Monday, July 20, 2026

FINISH WHAT YOU START (Join My Skool Community!)

BE SURE TO JUMP IN AND JOIN MY NEW COMMUNITY ON SKOOL!

 My guess is that anyone that reads this article has gone through the whole "New Year's Resolution" fiasco more than once. Am I right? You know what I mean...making BIG plans and maybe even declaring them OUT LOUD to a friend or even a group of people only to give up and never see those plans through.

As a matter of fact, data has been gathered that indicates THE date that marks when most people have done just that and, guess what? It's called, "Quitters Day" and, believe it or not, it is on January 19th.

Nineteen days??!!?? Wow! 

Many times we "laugh it off" and think nothing about it but...can I talk to you as a person? Can you (and WILL you) allow yourself to be totally honest with yourself on this? Here we go: Even though you may have "laughed it off" in the past, is there a part of you that realizes that you've allowed this to become bigger of a problem along the way and you understand that it is actually holding you back from a better future?

Often, in the past, I've stated that DAILY RESOLUTIONS are much more valuable than "New Year's Resolutions, and I still believe that 100%. It's a whole lot easier to make needed corrections on a daily basis than it is at the end of a calendar year.

So, bottom line, that's what my new community on Skool is all about. If you've been reading and/or listening to my recent episodes then you know that I've discussed the importance of taking a good look at the people that we spend most of our time with and really considering the impact of those relationships.

You've likely heard, many times, the idea of "You are most like the 5 people with which you spend most of your time".  I've mentioned that, you don't necessarily have to completely separate yourself from these people BUT you need to start connecting with those that will actually encourage you and cheer you on and NOT criticize you or make fun of you because you want to improve your life. 

Don't misunderstand the purpose of this community. It is NOT a place for a bunch of people to come together and whine. Nope! Not at all. But, it IS a place that will challenge you to step up and step out in making decisions for your future and then following through. YES, you WILL stumble and YES you will "fall" from time to time and that is where this group will be so helpful and encouraging.  

Step up and join and introduce yourself. Once you do, I will personally welcome you into the group and connect with you. I will continue to share positive information like this with you but will also be offering different ways to "zone in" and "focus" on some specific "next steps" that WILL HELP YOU MOVE FORWARD TO SUCCESS in the area that you pursue.  

Are you ready? If not, why not? Isn't it time to put away the excuses (usually disguised with what we like to call "reasons") and finally decide that it's time to actually FOLLOW THROUGH and "Finish What You Start"? 

Click on the link below and I look forward to meeting you there! 

And, as always..."Make it an AWESOME day! (Who else is going to do it for you?)"
 
Mike
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Saturday, July 18, 2026

Think BIG!

                                           

 

This is a fairly long read and I hope you find it interesting and informative. I wanted to share it so that you can get the whole "background" to what you find in the last 3 lines. THINK BIG! 
 
Buc-ee's marketing budget is almost entirely billboards, and most of them are bathroom jokes. 'Only 262 Miles to Buc-ee's. You Can Hold It.' A company convinced millions of families to drive past hundreds of gas stations using toilet humor. It worked because the promise behind the joke was real.
Buc-ee's sells gas so cheap that a competitor sued them for it.
 
In 2019, a new Buc-ee's in Alabama priced regular gas at $1.79 a gallon. The wholesale cost was around $1.90. They were selling fuel below what it cost them, and a rival gas station took them to court over it.
 
Most people would look at that and see a gas station losing money on gas.
Buc-ee's isn't a gas station. The gas is the bait.
 
The founder has said it himself. Roughly two-thirds of Buc-ee's revenue comes from inside the store. Food, snacks, and merchandise. Only one-third comes from fuel.
 
At a normal gas station, those numbers are flipped. 
The average convenience store in America does about $5.5 million a year. The average Buc-ee's does around $57 million. Per location. Roughly 10x the industry standard.
 
Arch Aplin III grew up in Texas in an entrepreneurial family. His father built homes. His grandparents, Arch and Mae, had run a gas station and country store in Harrisonburg, Louisiana since the 1920s.
Young Arch worked summers there. They wouldn't let him touch the cash register. Too young. So he pumped gas.
 
His mother nicknamed him "Beaver" after Bucky Beaver, the old toothpaste mascot. The name stuck for life.
 
He went to Texas A&M and earned a construction degree in 1980. He figured he'd build skyscrapers.
Instead, in 1982, at 24 years old, he borrowed $250,000 from a bank president he had befriended and built a 3,000 square foot convenience store in his hometown of Lake Jackson, Texas.
He named it after himself and his childhood dog, Buck. Buc-ee's. The logo was a cartoon beaver in a red cap.
 
The store had brass ceiling fans and cedar paneling, which was unheard of in an industry built on grime and fluorescent lighting.
And Aplin opened with two non-negotiable promises.
Cheap ice. And clean bathrooms.
 
That was the entire strategy. Two things every road traveler in Texas wanted and no gas station in America bothered to deliver.
Those two trivial-sounding promises became the foundation of a company now estimated to generate $3 to $5 billion a year.
 
Every gas station owner in the country treated restrooms as a cost. A nuisance. The thing you needed a key attached to a hubcap to access.
Aplin treated the restroom as the product. He realized the traveling public would drive farther, past cheaper and closer options, for the promise of a spotless bathroom. 
So he splurged on them. Buc-ee's staffs dedicated team members whose entire job is keeping the restrooms immaculate at all hours.
 
When the New Braunfels location opened in 2012, it had 84 gleaming toilets, each with its own hand sanitizer dispenser. Those bathrooms became a finalist in Cintas' national America's Best Restroom contest, the only retailer to make the cut.
 
A gas station chain won a national award for its toilets. On purpose.
And then they built the entire marketing strategy around it.
 
Buc-ee's spends almost nothing on TV or digital ads. The marketing budget goes to billboards. Hundreds of them, stretching across highways for hundreds of miles, almost all of them jokes.
"Only 262 Miles to Buc-ee's. You Can Hold It."
"Restrooms So Clean We Leave Mints In the Urinals."
"The Top Two Reasons to Stop at Buc-ee's: #1 and #2."
 
They turned toilets into a tourist attraction. Families in minivans full of kids see those signs and the decision is made two hours before the exit ever appears.
 
Then in the early 2000s, Buc-ee's opened its oversized flagship in Luling, Texas, along one of the busiest highway corridors in the state. And Aplin made a decision that separated Buc-ee's from every other travel stop in America.
No semi-trucks allowed.
Every other big fuel stop in the country chased trucker volume. Aplin banned them. No 18-wheelers meant no rough truck stop atmosphere. Buc-ee's would be for families.
 
Freed from being a truck stop, the stores just kept growing. The Luling location now measures 75,593 square feet, the largest convenience store on the planet. That's an official world record. Buc-ee's holds a second one too, for the world's longest car wash, a 255 foot monster in Katy, Texas.
Inside these buildings, the "convenience store" concept dissolves completely.
 
Walls of fresh brisket sandwiches carved in front of you. Kolaches. Eighteen kinds of homemade fudge. An entire wall of jerky. And Beaver Nuggets, the caramel-coated corn puffs that people now buy in bulk and resell online.
 
Buc-ee's also refuses to sell its products online. If you want Beaver Nuggets, you drive to Buc-ee's. The scarcity is the point.
 
The cartoon beaver appears on over 1,000 different products. Shirts, hats, swimsuits, toys, ornaments, pajamas. Families pose for photos with the giant beaver statue out front like it's a theme park character. The merchandise is largely private label, which pushes gross margins to roughly 40%, well above the industry's 31 to 37%.
That's the Trader Joe's playbook
.
The gas is priced 10 to 30 cents below every station around it, sometimes below cost. One Colorado location alone draws roughly 8,000 cars a day.
Cheap fuel gets them off the exit. Clean bathrooms get them out of the car. The brisket, the fudge, the nuggets, and the beaver merchandise get them to the register with a full basket.
 
In 2024, 80% of Buc-ee's customers rated their experience as excellent. People don't just stop at Buc-ee's. They plan road trips around it. They pull over with a full tank.
 
Aplin, now in his 60s, still personally selects every new location and shows up to every groundbreaking. More than 50 locations across at least nine states, with new states opening constantly. When asked how many stores he has, he answers: "I'm not in this for a number. We're just having fun."
 
44 years ago, a kid who wasn't allowed to touch the register at his grandparents' gas station looked at the dirtiest, most miserable category in American retail and asked one question.
What if the pit stop was the destination?
Everyone else competed on gas prices and location. He competed on brisket, a cartoon beaver, and the cleanest toilets in America.
 
That's not a gas station.
That's a destination retail empire that happens to sell fuel.
 
The most ignored detail in your industry might be the entire opportunity. What's the "clean bathroom" nobody in your market is willing to invest in?
Think Big
 

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Friday, July 17, 2026

STOP Complaining - START Solving!

This is an original post (new for this date in July of 2026) that is based off of a graphic that I put together several years ago. Many times I will put thoughts that go through my mind down in a file of other quotes that I have and/or make a graphic of the quote and save it on my computer. This is one of those times. 

I don't remember exactly what was going on at the time or what spurred me to come up with this thought but, even if I don't remember the specifics, it  speaks "loud and clear" to me even today. 

                     

"I must CHANGE my thinking! When I see a problem, I MUST stop complaining. Instead, I must develop a solution and put it into ACTION!"                      

I think that you would agree with me when I say that it is EASY to find SOMETHING about which to complain...right? For some, it's like a favorite pastime and, if you spend enough time around them it may seem as if that is about all that they do!

And, if (more like "SINCE") complaining is such an easy thing to do then, on the other side of the equation, to be someone that DOESN'T complain about everything so quickly would make you someone that is "different" in a positive way...right?  

For most of us, we need to pay close attention to what everyone else is doing and DO THE OPPOSITE! Especially when it's something as negative as complaining all of the time. What, of necessity, does that mean? It means that we will have a positive impact on our OWN mindset by focusing on POSITIVE thoughts and ideas instead of the negative AND we will also have a positive impact on those around us.

And, in case you don't know it, people want MORE of the person that is POSITIVE and LESS of the NEGATIVE person. It is a need and a necessity...especially if you are trying to improve your own mindset as well as have a positive impact on those around you.  

Oh, and something else to keep in mind: There have been many times in the past (and even happening right now, today) where people have taken those "things" that brings about the tendency to complain and have made millions of dollars by finding a solution. They found that THEY weren't the ONLY ones that were complaining about ____________ (fill in the blank), which represented a PROBLEM and they came up with the SOLUTION. 

That quote that I came up with that is shown up there? Just even on a day to day basis - for me - that thought helps me simply change the way I think about things that are easy to complain about. Instead, I begin to think about what I can do to change or remove that situation. And, sometimes...it is as simply as not putting myself in the position to where I'm around whatever it is that causes me to complain in the first place!

What about YOU?  

Make a list (remember...WRITE IT DOWN) of the things that you find you complain about a lot) and then brainstorm how you can CHANGE YOUR THINKING and begin to look for a SOLUTION to prevent that from being a part of your life.

Hey, it's YOUR list so don't worry about what anyone else might think about it. 

Is there something you can do to help IMPROVE the situation? (By the way, complaining to someone by saying, "You need to do this differently!" and not actually being a part of the solution doesn't accomplish much!) Is there something you MUST do to remove that negative situation in and for your life? 

Finally, maybe look at it in a way that could cause you to see if you can come up with a solution that would benefit many people in a way that you could actually build a business around it...instead of just continuing to complain about it.

And, as always..."Make it an AWESOME day! (Who else is going to do it for you?)"
 
Mike

 

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Wednesday, July 15, 2026

Xcelerate Your Efforts! (Part 2 - The Mastermind)

 

(This article first appeared in December of 2009. It has been edited and updated)


In today's article I want to really encourage each of you to "brainstorm" ideas on how YOU can accelerate your efforts on your way to reaching your goals and dreams!
 
It's always nice (and easy) when someone points out specific things for us to do but, sometimes - if we are not careful - we get dependent on such things and fail to make any moves unless someone tells us to do so specifically. If we follow such a path, that path will never lead us to success.
 
Why? Because it is not YOUR path! We must all understand that suggestions and guidelines are just that ---- SUGGESTIONS and GUIDELINES! Get the point? They are suggestions for us to consider and apply to our own situations. Guidelines are the same way.
 
So, yes, take them into consideration and adapt them to your own situation, personality and plans --- but YOU must follow the path to YOUR dreams!
 
So (may I get blunt here?) - don't get lazy! THINK, DREAM and PLAN!
 
If you go back to the classic book, "Think & Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill, you will find that he talks several times about the importance of a "Mastermind Group". This is a group of like-minded people that get together to share their thoughts and to brainstorm together.
 
This is one way to LEVERAGE yourself - as we talked about in the last podcast and blog. When you get open minds together and they begin to share ideas without fear -- great things can happen! Instead of YOU thinking alone and trying to come up with ideas, etc. you have the benefit of OTHERS doing the same with you -- this is LEVERAGE! It's how you are able to "Xcelerate Your Efforts".
 
Mel Robbins, in a November 2009 article in Success magazine also discussed another way that I believe is a way to accelerate our efforts. In this particular article she discussed how she is open and aware to everyone around her and how she greets and talks to all of these people. From the moment that she drives into the parking garage at her work all the way through her day she talks to each of these people.  
She is "accelerating" her efforts by including these people in her life and by being genuinely interested in their lives and what is going on in their lives. She is also using the principle of leverage!
 
Anytime that you expand your circle of contacts and influence, you have accelerated your efforts and have put the principle of leverage into place.
 
Here's a promise - you will NEVER go wrong by opening your life up with others in this way. We ALL need people! This is not talking about "using" people just so you can get ahead....but, again, being genuinely interested in others. This will always come back to you in powerful ways, wouldn't you agree?
 
So, get with a group of like-minded people (your own "Mastermind Group") and begin to share thoughts and brainstorm. The energy that is shared and released will lift you up and encourage you (as well as all the others involved) to keep moving toward your goals and dreams. Ideas and thoughts will be shared that you may have never even thought about as well as having thoughts coming to mind simply due to the shared energy of the group.
 
YES, YOU CAN accelerate your efforts and put the principle of leverage to work in your life!
 
This can be one of the most exciting things that you have ever experienced in this journey -- check it out and see if this is not true for you. 
 
And, as always..."Make it an AWESOME day! (Who else is going to do it for you?)"
 
 
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Monday, July 13, 2026

Xcelerate Your Efforts!

This podcast was first published on December 9, 2009. It has been edited and updated.

 

Yes, I know that the actual word is, "accelerate". But, at the time of this original posting, I was going through the alphabet for my blog article titles and, how many words do you know - that can be used in our "positive alphabet" start with the letter "X"? Xactly!

Dictionary.com defines the word "accelerate" in the following ways:

verb (used with object) 1. to cause faster or greater activity, development, progress, advancement, etc., 2. to hasten the occurrence of 3. Mechanics. to change the velocity of (a body) or the rate of (motion); cause to undergo acceleration.
4. to reduce the time required for (a course of study) by intensifying the work, eliminating detail, etc.
verb (used without object) 5. to move or go faster; increase in speed.
6. to progress or develop faster.

Now...let's clarify something with this definition - "to cause greater or faster activity" may be part of the definition of the word, "accelerate" but it is NOT what we are talking about in today's blog entry -- UNLESS that greater/faster activity is leading to results! You see, many times we can busy ourselves with activity and be making no progress at all. You know what I'm talking about. I've done it and you've done it. No one needs to explain that to you - you knew what was going on while you were doing it, right?
 
So, instead, let's look at definition 6 - "to progress or develop faster" - as a better definition of what I'm talking about today.
You know the problem, right? We talk, we plan, we talk, we plan some more, we plan and then we talk....get the picture? But, what's missing in this picture? DOING! ACTION!
 
Again, I'm NOT talking about moving without proper planning and preparation - but, sooner or later you have to MOVE into action!
 
Those of you that have kids, let me ask you this question: If you had waited until you could have AFFORDED to have kids - would you even have them today? Probably not!
 
You see, we cannot wait for everything to be in perfect alignment before we begin to make our move and take action toward the realization of our dreams, goals and desires.
 
The one main thing to keep in mind is the idea of "leverage". Now, to understand leverage you can consider many different examples.
   Example 1: the use of a lever to gain leverage - A lever is designed so that you can get more out of less. Less exertion on your part (due to the lever) is able to exert a greater amount of energy on the object. So, you are able to produce more with less.
   Example 2: the idea of using leverage in working. A teenage boy mows lawns for the summer. He does quite well and realizes that he has made good money doing this job. However, he realizes that he can only do 4 yards a day (if he is able to maintain his energy enough to do that and if the weather permits) X $30 per yard for a potential total of $120 per day. 
 
Not bad. IF the weather works in his favor and IF he can keep his energy up and IF he doesn't get sick. And, there are many more "ifs" to consider. He realizes that by getting other teens to work with him that he can get more business, more yards mowed and more money coming in. 
Yes, he knows that he must pay the largest percentage to the guy doing the mowing, yet HE can also get a part of each yard mowed for himself. MORE opportunity for MORE money with LESS work from himself - the very idea behind leverage. 
He still decides to mow 2 yards a day ($60) but he also has 8 other teens mowing yards and he is getting $5 per yard from each of those for an additional $40, which adds up to $100 per day. You may say, "Wait a minute, he's making $20 per day less!" Yes, he is, but he can also take the afternoon off and go swimming if he'd like OR he can mow one more yard OR he can involve a few more guys -- the leverage gives him CHOICE.
 
What can YOU do to leverage your efforts and, in so doing, "Xcelerate" your efforts?
 
Be thinking about that and be sure to listen to the podcast that goes along with this article (links below).
 
But, until then - BRAINSTORM for yourself and see what ideas YOU can come up with for yourself! After all, that's what this is about --- YOU and YOUR goals and dreams, right?
 

You can do it and I am here to help! Keep moving, keep growing, keep dreaming, keep improving your life and....all along the way, never forget to...

"Make it an AWESOME day! (Who else is going to do it for you?)"

Mike

NEW! Check out my community on Skool: https://www.skool.com/finish-what-you-start-2579

www.FutureYouUniversity.com and www.MichaelSpillman.com currently take you to the same place, which is my Facebook page, listed next...

www.Facebook.com/FutureYouUniversity

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MikeSpillman

My podcast:  https://mikespillmansfutureyouuniversity.buzzsprout.com

 

 

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