Category: Accountability

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2024: Take All The Steps Forward

Welcome.
All my life it has been my privileged honor to be witness some wonderful things, places, events, and people.
At the same time, I have witnessed some of the most inhumane things that man can do to another man, either in the name of the family, pride, ego, religion, greed, or gluttony or any combination thereof.
All the while both, the good and the bad, have inspired me to keep moving forward.
Now, moving forward means that you will continue to encounter things that will challenge you, that will motivate you, and of course, things that will make you stop dead in your tracks.
However, none of that should cause or prevent you from moving forward. From taking that next step and the next step after that and so on.
Remember, it is the journey and not the destination is the true adventure.
No matter the destination, the journey begins with the first step. However, the real journey takes place when you take that second, third, fourth and every step afterward moving forward.
Over my lifetime I have seen so many individuals be celebrated for the journey they are about to undertake. They make the plans, take that first step, then nothing.
Nothing because they failed to consider the next step and all the other steps ahead of them.
The first time I saw this was back in High School when a “football player” receive a FULL ride scholarship to Notre Dame university. Big fanfare, a huge accolade for what today would be a slightly above average high school football player. So, this guy leaves and the next thing I know he is an office manager at his father’s real estate agency. See he could not hack it, both academically and athletically.
He may have been a big fish in the small pond that was high school, so naturally college was going to be a cake-walk or so he thought. Like so many others that have had reality slap them in the face, he was wrong and properly awaken to the real world.
Once on campus, yes, he did make it to the Notre Dame campus, but he quickly found himself as a tiny guppy in a huge pond full of piranhas. He was no longer big man on campus.
Now he was just like everyone else. Just like everyone else.
This is where being the big man on campus becomes a huge disservice to anyone who always had it handed to them and never held accountable for their actions or inactions and in turn this guy never thought he had to ask for help. Because as I mentioned he had everything handed to him, everything except for a huge dose of reality.
So, what did the hometown hero do? What else could he do but to come back home with his tail tucked between his legs and all while he never admitting defeat.
By not being prepared to face the real world this high school character never stood a chance.
Never stood a chance at taking the steps forward he needed to succeed in college and college sports.
By not admitting failure this individual would rather go hide under a rock instead of taking the failure as lesson learned and using that L as a stepping stone towards success in something else.
Now that is as far as it got with the Big Man on Campus Mr. Football Star because high school was over. Like so many of my classmates we had other more important things to do than to wonder what the BMOC was up to. I joined the Army and the rest is history.
I made new lifelong friends, started a family, and had a couple of kids all the while knowing that to make a success out of yourself, you have no choice but to know and accept that the only way to get to where you want to be in life is to take ALL the steps you need to take to succeed.
Friends, ignore the fanfare and just put in the work. Start taking all the necessary steps needed because as I have stated before: YOUR SUCCESS AWAITS!

There it is because I said this!
David Guerra

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Accountability Change Leadership MBWA Morality Motivation positive Walking Leader Work Ethic

2024: Challenges & Opportunities

As we go through life there are numerous certainties. Here are two:
One, we are constantly bombarded by challenges
Two, far too many times we fail to recognize those challenges as opportunities.

Folks, every challenge is an opportunity to grow.

Let us look at this way, opportunities do not come along as often.

However, as we are constantly being bombarded with challenges there is no escaping the opportunities that come with them.

Seriously, think about this, Day in and day out. Opportunities are all around us. There are of course, there are going to be challenges.

When it comes challenges, they are not as bountiful.

Challenges come in two flavors:

The challenges we inflict on ourselves.
and
The challenges we allow others to inflict on us.

Both types of challenges are actionable. Actionable in that we can do something about those challenges:
We can accept them and let them overtake us.
We can accept them and we can overcome them.
Or as far too many people do: Ignore them in hopes they go away but instead those challenges WILL steam roll you.

Where is the opportunity in these challenges?

Simple, opportunity is found in all three options.

The opportunity is there to make something good happen for you or to allow something bad happen to you. What you decide is solely and strictly up to you.

Another reality is that you do have control over what happens.

The harsh truth is that there are far too many people that would rather settle than to do something about their situation.

That means when they are faced with challenges, they would rather roll over, play dead, and let happen what is going to happened to them. That is WEAK!

They see the challenges but give up on overcoming those challenges and in turn they give up on themselves.

Because they gave up on themselves, they will never get to see the opportunities those challenges bring.

Giving up may seem like the easiest thing to do but when you give up it is the hardest thing you can do to yourself.

It is the hardest thing that you can do to yourself for one simple reason: The moment you give up on one thing, the easier it will be to continue giving up on other parts of your life and eventually you will give up on yourself.

Trust me on this. I know. I have given up on myself many times. However, one day an challenge popped into my life. I saw that if I decided to take it, it was going to be a huge challenge.

The challenge was accepted and the opportunity has turned out to be one of the greatest ones in my adult life.

It is truly up to you to take the challenges as they come and turn them into opportunities.

But remember, there are no opportunities when you would rather stick you head in the sand and avoid the challenges.

And if that is you? I wish you luck!

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Accountability Decisionmaking Ethics Inspiration Leadership Morality Motivation positive Tips Walking Leader

2024: About Setbacks and Comebacks

While, last week I talked about Bouncing Back and Rising Strong. This week, consider it a continuation. This week I want to talk about the journey of setbacks and comebacks.

I do believe it was the great modern urban philosopher LL COOL J who once sang, “Don’t call it a comeback, I been here for years. I’m rockin’ my peers, puttin’ suckers in fear…”

In the song “Mama Said Knock You Out” LL COOL J starts the song after he has gotten up and made his comeback, of sorts. But is it really a comeback he is professing? I do not think so. Not at all!

Those who called it a comeback did so because they see who he is now and never paid attention to his journey.

That is OK as they really do not care about his journey, your journey, or anyone else’s journey.

At the same time, there are people that are only around you for the good times but when the bad times roll on in, they are nowhere to be found.

That is because they are on their own journey, they are trying to figure it out.
They are trying to navigate through their life but for those individuals, that journey is usually taking them nowhere or they only go in circles.

However, always remember and never forget just as others are on their own journey, you are on one, as well.

Your journey is taking you places to see and do things you have never seen and done before.

As you are on your journey do not worry about whether others are watching you now or not.

What matters is that you are watching yourself.

Watching what you are doing for yourself now matters the most.

Others will stumble upon you in the future and see what you have done. What you have accomplished.

They will see the person you are, at this moment, and not the person that had to make things happen, make sacrifices. They were not seeing nor worrying about the scratching, scrimping, hustling, and grinding you had to do to get to where you are now.

Those that show up in the good times are not going to see the struggles, the downsides you endured to get to the place you are right now.

Those kinds of individuals are known as “fair weather friends” and if you do not know what that is look it up. The definition may surprise you then again it might be a direct reflection of you. No surprises!

All I can say about that is nothing you can do or say can change the fact that “Fair weather friends” are the WORST kind of people to have around you and in your life.

They will be around you up until the time comes when you need them or something from them. Then, just like magic, POOF, they are gone. Disappeared. No Surprise.

On the other side of that coin, I would be remiss if I did not say something about those that were with you every step of the way.

Those few individuals that saw your struggle, those that saw you rise above and those that helped you when you needed help.

Those are the only ones qualified to call it a comeback because they know.

Now let me clarify before the wrong people start getting the wrong impression.

The people that have stood by your side for the entire ride are those who ate soup and ramen with you when times were tight.

They are the people that understood and stayed home with you when others decided they could not give you the time.

They are the ones that never pulled a punched when others thought it was funny to toy with you.

They are the ones that sat next to you as you cried because you were about to complete a year without a job and you were down to your last fifty bucks in the bank.

They are the ones that helped you get back up and keep going. They are the ones that never gave up on you and made certain you did not give up on yourself.

Those are the only people that are qualified to call it a comeback because they were there when you were at your lowest and they were there when it was time to celebrate.

The ones NOT qualified are those that would rather leave you stranded in another state because no flights are flying because to them any sacrifice was way too much.

The ones NOT qualified are the ones there for the glory but not the hard work.

The ones NOT qualified are the ones that used you as an excuse when they were up to no good and would rather blame you than accept responsibility for their actions or behavior.

The ones that are NOT qualified are the ones that tell you they do not want to talk about what is bothering you because as they profess to others that is what they are there for but ultimately, they do not truly care about you.

But when spotlight shines, like moths they are sure to return to bask in your light and then once the light goes out, they are gone, again (no surprise).

Then all you hear is crickets that is until the spotlight shines again (and it will).

See your story is still being written and in that fact the ups and downs will continue to occur.

So, pick those around you carefully and wisely.

Pick those that are there to bring positivity, love, and care.

Leave out the users, abusers, wannabes, and most of all leave out those that do not truly care about you unless there is something in it for them.

Only those that are with you, every step of the way, know your comeback and just how much that comeback truly means and as the late David Bowie once sang, “the rest can go to hell.”