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At 70 years old, I never thought I would be an author, not in a remote sense. We all are given gifts by God. Some of us choose to use them. Unfortunately, not everybody recognizes them. And all that God asks is that you praise him for your gift and you share it with others. Michael L. Wojcikowski is an author and storyteller behind Frame of mind. Through his writing and personal journey of loss, reflection, and renewal, he inspires others to find meaning in adversity, embrace life's transitions, and build a legacy grounded in faith, resilience, and purpose. I don't want to make people emotional. I want people to understand that there are other people either going through the same thing or have gone through the same thing, and that everybody, I mean, everybody can actually write their own story because there is an audience for them. They might not think so, but this is an amazing event, you know, life changing without question. It spans the globe like a super high cold Internet Elvis ready for free. Today, Apple is going to reinvent the phone.
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It's not over until I win the Living your Legacy podcast for those who
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live to leave a legacy that's extraordinary.
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The impossible has.
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Oh, that is sensational. Jordan, open Chicago with the lead.
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You said Paul is the fastest man on the planet. You can live your dream. Welcome back to another episode of the Living your Legacy podcast for Inside Success. I am Rig Gutierrez. Joining me today is Michael. Please pronounce your last name.
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Michael Wojowski.
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I always want to say Lebowski from Monsters, Inc. But that would be a disservice to you, my friend. Welcome to the show, my friend.
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A
Thank you. Just for point of order, I've also been associated with Wojo and Barney Miller. That was a few years ago.
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Right on, man. Well, we were excited to have you. You are quite the author. Talk about your book.
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At first, I was pretty much in denial. I was submitting an occasional article here and there, the local paper, my American Legion affiliation. And it wasn't until, like, the 12th article, I realized it's not just about antagonist, protagonist, plotline that I could have a series of short articles that comprise a book. It's just a matter of how you categorize them, as people will eventually find out that I have 15 different chapters, some of which are life, family, military, education, medical, neighborhood, and there's, you know, obviously a few more. But yeah, at 70 years old, I never thought I would be an author, not in a remote sense, really. Yeah, it just, you know, having the presence of mind. When I was in junior college, after my tour in the Navy. Two of the courses I had to take were business English and they helped me understand about sentence structure, term papers, essays, public speaking. And I kept that in the back of my mind with every article that I would write because it's also about targeting your audience.
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Talk about some of your past. Here says you are a retired 34 year union machinist. Yes, a machinist, sir. That is amazing.
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Well, my first union job, I was already 42.
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I'm 42.
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And the interesting part was that, yes, I was a union machinist, sure. But I was also at that company, the carpenter, plumber, warehouseman, welder.
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Yes, sir.
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Landscaper, roofer. The only thing I wasn't was an electrician.
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Oh, or were you cooking your own meals?
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Occasionally.
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Sure. Nothing beats a good old tuna sandwich, right?
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Well, well, on Saturdays we would grill, so. Yeah, I was the griller too.
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When did you, when did. What was your first earliest memory of this grit? Were you, were you a teenager? Were you in your tweens? How old were you when you had grit first came about?
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Well, I was actually in high school, my senior year of high school when I realized that I really didn't think that I was college material. And I knew for sure that my mom and dad would not have let me just stayed at home and did nothing. I had a couple part time jobs here and there and I actually joined the Navy on a delayed entry program before I graduated with. Which in part helped me have more drive into making sure that I graduated for sure. Because I mean, I graduated for people that understand what a grade point average is. Graduated with a 1.54. But I graduated.
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That was a nice D minus. Good. Good on you.
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Yeah.
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So, yeah, I barely graduated high school. I graduated with a 2.1, but I never went to class. I was always in the drama room or in TV room. I was always influencing creating content.
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Well, when I, the high school I went to was a technical high school.
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Nice.
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So we had shops, we had, I took foundry, electric, wood shop. Two, two semesters of auto shop.
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Wow.
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So. Because I was always hands on. Sure, sure. And I, I thank my dad for that because he was a bigger influence and I was 10 years old. Wow. Remember what the Lionel trains were?
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I believe so. Yes, yes.
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The model trains.
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Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
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And When I was 10 years old, I was on my second train set and I actually used my dad's screwdriver and I took the COVID off because I wanted to see everything turning, the motor turning, the wheels turning. And my dad said, you know what? That's great. What would be even greater? If you could put it back on. So, yeah, so it's obviously an amusing
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anecdote about that, but no, it's great. So you were essentially breaking things down a little locomotives and then rebuilding them.
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I've firmly believed for decades that troubleshooting is a skill. It doesn't matter what the profession is. At some point in that profession, you will need to either learn the theory of operation disassembly, reassembly and test to make sure that it works. Sure, yeah, yeah. You can take it apart and put it back together, but it doesn't always work the way it's supposed to.
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Oh, for sure. So let's talk about reassembling and taking things apart today. You're an author. What inspired you to write this book?
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Like I said that I didn't think I was an author of that category, but when after a number of times, some of my very close friends said, you need to write a book, when I came to the realization, like I said, about articles of, you know, a collection of articles. I would have a notepad on my console in my vehicle. I'd hear a song or I'd hear a commercial, or I'd see a billboard or street signs and I'd wait till I got to the stoplight or stop sign and I'd grab it and write a note. It got to a point where I had a full notebook piece of paper with titles, potential titles on it. Wow. And once I started dedicating myself that I was going to write a book, it wasn't all that difficult to figure out the name of the book. I had more assessment, sure. Of what pictures. Because every article is going to have at least one picture. I'm either in the picture or I have taken the pictures.
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That's good. So.
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And it helps. It'll. It will help solidify the content of each article. But yeah, I. I never thought that I'd be an author. But once I committed myself to it. Yes, sir. I. I would go to the bar by my house and this is my bible. I would bring.
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This one's mine.
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I would bring my notebook.
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Amazing.
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And I'd write a potential title down and I'd think about it and I'd start writing. One of the more amusing scenarios was, I went to the bar one night, wrote five potential titles on a top. Nothing coming.
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It happens.
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So I look at the two guys playing pool. I look at the bartender, the people sitting at the bar, the five programs on the TVs, and then it Hit me like a ton of bricks.
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I got to start Jurassic Park. Sorry.
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And I write the title down and it started flowing.
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Yeah.
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20 minutes I was done because I would write. I would hand write the articles, finish my one beer, go home, type it, proofread it, print it. Done. So the. The title of the article is called Drawing a Blank.
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I love it. How amazing. These are my favorite topics to talk about. Talk about the superstitions of putting pen to paper and then sitting in front of a typewriter and hearing those clack
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clack clacking all those noises. I grew up with those manual typewriters. Oh absolutely.
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One of my first typewriters typing was in my grandma's typewriter. Was though I loved it before I built my first PC as a child. That, that, that, that, that Religion. That, that, that not religion. The. That, that, that. The energy that you have physically mind to finger to. To an actual analog. Ta da da. Talk about some of those superstitions and what it makes you feel as a creator.
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I never honestly considered it as per se a superstition. It was just my. Probably my only second thought was writer's block. Which was why I continued to put down the potential title on a piece of paper or one of the thousand post it notes that I've used. One of my articles is called Post it Note Addict.
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Hell yeah.
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I'd come down in the morning, I'd start writing notes, what I was gonna do that day. And my wife would ask me so how many trees did you kill today? So I had to put that in the book. I mean there's a great. Being 70 years old, you can't not reflect on a lot of the things. Yes sir. But having that uncanny ability to target an audience. I've had a great many people both at bars or in general. Yes sir. Even today when I gave Angelina the article that a lot of times people in bars, obviously they're either slightly inebriated or they. It's too dark or they don't have their glasses. But some of most of the people that choose to read it in front of me at some point they will. To me, that silent nod speaks volumes.
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Oh yeah.
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It means they get it.
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Yep.
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And there, I mean I had a, a girl at the bar, the regular girl, she brought her friend came in from out of town and they were going to. Walking past me to go to the bathroom and she said oh yeah, this is Wojo. And I said, she said hi. And I said hi, I'm the resident author. And she just kind of looked the Resident author. She just kind of looked at me. And so they went to the bathroom. And on the way back, I give her the article about God. Because God's got a plan for us from the day we're born to the day we die. It's why he puts people in our path.
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Yes, sir.
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And she actually started reading it to me. And after a couple seconds, she holds it up and she says, I lost my dad last year. Oh, boy. And he was my biggest. He was my best friend. And this just proves that he's watching out for me.
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Absolutely.
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I couldn't have. Obviously, couldn't have planned that, you know? And I've helped some people who were a little despondent. That same article about God. Sure, sure. My wife was in the hospital. I left for the evening, and this nicely dressed woman gets on the elevator.
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Ding.
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And I said, do you like to read? You know, that's my big mo.
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I love it.
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Oh, you like to read. Literally, the elevator. So I gave her an article. Yes, sir. And she read it. We got to the first floor. We got out. I don't remember exactly what she said, but the key word I heard was relig religion. And I said, could you hold that thought, please? And I give her the article about God, and she starts reading it, walking. She takes four steps, stops, turns around, and holds it up to me. And she says, this is a revelation, not knowing if she's kidding or not. And I said, how so? And she said, I am a minister. Wow. And a few weeks, we still occasionally keep in contact, text each other. And she said after about three weeks, she told me why she was there that night. Her husband was in ICU with upper respiratory issues. Sure. And she said that she had just got done talking to God when I show up. Wow. Very inspirational.
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What do you do with that responsibility? And before I ask you one of our last questions, what do you do with that power? It can't be easy.
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You know what? I have found that through the contact between Facebook and meeting people, meeting new people, I won't say strangers because I forget what the. What the joke is about, that there's no strangers really in life, just people you haven't met yet, just friends you haven't met yet, for sure. And the Power of the Word, which is one of the articles, gives me the ability to get people to understand pretty much what this book is about. Because I don't want to make people emotional. I want people to understand that there are other people either going through the same thing or have gone through the Same thing for sure. And that everybody. I mean, everybody can actually write their own story because there is an audience for them. They might not think so, but this is an amazing event, you know, life changing without question.
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I completely agree. Cause I also sense it and feel it in everyday frequencies. Before we wrap up today's podcast, sir, your moments away from filming your Legacy Makers episode. What are we gonna learn about you today on your Legacy Makers episode?
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Well, for the most part, I'm going to reinforce, obviously what I've always known because I lived it or heard it or saw it, and enhancing the audience. It's kind of still kind of mind blowing with the idea that I'm actually here in Miami beach, being that I live in Chicago, which had 5 inches
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of snow last night, when in Rome.
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But, you know, the idea that I am broadcasting to the. To the world, literally, not just friends and family, and that there are we. We all are given gifts by God. Some of us choose to use them. Unfortunately, not everybody recognizes them. And all that God asks is that you praise him for your gift and you share it with others.
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Amen to that, brother. Mike, how can folks find out more, learn more about you, and continue their journey of discovery with you? What's a good place to find you?
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Well, Facebook is a good start. I know, obviously, Legacy Makers, like I said, I'm trying not to be too overzealous, but it's the idea that this. The next few days, I will be meeting a number of important people.
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Are you here for the mastermind, sir?
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Yes, I am.
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Oh, man. We're just the opening act, man.
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I filled out the application on Facebook,
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and here you are.
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And I actually sent them the article about God and the woman.
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The.
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I was contacted. We want to do a zoom meeting.
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Yes, sir. Which.
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The zoom meeting was two and a half hours long.
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That's a good sign.
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From London.
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I think I have a good idea.
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Really? You know, so. Yeah. And she. You know, I've always said that I've always known that British people have a little bit drier sense of humor, but I did get her.
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She's the man with the American flag.
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I did get her to laugh, so I figured that was a good thing.
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Yes, sir.
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But, yeah, no, I. You know, the next chapter in my book. There's a lot of things you have to recognize that why something or someone is put in your path. It's a gift that people don't always recognize.
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Well, Mike, I'm sure everyone here at Inside Success is eagerly awaiting to recognize you and to hear your story. Lauren's actually in the room. Lauren will be conducting. Conducting your interview. And you are in for a treat. And with that, Michael. Well, how can folks give us. Give us a quick intro again to this camera, who you are and what you do, and we'll wrap it up.
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My name is Mike Wojcahowski, and I am a legacy maker.
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Yes, he is. And I'm Ray Gutierrez. And we are inside Success.