Russ Lowry argues that change, especially from AI and technology, isn't something to fear. He shares stories about moving his kids to a new school, his son switching teams for better playing time, and leaving R.J. Reynolds to start his own business, showing how embracing change led to better outcomes when he planned for it.
Today, let's talk about don't be afraid of change. And I bring this up because your generation is going to face a lot more advances in technology with AI and a lot more change in your chosen occupations probably than anyone else has in a long, long time, if ever. Just the advent of AI is going to change occupations and what people do for a living, change careers you thought you would have forever, overnight, potentially. So you're going to have to be willing to change. And we'll talk about planning in another video. But so many people are afraid of change. Sometimes it's forced on you, sometimes it needs to happen. And you have to overcome that fear of just being paralyzed, of what to do that a lot of people just pull into themselves and become depressed. So, like, a few examples of that. Whenever we move Casey to the Mount, people are like, oh, I wish we could do that. We didn't. We don't. Like Norman North. It's so big. And wish we had the courage to do that. I can't tell you how many people said they wish they would do that. Well, no one was holding a gun to their head. They could have. They were just afraid to make that change and move their kids. And after we saw that case, mom saw that Casey's teacher didn't even know his name. Christmas, he was calling him Mike Lowry like bad boys. And he kept correcting her, saying, no, his name's Mike, right? And she said, no, it's Casey. Mom became pissed off enough to make that change. Sometimes, you know, we've all. Sydney did that when she was ready to leave the Mount due to circumstances. That was a brave thing. She wanted to. And she said, I'm. I'm doing this. And again, other parents reached out to me, ask about what we did, how that worked out. So change can be a good thing. Sometimes it's going to be on you, sometimes it's going to be forced on you. Again, like Riley when he was at Cali, they said, you're not getting a lot of playing time because there's a lot of players ahead of you. And we know you're a gamer. We know you want to play. And he made the decision and it was somewhat forced on him to look somewhere else, but he took that like a champ. I was very proud of him, how he handled that and continued his baseball career for many, many, many years later. So don't be afraid of change. Change happens to us all or it presents itself to us all. And sometimes we just, like I said, people just don't know what to do. Because they're so paralyzed. But often we come out on the other side much happier. I was with a big company for a long time. I could have stayed with them. I was getting. I got my master's degree. I kept getting promoted because I was the guy that did stuff and I'm a salesman of the year. But I decided I didn't want to work for a big company and I planned my escape for two years. Again, we'll talk about planning later. But I planned my escape for two years and everybody was shocked that I said the next time we had a downsizing and I said, I want a package. I don't want to work here anymore. They couldn't believe it. And especially when I said, I've been working. I've had my own side hustle. This is before side hustles were popular, really. I've been selling insurance for the last almost two years. I have an office in Norman and a business, and I'm ready to go. They were stunned. No one could believe that. They couldn't believe I'd done that. They couldn't believe that I would leave this big company and the security could potentially offer. But even though they knew my story of my dad being let go at the same company. So never be afraid of change. It's going to happen. You're going to have change in your life and your relationships that you want or you don't want your careers, lots of things are going to impact you that will make you think, you know, what do I do? And sometimes making a change to another company, another job, starting your own business and relationship, another team moving somewhere else. Maybe we'd like you to stay close, but sometimes that's the opportunity. And so many people are so scared of that that they bypass these opportunities that could change their life. If I had never decided to leave R.J. reynolds and start my own business, I have no idea what we'd be. Or maybe the change that I was dating around as a single guy in grad school, doing good, working for a big company and met your mother and said, I want to get married to this lady. And I made a change in my life. And here we are, almost 28 years, married, longer than that together later. So good choice there for me as well, and have four kids. So never be afraid of change. It can seem painful, it can be really scary, but often it's the best thing for you. And again, like when I left, When I left R.J. reynolds, not only I planned for two years, I had some savings and I said, honey, here we go. You know, I could always go back somewhere to get a job, but I said, we're making this change. I left R.J. reynolds. We had Casey, mom quit her job as the manager at Gap, all within a span of a few months. We had a baby after getting married and not long after getting married and made a lot of change at once. So you can come out of this on the good side of it. A lot of it's mental, so you just have to, you know, gird yourself, get ready, prepare and plan. Like I said, we'll talk about that later. But it's going to happen, and you'll be okay.
