A Rough Start
A Texan native but frequent mover, Austin takes it back to the beginning for the Casandra Properties Podcast audience. To say that Austin Linney keeps it real is an understatement. He opens up candidly at the start of the podcast about his past addiction to drugs and alcohol. Austin admits he was once a meth-addict, a cocaine addict, homeless, and recently divorced. Austin says he got clean for chunks of time, only to go back to substance abuse. Little by little, those stretches of time grew longer and longer. Austin has been sober for nearly 2 ½ years now, turning his life around completely and achieving great success. He has lost 70 pounds and for the first time in his life, he says he’s in business with two partners who are successful and also sober.
The Turn Around
Austin says the thing about drugs is that it starts with just using them on Friday and Saturday, and before you know it, it’s Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and it spirals out of control. Austin admits he has a military-like mind, however, and once he committed to stop doing drugs, it was done. Of course, alcohol is more socially accepted, and working in the service industry, he says, in hindsight, that he was a functioning alcoholic for the better part of 20 years. All that, however, is in the past, says Austin, who attributes his success to “owning it” and accepting responsibility for his actions – instead of blaming everything on the world and others. James Prendamano adds that we fall into these habits, and we don’t even realize it. “If your mindset is not right, none of your systems matter,” Prendamano adds.
The Problem with Goals
Austin says that people are walking around with other people’s injected values and they don’t even know what their own values are. People are being triggered by emotions that drive their goals. Austin admits that he is not a fan of goal-setting. Whose goals are they, he asks? Are they truly your goals, or are they goals to compete with someone else? Austin says these are the critical questions to ask yourself. Start with daily goals, small goals, says Austin. Ask yourself – what are five things I can do for myself today. Whether you’ve achieved them by 11 AM or 8 PM, when you’ve reached those goals, you’re done. It is then time to rest.
Words of Wisdom
Austin Linney says, “We’ve created a society where scale is where you have to go, instead of just living your life. Everybody builds a business, and then builds a lifestyle around it – instead of building a lifestyle and then a business around it. High performers, guys that are making a ton of money, they only seek me out when they’re in that 9-car pile-up – when your wife wants to leave you and your kids hate your guts.” Austin says the key is to construct your life before you’ve hit rock-bottom.
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