10-4 Magazine November 2024

The Veteran’s View: By Dennis Mitchell By the time this article hits the streets you should have voted or be on your way to vote by 8:00 PM local time November 5th. Last month I wrote in this space about the importance of your participation in the process and what it may mean to our future. If the good Lord is willing, “We The People” will have their say in how we change the trajectory of this nation. It has been a long road to get wherewe are. Very few things happen in life just because we wish them. Action is required by the citizens. The year 2024 is winding down, and we all should be making plans for next year, regardless of the outcome of the election. Hopefully, you are on track to be how and where you planned to be last year at this time. This is not only a road map for your business plan, but for your personal life goals, as well. Any good business plan has multiple steps to reach a successful conclusion. The first step is having the original idea of your expectations. What does that mean? Those of us who own trucks and other business assets are actively thinking and planning on how to improve our position or financial standing, but what about the average driver, office personnel, or dock worker/laborer? Those people who go through the motions, doing their jobs, and at the end of a week they are still in the same place – or maybe even they lost a step or two. What can they do to improve themselves or change their perspective of themselves? I think it’s fair to assume all of us know or have known at least one very successful person. Some of them may be the people who grace the pages of this very successful truckin’ magazine. Most likely it’s someone who was not voted “most likely to succeed” at his/her high school graduation. They weren’t born into an affluent family that had access to the best things in life like top tier schools, low interest loans, or family ties. When you think back on them you realize they should have never amounted to anything, but here you are, admiring their accomplishments. Ask yourself how and why they got from where they were to where they are today. Those custom trucks and multi-unit fleets didn’t just happen, they are the end result of planning and driving to success! America is the land of opportunity, a place where anyone can better their future. As a child, I was told I could be anything I set my mind to be. These ideas were not just taught at home, but they were reinforced in school, as well. In my early years, my mother was a stay at home mom who dreamed of leaving that farm and going to Europe to see the sights of early civilization and trace her family heritage. Later, she was able to do that, but not until the responsibilities to her children were cared for. My parents worked hard as dirt farmers and store clerks during the 1960s and 70s. Later in life, when his children were all out of the house, my father took up truck driving. All their hard work gave us kids the opportunity to see the world. We didn’t do any world tours, but I did get to spend my summer vacation (1971) in the Missouri Ozarks bailing hay with an exchange family. Two years later, in 1973, I spent a few weeks in Minnesota, learning about life there. The crowning jewel was to win an all-expense paid trip to Delhi, New York, during maple syrup season, where we spent time working on a dairy farm and collecting maple sap with an amazing family. While there, I learned the secrets to making that sweet nectar we call New York maple syrup. Do you see a common theme? Each one of these opportunities happened because of some contest or personal performance, where I exhibited leadership, learning, and dedication – the very foundations I have built my life on. 46 10-4 Magazine / November 2024 SETTING GOALS