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Quotes to Keep You From Quitting

How many of you would agree with me that quitting is good? Wouldn’t everyone like to be known as a quitter? Well, sometimes quitting is good. As long as you’re talking about quitting smoking, I would like to be known as a quitter. The definition of quitting is to give up or resign. There are certain things that you need to give up to live a healthy life, such as overeating. If you’re in a stressful, unenjoyable job, you should look for another. You need to quit the bad habits in your life. These motivational quotes to keep you from quitting will get you over all obstacles.

“It’s always too soon to quit.”
~ Norman Vincent Peale

“Age wrinkles the body; quitting wrinkles the soul.”
~ Douglas MacArthur

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Quitting Quotes To Move Forward

At times, you have to quit to move forward. Hanging around the wrong people will hold you back. You have to quit them. When I first started my blog I wrote a post about quitting. I wanted to revisit that post and talk a little more about the idea of quitting. I hope these inspirational quotes about quitting will help you fight on when the urge takes hold of you.

“Never give up. If you want to be something, be conceited about it, give yourself a chance. Never say you are not good, that will never get you anywhere. Set goals, That’s what life is made of.”
~ Mike McLaren

“You’re never a loser until you quit trying.”
~ Mike Ditka

We talked about when it’s good to give up bad habits. Now let’s talk about what happens when you make that decision to change for the better. Why can’t you quit and go back to your old lifestyle? For one, once you quit on a major decision, it becomes a habit. A bad habit. Now, to accomplish anything, you have to quit the habit of quitting. Wow, I am getting dizzy.

Move Those Mountains

Habits

Once the habit is developed it becomes the easiest thing you will do. It becomes easier every time you do it. You will never attempt anything hard ever again. Every time something becomes difficult, you will quit. Here is a lesson I learned early on and have passed it on to my children. Life is hard and it is not fair. You must learn to persevere and drive on when everything in your mind is telling you to give up. This always reminds me of the line in the movie A League of Their Own. One of Tom Hanks’ players told him she was crying because it was hard. Hanks’ character replied, “Of course it’s hard, that’s what makes it great.” What a great quote to keep you from quitting.

“Effort only fully releases its reward after a person refuses to quit.”
~ Napoleon Hill

“Most people who succeed in the face of seemingly impossible conditions are people who simply don’t know how to quit.”
~ Robert Schuller

You must have a strong mindset to change your lifestyle, become more self-confident, and be successful. A strong mind is always looking to grow. If you can develop your mind into a growth mindset, you will not quit. Imagine if plants quit growing when the conditions get hard. We would have no food. When the rains do not come their roots continue growing, searching for water. They will sustain themselves until the rains return.

“Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.”
~ Conrad Hilton

40% Rule

The Navy SEALs have what they call a 40% Rule. The 40% Rule says that when your mind is telling you that you are done, you have used only 40% of your energy. You have so much more inside of you and can keep going. I utilized this mindset in completing The Murph Challenge on Memorial Day. Some science backs up the 40% Rule. In a 2008 study, subjects were given a placebo and told it was caffeine. Other subjects were given caffeine. Both subjects then lifted weights. The subjects that were given the placebo lifted significantly more weight than the subjects given caffeine.

“No man is ever whipped until he quits in his own mind.”
~ Napoleon Hill

“Most people give up just when they’re about to achieve success. They quit on the one yard line. They give up at the last minute of the game, one foot from a winning touchdown.”
~ Ross Perot

If you’ve decided to do anything significant, at some point you will think about quitting. We have all been there. These thoughts are at their greatest frequency just before you are about to have a breakthrough. All you have to do to be successful is turn the corner or take another step. If you just drive one more mile you will find the answer. If you ever get to the point where you’re considering giving up and returning to your old lifestyle, think of WHY you wanted to change.

One of the Best

“Some people fold after making one timid request. They quit too soon. Keep asking until you find the answers.”
~ Jack Canfield

How Do We Keep Going?

How do we keep going when it becomes too difficult? We have to start with the WHY. You must remember WHY you started. You will never quit if your WHY is big enough. I talk about this a lot in my posts because I believe in its importance. Your WHY has to come from deep down inside of you. It should scare you. Success should be your only option. Choke out your “Doubt Demons” when they show up. Immediately replace any thoughts of failure with thoughts of success.

“Just don’t give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don’t think you can go wrong.”
~ Ella Fitzgerald

“People of mediocre ability sometimes achieve outstanding success because they don’t know when to quit. Most men succeed because they are determined to.”
~ George Allen

Rely On Others

Another way to keep from quitting is to form your team. It is a lot easier to quit on yourself than it is to quit on others. If you have family members who believe in you, make a commitment to them. You will get it done. Be honest with your teammates and rely on each other. Help everyone pull through the difficult times. We are all in this together and together we will win. Crush all obstacles in your way. As an individual and as a team you’re always moving forward. Be happy with the small victories and win the day. I like to think of it like a sports team. Before you can win the game you have to win each play. In football, you win the quarter. In cricket, you win the inning, and in soccer you win the half.

“Before success comes in any man’s life, he’s sure to meet with much temporary defeat and, perhaps some failures. When defeat overtakes a man, the easiest and the most logical thing to do is to quit. That’s exactly what the majority of men do.”
~ Napoleon Hill

Keep Moving Forward

To reiterate, when you make that life-changing decision at some point you will think about quitting. Whatever you decide to do is going to seem harder than you originally thought. The thoughts of quitting will permeate your brain if you do not have a strong mindset. Always remember WHY you started, lean on your teammates, and always move forward. Like the movie character, Rocky Balboa said, “The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place and I don’t care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life.” So when life hits you hard, take it, smile, and keep moving forward.

Churchill

Final Thoughts

Have you ever gotten to the point where you felt like quitting? What did you do to break through and succeed? Leave a comment below and let me know your thoughts. If you have any tips on not giving up I would like to hear them. Subscribe to my email list by clicking on the blue button above and receive my checklist to keep you moving forward in attaining your goals.

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All Aboard!!

“This Train Is Moving on, You Can Get on, You Can Get off, But the Train Keeps Moving on! We Are Going to the Top of the Mountain!”

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The Art Of Moving Forward

How To Be Comfortable Being Uncomfortable

We all face challenges every day. In my post, A Flying Rat’s Ass, I talk about how life is constantly throwing obstacles at us that we must overcome. Why is it that so many people never overcome these challenges and remain the same? Others overcome great odds to change their life and live the life the Bible tells us is possible. It is a life of happiness and abundance. Why can’t we all do that? The answer is simple, comfort. Our current situation, no matter how bad it may be, is comfortable. Once it becomes so uncomfortable that we can’t stand it, only then do we take the steps to do something about it. There is a story about a man who walks into a store and sees a dog laying on the floor. The dog will moan and squirm just a little then lay still for a while. The dog keeps moaning and squirming the whole time the man is in the store. As the man is purchasing his goods, he asks the shopkeeper, “what’s wrong with your dog?” The shopkeeper replies, “nothing, he’s just laying on a nail.” The man says, “then why doesn’t he move?” The shopkeeper answers, “because he’s just not uncomfortable enough yet. When it becomes so uncomfortable he can’t stand it, he’ll go live someplace else.”

Photo by Александр Македонский on Pexels.com

As humans, we gravitate towards comfort, we like to be in situations that make us feel good. Sometimes, we will forget about the bad things going on in our life so that we can remain feeling comfortable. Those bad things, no matter what they are, must be locked in a closet so that we can pretend our lives are comfortable. It is called a comfort zone for a reason because it is a warm and fuzzy place that makes us feel good. When we have things such as mounting debt, are involved in a toxic relationship, or are fighting an addiction, those things can be painful for a short period of time. We then have to forget about them to get back to our comfort zone. Just like the dog in the story, it is only when it becomes so uncomfortable that we can’t stand it that we do something about it.

In order to move forward, we have to make the uncomfortable comfortable. That means we have to face the demons in our lives and defeat them. We have to make a decision to change the things in our lives that have got us to where we are now and accept that we are worthy and deserving of a better life. If you are doing the same daily routine, whether it’s working or not, it becomes your comfort zone. If you want to change your situation, you have to leave that comfort zone and venture out to places you’re not familiar with. The jungle is a place where the vegetation is so thick that you literally can’t see someone standing five feet away from you. When we were walking through the jungle it was comfortable to walk on a path. Many times though, the paths didn’t lead to our destination and we would have to cut our way through the jungle to get there. This was uncomfortable, slow, and painful but we eventually arrived. The more we had to do this, the more comfortable and routine it became. When you venture out of your comfort zone, at first it can be frightening, but eventually, your new routine becomes comfortable. You know your destination and you don’t care whether your new routine is showing results or not. If you believe in your heart that what you’re doing is the right thing for you then the results will come.

The art of moving forward is simple, you just can’t go backward. If you’re standing with your back to a wall, there’s no other place to go except forward. In the jungle, we always moved forward. If we turned around and tried to go back, we would’ve probably got lost. Yesterday I listened to the podcast, The Quote of the Day Show by Sean Croxton. He played a clip from a seminar given by Bob Proctor in which he talked about the story of “Burning the Ships.” This story has been told many times and has different versions. Bob researched the story and found out that in 711 A.D. a man named Tariq ibn Ziyad traveled from Arabia to Northwest Africa. When he arrived he recruited a group of Moors and Berbers and he had them build wooden ships. He then sailed across the small body of water that separates Northwest Africa from Spain. When they arrived, he ordered all the men off the ships and set fire to the ships. He then went ashore and told his people that they had a choice. They could go forward to victory or they could go back to the ocean and drown. He led his men to capture Spain against ridiculous odds and rule Spain for a little over 500 years.

We all have the same decision to make in our lives. Are we going to move forward to victory or are we going back to our old lives and drown? Once you make the decision to change your life, you will find yourself in an uncomfortable place. You will have to develop new routines and maybe even have to cut some people out of your life. People can pull you upwards to victory or they can be anchors and pull you down to drown in your same life. Cut yourself away from the anchor and rise up to the surface. If you’re going through challenges right now or not living the life you want to live, then make that decision to change your situation. Get off the path, take out your machete, and start cutting yourself a new path. A great life is promised to you and is awaiting you if you are willing to do what it takes to go get it. Get out of your comfort zone, be willing to take the hits, and never go backward.

You Gotta Be Willing To Take The Hits

Are you willing to burn your ships? The art of moving forward is simple, make it the only direction you can go. My train only moves forward, so if you get on, bring everything you have with you because we can’t go back and get it. If you are being challenged by life now or in the past, just keep moving forward. Every day, just keep making a little progress forward. Don’t worry about the results, genuinely believe they are coming into your heart and they will arrive. If you have overcome anything in your life or are needing encouragement, please leave a comment below. I would love to hear from you. If you like this post please click the little star and if you think you could help someone feel free to share it. If you would like to support my blog, please click on the links or product icons. Even if you are looking for something different on Amazon, if you purchase anything within 24 hours of connecting through any of the links on my page I will get credit for the sale and make a small commission at no extra cost to you.

“This Train Is Moving on, You Can Get on, You Can Get off, But the Train Keeps Moving on! We Are Going to the Top of the Mountain!”

Sharing

I believe in the power of sharing. If I read a good blog that really speaks to me and I believe it will provide value to others, I will share it. I have linked four books that I believe have value. In order to change you, you first have to change the way you think. Leaders Are Readers!

I still enjoy sitting by the pool or on my sofa with a good book. I read all kinds of books, fiction, history, biographies, and motivational. I enjoy the quiet time I get with just me and my book. But we live in a fast pace society today where sometimes we need to combine our tasks. Do you find yourself short on time? Are you constantly saying, where did the time go? You are not alone. I believe that we all feel like we don’t have enough time to get everything accomplished and what usually suffers is me time. A shortcut that I have found helpful is my Audible Membership and Kindle Unlimited Membership. I listen to books on audible while I’m doing other things. I can listen while getting dressed, while I’m working out, and even while I’m preparing dinner for my family. It is a great way to get my reading in even when I have a full to do list that I have received from the Mrs. She doesn’t take kindly to me ignoring her to do list while I catch up on my reading. With an Audible Membership it’s a win-win for both of us. I can download great books on this and listen to them with my AirPods.   I use my AirPods every time I exercise. They don’t fall out and the sound is great. With Kindle I can download books, magazines, and my daughters can even download their college textbooks. This is so much easier than carrying a heavy backpack full of textbooks around campus. The books can be downloaded to any device and read with the Kindle app.

Both the Audible Membership and Kindle Unlimited Membership are currently offering a 30 day free trial. You can sign up by clicking on the links and give it a test drive for 30 days free. If you find it’s not for you, simply cancel your membership before your 30 days are up and you won’t be charged.

Do you know someone who is always in a hurry and can’t seem to take time for themselves? We all do. I would suggest checking out giving an Audible Membership as a gift. It is a great gift idea for someone who is always on the go,

The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. A book that will change your life. It answers the question, Why do some people have everything and others struggle? The answer is simple, they know the secret. It has changed my life and can change yours.

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. This is an oldie but goodie that is full of relevant life lessons. It is a book that you hear speaker after speaker refer to. Successful people all have the same mentality and know you have to change the way you think to be successful. Only one percent of people set goals.

Can’t Hurt Me: Master Your Mind And Defy The Oddsby David Goggins. I really enjoyed read this book and I found it very relatable. If you want to become more than you are today, read this book. After you finish there will be no excuses. David is just an ordinary guy who made the decision to be extraordinary and was determined.

The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey. A must read for anyone wanting to change their habits. A great book for managers and leaders. Covey teaches you how to transform your thoughts to not on help you but also to help others. These are 7 principles to definitely incorporate into your life.

I appreciate every like, follow, comment and share. Keep’em coming.

Yesterday

Yesterday was just that, yesterday. It is gone, finito, kaput, never to come back. It is in the past and considered history. There’s nothing I can do about what happened yesterday. Yesterday was not one of my better days. For whatever reason I didn’t have energy, my mind was not as sharp as it usually is, and I couldn’t focus on things I wanted to accomplish. No matter what I tried, caffeine, energy foods, and supplements, I just felt like I wanted to go back to sleep and my brain was in a fog. As I crawled into bed at the end of the day, feeling like I had not made any progress towards my goals, I gave thanks. I was thankful that I was given that day, thankful that I got to spend time with my family, and thankful for everything I did have. There was nothing I could do about that day except give thanks for being given that day and for what I had in my life. When I woke up this morning, the first thing I did was give thanks for all the things I have, and all the things I will have in the future.

I do the same things every morning which begins my day in a grateful mood. I get out of bed when my eyes open, which is somewhere between 3 AM and 5 AM. Once I’m awake, I swing my legs out of bed, sit up, and give thanks for everything that I have. I navigate my way in the dark to the kitchen, giving thanks as I walk. I drink 24 ounces of water and sit down in front of a writing pad and a pen. I then write down 10 things I am grateful for. After that, I send out love from my heart to three people whom, for whatever reason, I don’t particularly get along with. I then say a prayer to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is a prayer of thankfulness for my past, present, and future. I then meditate and visualize my future. Afterward, I go for a walk enjoying the coolness of the air, the darkness, and the beautiful bright stars and planets in the sky. While I’m walking I’m thinking about positive ideas and how happy I am. I return home and begin my exercise regimen for the day. During my walk and workout, while I’m breathing heavy and feeling the sweat rolling down my face, I have thoughts and ideas that flood into my brain. These are the inspirations that I sit down and write about. I then pour myself a cup of coffee and begin my day.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

The 10 things that I’m grateful for are whatever comes into my mind when I sit down in front of the pen and paper. I Am Thankful For:

  1. My relationship with God. My God provides me with everything from the past, present, and future.
  2. My country. The US gives me the freedom to accomplish anything I dream about.
  3. My relationship with my wife. She has provided happiness to our home for the last 28 years.
  4. My relationship with my son and daughters. They inspire me every day.
  5. My parents, brother, and sister. My parents, who are gone now, provided me with the solid foundation that I built my life on. My brother and sister show me the true meaning of family.
  6. My friends. All the people that have been placed in my life that I can count on for anything.
  7. My businesses. They challenge me every day and keep me learning.
  8. My unlimited income from multiple sources that arrives on a daily basis.
  9. My desire and ability to give. I have the desire to help as many people as I can financially, intellectually, and spiritually.
  10. My life and health. I am so thankful for everything that is happened in my life, both good and bad, and that I have overcome every obstacle with my health.

I have written in my blog titled, Draft Day, about the ability to be gracious and how important that is. I refer back to my blog titled, The Journey, where I wrote about how easy it is to become successful at anything. Success is different for every person, for some it’s wealth, for some it’s love, for others it’s happiness. It’s difficult to measure success. For me, the easiest way to measure success is in gratitude. Be thankful for what you do have. This is why I begin every day by listing the things that I’m grateful for. It begins my day in the right frame of mind to be successful and to face every challenge and obstacle that’s placed in front of me.

What is it that you are thankful for? I encourage everyone to sit down and list those things that you have in your life that make you feel grateful. If you have something in particular that you are thankful for and would like to share, please comment below. I would love to read them. Always remember that whatever happened yesterday you cannot change. Whether it was a good day, great day, bad day, or terrible day, it is gone, never to return. Today is a new day, be thankful for what you have.

Is Your Life Everything You Want It To Be? If not, change it in 3-steps with my free eBook. Only 2 Days Left!

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Is This It?

What if this is it? What if your life, right now, is as good as it’s going to get? How does that make you feel? For me, it would not make me feel particularly good. You see, I’m in my 60th year on this rock, retired, and what I would consider successful. So I could sit back and enjoy my remaining days in relative comfort. I could read some good books, fish more, and enjoy a glass of scotch every now and then. I can’t do that because I still have the drive. I love to be challenged, I love to be uncomfortable, and to push myself to be better. The song, Walk by the Foo Fighters sums it up for me. I’m always “learning to walk again.” When one chapter in my life closes, I have to open up another and start from scratch to learn something new. I have to learn how to live life over again. “I don’t ever want to die,” is a great line from the song. Life is about the journey and as long as you continue your journey, you’ll never die while you’re living.

Walk by the Foo Fighters

I have climbed many mountain peaks in my 60 years. I have listened to the crunch of the pebbles under my feet and felt the coolness of the rocks as I grabbed them to pull myself up. Every time I succeeded in something and reached that mountain peak, I have a tendency to sit back and enjoy the view for a while. There are times when I thought that I would never have to climb another mountain. I would think that this is it, that I don’t have to go through any more pain or hardships. That I had finally arrived. Then I would look up and there it was, another mountain peak calling my name. That drive would kick in and the pain and hardships would become a distant memory like the heartbreaks of youthful love. Off I would go to tackle another challenge. When I conquered that challenge, I would look up and there would be another mountain peak. Some people would say that I’m just a glutton for punishment, but I would say it’s just part of the journey of life. I was never happy sitting on the sideline, I always wanted to get into the game. I never wanted to look up at the mountain from the ground, but rather look down at the ground from the peak.

Photo by Andrea Ledda on Unsplash

When I wrote my post titled, The Journey,” the majority of my memories were about the process, not the completion. I have fond memories of going through different training and schools in the military and with DEA. Several of the schools involved a lot of physical hardships and painful experiences, but I wouldn’t trade them for anything. It makes me happy to relive those times in my mind. That was my journey and I enjoyed it. We are all on a different journey and I encourage you to enjoy every moment of it. Challenge yourself and become better than you are right now.

Do You Want More Out Of Life? Only 4 Days Left!

When I began with the question, “What if this is it,” I hope it brought out a little fear in you. I want you to feel that tight, nauseous, nerve-racking feeling in the pit of your stomach. I want you to say, “NO! I want something better.” No matter where you are in life, you should always want something better. You should always be striving to achieve more. Put yourself in uncomfortable positions, positions that suck. Make those uncomfortable positions comfortable and then go out and find something else that is uncomfortable. There is so much out there for each and every one of you and you can have whatever you want as long as you’re willing to go through uncomfortable times.

There isn’t anything special about me, I can’t play a musical instrument or build a house. I can do just about anything as long as I have instructions. I can follow instructions or a good YouTube video that shows me how. I’m pretty much just like the majority of the people on the planet, and you probably would not look twice at me if I sat down at the table next to you in a coffee shop. I’m just me. It is said that God gives us our gifts at birth. One of the gifts that God gave me was patience. I don’t have to have something right away. I’ve sat on the runway in the middle of nowhere for three days waiting for a plane full of drugs to arrive. I could sit in my car on surveillance for 8 to 12 hours and it never bothered me, others would start complaining after an hour. My patience allows me to set a goal and work towards that goal without expecting results immediately. A lot of people give up on their goals because they don’t have the patience to let their goals grow and give their plan time to work. We have become a “Drive-Thru” society where people want to order something, pull up to the window, and have it already prepared for them. I would rather eat at a restaurant where the chef takes his time preparing the meal. It might take longer, but in the end, it tastes so much better. When I set a goal to accomplish something I always put an end date on the goal. If for whatever reason I don’t accomplish my goal by that end date, I just reset the date. I don’t change the goal.

Photo by Micheile Henderson on Unsplash

Do you want more out of life or is this it for you? Are you satisfied with where you are today in life or do you want to make a change? Are you willing to take on something outside of your comfort zone? Is putting up with some physical or mental discomfort too much for you? When you see successful people, do you think that they are different than you and that’s why they are successful? They’re not. They’re just people like you and me. They had a dream, set a goal, made a plan, and worked on their plan. Whenever they would run into roadblocks, they just adjusted their plan, they didn’t change the dream. If you’re not happy with your life as it is today then, change it.

This Is Not It!!

Share your comments below. I would love to hear about some of the obstacles you have overcome to achieve your goals. If you liked this post then click on the little star.

I appreciate every like, follow, comment and share. Keep’em coming.

I Have Lied To My Kids

Yes, I have lied to my kids. I am blessed to have a son and two daughters. I don’t know if they would feel the same about having me as a father since I’ve lied to them their whole life. I didn’t do it maliciously or even consciously, just like my father never consciously lied to me. I just told my kids the same information that my father told me and his father told him. Our thoughts about wealth, success and even happiness are ingrained in us as we are growing up. These thoughts are based on what we are told by other people, including our parents. I now work very hard to replace everything I told them with what I now know is the truth.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

I have lied to my kids and here are 10 lies that I told my kids:

  1. You have to work hard.
  2. Life is hard.
  3. We can’t afford that.
  4. You can’t have that.
  5. Only a small percentage of people succeed in that business.
  6. Your scores are too low to get into that college.
  7. You have to pay your dues.
  8. It takes five years on average for a business to succeed.
  9. It takes years to build wealth.
  10. If you keep frowning your face will stay that way permanently. Yes, I have lied to my kids.

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Now here are the truths:

  1. You have to have a good work ethic but you do not have to work hard. A lot of people make seven-figure incomes without working really hard. The definition of hard work is different for different people. When I was in the jungle, I saw people who work very hard. They have to work from sunup to sundown just to have something to eat for that day. I make a lot of money and only work 2 to 3 hours a day. Those 2 to 3 hours are spent sitting down, researching, and writing. This is not hard work.

  2. Life is only hard if you think it’s hard and allow it to be hard. Life is great. It’s a pleasure and a blessing to live life every day. Life is meant to be lived to the fullest. There’s nothing hard about that. In the military, we always had a saying, “It’s a great day to be alive.”

  3. We can afford anything that our heart desires. If we change our mindset from someone who has limited income to someone who has unlimited income, then the price is no object. If you change your thinking to thoughts of creating wealth then the process of obtaining the money will come to you.

  4. Everything can be obtained or achieved as long as you believe that you are worthy of it. Our limitations are placed on us by the programming we have gone through growing up. The words and the thoughts that we speak and think are the only things holding us back from achieving our goals and dreams.

  5. If we look at statistics it will show us that a small percentage of people ever achieve fame or succeed in their chosen field. The entertainment industry, the sports industry, and business show that one percent or less of the people in that industry make it to the top. One percent of the population makes up 96 percent of the world’s wealth. The statistics look grim. Why would anybody want to attempt to make it in these industries? The reason is that the other 99 percent never made the decision to rise to the top. The competition is very small.

  6. My children are very good students but when it came to taking comprehensive tests, their scores were average. We took them on college tours and my youngest daughter fell in love with the University of Alabama. During the tour, we were told that the average test scores needed to gain admission were a lot higher than my daughter’s scores. Several months later, she came to me and said she wanted to apply to the University of Alabama. I laughed and told her to go ahead and apply but there was no way she would get in due to her test scores. A month later, she came to me and said that she thought she got in because, in her account, her status had changed to admitted. Stupid me told her that she would know if she got in because she would receive an email saying, “Congratulations on your acceptance to the University of Alabama.” An hour later, guess what email she got? That’s right, her acceptance email. All it took was belief and not listening to her dad.

  7. Back when I was growing up, you had to start at the lowest level and work your way up at any job or business. We called that, “Paying your dues.” That is not the case anymore. Today in this environment you can learn ways to make money in a short amount of time.

  8. I think every person in business I ever talked to told me that it takes five years on average for a business to succeed. I don’t find that to be true anymore. There are countless examples of people who start a conventional or online business and turn it into a success in a few months.

  9. It doesn’t take years to build wealth. All you have to do is go online and you can find individuals in their 20s who are making 6-7 figure incomes quickly. They just have the right mindset, desire, and work ethic. 30 years ago when you got on a plane, everyone in first class had gray hair. Nowadays there’s always a mixture of young and old. Young people are making a lot of money very quickly.

  10. None of my children’s faces ever remained with a permanent frown. Today they smile a lot because of the lives they created for themselves. All it takes to turn a frown into a smile is laughter. Find a funny show, read a funny story, or listen to your favorite comedian, anything that makes you laugh. You should laugh every day. One of the great truths is, “Laughter is the best medicine.” If you’re not feeling well, laugh. It will remove the stress in your body and cure whatever ails you.

Yes, I have lied to my kids but I do appreciate every like, follow, comment and share. Keep’em coming.

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It’s About You

It’s not about me, it’s about you. I was asked the other day why I started writing a blog and didn’t really have an answer to that question. I’m not in my 20s and I’m not just starting out in life. I’m very comfortable and don’t need any extra income that can be generated from writing a blog. Heck, I have never really enjoyed writing in my entire life. I loved my career and enjoyed the majority of it. I loved to be out on the street and participating in operations, but I hated writing reports. We had five days to get our reports in after an operation and my bosses were constantly hounding me to do my reports. Just the thought of all the hours it would take to compile my notes and write a passable report would fill me with dread. One of the reasons I loved being in the jungle was because we didn’t have to do reports.

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I started to think about the question and realized that it will really wasn’t my decision. The thought was placed into me by a higher power. I really didn’t have a choice or did I? I could’ve ignored the thoughts but throughout my life, I’ve realized that when you’re led to do something by a higher power, do it. There are terrific benefits to doing it and it’s something you’re supposed to do. I could estimate that throughout my life I have listened to a higher power 90 percent of the time and made good decisions. At the same time, 10 percent of the time I ignored what I was being told and made bad decisions.

It all started after I heard a speech where someone said that you could make money online. This got my attention because I like money, money is good and you can never have enough of it. I don’t ever want to stop earning money. There are so many great things I can do with money and so many people I can help. So after hearing that you can make money online, I began researching it and was told I needed to write a blog. At first, I hesitated because I’m not a writer and who would read my stuff? There was one thought in my mind that would not go away, It’s not about me, it’s about you. It’s about you, the 7.8 billion people in the world. If somebody can take away just one thing from one of my blog posts and it changes their life, then everything I do is justified.

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You have so much to give the world. Each and every one of you was born with your gifts to the world. Everybody has something inside of them that can help someone else. I believe it’s your obligation to pass your gift to others. My gift is motivation and people have told me that I say the right things at the right time and have helped people. If anyone has ever told you that you are good at something, that is your gift. We must continue spreading our gifts and never quit. When things get tough and you’re going through a difficult time, you have to find a way to reach down and fight through because someone, somewhere needs your gift. It’s not about you, it’s about them.

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I will continue to talk to as many people as I can until my last breath. When things aren’t going well, I’ll keep going. When I’m talking and it seems like no one’s listening, I’ll keep talking. I’ll never quit, it’s just not in me. It’s not in you either. You might think so, but it’s not. When you think it is, get out of bed and go do it one more day. Do it the next day and the next until you’ve accomplished the mission. Everyone’s counting on you, so it’s your duty, your obligation to them to get it done. If you quit then you are letting down 7 .8 billion people. That’s a huge burden to have to live with for the rest of your life. Fight with all your being and when you feel you have nothing left in you, get up and take another swing. Whatever you do, never stop and keep moving forward.

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Life is hard and it will hit you. It will take you to your knees. Anyone who has gone through life without any kind of struggles hasn’t lived. So when it hits you, hit back, keep hitting back, keep moving forward. As long as you’re moving forward you’re winning, it doesn’t matter what the score is. There are too many people counting on you. It might hurt and it might be hard but you gotta keep moving forward. It’s not about you, it’s about them.

The warrior mentality and the ability to fight are in us all. It is there at birth. We are all fighters and a fighter is going to fight. They won’t quit until they’ve won or died. Nothing can stop them. Nothing can stop you. Once you know what you want, go out and get it. Don’t ever let anyone or anything stop you. You and only you are in control and determine whether you win or lose. You will have successes and you will have failures but you will never quit. You will fight and fight and fight until you win. It’s not about you, it’s about them.

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The 80/20 rule says that 20 percent of the people do 80 percent of the work. I was one of the 20 percent. It was ingrained in me in the military to accomplish the mission, that was the most important thing. Whenever one of my bosses needed something difficult done, they called on me because I always accomplished the mission, no matter how hard. I wouldn’t quit. You have to accomplish your mission and failure is not an option. You have been given a mission, whatever it may be and it is your duty to do what it takes to accomplish that mission and never quit. I won’t ever quit on you. When you win, then I win. I can’t succeed until you do. Keep fighting! It’s not about you, it’s about them.

Have you ever had to overcome adversity? Leave a comment and share your tips/techniques for fighting through when life is beating you down.

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Opportunities Abound

Do you feel like right now is a great time to be alive and opportunities abound? Because I do. I feel so blessed every day to be able to experience everything that life offers on a daily basis. We are living through an unprecedented event, maybe not in history, but in my lifetime. I used to watch movies such as The Andromeda Strain and The Omega Man in which an unknown virus began killing humans. COVID-19 has created vast changes in how we work and live. It has devastated small businesses and left millions unemployed. As each day passes we get closer to “flattening the curve” and it will be interesting to see what the world will look like once everything starts opening up.

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It is said that adversity creates opportunity. Many people took advantage of the opportunities created during the Great Depression and became millionaires. Michael J. Cullen changed the retail landscape by creating the modern supermarket. He struck out on his own in 1930 and two years later his stores, King Kullen Grocery, were taking in more than $6 million in revenue. Charles Darrow, after the crash of 1929 was unemployed. He spent a few years perfecting a little parlor game that eventually became known as Monopoly. In 1932, Howard Hughes formed the Hughes Aircraft Company and built that into a major defense supplier. He was worth billions when he died in 1976.

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While many people suffered, others took advantage of being unemployed and turned ideas into businesses. They saw the opportunity created by the Great Depression. Can you see the opportunity created by the current pandemic? It’s out there, opportunity is always out there, you just have to be able to see it. When you see it, you then have to act on it. In my post titled, The Wonderful, Awesome Power of Music, I wrote that the best time to act on something is right now. You need to take advantage of this great opportunity to decide what you want to do, why do you want to do it, and begin doing it right now.

My oldest daughter is studying kinesiology and exercise science in college and is becoming a personal trainer who will one day open up her own gym. She was researching the various certification courses, prices, and the length of time it takes to complete the course. After she explained what she found, she asked me which one I would take. I told her my choice and her reply was, one takes six months to complete, won’t that interfere with my college classes? I told her that it might but that’s why time management is so important. I said that if you’re going to do something then start it right now, not tomorrow, not next week, not 6 months from now. Start it today, and you will figure out how to successfully juggle schoolwork, work, and your certification.

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For all the youth out there, I just want to say that we are living in the greatest time in our history. You can carry it around the world at your fingertips. Everything has sped up exponentially, from communication with other people to become wealthy. I used to have a little box I would wear on my belt called a pager. If someone needed to talk to me they would dial a certain number and the little box would vibrate. I would see the number of the person that wanted to talk to me. My little box would almost always only vibrate when I was nowhere near a telephone. Most of the time it was when I was in my car driving somewhere. There was no way to return the phone call through the little box therefore I would have to find the nearest thing we used to call a payphone. These were telephones that were spread throughout the city and you had to insert coins in order to make a phone call. Once I found a payphone, I would then have to scrounge around looking for coins to call the number on the little box. All this, finding a payphone, parking my vehicle near the payphone, getting out of my vehicle, looking for coins, walking to the payphone, and dialing the number, just to be told a bit of information that was probably the most unimportant information in the history of the planet. Now we can walk around with a computer in our pocket, we can search for any question that we have and communicate with anyone throughout the world without having to look for coins. 

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All it takes is a little creativity and you can make money without ever having to spend a day working a job you probably hate. I never would’ve thought that you could make money by videotaping yourself doing something that you do for one day, but people do. I had never heard of ASMR until I saw people making money carving soap or tapping their fingernails and whispering. My favorite though is GRWM videos, this is something we all do every day and people are making money just by videotaping themselves and getting ready. Is this a great time to be alive or what?

The ease at which we can obtain information today presents the greatest opportunity for all of us. You can literally find a step-by-step process to do anything. If you want to learn how to write a blog, there are bloggers who write blogs on how to write a blog. The Art of Blogging has very insightful and excellent tips on blogging. The world is literally at your fingertips, all you have to do is go out and discover it. I’ve always heard people say, “I can’t wait till my ship comes in,” and you might want to write this down, “Your ship has arrived. It is anchored just offshore and all you have to do is swim out to it and get on board.”

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If you enjoyed reading this, go ahead and click on that little star and like it. Share it on social media and definitely leave a comment. I enjoy hearing from everyone. If there is any subject into which you would like to delve into, let me know.

What opportunities have you seen created? Are you taking advantage of them? Let me know in the comment section.

Works Cited:

Sabin, Greg. “10 People Who Made a Fortune During the Depression.” Mental Floss, 12 Aug. 2009, http://www.mentalfloss.com/.

A Flying Rat’s Ass!!

No apologies! This is a topic that I’m very passionate about. If I offend you, then you need to look inward at yourself. I’m not mentioning anyone by name. I don’t give a flying rat’s ass.

How do you value other people’s opinions? Are you caught up in the way someone else makes you feel? Can what someone says to you determine if you can have a good or bad day? If so, listen to these words carefully. I don’t give a flying rat’s ass what other people think of me. I know that I’m a good person and that I treat others in the same manner as I would want them to treat me. It has no effect on me what other people think of me or if other people don’t believe that I will accomplish what I set out to do. I learned this lesson a long time ago. When I was a child growing up I had lots of friends and thought that everyone liked me. Then I found out that some people didn’t like me and I never did anything for them to feel that way. I realized then that some people are just going to like you for who you are and some people are not going to like you for who you are. That doesn’t change who you are. You are you, no one else, embrace it.

“You create your own universe as you go along.”
– Winston Churchill

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When I was in the military, every year we would get performance evaluations from our superior officers. I would read them and take note of my shortcomings because I respected the men who wrote them. After I left the military and began working for the government I was given the gift of having a bad supervisor. This man hated life and was negative and demeaning everywhere he went. Early on in my career with DEA, I volunteered for a special operation to go live in the jungles of South America and search for cocaine labs. This entailed almost a year that I was out of my office training with the U.S. Army Rangers, attending Spanish-language training, and working in the jungle. I got back to my office after my first tour in the jungle and my supervisor gave me a bad evaluation. He said I didn’t have enough arrests or seizures. I never figured out how I was supposed to arrest someone if I wasn’t there. Maybe this moron didn’t even know I was gone. Now I had received excellent evaluations from my supervisors during training and on my deployment to South America, but he didn’t take any of those into account. Therefore, I was evaluated on what I did in his office even though I was 3,000 miles away. I know he gave me a bad evaluation so I would quit the program and not go on another deployment. It didn’t work, I went on three more deployments within the next two years. Every evaluation he gave me after that I never read. When he would call me in to discuss it I would sign it and hand it back to him. The first time he asked me, “aren’t you going to read it?” My reply was no, I don’t value your opinion. I know what kind of job I do; I know if each day I’ve given it 100 percent or less than a hundred percent. Your opinion of me carries no weight with me. In other words, I didn’t give a flying rat’s ass what he thought of me.

I know when I look in the mirror each morning the kind of person that I am, what I’m going to accomplish, what I’ve already accomplished, and you need to be the same way. Who is looking back at you when you look in the mirror? What are you going to do to move forward towards accomplishing your goals? Nothing that anyone says to you should have any effect on whether you succeed or not. Only you can decide that. If some lunkhead in the gym makes a negative comment about your weight, just smile at him because you know exactly what you’re going to look like in a few months. Make sure you thank him for providing that extra motivation. If people laugh at you when you tell them you’re going to be an Oscar-winning actor even though you’ve never starred in a play, smile and remember to thank them in your acceptance speech.

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In a few posts back I wrote about “Doubt Demons” and how they show up in your mind to keep you from achieving your goals. The naysayers are the ones who instill in you these “Doubt Demons.” If you give in to the naysayers then that just means that you value their opinion more than you value yourself. You have to get the attitude that you do not give a flying rat’s ass about other people’s opinions. The only opinion that matters is what comes out of your voice; the thoughts in your head. Naysayers are losers and like to be in the company of other naysayers because that’s what they attract. Successful people are attracted to successful people. Speak your goals several times throughout the day, make your goals your predominant thoughts and you will attract successful people to you who will help you accomplish them. The naysayers will disappear.

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One of the biggest obstacles you will incur and have to overcome on your journey is when the naysayers, the negative Nelly’s, the doom and gloom people, happen to be your friends or family. These are the ones that just can’t say anything positive about what you’re trying to accomplish when you’re around them. They don’t do it in a malicious way but it can do the most harm. Unfortunately, sometimes the only way to overcome this obstacle is to cut them out of your life until you can show them that no matter what they say, you will not be deterred. You just can’t give a flying rat’s ass about what they’re saying. I love my parents but I could tell by the tone of their “encouragement” that they didn’t believe me when I would tell them about my dreams. I had to go out and show them.

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This is your journey and you and only you decide whether you reach the top of the hill or roll back down to the bottom. If you don’t succeed you cannot point fingers at anyone but yourself. You have full control over the outcome of your journey. No one else is steering your boat or piloting your plane. You are not just along for the ride you are the captain. One thing that most people don’t understand is that you are given all the tools necessary to accomplish whatever you want when you were born. Somewhere along the way you’ve let other people steal your tools from you. But all that was yesterday and yesterday doesn’t count, it’s history. What counts is today and what you do today. Tomorrow is already written and it depends on what you do today. Focus on today and continue moving forward.

Anxiety (COVID-19)

Anxiety (COVID-19. We are definitely in an anxious time in our lives with the COVID-19 pandemic. It is a time of uncertainty and I don’t know about you but for me, it is difficult to find the facts about what’s really going on. One news agency reports one thing and three more reports something totally opposite. One day we’re “flattening the curve” and the next day this is something that’s going to last for years. I’m as confused as everyone but unlike a lot of people, it doesn’t cause me anxiety. Not a lot has changed for me since the pandemic started and we have been in lockdown. I work from home so that wasn’t a change. My children are away in college so I haven’t turned into a home school teacher. My gym is closed but I have plenty of exercise equipment in my garage so I continue to work out. My wife is home all day as well and I haven’t woken up with her standing over me holding a pillow in front of my face. I can have a tendency to get on her last nerve, as my mom used to say to me. The one thing that I really miss is our weekly date night where we walk to the local restaurants and enjoy a meal. We still have the date night but now we have to call in our order, pull up outside, have them bring our food out, and take it home, it’s just not the same.

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Date Night Now!!

I sympathize with everyone that had to begin working from home, learning from home, and not knowing when their office or school will open up again. I particularly sympathize with the people who had to close their businesses or could remain open but saw a significant drop in their business. It is a very uncertain time in that we don’t know what our society will look like when the pandemic ends. Will jobs be cut as employers try to recoup lost profits? Will sports resume and bring back jobs for the concession workers, security, and ticket scanners? My friend who watches sports 24/7 told me the other day that he just watched a cherry pit spitting contest. He has it bad. In case you were wondering, the winning spit was 47 feet!

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I believe in faith over fear. I believe that the pandemic will end sooner rather than later; that businesses will open and the economy will flourish; that sporting events will begin and stadiums will be packed. The anxiety that has been created by this pandemic is based on uncertainty or fear. The anxiety is usually worse than the actual event. As I’ve said before, I have a fear of heights but I jumped out of perfectly good airplanes in the Army. The anxiety that I felt standing up in the airplane before the jump was much greater than when I jumped/fell/was pushed out the door. When I played football, the anxiety before the game in the locker room was much greater than when the game started. The first time you hit somebody all the nerves go away. I remember one time that I was at an amusement park and my friends wanted to ride the roller coaster. That was the last thing that I wanted to do but I went with them. The anxiety that I had standing in line was so great that I thought I would pass out. The worst part was the slow climb to the top of the coaster. After we started the descent it really wasn’t that bad. Not nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be in my mind. Now, I didn’t want to do it again but at least I could check that off the old bucket list.

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How can we deal with this anxiety? How does this affect us or our journey to success? First, it’s all about control. As I said in my welcome post, I am the CEO of ME Enterprises. I control what happens to me, the thoughts that I think, and my actions. You are in total control of yourself, you control what you are thinking, the choices you make, and your actions every day. I can’t control the things that are going on outside of me. You can’t control the things that are going on outside of you, so don’t worry about them. You can’t control the news, you can’t control politicians, and you can’t control the weather. You have 100 percent control over yourself and that’s the only thing that you should be focusing on. I remember hearing someone say, “If you want to change the world, begin with changing you.” There is a great speech you can find on YouTube by Admiral William H. McRaven entitled “If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed.” If making your bed makes you feel better, then go make it. That is a success and that will bring more success to you. It is something that you can control whether you do it or not. Something else that you can control is what you watch or listen to. If the news is making you more anxious, turn it off. Have faith that we will come out of this pandemic better than we went in.

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Adversity creates opportunity. The adversity of the pandemic has opened up numerous opportunities for people. People are exercising more. I see more families going on walks together, people are able and have the time to sit down together at the dinner table. For me, I began this year by saying I will get better every day. My life will be better than it was before when the world goes back to normal. The slowdown in my other business has afforded me the opportunity to research and open up this new online business and begin my blog. It has also opened up my mind to the endless possibilities that are out there for all of us. I am a Christian and believe in the power of God. I believe that I was led to create Lessons Learnt by God. God has provided me the opportunity to pass on my experiences in life through this blog. If you believe in a higher power, know that they are in control of what happens in the world and that everything is going to be better. That doesn’t mean that once the pandemic ends that everything will be perfect and bad things won’t happen again. It means that, just like this and everything that’s happened in the past, we will get through it and become better.

The Journey

How do you complete a thousand-mile journey? You take the first step, just one step, and before you know it you’ve walked a thousand miles. How do you help a million people? You help one and that will multiply a million times. We have taken that first step on our journey we won’t stop until we’ve reached our destination wherever, whatever that may be. Once we reach that destination, we will pick another destination and begin a new journey. Once you understand how easy it is to become successful at one thing that you want, then you can become successful at everything. If you can be successful at losing weight then you can be successful in making money because it’s all the same principles. Enjoy the journey.

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The most important part of the journey is the WHY. Why do you want to take this journey? You will hear me refer to the WHY many times because the WHY is what gets you to your destination. The HOW does not matter, it will be revealed to you once you know the WHY. I remember when I began training for the military and that it was definitely out of my comfort zone. I didn’t really know why I had volunteered, I was just pulled in that direction. I knew it was going to be physically and mentally difficult. It was peacetime so I didn’t have any visions of being a war hero. There was no certain rank that I desired to achieve. Heck, I wasn’t even inspired by Gomer Pyle, USMC (If you don’t know who that is, look him up. A very funny show). My WHY became my fear of failure. I was terrified of not making it, being one of the few who couldn’t cut it, and going home to face my family not worthy of wearing the uniform.

I didn’t know how I was going to make it through. I was just going to take it one day at a time. One of the first days that I was there, we were standing in formation and I was scared, homesick, and felt totally out of place. So I just looked to my right, looked to my left, and randomly picked out one of my fellow soldiers. I made a commitment to myself that if he made it, I was going to make it and that if he didn’t make it, I would pick out another person and say the same. I made the decision that day that I was going to make it to graduation. I then began using this technique for every difficult and challenging event in my life.

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My first day at the U.S. Army Airborne School in Fort Benning, Georgia, I used this technique to make it through and earn my wings. I had to use this technique many times because we had such a high attrition rate. I would pick out a fellow soldier and say to myself if they make it, so will I, only to find out the next day they weren’t there. I would then repeat the process with another fellow soldier until I made my final graduation jump. The funny thing about jump school was I didn’t even know why I was there. One day I was in military science class in college and the major asked for volunteers for the airborne school. I really didn’t know what it entailed but I did know that it included jumping out of airplanes and I was scared of heights. I thought this would be a good thing for these other gung ho cadets in my class but my mama didn’t raise no fool. There’s no way I would ever do that. I counted eight hands raised and heard the major say, “Okay we’ve got nine volunteers.” I then realized that my hand was raised and I don’t remember making a conscious decision to raise it. It was too late now, I would look like a coward trying to take it back. I thought about faking an injury. Grabbing the back of my leg and yelling, “it’s a hammy, it’s a hammy!” Then came my way out, the major said that he only had eight slots so we would use the physical training test to decide who would go. All I had to do was make sure eight other guys did better than me on the test. Even I couldn’t screw this one up. When the day of the test came I still had no desire to jump out of an airplane but damn my competitive spirit, I scored one of the top eight scores and about a month later my dad was dropping me off to go learn how to fall out of an airplane.

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I always wondered how my hand got raised that day and why I was doing these things. This has happened to me several times in my life where I ended up doing something that I have no idea how or why I was doing it. Several years later I realized that my hand was raised because airborne school was going to be essential in my journey. It provided me with the self-confidence to take on the challenges on my journey. Airborne school taught me that everyone has fears but you can control these fears. One part of training is the 250 foot tower. During this training, they harness you to a deployed parachute which is hooked to a large ring and haul you 250 feet in the air. The sergeant on the ground gives you commands and you have to acknowledge his commands by opening and closing your legs. Once you’ve acknowledged all of his commands the parachute is released from the ring and you float down and try to make a perfect landing without hurting yourself. I remember one soldier was at the top of the tower and the sergeant was giving him commands. The soldier didn’t open and close his legs and was frozen in fear. The soldier was then lowered to the ground and removed from training. That’s when the sergeant turned to the few of us that were sitting on the bench waiting their turn and gave me one of the greatest gifts of all. He said, “fear is normal, everyone has it but you must learn to control the fear.”

“You can conquer almost any fear if you will only make up your mind to do so. For remember, fear doesn’t exist anywhere except in the mind.”
Dale Carnegie

Learning how to control my fears and getting out of my comfort zone has been part of my journey. It has led me to where I am today. Thinking about how are you going to do something will not control your fears. Only the WHY will give you the strength to control your fears and make it through your journey. When you decide to lose weight, you will go through some doubts and struggles on your journey. But make it your journey and enjoy every part of it because there’s a new you at the end. You might be afraid of going to a support meeting for the first time or joining a gym because you think everyone’s looking at you. I implore you to conquer your fears and not worry about other people. They are not on this journey with you. This is your journey and your journey only.

As I look back on my journey so far I can only smile. Thinking about the successes and the failures makes me happy. Everything I have gone through in my life has gotten me to this point today. Everything needed to happen for me to be the person that I am today. Enjoy your journey. Enjoy the good, the bad, and the ugly. When it’s all said and done you will have created the greatest masterpiece in the world and be proud to sign your name to it.

“This train is moving on, you can get on, you can get off, but the train keeps moving on!” We are going to the top of the mountain!”

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