eat your grass over at your, that sounded a little funny, but yeah, anyway. So let's go into a little, and like I said, sloths, remember sloths only poop once a month, I think it is, or once a week. Once a week, and talk about a slow system, but they get the job done. Progress is progress. Remember, even if it's slow, even if you're pooping once a week, you're pooping once a week, and that means you're progressing forward, right? Sloths are progressing, even though at a slow pace. So let's go into a real lesson real fast. I used to think I had to be completely perfect before I could put myself out there. But now I realize it's the patchy, the messy, the awkward, the uncomfortable parts of our lives that connect us with people so much more so than anything else out there. So a little personal life update, you know, it's been fast. It's been full of speed. I dove into the family business consulting. It's taken off, you know, any family businesses that would like me to jump in, just send me a message, have them call me. Um, you got all my information. Business is moving. Kids are growing. Podcast is expanding. We've, uh, taken on some sponsors, which is pretty cool. Um, And yeah, we've grown. I think we're every state. Now we're up to like 11 countries. It's you know, it's it's not a massive scale, but for less than a year, I'm pretty happy with where the podcast has grown to and continues to grow. And it's exciting to be able to, one, sit here and talk by myself in front of a camera into a microphone. It builds so much skills, talent, speaking talents, to sit by yourself in front of a camera, record it, whether it's Facebook Live, a podcast, anything. I promise you, if you have a tough time speaking in front of anybody, in front of a camera, just start recording videos by yourself, and I promise you will get 100 times better, and you will start to build confidence, and you're not gonna care what people think, because you're gonna go, wow, We're not here very long. Why should I care what someone else thinks? Go ahead and film the video, right? Because like I said, we all have flaws. Like people, if you give them a valuable video, that's not even a flaw. But we're scared to come out of our shells to give somebody value. So that's where I try to pull people into this podcast and get their stories out. I love to push people to get their story out, but I don't over push because if you don't want to share it, I totally understand. So I won't push you, but I'll push you to the goal line. And then it's your job to, to put yourself in the end zone if you want to get your story out there. So, uh, Cassidy's doing awesome. Kids are doing great. Um, daycare, I'll tell you what, everybody that pays for daycare, that's a tough, tough thing to do. So parents, You know, even if you raise kids, like I'm like, how did some of these parents do it? Raising four or five kids. Yeah. Things were a little cheaper back in the day, but that's tough. It is a, you know, I guess you would say when they say it's a purpose, it is a true, true calling. Um, and it's so rewarding to just know that you go, wow, I just had another year of life with a human that we created. And that's where the magic and the special part of life really comes in for me. So maybe you're not where you want to be. I don't know. Maybe your momentum feels slow or your confidence is a little patchy, like the top of my head. Right. But the fact is that you just have to keep showing up, just keep showing up, keep being you. stay consistent, and remember, there is no trophy for being perfect. No medal, no trophy, no amount of money, nothing for being perfect. So stop trying to be perfect, accept who you are, enjoy your flaws, portray your strengths, and just get out there. So if this episode reminded you that it's okay to not have it all together, just like myself, I'm the first one to tell ya, we all make mistakes and I'm the first one to do it. And I'm the first one to call myself out when I do it. And that's a big part of it. Call yourself out, call your bluffs, and get to work. Because we're all in this together, okay? So keep showing up, keep laughing, keep elevating. And hey, whether your hairline's fading or your faith is growing, remember this, you're not alone and you're not done yet. I'll see you next time on Elevate with Elzer. And until then, one love, go be you, flaws and all.

Blake Elsner

Thanks so much for tuning into this episode. We sure do appreciate it. If you haven't done so already, make sure you're subscribed to the show wherever you consume podcasts. This way you'll get updates as new episodes become available. And if you feel so inclined, please leave us a review and tell your friends about the show. Until next time.