Nobody Gives a F*ck About Your Past

Two weeks ago in Atlanta, while there for my event, I got to have an early 6 am coffee with my main man, mentor, Victor Antonio (he lives right in there in Alpharetta) where our event was, so a pretty convenient meet up - you might know him, he’s a sales great and best speaker I’ve ever seen, had the honor to know and call a friend.

Conversation was a little different this time though…expected to be good, but not this good and surprising.

We had our traditional ball busting pleasantries. Not much time for any small talk. Very brief “how ya been?” kinda stuff.

He’s had something on his chest and wasted no time laying it on me, after I made a few comments, he looked at me and said something that punched me straight in the chest…

“Nobody gives a f*ck about your past, all that shit you hold onto in your head, it just doesn’t matter.

Not your traumas. Not what you’ve been through. Not what you survived. Not any reasons you haven’t figured this out yet.”

My first reaction, angry…

Not.

I was receptive, very receptive. He was right. Naturally, I wanted to be like…damn, at least acknowledge the road, right?

He wasn’t being cruel. He was giving me the precise message a mentor should.

He leaned in and kept going.

“The market doesn’t care. Your future doesn’t care. And next year damn sure doesn’t care.”

What matters is what you do next, what you do moving forward.

It hit hard and I’m sharing here because New Year’s eve is tomorrow and the day is in two days.

And this time of year, everyone’s talking about their new goals, new plans, new visions, all that new energy and sure that’s part of it.

Victor was clear, you don’t get a new year new you by adding more. You get it by dropping weight. Dead weight. He calls it your “woes bag.”

Old stories. Expired identities. Comfort behaviors. Excuses that used to make sense. Things that got you here but won’t get you where you say you’re going.

The words nobody wants to hear as the calendar flips…

You can’t carry last year’s baggage into next year’s travel plans. You can’t keep explaining yourself with your history. No more protecting habits that no longer serve you. You can’t keep rehearsing your origin story and call it progress.

At some point, the past stops being context and starts being a crutch. READ THAT AGAIN.

Victor didn’t say it to be harsh, he said it because execution doesn’t negotiate and he believes and cares about my success. It moved me.

So, here’s how I’m thinking about the next year…

Yes, I know exactly what I’m building. Yes, I know where I’m going. Yes, I’m committed to making it happen.

These 3 things right here. 1. Create valuable content, 2. publish content relentlessly, 3. engage with target market over the phone email and in person to book more speaking gigs. That’s it.

Last year I got my teeth kicked in, but that’s old news.

Before I hit the gas I’m dropping the dead weight I could carry that story on and on and let the things that slow me down in just over a year of building this brand continue to slow me down, the things that drain focus on the beating taken. The things that make me feel busy but not effective. The things I keep doing out of habit instead of intention.

My clarity cannot come from more effort. It does comes from less drag, I know this. This is where follow-up and follow through really show up. Not the Vegas NYE hype. Not toasting a glass about resolutions. Nowhere in motivation excitement that lasts a day or two, bout as long as the hangover…

So if you’re reading this heading into the new year, here’s the real question?

What are you dragging into next year that needs to be dropped? Not that it’s terrible. Rather because it’s, done. Done. Done. Done.

Nobody gives a f*ck about your past. Not in a disrespectful way. In a freeing way.

You don’t owe anyone a backstory. You owe yourself execution moving forward.

Cheers and a toast to that!

See you next year, Happy New Year… Follow Up Fam.

Manny “That Follow Up Guy” Vargas