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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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blog Current Events In The News Inspiration Leadership Motivation Walking Leader

#Leadership in the News – March 8, 2017

Leadership in the news is where I will take random news articles found on the Internet and talk about their leadership content (good or bad). The content might not always be from the boardroom or Fortune 500 companies but they are all about Leadership.

‘Star Wars’ actress empowers young girls with her own fashion line

article link: http://www.reviewed.com/home-outdoors/news/star-wars-actress-ashley-eckstein-fights-bullying-with-her-fashion-line

Great article about how one actress (in this case a voice actress) brought her character from a galaxy far, far away and onto t-shirts right here on our humble little planet. Actress Ashley Eckstein is the force behind the voice of Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker’s former apprentice, from Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels. Now she is running a clothing company named, Her Universe. The company produces “geeky merchandise for women and kids”.

Seizing the opportunities before her and exploiting her role in the Star War universe, Eckstein is on the right track to not only cash in but deliver a message of empowerment and leadership to all that follow her whether it be in business or on the small screen as potential Padawans (learners/students).

Every leader at one point or another has had to start at the bottom. While at the bottom, future leaders might have to do work that they feel is beneath them or not something they see themselves doing. Guess what? That is known as paying your dues. Everyone has to pay them. Some pay them longer than others and some pay them later rather than sooner but trust me, everyone pays those dues. Then next step on their way to becoming leaders is to not give up.

Sometimes it may feel like you are spinning your wheels but keep trying. Keep moving forward. Keep doing. It is obvious that entrepreneurs like Ashley Eckstein are doing just that. Their ability to take their opportunities and turn them into realities is truly the stuff of legends. Now don’t mistake my use of the word “legends”.

When I say “legends” I mean individuals that because of their hard work, determination, and continued innovation have become larger than life. A great example of larger than life is Sir Richard Branson (Virgin Group) . Though I have never met him, I can see that hard work is still very much part of his life. Getting in the trenches is as much a part of his life today as it was back when started Student magazine, in the late 1960s.

When it comes to Ashley Eckstein, seizing the moment and running with it is the stuff that larger than life people do. It is the stuff that legends do on a daily basis.

So don’t give up. Those that follow you expect you to never give up. Show them the way to becoming leaders of their own by never letting opportunities pass you by as Ashley Eckstein did with Her Universe.

——

What did you think of this #Leadership In The News post? Let me know by email [email protected] on on Twitter @daveguerra

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