You’ve all heard my story so I will spare you the details this morning. However, I would like to talk to you about how some of the most transformative periods of my life have come after the most challenging periods. 2008 and 2009, as you know, were extremely difficult. The path that I thought I was on vanished in a matter of months. Out of pure desperation, I was forced to reinvent myself to dig myself out of the mess that I was in at the time.
It was out of that reinvention that I learned the power of concepts like personal accountability, goal and life planning, mindfulness and consistent effort. I added a database to my business and started to use my mornings as my biggest productivity hack.
As I look back at that time period and as difficult as it was, I now think of it quite fondly. I’m grateful that I went through it because I know that I would not have advanced to where I am now if I had stayed in the status quo. In my situation, I was forced to change because I had no choice.
My brief chat today is to remind you of some basic truths:
- Getting through this thing called life is not easy. In fact, at times, it can be quite difficult. No one is immune. It’s how you react and choose to change are the differences between winning at life and struggling.
- In the Instagram world where everything is glorified, remember, everybody is dealing with some form of a challenge.
- Your greatest breakthroughs will most likely come after a breakdown. To truly appreciate the good stuff, sometimes you have to experience the not so good stuff.
- Everything is seasonal. You will have your winters and your summers. You will have your springs and your falls.
I can’t end this without some encouraging words too:
- When you make mistakes, fix them.
- When you stray from your path, course correct.
- Take time every day to THINK. Thinking creates intuition. Intuition is your steering wheel.
- Be grateful every day for what you have even if though it can be tough.
- Build your knowledge. Self-development is the most potent elixir for stress.
- Look for learning moments in every situation.
- Take risks.
- Last but not least, know where you want to go and work towards it every day. Don’t stop. Just do. ACTION is the last 6 letters of ATTRACTION.
No one who has ever done anything exceptional has done it without a significant failure at some point. Go out today and embrace failure. Behind it, something great will happen.