I couldn't find a job after the SEAL teams so I started repurposing old $1 belts from thrift stores into dog collars. Now I have a building with my name on it….
I started in a 12x15 ft garage. My workbench was built from scrap 2x4s and a few stacked cinderblocks
I started a business with $41. After 4 years of hammering away, that minimal investment grew into something I could have never imagined
I had every odd against me. The biggest roadblock was ME—and the excuses I made because of the verbiage given to me after the uniform came off:
"Disabled Veteran"
And I began to think of myself as less than capable
I would STARE at my brain scans. They were a reminder:
"I am probably not the best leader for this company. I have a great concept, but I should pass it off to someone who can take it to the next level"
Even with everything I’ve been able to do, I still had the committee of doubt in my head telling me to: "Step aside"
Until the greatest piece of advice I’ve ever been given by one of my mentors:
"Throw those medical images away and never look at them again."
So I did...
For some reason, in society, we hyper-fixate on what's wrong with us, and we create an excuse for WHY we couldn’t achieve that thing and assign a reason beyond our control
Part of my transformation was deciding I would never let my past be the greatest thing I had ever done and that I would DEFINE my limits—not the WORLD
But I promise you.. No matter the size of your bank account or the title in front of your name.
It never goes away. There will always be a force trying to make you QUIT. But that resistance is the sign that you are on the right path
So when the voice tells me, “I can't achieve that THING.”
I double down! Now I look back at that list of goals I made years ago... Goals that people once laughed at and told me to: "Get realistic."
and with my pen I can put a line through every one... and I reach for even higher stars
My hope with this post is to remind folks that anytime you set out to achieve your greatness, most of the time, the person who gets in the way is... YOU
Because It takes an immense of amount of courage to ignore the odds, the probabilities and the likelihoods...
On a sheet of paper write down your IMPOSSIBLE...
Pin it to the wall...
One day you will crumple it up and throw in the garbage because your once perceived LIMIT is now your BASELINE
Set your goals so high that people LAUGH... and Keep Hammering!
