You can't fix dead but you can do something about almost everything else with Mary Walker

Welcome to this episode of the Million Dollar Mastermind. I'm Larry Weidell, and let's get started. I am here with Mary Walker, and we're going to have some fun today. I've known Mary for. It just seems like decades. We started in a company way back in the beginning of time, went nationwide, now on the New York Stock Exchange. And one of the first heroes of the business was Mary and Randall Walker. They were brigadier generals when I was just a private first class in this particular army. And always have had a tremendous reputation, tremendous production, and been able to attract quality people, run a quality organization, consistent year after year after year. And tragically, Randall decided to check out too early and left Mary running the business. And while the business did not miss a beat, and we always knew Mary worked in the business, ran the business with Randall, but we never. We never knew what a powerhouse she was. But we're finding out now because her efforts are really compounding and really multiplying. And, you know, probably as much as anybody, she's demonstrating at so many positive things. And that is the. That women do not have to rule out in their business career any goal, any level of accomplishment that they have their mind set on, they feel like they're called to do because you got examples out there like Mary Walker that did it as a wife, did it as a business partner, but for 15 years has been doing it all alone, even though she's had tremendous emotional adjustments you have to go through when you lose a lifetime partner, especially a great one, not a good one, but a great one that's beloved by everyone. And Mary has just done an amazing job. And that didn't happen by accident. You don't have this kind of success by accident. It doesn't fall in your lap. It. It comes by design. So welcome, Mary. And let's. Let's talk about some of those things you rarely get a chance to talk about, and that is how you react to the things that life throws at you and how you're able to be so incredibly productive on a consistent basis, because that's what people are looking for. So welcome, Mary.

Thank you. Thank you, Larry. Yeah, you know, that's a lot to think about right there. But one of the things that has always been something I try to do, and that's. I look at every situation as something that's got to be dealt with. Whether I like it or not. I'm still going to have the same 24 hours of the day. I can choose to let them be crappy or I can decide I'M going to get through them with a smile on my face. And how I handle a situation, I think affects others around me. So I've always thought my glasses kind of half full, girl, old lady now. But that's been a big thing to me. And I also understood way back in my life that bad things happen to good people. So you've just got to look around and you see that with everybody else. You can't sit around and say, oh, woe is me. This is happening. And I don't like it. So I've always tried to put myself in a position where you, regardless what came along, I could handle that. You know, I lost my dad early. He died at 64 back in 1982. Dropped dead while he was out in the church parking lot helping cut down a tree. Never been sick a day in his life, you know. And then, of course, lost Randall. He had just turned 59. My one and only little sister. I lost her, buried her on my birthday 10 years ago. She had just turned 55. And, you know, all those things are terrible, but you don't shut your life down when you have something like that. How you go forward should be based on how you want others to look at, how you handle the tough things in life. You know, I think I'm sort of like, I came from the country and my aunt used to have an old rooster that was around all the time in the yard. And I said, why don't you ever eat that one? And she would say, well, he's too tough to cook. And I sort of think I'm sort of like that. Maybe I'm too tough to fold in on myself when something terrible comes. But I just know that life gives you what you will accept, and how you deal with it is the only thing you really can control. With a lot of the things out there and my belief in myself and my belief in my business and what I've chosen to do with my life is really strong. So I think that's a big thing. People have to believe in themselves before somebody else is going to. I don't think I'm necessarily going to win everything, but it's certainly my plan to win everything. I don't accept that there's anything out there that I can't achieve or do within reason. And so I'm always planning, always looking ahead for what can I do to improve not just my life, but those around me? What can I do to improve my business? I think that's a big thing to everybody in the business world and in Our company, you know, they've got to look at things themselves and come up. No, you can't be spoon fed every little step of the way. You've got to think for yourself. You got to think outside the box. You got to come up with some new ideas all the time. And I think that's what keeps it exciting for me. You know, I'm not a 20 year old in this business anymore. I was right out of college when Randall and I started in the business. But I've been here a long time. I've been here since, in this business since the 1st of 1972, which is a long, dadgum time. And, you know, it just amazes me that I'm still in a business, still doing what I do. And I love it just as much as I did, if not more today than way back then. So I think that's a great thing to have in life, that you're excited about what you're doing. And I do think it keeps us younger, Larry.

Absolutely. And talk about. I'm not sure I heard that right. Life gives you what you'll accept. Did I hear that right?

Yes.

Elaborate on that.

I just mean. Yeah, I'm saying, you know, if you're.

Somebody who's got to interrupt, you know, you're real hard to interview because I just can't get anything out of you.

I'm sorry, I have been accused of talking too much. You know, when it's a subject you really are excited about or something you really believe in, you just can't shut up about it too much.

We all get accused of that. But keep going. I'm just kidding.

All right. Well, I'm just saying I've seen too many people who kind of wallow in it, if you know what I mean. They just, you know, they've always got a frown, they're always complaining about something. It's always somebody else's face that they're not having the success that they want to have, that they wish they could have. And my thinking is, you got the same opportunity that I've got. You know, I wake up every day, we all wake up every day and we get a do over. You know, we can have a great day or we can stay and just complain about what was in the past. But the truth is I can't change a dadgum thing about anything before this minute in time. So I got to say, everything in the past help to get me to the point I am where I am right now in life. And I've got a great position to Start over today on whatever it is I want to get to. So I'm just saying people get what they will accept. You know, you've got to decide if you want to move forward, then you got to gear up toward that. You got to say, I'm not going to accept any more failure. I'm going to concentrate on the things that are going to make me a better person, make my business better. And that's why I said, you got to think out of the the box. You can't just sit and have somebody coming along spoon feeding you what they want you to have. You got to be the person who thinks it up yourself. You got to be the person who gets up and gets excited about life in general first, and then secondly about your business. And if you got an opportunity to do something, great, because a lot of people in this world do not. We are so blessed to live in the country we live in. And I'm so blessed to be in the company I am. And so I'm excited about that. I think people have to. They got to take responsibility for themselves.

When you get up in the morning, how do you get yourself wound up and on the attack? Does that start the month the night before, or is that just the river is just flowing all the time?

I am a night person, not a morning person. So I can hang with you till, you know, 1:30 and 2 and 2:30 and whatever @ night. And so we do a lot of meetings, a lot of zooms, a lot of talks, but I take my mornings off. Now I get up and I'm in a good mood, but I'm not one of those people who get up at 5 or 6 in the morning and light a fire under myself. I'm not that at all. But I do wake up and I'm happy. Hey, I open my eyes and I say, thank God I've got another day. It's great. The second thing I do is I look up at the light fixture I've got on the ceiling and I think, man, I love that light fixture. I'm so glad I bought that. So you got to find some little things in life that you rejoice in as soon as you wake up. And then you got to say, hey, man, I got a new 24 hours to do something with isn't this excited. And like I said, I've known a lot of people who've checked out of this life earlier than they wished, earlier than they should have. And so that's what hits me every day, is how lucky I am. And to have another shot at life. And anything I want to do for.

Another 24 hours, you know, that is a fantastic idea that was just, I'm sure, glossed over by most people. But, you know, I've been a photographer forever, and the pictures don't take themselves. You know, first of all, you got. When you leave the house, you got to have the camera on you. You can't take a picture if the camera's not there. And then, you know, you're looking for things that inspire you. But the other thing, Mary, it's kind of like what you said. When you get up in the morning with that camera, I've got to go out there. And every day when I walk out with a camera, whatever reason, I'll take a picture of something. I'll find something, take a picture. Because what that does is kind of orient my brain, that in addition to everything else, I'm going to be doing. Running errands, going here, going there, talking to people, doing meetings. Keep my eye out for something interesting, something inspiring, something pretty, something unique, something to, you know, give yourself a little, you know, you. A little buzz. And so sometimes you're just not inspired. You know, it's like everywhere you look, I've been out and been walked around forever. And it's just like, why am I here? You know, it's just lighting bad, terrible people, ugly buildings. The, you know, the scenery looks like a dump. But then all of a sudden, I'll force myself to take a picture of something and, you know, do it a little more, A little more. Pretty soon I start seeing things. They're right in front of me the whole time that are really fascinating that I was just walking right by. I just didn't see it. It's amazing the stuff in front of us that you gotta push yourself to see. And I think that's a phenomenal idea. And I'm going to adopt it. That first thing in the morning, find some little thing to be thankful for. Because when people get. Because what that does is kind of reset your mind, your expectation, you're telling your conscious and subconscious, we're going to be grateful today. We're going to be positive today. You know, we're going to appreciate what we have today. We're not going to be whining today. And so I think a little, you know, it's just like, well, that's not a big deal. Yeah, you get started on big deals, but with little deals. And I think that's a great. One of the greatest ideas I've heard lately. And what what do you do to kind of, you know, you've got this positive vibe? How do you kind of make sure the people around you where you just don't tolerate a lot of nonsense and you stay productive? Because we spend so much of our time around people that things are not going right in their life. They're not being productive. The people that are productive are too busy too, you know, sit down and talk. I mean, they're getting things done. But. And so the people that have the questions that come around, that so many of them are going through frustrating times just like we did. And so how do you keep yourself in moving forward and controlling that environment where it doesn't get to you?

You know, when I'm talking to anybody and I'm like everybody else, we do have people who do bring their problems to us. Of course, in our business, that's so. But then in life, too, and you've got to come up with a way to talk to that person, I believe. And first of all, you deal with a problem, but then you cheer them up. You find something positive that's gonna come out of that. And I do believe that most every problem does have a positive to it. You may have to look a little harder to find it sometimes, but usually there's something there that you can bring up. And I try to make sure that at the end of every conversation I have with somebody who wants to start off negative. And there are those people who do that, and they really. The intention is they want to share their problem with you, but they really would like it if you would be drugged down with them, you know? And I try to make sure that whatever's going on, I wind it up on a positive note, that I bring out something that they haven't thought about, I bring it. And if all else fails, I explain to them how at least you got that behind you now, so it's going to be a better day. You know, I just think it's important not to let anybody rain on your parade. And I have learned through all these years of life that people do like to do that. Misery loves company. And, you know, you can nip it in the bud, but you got to concentrate on doing it yourself to do that. You know, I want people to see the possibilities in their life. Even if they got a problem right now, they can get past that. And like I said, I've had some problems. I understand when you got a problem. And especially I tell everybody, first thing I want to know, is anybody dead? Okay? And if the answer is no, I Say, well, hey, you're winning right now. Then, you know, I've dealt with the others. You can't fix dead, but we can fix about everything else in life. So I try to, you know, get somebody to laugh about something because I think laughter, man, being happy, smiles change everybody, change everything that you deal with. And it's important to do that. You know, you can't take yourself too seriously in this life, especially those of us who've had maybe more success than other people. And, you know, people look at you and think, well, you must have done everything perfect to get there. No, you didn't. You struggled, you worked, you. You did some right things along the way, but you made a lot of errors, too. But the positive is that anybody can succeed in whatever they are, in whatever level. They just got to look at it differently and they got to quit drinking in the negative stuff that is being fed to them. You know, I told my son that just the other week he started a new job, and he was fussing about it. He really didn't like what he was. And I said, well, son, you know, I've worked a lot of jobs in my life way back years ago that I didn't like either. I've worked with people that I really didn't care for. I said. But I realized early on I couldn't dwell on that because if I did, it would just drive me crazy. I would be totally miserable every day. I had to come up with a way to deal with it and to get around it. And I did. I said, so you've got to understand, be thankful you are able to work. Be thankful you got a job and you got to go forward from there. You got to change your thinking. And it's your stinking thinking that makes you miserable, not the subject matter you're dealing with.

Fantastic. Thanks so much, Mary. You've given us so much information to think about. In fact, I think we've discovered. Well, I want to get you to write a book. I want you to start doing blogs, and we already have the title for your book, you Can't Fix Dead. But we can do. We Can Do Something about. And the subtitle is but we can Do Something about Almost everything else.

Hey, Larry, I got another title for a book too, as you can't fix stupid.

I think that one might be used, Mary, but.

Okay, okay.

But anyway, thanks so much and it was fantastic talking to you. Look forward to the next time.

Thank you.

Thanks for listening to this episode of Million Dollar Mastermind with me, Larry Wydell. If I've helped you in any way. Leave us a five star rating and review on Apple Podcasts. For more information like this, listen to our other Million Dollar Mastermind episodes and check out my Widel Academy YouTube channel and visit us on whydellonwinning.com I'm the million Dollar Mastermind. And until next time. Go go go.