TL;DR:::::::
- Embrace an Open Mindset: Keeping an open mind is crucial for discovering new opportunities and innovations.
- Importance of New Conversations: Engaging with new people and ideas can lead to significant breakthroughs.
- Technology and Innovation: Encountering groundbreaking technology that could revolutionize the irrigation industry.
- Overcoming Initial Bias: It's essential to look beyond initial skepticism or bias towards new ideas and products.
- Creating Luck: Luck is often the result of continuous effort and openness to opportunities rather than mere chance.
Summary:
In this episode of the Sprinkler Nerd Show, host Andy Humphrey discusses the concept of keeping one’s “eyes wide open” as a way to stay receptive to new ideas, opportunities, and innovations, particularly within the irrigation and landscape industry. He emphasizes the importance of an open mindset in both personal and professional contexts.
Andy begins by explaining that expressing thoughts out loud helps him remember them better. This episode serves as a reminder to himself and his listeners to stay open-minded. He introduces the concept of "eyes wide open," which he describes as the practice of seeing beyond what we want to see and remaining aware of what actually exists and what possibilities might be available.
He recounts an experience from earlier in the day, where he had an unexpectedly profound conversation with an entrepreneur developing innovative technology outside the United States. Initially hesitant to engage, Andy decided to attend the meeting with an open mind and was amazed by the groundbreaking software technology relevant to his industry. This encounter reinforced his belief in the value of being open to new ideas and perspectives.
Andy highlights how easy it is to dismiss new products or ideas, especially when one is loyal to a particular brand or has had negative experiences with other brands. He notes that often, people approach new conversations with a closed mindset, either out of habit or preconceived notions. This can lead to missed opportunities and hinder progress. By contrast, approaching interactions with an open mind allows for potential discoveries and innovations.
He uses the example of his industry, where brands like Rain Bird or Hunter are predominant, and how professionals might resist considering products from other brands due to brand loyalty or preconceived biases. He stresses that it’s crucial to entertain new ideas and test new products to stay ahead in the industry. This open-minded approach can lead to significant advancements and better solutions.
Andy also addresses the concept of luck, challenging the common perception that successful people are merely lucky. He argues that what appears to be luck is often the result of numerous efforts and opportunities seized over time. By keeping their eyes wide open, individuals can create their own luck through continuous learning and openness to new possibilities.
This podcast episode is a motivational reminder for professionals to maintain an open mind and actively seek new knowledge and experiences. Andy encourages his listeners to engage with new people, explore new technologies, and be willing to entertain meetings and conversations that might initially seem unimportant. He believes that this mindset will lead to personal and professional growth and ultimately contribute to shaping a successful future.
In conclusion, Andy Humphrey’s message in this episode is clear: staying open-minded and receptive to new ideas and opportunities is essential for innovation and success. By embracing an "eyes wide open" approach, individuals can overcome biases, discover groundbreaking technologies, and create their own luck through continuous effort and engagement with the world around them.
[00:00:00] I hope you like that intro my friends. Thank you for tuning in to another episode of The Sprinkler Nerd Show. I'm your host Andy Humphrey and I just have a actually a quick thought for
[00:00:23] you today which is also a reminder for myself and sometimes just by taking a few minutes to put a thought out into the world like this it also helps me remember things is kind of
[00:00:37] like if you write it down you're more likely to remember it than if you just think it so if I say it I'm more likely to remember it than if I just think it which is a helpful
[00:00:46] reminder to me and that is are you ready drum roll here it goes for your Friday eyes wide open if you are an irrigation professional old or new who designs installs or maintains high end residential commercial or municipal properties and you want to use technology
[00:01:12] to improve your business to get a leg up on your competition even if you're an old school irrigator from the days of hydraulic systems this show is for you what is Andy talking
[00:01:27] about wise wise eyes wide open and what I mean by that is that so often we only see what we want to see not what actually is not what actually is or what is available or what
[00:01:49] could be and wise give you a short a short example of this and it's as it's hard because we are often solicited phone text email I would like to have a meeting with you I
[00:02:04] would like to show you my gadget my gizmo my software and it becomes difficult to keep your eyes open when sometimes you just want to make the noise go away and today I had an amazing
[00:02:18] probably sometimes I speak in extremes but let's do it anyway it may be the single most amazing conversation that I've had in the last month if not the last quarter if not yet here in 2024 with a technology well with an entrepreneur developing some freaking amazing technology
[00:02:39] it's not in this country and I can't wait to share it with you but I had no idea going into this meeting really had no idea what was going to come out of it and so all I all I did
[00:02:55] was I went into this meeting eyes wide open and I saw some amazing things that really got me thinking how happy I was that I took the time to entertain this gentleman amazing can't
[00:03:12] wait to can't wait to share more with you guys and to look back on even on this episode where I'm reminding myself to have my eyes wide open and reminding everybody listening to
[00:03:21] have your eyes wide open because you never know what you might discover unless you have the conversation you have the meeting you take a look so there's this the entrepreneur overseas building some amazing technology extremely relevant to our industry probably the most
[00:03:41] relevant software gosh again I'm speaking in extremes but it's true if I were to show you this not only not just on one front but multiple multiple avenues with groundbreaking mostly software technology and I will share with you I'm just not ready yet because I
[00:04:01] learned about it today I don't know quite enough to speak on it but it reminds me that it is so easy let's say let's say you use brand a doesn't matter what it is
[00:04:15] this is a very nice brand B but brand B comes out with a new product it's so easy to not want to entertain brand B brand B is new widget new software new gadget whatever it is because
[00:04:31] you use brand A or maybe you don't like the representative from brand B whatever the case might be it's so easy and it's so easy and so often do we go into either we either go
[00:04:46] into new conversations with a particular lens which is eyes wide closed I just need to have this meeting and then go on with my day or most likely we just don't even entertain the meeting and this is my reminder that it's okay to entertain the meeting you don't
[00:05:07] know unless you take a look and sometimes you don't know unless you first take a look and then you try it out and then you put in your hands and then you see what it can do
[00:05:16] that this continuous process of being what you might call open minded but eyes wide open to the potential versus closing up immediately potentially stereotyping it potentially making a assuming something or coming into it with a certain set of assumptions that are completely
[00:05:37] untrue which is a story you've made up in your head instead of just being eyes wide open and saying let me listen let me learn let me take in this information only then can
[00:05:49] I make a decision on what to do with this information first you have to entertain it so this is just a little reminder to to myself and to everyone listening that regardless
[00:06:00] of what we think or what we may think about something it might be important if you can fit it in your day to be open open to the possibility and I think the result of and
[00:06:15] let me back up so this this particular gentleman reached out to me on LinkedIn to set up a time to show me what he wanted to show me and my first thought is another damn solicitor
[00:06:30] and then I thought you know what but he there's something in this he's coming at it from our industry he's got something in this industry let me entertain let me entertain this meeting
[00:06:40] let me see what I can learn let me see what he has to offer and boy am I so glad that I did and I cannot wait to share it with you and it's just so easy not to do that and we're
[00:06:53] all busy we're all we all have different mood swings where sometimes we're super interested we're super positive where what how can I go tackle this world let me learn this let me try that and there are times when we are so overwhelmed we are underwater we can't
[00:07:06] keep up with even the daily duties of our personal life business life all of it that we don't have we don't make space for new we don't make space to keep our eyes and mind and
[00:07:24] thoughts open to what we might learn and it is hard I guess that's why I'm reminding myself that it is hard and I don't always do it and in this particular case I'm so happy
[00:07:35] that I did and I'm going to try to to be open more more often because we don't know where we don't know what the future looks like and as I said before the future doesn't happen the
[00:07:50] future is literally created and it's going to either be created by someone else or it's gonna be created by you or the combination of but you do get to participate in the creation
[00:07:59] of the future however you want it to be and so if you want to move forward if you want to expand grow stay ahead all those things keeping an open mind so that you can see what's coming in front
[00:08:11] of you is so important what makes me think of this expression that I don't really like is when someone says oh yeah you know Joe yeah he just got lucky you know he's where he's at
[00:08:23] because he was lucky and that is often if not all of the time not true it may look like luck and there's a difference between something being luck and something looking like luck because oftentimes what luck really is is a set of circumstances put into play that allowed
[00:08:48] that person or opportunity to take place but it wasn't just one it wasn't one move or one action it was it was a series of moves in a series of actions but the only one that we see is the last
[00:09:02] move we see the last move and we see the result and we think wow Joe got lucky but that's only because we are seeing the very last move we don't see the 10 50 100 1000 moves that
[00:09:16] happened before that last move that made that last move look like luck because Joe Joe's eyes were wide open and Joe found his luck so I think that's that's where I'll leave this little
[00:09:32] brain share today about eyes wide open we'll bring it back to we'll bring it back to luck and there's no such thing as luck luck is created through a set of circumstances and all of
[00:09:44] those circumstances are up to you and the next time you think somebody got lucky remember you're only seeing the last move you're not seeing the 100 or 1000 moves that came before so thank you so much for listening go into this weekend eyes wide open who can you talk to
[00:10:02] you and learn from that you've never met or talked to you before with that I'll wrap it up thank you so much for listening again please share this podcast with anyone you think might
[00:10:13] be interested I'm trying to share some nuggets that I try to relate to irrigation and landscape because that's the business that we're in but I also am trying to share some things that could apply to any any business trade or or person looking to expand their business and
[00:10:28] their life so again thank you so much have a great weekend we'll see you next week
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