The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker. Do you like them? Hmm, I'm partial. They're all trapped in a terrible habit that's informed their whole life of misery. Okay. Today, it's another episode of The Sail Stoic and it's the 16th of January Jack. It's the 16th of January Jack. We're to talk about our old friend, Rufus. Are you ready? Mm-hmm. Okay.

So in the majority of other things, we address circumstances not in accordance with the right assumptions, but mostly following wretched habit. Since all that I've said is the case, the person in training must seek to rise above, so as to stop seeking out pleasure and staring away from pain, to stop clinging to living and a boring death in the case of property and money, to stop valuing receiving of a giving.

Wow. You like that one? like it. Assumptions are so dangerous, aren't they? They certainly are. And I think what can happen with a lot of people, we've all been guilty of it, is you hit these moments in life where you're firmly in autopilot. Yeah. You mentioned, I think in one of the other days that we've done about being an NCP in party life, being a non-playable character, just going through the motions of your life. And I think it's probably a worthwhile

story to tell, isn't it? You're going to smile at me. Well, I'm sorry. And I've got to call it out. You said you're confusing a non-playable character with a car park. Yeah. NPC. The NPC. The NCP. Sorry. Yeah. I'm sorry. And we nearly made it through the episode. was being a good co-host. You can call me out. I'll do the same to you. So there's obviously a point in our lives where we hadn't set up the business.

For me personally, I was doing sales jobs for people that were probably undervaluing the skill I bought. Typically I was brought in as this kind of cold 360 hunter. Can you go and find new business for us? Close it, do everything. And I was trapped in this cycle where I was working for people I didn't really like and then maybe working there for a year or two, moving on to the next job and just moving through the steps. And then the pandemic hit.

Dealfront (02:23.406) And the business I was in completely switched roles and everyone that I spoke to said, you know, I don't need what you're offering. I need you. That's weird. Next conversation. No, no, no. I don't need that. I need you. I a guy who can come in and get us new business. Third person, fourth person. thought something's happening there. Something's trying to tell me something. So then there was this idea of the risk. But what happened was I thought I can either choose it to be trapped in autopilot.

forever, or actually take quite a big leap. And at the time we were expecting our fourth child, had about a month's wages in the bank. I've got a mortgage or all those things to cover, but it was a case of, I just take that leap and jump to start a business or do I actually just stick in autopilot for another year? And often it's just taking that initial jump to setting something up. But I remember those first few nights I'd be lying there looking at the same thing and

my God, what have I done? Is this gonna work? And the pandemic also had an interesting sort of a crossroads for you as well, didn't it? So interesting when you talk about that. one of the books that we were speaking about recently is, I'm gonna budget, the dog, the boy, the fox and the horse or something to that effect. And there's a beautiful line in there, like if there's a big fog or in times of darkness, just one foot in front of the others. And sometimes you have to leap, but sometimes it's just step by step and...

My life was very interesting. We were kind of on different paths, but I was singing on a cruise ship and COVID hit and there was no career for a cruise ship singer during the pandemic. And then all of a sudden it changes and I reverted back to what I know. And it was a typical sales job, selling insurance. Here's a basic, here's a bit of commission. And I'm just going through the motions day in, day out. But something was starting to awaken within me. And you start to think, actually, this doesn't feel...

like the norm anymore. And I feel like it may not be your fault in life where you've ended up, but at some point you've got to say, it's my responsibility and I've got to take accountability for my own life. If you're young and you're 17, 18, it might not be your fault. You might have been dealt a bad hand, but when you get to 30, you can't start blaming other people. And it's about taking those steps forward. And I admired what you did during the pandemic. And obviously,

Dealfront (04:50.162) started it and that kind of, kind of sped up this journey that we entered on. And I think you've got to take those risks in life, but, calculated risks as well. Exactly. Exactly. I think it's that thing, isn't it? Confidence is a house, isn't it? But what can happen is you can end up with a very sturdy house of confidence that you live in, but it's actually not really the house that you want to live in. It's not the right size. You've outgrown it and moving somewhere new.

living in new foundations, filling new walls is sometimes a scary proposition. Yeah. And I remember that first year, the theme of the first year, the mantra between us when we'd hit a new hurdle or a new thing that would have worked is just saying, we'll figure it out. We'll make it work. Yeah. And that was always the thing that was kind of a North star in the face of there was no clear evidence that there was no clear confidence. The house wasn't firm and strong yet, but it was just we'll make it work. We'll find a way.

and you might not have the evidence to support that you can do something, but what you will be able to find is you'll be able to find evidence in life, well I've overcome that. So if a new roadblock comes and you go, actually I don't have any evidence to navigate me through being made redundant and finding a new job, but you've got evidence that when you've been looking for work, you found work, or you've got evidence that you've done hard things. So do the hard things and make sure that you're kind of...

reverting back to that evidence toolbox of things that you can rely on. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Anything else you want to tell me about? I've been Jack Frimston. I've been Zack Thompson. Remember you will die. We're going to need a bigger boat.