The Next Thing - Stepping Forward in Faith

Most people spend their entire life stressed without ever giving a single thought as to what it is they really want or what's important to them. See, I'm here to cut through all that noise, connecting you to yourself and the life that you were meant to live. I used to slave away at a corporate job that I hated, but I broke through the social norms and pursued my passion. As a result, I own my own coffee company, I'm espresso sommelier, and I get to travel the world. You too can live a life that you love, but it starts with getting clear about what you want. It starts with a new decision. I'm your host, Donnie Rouse, and you are listening to the podcast One Life. The Next Thing Energy needs a place to go. Have you ever felt like you were stuck? Like you just didn't know which path to take next? Sometimes the problem could be that you have multiple paths that you're. You're involved in so many endeavors that you're not sure which one to move forward in. In instances like this, I would say follow your passion, see where you're being guided. And this is a lot easier said than done at times. And I'm going to share just an experience of my own life and how I'm dealing with this as well as what I am doing to get out of it in my life. You may have heard me comment quite infrequently about my coffee company and not being really sure what that next step forward is. I broom bottle something called Cold Roman, which is an amazing espresso beverage. But the entire journey of Cold Roman was one that I never really anticipated or planned in the sense that I like doing certain things like aspirational and I love the making of the coffee. But that aspect of it was never something that I was like, oh, I can't wait to take a brand, grow it and put it in grocery stores. It just wasn't ever part of my intention. And as a result, I find myself on this new path, right this path where I have to down now decide, like where am I going to put my focus? Where am I going to put my energy? Maybe you are on that same path where you're like, you know what, I've been doing this for so long and I'm not really sure that this is where I want to go. I don't know if I want to go in that direction. If you are in that same spot, I want you to just kind of give yourself a pat on the back and one congratulate yourself because first of all you have an option, right? You always have an option, and you always have hope. There's always a chance at a better tomorrow. And so whatever you are dealing with in this moment is not pervasive. Secondly, I want you to just kind of tune in to see, well, what is it that you really want? Like, what if you had to be honest with yourself, what is the very next step forward in this journey to try to figure out what that next step for me was? I would literally. I've cycled through this many, many times, talking to different consultants about this, the beverage that I make. And in the past, I was always afraid of sharing my recipe, even with NDAs, and, like, oh, well, you know, who's to say they're not going to speak to someone and share my secrets, and then all of a sudden, you know, someone's going to have the same drink as me, and it's because I didn't act on it. Right. So there was a lot of fear guiding my decisions. And as a result, I wasn't willing to kind of take that step out to see and get more clarity on what it was that I wanted and how I was going to progress forward. Clarity is one of the reasons if you're not taking action in your life. If I wasn't taking action, it's because I didn't have clarity. I wasn't really sure which way I was going to go with this. So as life tends to give you these gifts, Right. You may think, I heard the story about a lobster. It was in an Instagram reel, and the guy was talking about a lobster. He goes, what happens to a lobster? Right? They don't. They don't stay in the same shell. When the lobster is small, it goes under a rock, seeks protective covering, and then it will shed its shell and grow a new shell until it gets under pressure again, until it becomes too big for that shell and it starts to feel the pressure, and then it retreats back to this safe place and it sheds the shell, builds a new shell, or, you know, like, grows a new shell, and then goes back out into the world. We are a lot like lobsters because sometimes it takes just this. This intense amount of pressure for you to say, okay, well, all right, I'm listening. What is it that I want to do next? That is where I was, and now I am. I spoke to a. A consultant. We're talking about just the process of doing cold roadmap. And for me, one of the big, I guess what deterrence of doing it was I wanted the beverage to just stay natural. I didn't want to add any kind of acid, acidity to preserve it, or preservatives or heat treatment, because I want it to be pure. And then I quickly realized there's a reason why, you know, amongst other things like safety, shelf life, that things aren't on there out in the market in a large scale with this kind of processing method, because, one, it's very expensive. Two, it becomes very difficult. And so now I was forced. Not forced. I don't want to use that word. We'll use better. I was given the opportunity to seek out a new way of looking at the situation. And as a result of that, I picked up conversations again with different people in the industry, especially one who was a formulator. In talking to this formulator, he was just kind of laying the land for me, saying, oh, you know what? You want to go into beverage, huh? Like, well, yeah, you know, that's what I do. I do a beverage. You realize this is the most difficult industry, the most difficult segment within food to go out there and start a business. I'm like, okay, I knew that. And then he was. He was going in. I almost didn't feel like, in a way, he was testing me to see how committed is he. And one of the things he had said was about the moqs minimum order quantities being extremely high, like something around like 30,000 gallons, which means I would have to sell or I would have to create over about 750,000 bottles of cold Roman. I am not even. I mean, when you look at what I'm doing now, it's a fraction of that. So I was like, oh, my God, like, what? What am I supposed to do now? You know, where the potential, where I have to go, where I am, are two very different places. So what it did was it opened me up to asking new questions. Now I'm like, okay, well, maybe I would consider licensing my product. Maybe I would consider selling the product. Now. All these options are now on the table. In doing the Cold Roman and, you know, online with my roasted coffee, my one life course, all of this stuff, I'm like, well, where the hell am I supposed to go when. How do I move forward? You know, there's all these things, and when your energy is divided, you tend to go nowhere. You tend to stay in one place because you're not sure where to put the energy. And then you think about, well, what is the next step? Right? On some level, you have a gut instinct as to what the next step is. You don't have to know what the what the end, the next five steps are. You only have to know what that next step is, because as you take the next step, the next step will appear. So the next step, I know is to have in further conversations with this formulator. And maybe just having the formulation will, one, well, maybe it'll make my life easier at this moment in terms of production. But two, maybe it'll then give me a way of approaching different people. Like, I don't know if 30,000 gallons. That seems like quite a bit. I'm sure. Maybe he was just. Maybe he was speeding, speaking metaphorically. But nevertheless, it's going to give me more clear by taking that next step, I get more clarity. And as a result of more clarity, then I can make a decision based on what to do next. Because now I'm clear about what the path forward would look like. And I can say, okay, well, is this what I want? Yes or no? If not, move on to something else. Why do I tell you this? Why do I tell you this? I tell you this because a lot of the time you get stuck in life and you don't know which way to move forward, right? You're afraid. You're afraid if you do something that you're. Maybe it's going to be irreversible. Maybe. Oh, well, if I do this, what happens if it doesn't go right? Oh, then I'll be ruined. And I want to give you the message and say that you're never ruined. Nothing is final as long as you are alive. There's always another chance. So looking at where it is you are, I want you to just kind of feel into your body, right? What is, if you had to take a next step, if you had to trust yourself that all you needed to know is that very next step, what would your gut tell you? Write it down on a piece of paper. And chances are, if you're listening to this as I'm asking this, I'm willing to bet a million dollars that the answer probably popped in your mind. Whether or not you want to realize it or not or acknowledge it. I should say, what is that next thing? And you may be looking at the next thing, and it may scare you, right? Because maybe in my example that I gave, my next step is a conversation. My next step is sharing my recipe with this formulator. And while I, I do believe that the, the formulator is going to be in complete integrity, right? There is some fear that, like, well, maybe they just casually, in a conversation, they may share my recipe or my ingredients with other people, right? Then, oh, God, then all of a sudden, now someone else is going to have it. But I. I do believe that they are going to be and will hold themselves in integrity. So there's. There's not much risk there. So the next step is just me having a conversation. But maybe it's something bigger for you. But I want you to lean in. If, you know, if your gut is telling you that it is the right decision, the next step is the right step you should be taking, then that's all you need. It's easy to be afraid of what other people may think. Think fear that we may get. We may be alone because people may get upset with us in us making a decision that is in accord with our lives. One of the things that I read recently that I thought helped in instances like this was about thinking of the possibility and what is out there and understanding, well, let me backstep. I'll give you a couple examples. The first is, let's start. Anytime something new comes onto your plate, say no. And you're like, well, all right. Well, what do you mean, say no? Why would I say no? If an opportunity comes into my lap, why would I say no to it? Let me finish. So you say no, then try to talk yourself into making it a yes. What you will quickly realize are the hard nos and the hard yeses. Because when there's something that you don't really want to do, all of a sudden you'll catch yourself. You'll be like, well, right. It's a no. All right, well, why do I want to do this? You're like, oh, well, you know, I should. I don't want this person to be upset. And you start realizing very quickly in your language why you are moving in certain directions. So let's get clarity about what it is that we want and where we are moving and what is not serving us. And the next one is just imagining something greater, imagining what it would be like, what the possibilities would be like, what you would regret by not taking this positive action for your life. There are two types of regret. There is the regret of not taking something positive. Meaning one of the things for me is if I don't live outside of Stanford, Connecticut, if I don't live some other places in the world, that's a big regret for me. Oh, man. It's like heavy thinking about it. But that's a big regret for me because I want that. That's one of the things I want very, very badly. I want to experience and live in other cultures in the world. So When I think about the regret of that versus the regret of possibly making the wrong decision, like, oh, well, what if I go out there and I try and it doesn't work? Oh, I'm going to regret having made the decision. No, the bigger regret, the way you frame it, is to look at what is the larger regret. Like, if I don't take this opportunity, will I? Regret kind of goes. When people are on their deathbed, they don't regret the things they did do, they regret the things they didn't do. So let's kind of bring it back in together and just make it in a way so that what I'm saying makes sense. But also this way you could apply it to your life. What is something, a place where you've been stuck, where you've been trying to maybe, like me, you've been trying to look for this grand vision, this clarity on what it is that you're creating or moving towards, but it's just not there yet, right? It's eluding you. And maybe for good reason, maybe the reason it's eluding you is because you need to get more information, right? It's kind of like you can draw a picture. You can look at an artist starting to make a picture. At first, he's just outlining it, right? And you might see just some lines. You can't even really make out if it's a face or a landscape. But then as he starts to pick up different brushes and different paints and starts to put it in there, now all of a sudden you can start to see the picture like, oh, wow, it's a schooner. For anyone who knows that reference. Mall rats. But, you know, you. Sometimes you need to add more detail in order to see what that picture is. So maybe that's where you are. And it's going to take you getting and just taking that first step, that very next action. So let me ask you, what is that very next action for you? Right? You know, you know it. You. You're feeling it. It's in your gut. And like, I'm sure your voice is, like, spitting it out as I'm asking you these questions, you're listening to these words go into your head, you know what the next step is, and then say, all right, well, will you regret not taking this step and just letting it maybe just fall away by the wind, whatever that thing is, Chances are if you know, if your gut is telling you, you know that you have to take the action, so you're going to regret not taking it. And again, let me just fall back on that one idea that nothing is permanent whatever happens, right? Maybe you're worried about financial ruin. Nothing is permanent. If you are alive, you can make another dollar tomorrow and you can make another dollar the following day and those things will slowly compound. Nothing is permanent. So in closing, I encourage you to just take that very, very next step, whatever it is for your life, and just watch as it unfolds and you get more clarity. My hope for you is to get more clarity and to align your life with the thing that is going to make you feel lit up. The things that are going to make you feel alive. It's the journey that I am on and continue to pour all of my life's energy in. And it's also what I want to share because I do believe that your life should be a work of art. It's what I want from my life and the reason why I am on here sharing it for you. So everything that I share here is in some way a struggle or journey that I myself have experienced or am currently experiencing. So if any of this stuff relates and resonates with you, know that you are not alone. That is all I have for you guys and I hope you enjoyed this post. If you did, please give it a thumbs up. Hit that subscribe button and if there's someone else you feel like may benefit from hearing these words, share the podcast with them. Remember, you only get one life. Live it. Thank you so much for tuning in. If you want to forgot, if you want to ask a question, if you want to leave a comment, just Visit my website donnyrous.com d o n n y r a u s.com that is it. Hope you enjoyed this podcast. God bless and I will see you soon. Remember, you get one life. Live it. Thank you so much.