Scott Schwertly

CEO of Ethos3. 2x Ironman. Husband. Father. Lover of bubble tea.

Bio

CEO of Ethos3. 2x Ironman. Husband. Father. Lover of bubble tea.

The Best and Worst of 2015

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I can’t believe 2015 is coming to a close. What a year! I would like to say I did a lot this year but with the arrival of Stone I have had to completely readjust my life. He has been a tremendous blessing and I wouldn’t change anything. I just have to recalibrate my schedule and my priorities. Again, this has been another year of neglect with documenting so I’m going to note the highlights here so that I don’t forget.

The Best

  • Created Badge – a proprietary presentation assessment tool
  • Went to Disney World in November with my family
  • I visited the following cities: Chicago (4x), Denver, Washington DC, Winston-Salem, Searcy, Greenville (2x), and Orlando
  • Saw the the Foo Fighters at Bridgestone Arena
  • I played Heroes of the Storm for the first time (inspired the acquisition of a professional team)
  • Created Kreese Gaming with a business partner
  • Created 2 additional gaming Meetups which are showing promise

The Worst

  • Father-in-law passed away
  • I only read a handful of books
  • No triathlon training
  • Revenue decreased for Ethos3 from last year

Overall, on paper this year did not look that great. However, my family is healthy and my kid is healthy and growing like a weed. This year was really all about discovering fatherhood which has been quite the adventure.

Looking forward to maximizing 2016!

Lessons from a Funeral

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It has been a little over a month since my father-in-law passed away. His passing is testament that life is not fair. It owes you nothing and it can take everything at any time.

The world lost a good man on November 24th of this year. He was an admired colleague, a caring mentor, a devoted husband, and the side I saw the most – a loving father to my wife. It just breaks my heart that my son will never get to experience the fun, wisdom, and countless wonderful things of his Papa.

alan_risener

As I reflect back on his legacy, there are few items that I want to document so I never forget:

Invest in People
One thing that stood out to me is that Alan made an impact on a lot of people. He would give the shirt off his back to help someone in need. Others always came first and it was highlighted by all the many positive comments shared with me during the week of his passing. His bank account was not huge, but his deposits in others was endless.

Keep the Faith
I always enjoyed my discussions about faith, religion, and science with Alan. Our deep conversations are something I always cherished. We both went through our seasons of hard core faith and hard core doubt but in the end he put his ego aside.

There is No Finish Line
In the 15 years that I knew Alan, he had good seasons and bad seasons with his career. Unfortunately, most of those times were bad but even near the end he was still fighting for that next big opportunity.

Validation is Priceless
Alan was my biggest cheerleader. Outside of Cara, no one cheered me on like he did with my ventures. I’ll miss having him in my corner.

Alan, you left us way too soon. Cherish your loved ones and don’t take for granted all the good people in your life.

How the iPad Improved My Guitar Playing

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I just picked up guitar again 6 weeks ago and it has been incredibly fun. The last time I held a guitar in my hands was almost 20 years ago. Gosh! 20 years. Insane.

Looking back on that time, there was no YouTube, apps, or fancy tuners. It was just you, your guitar, and hopefully a teacher. Fast forward to today, and the hobby seems incredibly the same but also incredibly different. My iPad for instance has changed my approach, outlook, motivational levels, and speed of learning. Many thanks to this remarkable device.

Here’s how:

YouTube
There are so many guitar channels out there where you can play, practice, pause, play again, etc. It’s like having a guitar teacher just a few feet away. It’s an absolute game changer for anyone wanting to learn guitar. While we are on this topic, I happen to be a big fan of Marty Schwartz and Andy Crowley.

Guitar Tuna
I remember back in the day where I had to wait an entire week before my guitar teacher could tune my guitar. It was obnoxious. And, if I missed a week, it was even more painful. With apps like GuitarTuna and many others, tuning a guitar is simple and essentially painless.

Tab Pro
Similar to the above, I would have to wait an entire week to get a new piece of tablature from my guitar teacher or be willing to drop $3-$5 for a new tab sheet. Those days are gone. A few days ago, I spent under $20 to have an entire year of access to almost any song I would want to play. Absolutely amazing.

Yousician
If any of the above gets old, I can always switch over to Yousician – a Guitar Hero of sorts for beginners like myself. It’s so much fun. They basically gamified the guitar.

This one device has opened up a whole new world of possibilities for a hobby that I thought was strictly analog years ago.

Amazing.

Happy Father’s Day for a New Dad

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This is a bit belated but I want to make sure I made note of this special day. Just a few weeks ago, I celebrated Father’s Day for the first time as a father. This day has a whole new meaning to me now that I have Stone in my life. I’m looking forward to many more in the years ahead.

My wife was also so kind to put this picture together for me. It now rests right next to my desk at work. I love it!

dad

These past 4 months have been amazing. I wouldn’t change anything.

The Importance of Ownership Statements

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Most people don’t know this about me, but I was fired from my job back in 2006. It was painful. It destroyed my self-esteem. And, it practically killed my young career at the time. But…I bounced back. In fact, I would have never generated the fire in my belly to create the company I have today.

Looking back, I wonder how I propelled myself from that failure and the plethora of other shortfalls in my life and I think it has a lot to do with taking ownership after things settle. Rather than looking away or blaming others, I always have pointed the finger back at myself. My internal dialogue generally consists of ownership statements like:

“I was let go because I cared more about my side business more so than my employer.”

“I suffered a DNF at this Ironman event because I got lazy with my bike training.”

“I failed to hit our numbers last year because I didn’t teach my sales team better follow-up and close techniques.”

I obsess about owning my endings. Is it easy? Absolutely not.

Is it incredibly empowering once done. Yes.

The most beautiful thing about this exercise is that it makes you self-aware and savvier. It’s difficult but you become a better person in the long run.

Now, that I have made my confession…what are some ownership statements you would like to share?

With Google+ plugin by Geoff Janes