The AJNashville Podcast

Isn't it great when you connect with someone on such a high level, you feel empowered to share your message or thought process with the world? Welcome to the mind behind the podcast, an episode dedicated to overcoming your history, your trauma, and persevering with a positive mindset. I expose ways I find to grow with forgiveness to my core and choose to rise above from who I once was by putting myself first, raw and real, out there for you to feel inspired by, connecting with me on a higher level of understanding within this message. Take a breath before you respond to give your mind a brief moment to think before reacting first. You don't owe anybody an instant response, no matter how uncomfortable your delayed silence might make them feel during the conversation. If you choose to forgive somebody, make sure it's for you and not because of any outside factors at play. Have they also demonstrated the need to be forgiven when they are asking for redemption? There are things in this world that you may not be able to give pardon to.

Many people see summer as a season of relaxation and fun, which is well deserved for all the hard work put in throughout the year and an opportune time to celebrate wins with our children while they are on summer break from school. It should still not be overlooked as a chance to evaluate how you are doing with goals you've set for yourself for the year as you reach the halfway mark. Are you still tracking metrics like you did when you first set your goal? Have you achieved some accomplishments early and ready to take on new tasks? Are you falling behind on others and need to recalibrate your actions in order to see the goal delivered? Has life changed so drastically that the goal is no longer even desired to be met?We associate success in life too often to an amount of money we can produce. What about the things money can't buy though? The quality of life spent with the time we are given each moment of every day. We are blessed with every breath we take on this Earth, and we take it all for granted that it will all be taken away just as quickly in one short breath. We have to make each breath, each action, something we feel satisfaction from that we did our very best in that moment to contribute to our own success and happiness. Whatever we are aiming for, we can do it when we are ready to give it all we've got. Our goals change, our roles evolve, seasons come and they go in our lives. All we can do is claim our time as our own by doing what we promised ourselves we would do and create a life we love to live in. Every breath is a chance for you to be your very best version of you.

What is it you expect from people, particularly people who provide their services to you? Are your expectations aligned with the reality of the situation? Are they exaggerated or fall short in your mind based on the possibility and actuality of what you should expect? Is the expectation that has been set something you decided to create yourself or something the provider has assured to be expected when you choose them to do business with? When these expectations aren't met, do you automatically attack these shortfalls with personal levels of frustration? What if you could approach the situation with an air of professionalism and calm sincerity in order to gain the level of service you were expecting in the first place? Without place the person in a defensive stance, you will find yourself and your desired outcome much more agreeable. You have to remind yourself to only hold a business to the standard they have represented overall as a brand though. You cannot demand what a company doesn't already promise though.The same should hold true to you if you are a service provider. Give yourself the cushion of time you need in order to deliver your goods on time or sooner, but never late. That is a recipe for disappointment in the client and, ultimately, dishonesty in your brand. Even within your personal life you have to set realistic expectations with your family and friends that they can trust and rely on you.

Today, we celebrate Memorial Day. Some of us see it as a free day off from work, an opportunity to scrub the old grill off and fire up the summer season with a blowout pool party. Others of us will work through the holiday as if it were just another typical Monday, grumbling about how everyone should have the day off, or worse, about how we should all be working as the day is "nothing special" to celebrate. How far from the truth of the matter they are... Memorial Day stands as a reminder of all the privileges you have and the gratitude you should show towards those who have not only served, but sacrificed their time and lives for yours. It is a day you should be educating your children and the next generation of its significance and meaning for all who are blessed to live on American soil. Their sacrifices have paid for your life and freedom to do as you please at any given moment, and that deserves a day of honor in their memory and dedication to their country. Freedom is not free, and the humble will not allow the rest of us to forget it. Are we living a life worth their sacrifices to protect and preserve our freedoms over their own? Reminding and passing on traditions is imperative to preserving their honor, mentally erasing the division that the country has weighed against each other. We can travel between state lines freely because of their sacrifices, we can go out any time of day or night without fear of curfew.

Sometimes, the simplest word is the hardest to say: "NO." We find ourselves torn between our own commitments and taking actions that please other people more than ourselves. We realize we are giving others more energy and time for their success than we do for ourselves on a personal and most deeply needed level. We are told to believe that the word "no" is bad, yet we can find so much more freedom and healthy boundaries for ourselves when we learn how to express the word appropriately with others. Always remember: it is your sole responsibility to provide a comfortable lifestyle for you and your family. Other people's responsibilities, no matter how much they try to push off onto you, are not your problems to resolve. Respect your own time by creating a sense of structure to your day and don't be afraid to tell people you are busy doing something of higher priority to YOU. Recognizing how you choose to fulfill your commitments will build integrity within your priorities and your willingness to say "no" when you need to.The sooner you get used to saying "no", the sooner everyone else will come to respect your decision to choose "you".

Time, energy, mental space--call it what you want--all the pieces that we put into trying to validate, or feel validated, usually by trying to impress the wrong people. Especially when we're young, we tend to shift who we are on a core level in order to fit the perception of the people that we fell like we need to be validated from. The problem is this consistent morphing of who we are as an individual to make others smile, to be loved, cared for, recognized.The crave for attention comes at a cost. The things you do for the acknowledgement of others can say a lot about what matters most to you. Shouldn't YOU matter most to you, though? Live knowing the decisions you make and the actions you take today won't cause feelings of regret later in your life just because of the influence other people have over your life. Take pride in your own steadfastness to your core principles, yet celebrate your ability to think creatively when the spark comes to you. How important is it to you to pursue the person that you want to become rather than fitting in for the moment for others?Life goes and grows without you, the world clock forever ticking. Time doesn't know you, time doesn't care about you. Become the best version of you, FOR YOU. We are all sculpted based on our experiences in life, developing habits from those interactions. Have a perspective of gratitude that reminds you of the fortune you are already surrounded with. Being authentically YOU is what people truly love most about YOU.

Sometimes a podcast episode is recorded with the intention of helping to inspire others to think or act a certain way through motivation. Other times it seems to end up being a part of the internal process of helping guide myself through thought processes and decision making in my own reality. Sometimes we find ourselves needing to say or hear it out loud in order to process it on a deeper level, building like blocks upon one another until it makes sense and takes shape we can better understand. Other times we get more creative in how we choose to process or accept certain aspects in our life. We find ourselves channeling less conventional methods to deal with past experiences and maintaining our sense of determination for a purpose. We may not always know in the moment why we do what we do, sometimes it may take years to shed light on the reasons why we chose to act a particular way. That is what maturity and wisdom are born from: experiences through growth you decided to make happen, knowing your purpose changes throughout seasons of your life. The human body and mind is incredibly resilient when the purpose is survival, capable of doing things we normally consider ourselves incapable of. Our coping mechanisms should evolve as our situations change around us, serving us in the most necessary of ways to help us process what is really going on. Learning the lessons that will later help us navigate life isn't something that happens easily or without effort, many times pain is involved today so that we may spare ourselves the sufferings of tomorrow. You get to decide what impact life has on you. You choose what is good for you and what is not. You have to have the determination to remove certain things from your life that no longer serve you well. Always be willing to adapt and analyze to improve your own process and who you are as a human being. Remove the childhood trauma that doesn't have a purpose for your betterment and overcome what you have long outgrown. Create your presence today to build the future you want to live tomorrow and trust your own drive to get there.

So many people look at success relative to their own level of desire and commitment, choosing to only see the peak of the mountain that was their goal, choosing to overlook the effort it took to climb the mountain day by day. We don't just arrive to the top without trying, we have to train ourselves to acclimate to our new surroundings and overcome any trees that may fall in our path during our journey forward. We must learn lessons along the way in order to survive and thrive within the mistakes that change our course and challenge us to strive for better living.Taking extreme ownership is the act of understanding that most things that impact you are within your control and you have to find the things that were within your control and adjust and adapt based on those things. Maturity is knowing you have experienced something specific in the past and gaining wisdom is choosing not to do it again if it failed before. Taking lessons from your "failures" is how you are able to declare ownership and freedom with your deliberate actions and get on the path of paving the road to your future however you see fit.Many people live their entire lives never taking full accountability for their actions. Humans cannot be devoid of flaws, no matter how perfect we may like to think we are. How we choose to handle life with our deficiencies and how we let other people around us influence who we truly want to be is the person we have to lay our head down with at the end of the day. Become the person you want to be, one day at a time, one claimed mistake to learn from at a time, one opportunity to grow into that person you see in your mind. Be grateful you can take the blame when you know changes need to be made. Time is a blessing for each of us, make the most of yours by claiming all that is yours to own, especially when it's a lesson you need to learn from in order to grow.

Thank you for all your support and confidence in me. I will forever remain grateful and humbled by the community that surrounds me. As long as we pour trust and faith into each other, we will succeed. All things are possible with hard work, motivation, and dedication. Our wildest dreams today could be old news yesterday if we continue to dream farther and push ourselves to make the impossible possible daily.Winning an election takes a conscious effort to always do the right thing. To put yourself in a position where people have enough faith in your ability to perform and execute a task in a way that they agree is fit. Willing to take the accountability and the ownership to learn a new task. There is no user's manual to being in an elected position.God-given leaders are the people who will show you how you will be a leader in your own reality. The people you look to the most are the people who mold you into what you will become. Surrounding yourself with the success you want for yourself is how you find the ways you need to grow yourself up.

Sometimes we just have to go through the storm so that we can arrive on the other side of it that much faster. We can poke around about it and keep ourselves in a miserable situation longer than we need to, and often tend to do, if we're being completely honest here. Or sometimes we really just want to hunker down and refuse to move at all, leaving our future and fate in the winds of the storm. But why surrender control over your own life in ways that you still can, like choosing to grow and move further in your life even through the inevitable growing pains? Wouldn't it be so much more beneficial and rewarding for you to know that your pain has served you to the better future you envision for yourself? Pain is inevitable, so when you must feel it, use it to endure than much more in life. Use your pain to strengthen you for the storms to come and know that your desire is so much greater than anything that might stand in your way of happiness. That doesn't mean pain is instantly over with just because we choose how or when to experience it and overcome it. Maybe it's laziness that we've replaced with the excuse of convenience because it allows our conscience to feel right about the decisions that we make. How about we feel right about having proper accountability for our actions--or more likely, our lack of actions? We need to be accountable for allowing things to transpire and take back control of our actions to better serve our lives and head in the direction of life we truly want to go towards."Worry is like a rocking chair: it gives you something to do, but it gets you nowhere." Be motivated to think outside the box and create your future to your design by choosing for YOU. The storms will come, the storms will go, it's how you choose to face them that changes how you'll handle this season of your life. Make the decisions that will compound and create the life you desire to live.

Talking in depth about particular subjects can open up insight to other possibilities within your own mind, while also shedding light on other people's positions of where they stand. Most times, other people have issues because of their own individual past experiences. Rarely does it really have anything to do with you at that very moment when a heated debate may occur. Reality is only a perception that each of us are all experiencing simultaneously yet uniquely in our very own way based on every choice we have ever made on our path of life. It is not duplicable, your life. But the days of it can be through the consistent actions of true dedication and make itself predictable in a way that builds yourself security in your own success with control over your bigger emotions. Are you still allowing other people the capability to have control over you like they once did in the past, always triggering you negatively? Do you think you have to keep other people's problems for yourself to solve? YOU DON'T! You can always contribute your effort to help them solve it if you want to, but you are never obligated to carry that shit with you if they cannot resolve their problem! That doesn't mean you have to process everything alone, either. You can confide in those close to you to tell them things that matters to you on a much more complex and deeper level. Sharpen your intuition from the lessons you have learned in your past to avoid similar pain in your future. You are capable of overcoming your past trauma through your commitment to always give your best going forward. Give most to your people who love and support you through the darkest days of all, the most devoted fans of all that you are on a deeper level.

Too often we are our own worst critics, denying ourselves a good sense of pride over our biggest accomplishments. We can tend to overlook our growth because it doesn't happen drastically overnight. That is why daily action and accomplishment in the small things adds up with consistency over time to reveal habits we build for ourselves that can either help serve us or hurt us. Allowing ourselves to feel grace and mercy along the way is what keeps our morale feeling more positively driven.Reclaiming your time back is reclaiming your life back. Once you get to that point in your life, you should be proud of getting there doing whatever needed to be done. Be more conscious of the intention of ripples you cause in life and your ability to create ripples in other people's lives. Remember to have gratitude for where you are in your life, regardless of a good or bad position. Perception of position is critical in maintaining a positive experience. Knowing you have overcome many things in life to be where you are today should be a great source for motivation when facing battles in your "unknown" future. Take inventory so that you know what you deserve to be proud of. Remain humble by always being thankful for both your blessings and your problems in life. 

Your mindset is yours to sculpt and mold like clay into whatever shape you want it to be. Sometimes you will find a shape to take longer to create than another. Though as long as you continue to create, you will undoubtedly improve with time dedicated to your craft. Don't you still want to create your own art though in order for you to leave your imprint and feel authenticity in the masterpieces of your mind? Know that the creation of your own signature energy shifts and evolves you for the better each time you act on further developing your personal success?Too often in life, we approach situations with a pre-determined energy that doesn't match reality or what the moment needs. We need to be bringing a different set of expectations as ourselves willingly authentic and accountable for our own faults. If we want positivity and agreeability with others, we have to first present the positivity and agreeability for ourselves in any given situation. A heart of gratitude is the best place to start in massively shifting your energy and everything that surrounds you. When you think of the legacy you are leaving for your children, do you feel proud of what you have accomplished so far in your time alive? Do you find yourself knowing how sweet honey can get you more bees than mean shit can? Do you approach the situation with the outcome you truly desire in mind and the energy you wish to receive back for yourself first? Be kind to yourself first and then go and be kind to others as you encounter them. You never know what someone else is going through, so be the one to bring the smile and not over complicate their life with your own problems. That doesn't mean your problems should disappear, just that they should be resolved properly and not made into someone else's problems because you didn't want to handle your own shit. Bring the light and positive energy to the moment that others need and you rely on as your own inner source of happiness. Form your own greatness by shifting your mindset and creating the energy you thrive on  and just have to share with your tribe.

They say that ignorance is bliss, but have you ever realized how much power comes with awareness instead? And power doesn't have to be some big bad thing, it simply exists because you exist. You are your own person and you have power within you, though it is up to you how you choose to step into it and ultimately use it. You have to be the one to stand up for your beliefs and let people know your opinions and boundaries, not be all mighty powerful douchebag, but to be respected and committed to your own ideas and passions that drive you. You don't have to go around shouting your stance to nobody listening, you need to advocate for yourself when you feel encroached upon by others ready to crush your boundaries and beliefs. Just because that is who they are, does not mean you should waver from your own self. Though self-awareness is important to maintain, because sometimes you find yourself falling under the spell of other people's expectations and have to realize you can't always be right, either. The people you surround yourself with is a direct reflection of who you are and what it is you are trying to attract in your life. You need to protect the people closest to you that truly value your time and move on from the people who seem to only waste your time or not value your voice when you speak it. Building community doesn't mean every body has to agree on every thing, just that we agree on the right things and will stand up for them together when necessary. Believe in yourself first and know that you belong with your people. Awareness is knowledge based on your experiences and your very existence is your power.

Every day comes and it goes, there's no question about that. But maybe you should be asking yourself if how you spend your time is most fruitful to your happiness. Do you set goals that will bring you true joy if you achieve them? How about on the way? Do you find yourself giving up on your own future just because it becomes challenging to obtain at times? Are you really ready to sink back into what you know and remain average in life? Or are you ready to be better and not be okay with just being okay?If you're going to make excuses for yourself, why not make excuses that better yourself more in life. Time moves on whether you are going to take advantage of every second it has to offer you or not. Just do what needs to be done first in the day and you'd be surprised at how much time you still have left to do the things you want to do without the weight of worry. Let yourself prioritize what you need to accomplish to truly grant yourself the freedom to do what you really want to do one task at a time and just set out to see it done.When you no longer see failure as option, you will infinitely grow in knowing there is always a lesson to be learned, whether it was easy or hard to experience. You get to choose how to carry your mindset in life and if you will allow things to interrupt your success. Just do what you set yourself out to do and know that if your plans change, it's not because you are weak and gave up on your dreams, but because your goals have evolved and transformed as time has progressed while you took action towards the future you desire. It may take you longer than you expected, or maybe you will find yourself standing where you used to only dream of that much faster when you just do the damn thing you know you have to do to get there that much faster, too. If you must, move your mountain, one rock, each waking morning, until it is done. As long as you remain vigilant, the rewards you could claim along the way are as good as gold every day.

You ever find yourself giving off bad vibes you never meant to? Eliminate that shit by going to the source and cutting out the negativity at the roots. You have to protect your mind and space for yourself by getting rid of the things that suck away your energy. Remove yourself from the position that is causing problems and direct your mindset to be solution oriented for your own success. You are capable of choosing your path for yourself, take advantage of your sense of individuality and capitalize on YOU. Protect your perception by maintaining boundaries you set with others. All too often, others unknowingly unload their shit onto you and then expect you to carry it around for them. You have to be the one to change that and let it stop at you, rather than you unknowingly carrying it home to your family. Forcing your opinions on others will certainly earn you disdain. Sharing it freely though will attract your people back to you organically. Like people like people. Everybody has a just as equal of a right as you to believe what they want. Every morning is a new opportunity to do what you want with your time for the day. Be thankful for your freedom to choose positivity for yourself by simply making the decision to cast out the negativity in your life.

How many of you allow yourself to have cheat days? And how many of you let your cheat day evolve into an excuse to break your habits every time it rolls around? Are you rigid in your discipline and steadfast to the time blocking you claim you strictly adhere to? Do you end up letting distractions come between you and the success you find yourself chasing day in and out, feeling like your efforts are exhausted even though if you were honest with yourself, you know you haven't truly given it your best efforts?Maybe you make an excuse to bend your discipline and make the day a cheat day before your "set cheat day". Now you've made it okay to skip and set the unconscious precedence in your head that making excuses for not arriving is okay as long as your excuse supersedes your reason. Now you've only made your desires negotiable with yourself. Now your word is as good as nothing. Stop lying to yourself for the sake of others, because nobody gives a fuck about what only you know.Do it for yourself. Set the habits that serve you in your future. In order to build your future, you have to take action TODAY. You can lay just 1 brick, or you can lay 20. Hell, you can lay 3 million. ANYTHING. BUT. NOTHING. It has to be consistent and compounding, you have to stay committed every day in order to make your goal your reality. Every day you cheat, you can see it as a day to fall behind on getting to your future that much faster, or you can see it as an opportunity for you to continue growing ever further into your future. BY YOUR CHOICE. Replace your bad habit with something good for you. Know when you feel yourself in need of recalibration and embrace the change as good for you. You only have so many days left so make them count in the ways that truly matter the most to you.

When we start creating things, we have to start building out systems to help us perform tasks and improve our efficiency in workflow. The only "perfect" system is the living one that constantly gets modified and fed back into. If we instead constantly let things slide though, we find ourselves with yet another system that "didn't work" and another excuse for why we can't achieve our successes. Maintaining our systems is critical in maintaining our relationships we work so hard to nurture consistently. Just because we feel we have outgrown a task doesn't mean it no longer needs to be performed. Sometimes it is necessary to have another trusted person manage a system to monitor our business, especially as business grows and expands. It's also important to have standard operating procedures in place to save your time and create a sense professional reliability and trustworthiness in your business. The systems you put in place should help serve reminders of the actions and information that matters most about each person and your relationship level. It's better to have these systematic reminders set up before you need them. Avoid the situations that you know you can by being proactive and preparing whenever you can ahead of time. Know that people can't cease to exist just because you are running behind for the day, Accept the fault that is yours and move on with your day by changing it for yourself. Great preparation is the key to turning a bad day into a good day. You are responsible to hold yourself accountable and to inspect the things you expect.

You ever have those supercharged days where you feel really proactive about your time and tasks? You know, those days that seem to leave a profound imprint on the way you do things in the future because you decided to kick ass TODAY. The mornings you feel ready to tackle the day ahead without grumpily dragging your feet through some imaginary mud you made in your own mind. Is this the day you'll allow this podcast to shift your mindset into positive overdrive and accomplish all you need to get done with spare change to go play with?Far too often, we put ourselves in positions that we tend to end up absorbing the negative energy others around us are putting out into the world. You know those people, the ones who will always have something to complain about regardless of what is said or done for their sake. Why do we then find it so hard to enjoy and absorb the goodness that we can instead choose to focus on and intake with overflowing abundance? It's critical for growth to protect your own energy and mind with a fervor nobody else could ever have but for themselves. Your influence is pushed onto others, whether that is calmness or chaos, you choose what you push out. What example do you want to set as a role model for them, for your children, when you choose your reactions to be based on emotions or reason? Do you really want to be the one to carry someone else's negativity with you all day, only to bring it home and unload the damage onto your loved ones? You have to be the one to preserve what's yours and protect what you know always.

There's snow day like the present, am I right? You are granted the opportunity to spend quality time with the people you love when you are snowed in. You get the chance to build the moments that will later become the memories you all will look back on. Are you going to store it in your mind as an inconvenience or a lucky break for you and your family? Today is the only day you are this exact age. The same goes for your partner and children, they are only 8 years and 204 days old for this day only. The chance to do that special thing is only guaranteed for today if you choose to do the things that are needed to be done in order to make that thing truly happen, today. Soon is always too soon when the day it can no longer happen inevitably arrives. Death is a certainty for every single living thing. Tomorrow is not promised to us, no matter what we tell ourselves in an effort to comfort and fill the void. We arrive to a point where we wish we had another day, yet we sit in a current reality where we don't even utilize the days that we currently do have. What if we actually maximized, not just utilized, all the time we have in a day? Why should you have to sacrifice the important things that are so personal just to reach a goal? Have you re-evaluated your goals accordingly to make sure meeting them still aligns with other goals and priorities you may have developed since you set those goals in the first place? It is natural for your goals to shift as you grow. It is okay to outgrow a previous goal, it's less okay to quit on a goal just because you find it hard. Most times, you will find yourself growing the most when you are uncomfortable and find it a challenge to accomplish something you really want.You need to find a balance when you don't know what it is you need. You have to focus on what you really want, yet be able to step back and recalibrate based on what else is developing and going on around you. The richness of time is what truly makes an individual wealthy. Dictating and determining how you spend your time and who you spend it with is power you have all for yourself to control. Make sure your target is still what is most important to you in the present moment and not just something you wanted in the past. We can't chase yesterday, all we can live is today.

As we sink and settle in to 2025, I hope you are still striving to take note of the goals you wish to accomplish in the future and the actions you are making in order to arrive there, each and every day, one at a time. I hope you are remembering to inventory the ups as well as the downs along the way, as both are equally important to be aware of the parts they play in making your dreams into your realities. Yesterday's problems, and celebrations, are now nothing more than in the past. Which is why it is so critical to relish in the fantastical moments as they happen and do not let ourselves be overcome with all the problems we could be focused on at any given time. The year passes by so quickly, sands of time slipping faster and faster through our fingers. Wouldn't it be nice to reflect back on the grains knowing you grew by impacting life with accomplishment and gratitude that you chose to make happen? How much of an impact does one day have on the totality of the opportunities that you have in your entire life? Just one bad day, hell, hundreds of bad days, cannot rule over the thousands of good days there is sure to be had. You have to be the one to make the most out of every opportunity that you have. Your worst day is still a day someone wishes they could have. Every setback we experience is a lesson we have as a chance to learn something new from. Your heart has to remain full of gratitude for all that you have already done in the past, and all that you already have in the present, so that you can focus on all that you already want for your future.

How many of your goals for the new year have you already committed to quitting on? Have you delivered on making it happen for yourself so far, starting on day 1 like you said you would? Did you decide to wait just 1 more day to start taking action to accomplish the goals you decided to set for yourself? If you are committed to making your goal happen, do you remember why it is that you set the goal in the first place, or have you lost sight of why the goal really matters? Burnout is a real problem, especially for those who want to stay true to their commitments, but become too engrossed in the process of making it reality. When you become too focused on making the goal real, you can lose the passion and joy you once had doing something because now you've made it a chore or possibly even an exhausting burden to do so.It is time to make sure that you find a balance, a combination of things needed to achieve the goal without starving out all the other things that you desire to do. You have to be the one to set the boundaries and parameters that you will live by and require others around you to also abide by. You have to scale your day based on what you what to accomplish and what you already have accomplished. Only you know what it is you truly need and how you are going to gain it for yourself. You have to make your actions and moments measurable and you have to be the one to recalibrate as you go. Today is day #3--how will you scale today to make 2025 YOUR year?

You ever find yourself needing a therapy session with your own mind? Sometimes you have to process some things out loud in order to gain clarity over your own life and situations. Especially as a new year approaches with a whole new set of goals for you to hash out and overcome with specificity. Just like life, this podcast has no edits or do overs, so that it can maintain the raw nature of the content that is presented to you on a weekly basis. What it provides is so much more than just an 18 minute message though. It shows the integrity and honesty that so many other people like to do their best to hide because they are too consumed with what other people might see and perceive in their own minds. It reassures you that your good character is still honorable and the right thing to do, especially when you have little people who look to you for guidance.If you jeopardize your integrity, you will create a life of separation for yourself. Your thought process will begin to skew and make excuses to justify your wrong actions. You are the one who has to hold yourself accountable because at the end of the day, you are the one who has to live with the results of your actions. You are the only one who can beat your own drum, so make it a song you want to hear.

We have found ourselves time warping to the end of the year again as we approach Christmas week. Where does it go and how have you spent your time over the past year? Do you feel accomplished and satisfied with how you have utilized your precious days? Would you consider your life full of life, wonderful people, fantastic memories to reminisce on later? How do you receive your gifts at Christmastime and it is really even about the objects wrapped up in pretty paper and topped off with curly bows?There are people in the world who all too often allow their current position to define who they once were and limit who they are capable of becoming. Some people are conditioned to remain the victim just because they had traumatic events in the past they haven't yet dealt with and realized they can overcome it. Sometimes we choose the easier emotion to release on to others: anger. Anger lets us excuse our pain from being processed and take the blame out on others rather than dealing with it inside ourselves. But how many people do we hurt when we start lashing out our pain onto others that could otherwise be spared the bad vibes?You have to take accountability for your own feelings, thoughts, actions. NOBODY IS PERFECT! It is real to be flawed, it is unnecessary to make your problems somebody else's just because you don't know how to handle your flaws yet. You have to be the one to become aware of yourself and your impact on other people's lives, especially when you have children who look to you for guidance. You were dealt a hand in life--you can choose to make a difference with it, or just hold on to the same shitty cards for the whole game. You have to see your vision to become your reality.

Why can vision boards be an outdated and flawed method of achieving your goals? When was the last time you actually updated your vision board to reflect the progress you have already made and accommodate any shifts within your goals you may have decided to change along the way? Tracking your progress is just as important as tracking your desires. You have to be mindful of the pathways and signs that tell you whether your goals are obtainable or within reach and update them based on your reality.The objects we desire should serve as a reminder of all the challenges we had to face to obtain those things. It should be more for you than for other people to see and congratulate you on achieving. They don't see all you had to go through and overcome in order to have what you have now, but you know what you've been through. You know what you've had to do over and over until it finally produced the result you wanted. That's why you have to measure your actions and your goals along the way. Then you know when you fall off track and can redirect yourself back on course. Don't let your vision board restrict your possibilities! Think beyond the limitations of the board and always remember to be grateful for all you have already accomplished for yourself.

How often do we find ourselves allowing others to tell us what we are and are not capable of achieving? Do we tend to let other people's presences all too often overcrowd our own sense of accomplishment? Why do we let other people's negativity poison our own willpower and allow it to stain our own actions and turn us lazy just because they don't believe in themselves? When will we stop letting how others analyze us affect how we act just because they are incapable of wanting to analyze themselves out of shame?With every step closer to your success, you will always have people ready to cast their own judgment and speculation on you. That has very little to do with whatever you are doing, and a lot more to do with their own internal battles that they need to learn to overcome. You have to be the one to continue to arrive and push yourself further regardless of other people's doubts. Every time you find yourself thinking negatively, you must remind yourself of all you have already accomplished and everything you have to be thankful for so far. You need to feel gratitude for all you have already done. Realize you do not HAVE to do anything, but you GET to do everything.

This is the week to show your gratitude and be filled with all there is to be thankful for in life. Is it the only week you should do this? Of course not. Maybe this week you do something more thoughtful for someone you adore, or maybe you need to take this time to be more selfish if you have been neglecting yourself being too busy as a people pleaser. As long as you remain thankful of all you already have and everything you have accomplished so far, you deserve to take these few precious days with your loved ones while you have them. Monday though, you need to get back to work. You can't let yourself relax until the new year and expect yourself to still start it on the winning foot. While you have this downtime, you can set yourself up for you future by beginning to project next year's goals and steps to meet them NOW. The more defined you get with your goals, the better you will be able to accomplish them to your satisfaction. How will you know when you have met your goals if you never take note of what that success looks like for you though?You have to have trackable metrics to know you are taking action and to know which actions help you to obtain your goal along the way. The way you measure your success is going to look different than other people's and that is perfectly okay--even normal--whatever that is. You have to set yourself up to have some sort of compass to know you are heading in the right direction. Give yourself clues or indicators along your path that guide your time spent on the actions you need to take to arrive where you want to be.Time keeps ticking. It's your choice if the change that happens from growth is external or internal. You have to do the hard things to keep both your body and your mind in the shape you want it to be in by knowing what that shape is you desire ahead of time. Start NOW by drawing that shape and discovering yourself within your guided goals.

Do you ever seem to notice how pain gets worse the longer you let it get to you? Could you handle the pain if you gave up trying to mitigate the issue, even as it grows stronger the longer you neglect addressing it? Or are you more likely to try and make the pain only happen temporarily for yourself by looking for solutions to your problems?Even as we are pushed to our limits, we discover how much strength we still have to keep going. Sure, pain is a difficult thing for all of us to go through and learn to manage, but only until we OVERCOME it. We have to prove to ourselves that hard times are only temporary and that overcoming them is far more important than quitting during the weakest moments.Once the hard things are done and out of the way, you have the freedom to enjoy the simpler tasks. You have the efficiency already built in to get the rest of the stuff that needs done accomplished that much faster. The more you procrastinate the big stuff, the more power you give to it and allow it to steal your time, even just worrying about doing it. Your mind manipulates itself into thinking you are a quitter just because you let one task rule your time until you decide to complete it.You have to be the one to challenge yourself and grow your mind. Growth isn't meant to be a quick and easy task. It comes from lessons learned through failures that lead to successes. It happens when you make consistent and continued actions of improvement to form the life you want for yourself. It occurs when you overcome your fears by doing the hard things FIRST. Remember to give yourself credit for how far you have already come and be grateful for all that you already have EVERY DAY.

How often do you find yourself feeling proud of your productivity and time well spent in life? Or do you tend to end up feeling robbed of your most precious asset when the day is done and you analyze how you have used your time for the day? Are the people you love the most getting your time the most, or is it people less deserving taking all of it up before you can get home to your family? Can you recognize when someone is overspending and maintain that healthy boundary for your own happiness?An hour used is still an hour no matter how it is used. Some people are going to come along and bankrupt your time if you do not stand your ground. If they are not willing to expend the energy to bring about a solution for themselves, then it shouldn't be on you to do so for them on your dime and time. You have to be the one to limit them to your time so they do not tap out all of your energy and resources for themselves. You must determine who it is that contributes to your success and who drains you of your resources if you don't remain vigilant and steadfast. You can choose who you reciprocate your effort and time to based on who has truly earned it from you. Every time you disburse value, you should receive value that makes you feel just as good to get as it is to give. Your bank of money can be depleted and infinite based on your level of commitment to your success. Your bank of time though, is depleting every second of your existence, and cannot have more added to it. Life is short and death is inevitable, so make sure you invest your time most to yourself and towards the things and people that matter the most to you. You deserve the best of you so that you can give the best YOU to those you love.

Let's be honest with ourselves this week, shall we? How often do we show up on our own volition to give our very best if we actually get there? How many times do we make up excuses for ourselves in the moment that actually end up hurting us in the long run? Can we be more accountable for our actions, or more likely the lack thereof, and change the acceptance of our expectations to be more honorable? Based on our performances, could we be held to a higher standard? How good would that feel, to know we are truly giving our best and able to reap the rewards of such quality efforts put forth!How much better could our connection be with other people, especially our beloved family and friends, if we communicated more often and intentionally? Could we improve our reality by being more present in our reality? How aware are we of what is truly going on around us in our lives that we can really feel comfortable of our surroundings and our neighbors? Are we allowing trivial things that don't even matter in the moment to cloud our judgment or ruin meaningful relationships we have with people that mean the most to us?Life is too short to have to tip toe through it all in fear of what others around you MAY think. There's also no advantage to creating issues without good purpose. You can still support the things you believe in. When you embrace a sense of accountability, you can have integrity within fault. You don't have to feel grateful for the shortcomings of others in order to boost your own morale. Just because you didn't win first place today doesn't mean you are a loser today or that you will never win first place in the future. It just means you need to keep trying until you win that blue ribbon if that is what you are after, and know that you have to still keep trying in order to keep it for yourself, because other people want it, too, and will take it if you don't. You've got to SHOW UP to get your blue ribbon!"Good times create weak men, weak men create hard times, hard times create strong men, strong men create good times."

Are you remembering to take time for yourself and do the things that keep your mental health focused on positivity? How well balanced is your mindset, your physique, your lifestyle? Do you actually save enough time to enjoy the spoils of the work that you have done? Who do you truly choose to dedicate and give your time to most in your life?Be mindful of how much you are pouring into other people's cups. You can't pour from an empty one, so you have to take care of YOU first. You have to be aware of what it is you are giving to others so that you can save enough for yourself before you end up running yourself dry. You must distribute your time in the best way possible to maximize your happiness spending your time how you really want to with the people you really want to be with. Your time on this Earth is so short lived.Everything is temporary. You have to provide yourself with the right balance of opportunities for your own growth. Take inventory of the things that are transpiring in your life, what it is that you are doing with your time, and who it is that is benefiting the most from your time spent with them. Remember to be present in your own life. Rid yourself of those who bring you THEIR negativity. Instead, surround yourself with the people who are rooting for you and reciprocate energy back to you.

Leave people you come in contact with in a better place than you found them in. Seems like a universal goal as human beings, right? Wouldn't it be even better if you could do it as a team and achieve the success you desire even faster? What is it that you can do to help your team evolve and grow through the support of each other? Ask yourself this: "Is the team that I have right now the best team for my team? Are these players the best together?"Everything is only temporary, especially friendships. We have to pour into other's cups when they are in need, just as we have to preserve our own to protect our cups from running empty. There has to be an exchange happening on both sides in order for the relationship to not feel one-sided or used up by the other. Sometimes, as the leaders of our teams, we have to make the hard decision to cut out the people who seem to only ever take for themselves without giving back. These sacrifices are for the betterment of the team in the long run.You are the average of the 5 people closest to you. Surround yourself with the star players you need to have around you so that you can succeed. If your team needs improvement, maybe some self-analyzation of those closest to you is necessary. Then action has to be made in order for change you used to only dream of to come your way in all the best of ways. Ask yourself again: "Where is my team headed? How can I improve it?"

Do you find yourself walking around carrying with you a bunch of negativity? Dissatisfaction? Displeasure? Irritation? If someone were to watch you all day, would they find you frowning through most of the moments or situations you find you put yourself in? Do you just go about life in a discontent manner and tell yourself to "just deal with it", even though that's the last thing you want?Every morning, when you wake up, remind yourself to be thankful you are alive for another day. You CANNOT wait until your unknown "last days" before you start living the life you want. Realize that you have to take today as the gift that it is and fill it with the memories you want to have later in life if God so blesses you with more days.Find more reasons to SMILE throughout your day. There's always something or someone to be grateful for. Electricity, memories, health, loved ones. Live each day building each memory as if it's your last one on Earth. You're about 2 generations away from being forgotten unless you do something highly impressionable and leave your loved ones a legacy to remember you by.Remember you can impact your own life, simply by remembering to stay focused on the positivity that surrounds you and creating that feeling of joy for yourself. It all starts with a big ole smile on your own face, and knowing that sharing it with others is what will keep you surrounded by your own warm positivity. =)

If you really want to meet a certain goal, you have to be able to see yourself accomplishing said goal. You have to know how to allocate your time wisely with the right people so that you can build the memories you want to remember and be remembered by loved ones later. You have to talk to yourself with love and confidence as if it is already possible and happening, especially within your own mindset. You have to be present wherever you are, because the things that you have to be present for, are likely the situations you can never replicate or experience ever again. You have to realize that your very presence is all that matters in the moment for your children, family, and friends. You have to let your distractions fall away when the people who matter most are around you and deserve your love and attention. Your loved ones should hold priority over your phone or professional responsibilities when you are spending quality time with them and experience You present with them to the fullest. Life is short and unpredictable--today is your only guarantee, you must make NOW count.

Let's welcome our special guest speaker this week, Mike Smerka of Diode Designs, as we talk about his entrepreneurial journey and the joy of small business ownership. After many years dedicated to higher education in computer engineering and a career in IT, Mike has since broken away from a path he thought was already set for him. Overcoming the fear of being able to self-sustain, he has since built his brand into a company he has successfully propelled and continues to scale as an expert in his industry teaching others about the tools of his trade.From IT engineering to high-quality arts and crafts, Mike focuses now on bringing others satisfaction and one-of-a-kind delight in his handmade creations. One of the best upgrades since becoming self-employed is being in control of the day. Knowing that he is able to dictate how he spends his time and that all time spent for the day is to his direct benefit has been such a liberating experience as an entrepreneur. He knows the efforts he puts into his business will affect what he gets back in return based on his own energy rather than other people's influence within a corporation. That flexibility in his schedule and the actual project at hand is what keeps Mike interested and excited in building his brand and self-sustaining future by pushing himself to always be learning more. He truly embraces the discipline of 1% better every day in order to grow into the person and business he continues to envision for himself.

Tuesday, September 11th, 2001, we made a promise to never forget the tragedy that befell our country that day. We vowed to remain committed to one another as one united nation, especially during the worst of times. We were faced with the realization that other people wanted to control our country and weaken our system by driving us apart and dividing us down as small as they can. What's even more important to remember is how we all came together in unity to ensure we are all safe and have each other's backs in trying times.Yet somehow we tend to lose sight of that bond with our neighbors, that commitment to our beloved country. These days, we are being forced to choose sides by the same people who swear to speak for all of us. We are told our sacrifices matter if we serve our country, only to be lucky enough to return from war to be tossed aside and spat on rather than seen as a valuable hero protecting our freedoms most people take for granted. As a community, we have to rise above and do the right and honorable thing for our veterans by protecting them now they are safely back home. Part of forgetting is not teaching the next generation. Remembering the past is showing gratitude to the heroes that deserve our attention and need our assistance most now every day. Sometimes those battles are still raging in a person's mental space, so remember to be kind, stay humble, and remain free every day.

Maturity is knowing you have outgrown doing things only to seem "cool" and can now focus on more important things today that will help propel you to the level of success you desire. Maturity is realizing that the world doesn't revolve around you and that everybody is going through their own shit in their life every day with or without you. It's recognizing that whatever your thought process is, it isn't the same as everyone else around you. Sure, it is possible, but more so unlikely, to be thinking the exact same thing as one other person, let alone that one other be in your presence and situation at the exact same time as you. Either way, you certainly have not had the exact same experiences in life that have brought you to this very moment in the exact same fashion as any other human being. Even twins raised in the "same environment" are able to reflect back and see the future in very different lenses that make them choose to react or speak distinctively from each other based on what they personally value as most important to them as an individual.We have to articulate what we want and need to others around us in a way that is going to be received properly. Simple choice of words can spare us from unintentional hurt and help highlight our genuine care and wellbeing to those around us we love the most. Sometimes, like children, we have to ask for further explanation if we feel there may have been a miscommunication. Other times, we pay attention to the weight of what is being said beyond just the script. It's the non-verbal communication within the conversation that you also need to keep in mind when speaking and when spoken to. It's the access and proper utilization of tools at your disposal that shows how resourceful you are at ensuring your own progress and success. You have to mentally process how you want to speak before you open your mouth and choose your words intentionally if you want to truly show you can be taken at your word.

This week we are shifting our mindset back to focusing on the freedom to grow ourselves and achieve our successes. As the world is currently trying to silence our voices, we have to signify our freedoms in other ways. We have to support our local communities and be the innovators that come up with new ideas that profits the people yet still does so tastefully or cleverly. If you stand with us in our mission while also supporting our local softball team, please email us!To: aj@ajnashville.com Subject: Podcast T shirtCost: $25 (Blackout or Stone)Cause: 100% of proceeds donated to Bethesda BombersNow, onto the mind stuff: building your brand! What is it people expect you to bring when you walk into the room? Anger? Sadness? Laughter? Hype? Do you like to be the difficult one? The draining one? The demanding one? The deserving one? When you bring your brand, what is it that it represents? What is it that you expect? If you want to be exceptional, you have to surround yourself with exceptional, you have to immerse yourself in exceptional, you have to believe you already are exceptional. You have to attract what it is you want. If you want positivity, go after the things that make you feel bright and confident. You have to walk away from the negativity when it's knocking at your door and know you deserve peace over that shit. Be mindful of where you are and and who you are with: is it where you should be? The only person that can change your future is you, all you have to do is choose your change.

Let's welcome our superstar guest speaker this week, Clay Fitzpatrick, as he runs us through a day in the life of a motivated and hardworking young man in today's society. He is a full time college student with a full time job and still finds time to sacrifice for his country through the National Guard. Finding unconventional ways of sparking motivation and encouraging action, Clay is always on the hunt for new content he can learn from and material that shifts the mentality to being positivity-driven. Through prayer, he has elevated himself to a higher level of servitude to God by enlisting to protect the people of his country. Leadership is demonstrated through actions seized and perceived opportunities. Wanting to branch away from what you already know and truly ready to embrace conquering the unknown is something many people are too afraid to even try. To be a good leader though, you have to be willing to take chances in order to gain new skills from experiences. Sometimes you have to do things that may not make sense on your current level, but are a necessary factor in order for you to reach the next. Sometimes all you have to do is simplify the process so that you can make progress forward by just sending that message or doing that one thing needed.

Join us this week as we talk shop with Alisa Fitzpatrick about the new changes coming to the real estate world. Who is really being impacted by these changes most? And how can we help people stay ahead of the game by educating and informing them on all the details first so that they can make the best decision for themselves and their family?While rules change and state laws vary, the fact that you have the freedom to choose who to do business with remains in YOUR power. There is a priceless value in still being able to choose a trustworthy team when buying or selling your homes, whether that is with your agent, lender, title, or insurance providers on either side of the process. Finding the people and systems that work best for you is critical in times of personal need, especially when the government is also going through its many changes. It is up to you to learn from the professionals who know the facts versus the fear and make sound judgment calls based off of your own knowledge rather than the crumbling opinions of others. You have to see the true value add in your real estate experts who really go above and beyond to provide you with the truth, even if that may not be in their favor, but the favor of all involved.

On a day to day basis, are you keeping a positive mindset and taking action that propels you into the future that you desire for yourself? Are you being intentional about pursuing your goals and achieving your success? Are you giving everything you can to get the most accomplished with the time you are given? Or do you find yourself falling to distractions and the negativity others place on you whether they mean to or not?If we were more honest with ourselves, we would realize we haven't applied the necessary effort we need to in order to do the things that we wanted to accomplish. Time waits for nobody! It passes no matter what we do or which excuses we allow to partake in. Failures happen so we may learn lessons from them and become better by taking the necessary actions to evoke the change we need. Perfection isn't a realistic goal to strive for; it is something staged after multiple attempts that were not good enough until suddenly we decide it is good enough to be our level of "perfect" that we can live with. Perfection doesn't happen on the first take, it involves overcoming failures.It's okay to go through things and process internally in your own way, we all do it. As long as you continue to push forward and not give up on yourself first, that intent is what matters most. Find the drive to be your very best you, yet know when it is time for rest with your loved ones. Time can either be on your side or going against you, but it will always continue to carry on. Be on your own side and reclaim your time.

It's better to take imperfect action than no action at all. All too often end up allowing ourselves to get swept away from the end goal entirely because we focus too much on how we're going to get there exactly instead of just getting there. How many times do we decide to slow walk when we should be jumping? Are we letting our excuses cloud over our ability to take action? All of us have that thing that we want to do that we're not doing because we're unsure of what needs to be done...But you do know. You're just afraid of the uneducated risk involved. Time moves on though, whether you are taking action towards the future you want or not. Even if it's just a small step you take today, that is one step closer than you were had you not taken it. Then you have to take one more step tomorrow, and another the day after that, and again, until eventually, you are where you once only dreamed of being. The only thing that you can choose to do is make the memories and decisions that you want to now in order to impact what it is that you see in the future.Whatever it takes for you to succeed, you should be willing to do it, as long as it aligns with your morals, values, and integrity. If it is outside of those, know it is you who has to rest with those crossed boundaries of your own. Exchanging your character for money is despicable--keep what matters most to you in tact. Improve the life you live and those who are around you through positive movements forward, even if they seem imperfect or small.

Let's talk about talk. How often do you truly stop and think about what you want to say before you actually start speaking aloud? What if you could communicate what you really mean to say? Wouldn't you like to articulate words in a way that others receive more clearly and appreciate the way you specifically delivered your message to them? How great would it be to connect with people even deeper through a better level of communication?How would it make you feel to be told, "I love you"? Now how would it make you feel to be told what aspects about you make you especially loved? Would you feel better if you were asked genuine questions about your day with thoughtful and interested responses rather than following the same generic script day in and day out?The language we use when we talk to ourselves as well as others reflects on the life we end up living. If we want success and positivity in the things that we do, we cannot focus on the negativity and worst possibilities. We have to propel an interest in learning something new, be that within ourselves, our children, or the random passersby, by asking in ways that excite and evoke authentic responses and fulfilling engagement between each other.Changing the way you communicate will gain you more than you will lose. Challenge yourself to change the things you would normally say and exchange it for more meaningful connection. Replace the absolutes like "goodbye" with "see ya later". Enjoy the little moments in time even more with the people who deserve your honesty by spreading the truth and saying what you truly mean to say to them.

Choose to take action on the things that directly impact your life and make them your highest priority if they involve you or your family. Sometimes you need to reevaluate your priorities if they allow you to become consumed by hatred for others or lazy enough to no longer want to take action to better yourself and your family. When the color you shine now is not the color you want to show, you truly have to change how you do things for yourself.You can choose to focus through the lens of politics and trends, or you can own your very own point of view and form your own personal opinions based on what you genuinely want to let in to your life. It is up to you to teach your children right from wrong and keep alive the traditions you wish to pass on to future generations. You have to be the one to shout out for freedoms not only for yourself but for those to come. You need to show them the importance of having beliefs to follow, productivity resulting from disciplined work, and encourage them to consume healthy food for the body and also the mind. If you don't want to do that, then you are only proving yourself to be a part of the bigger problem at hand.We have to do the hard things regardless of those around us trying to tear down our opinions, only to use them as blocks to stand on and raise themselves higher to preach their own philosophies. Choose wisely who you stand beside and lift each other up. It's one thing to lend your shoulders to a friend, it's something entirely different to be suppressed and stood upon.

When we think back on our experiences in life, do we dwell on the trauma caused many times by others beyond our control, or do we overcome challenges to realize how much stronger we are after such a trying ordeal? Just because we have a past, should that stop us from being able to have the future we desire? If we have faced problems and conquered that darkness, why wouldn't we want to share our journey and help others unlock their potential?Once we start taking action to create the life we want, we realize within our successes how possible it is to do the things we didn't think we could or possess the stuff we used to only dream of for others. Once possibility is unleashed, we are capable of recognizing the opportunity for duplication for ourselves again as well as others on similar journeys in their lives. We first must learn for the self before we start focusing on how to help others. Self love is the main priority, though ever-evolving. After self love is achieved, loving others will come naturally and from the same space in the heart.Discovering your true drive and purpose for yourself is going to help you heal on such a deeper level. Identifying which tools work best for you will help you master how to deal with problems again as they arise much faster each time until it becomes unconscious to overcome the problem that it is now no longer even seen as a problem. Little shifts in your motions and thoughts will change who you are over time, so it is important to pay attention to the energy you are giving and if it aligns with what you are attracted to. The more immersion you have, the quicker and easier you can make change happen. How committed are you by the demonstration of acts to achieve the level that you are at? Are you committed to maintain your motivation to achieve the next level you desire through repetition that forms long-lasting habits that serve you success unconsciously? Do you speak to yourself in a way that you believe in your future? Can you overcome objectives quicker by simplifying with symbolisms?Replace your idea of wealth as money with TIME. Replace cents with MINUTES. If it isn't worth your money, why are you willing to give it so much of your time? Recognize the power your unconscious mind has to train your brain to act without having to tell it what to do. The key is to realize what you are first feeding your mindset. If you want more success and positivity, can you really accomplish that by focusing on the negativity and setbacks others project onto you? You have to give yourself the same energy you want to get from the universe, and you have to start NOW.

Your forgiveness is entirely up to you to choose. It really is up to you whether you want to forgive or not. Sometimes you have to shift your perspective and think about it from someone else's point of view in order to change the severity of the situation. Did they really betray your trust with malicious intent in the first place, or is that something you are fabricating to tell yourself? Are you aware of how much of your own thought processes are involved in the moment that may actually have nothing to do with that which is at hand at all? Will you allow the small things to get in the way of what truly matters?Of course, we all know forgiveness doesn't mean we have to forget it ever happened. A change in our actions is the truest way we can express our apologies. Genuine forgiveness makes us feel lighter rather than allowing past transgressions to weigh us down. Throw out the stuff that has no meaning over your life and choose to keep what matters most to you closest to your heart. Finding forgiveness in your heart means you can let go of the unremarkable things to have room for the stuff you want to hold onto and cherish to remember forever. What happens if you no longer have the chance to forgive someone, would you hold a sense of regret then?

Do you ever find yourself asking how you are going to achieve your goals? Wouldn't you like to see your dreams brought to your reality? It actually starts pretty simply: create the change you need by taking fearless action TODAY. Your future started yesterday, so if you weren't ready or aware then, take responsibility and begin to form your future TODAY. Success doesn't happen overnight, so you have to work towards it a little bit every single day.Many times, we begin to do the tasks needed to obtain our goals, then decide to quit for whatever excuses we tell ourselves that we are willing to accept. We like to decide to fail ourselves first before we ever give ourselves the chance to succeed. The great news is that these "failed attempts" only serve to prove how capable we already are, as long as we are willing to commit and see it through. Once we try again, we realize we have already done it and succeeded, and are able to do it faster the next time around. You never know the depth of where someone has been, arriving to, and heading towards. We are all equal in our journey to success, and passing judgment onto others isn't the way to gauge how well we're accomplishing the things we set out to do. The ability to do with your time what it is you desire is vastly richer than anything you can buy with money. Time and joy cannot be bought! Remember you are where you should be, as long as you continue to learn from your trials and change how you react, the next time will make your life better.

Are you aware of who you are allowing to fill your cup and what they are filling it with? Are you giving your space to the right people and causes that make you feel fulfilled for giving it? Are you feeling drained of joyous energy or heavy with burdens other people dump onto you? Are there just those certain people who always seem to have something negative to say when you interact with them? How much of your valuable energy are you going to give to them in return? Which kind of energy are you sharing with others, especially those you care about most?When we decide to fill our cup with positivity and encouragement, we are able to pour that same energy into other people's cups that they then appreciate us for sharing with them. Wouldn't we rather spread happiness and warm fuzzies to our families and friends who come to us for comfort? How we demonstrate our mindset to others effects the health and longevity of our relationships.When you encounter others, fill them with such positivity that it becomes so contagious they want to spread it like wildfire to their people. Brush off the ideas that weigh you down and set a different pace than you are used to. Let it go when you feel like taking things personally that likely have nothing to do with you. Is this really worth your time? Do you really want it to take over your bright day like some shitty rain cloud? Wouldn't it feel so much better if you are the sunshine they love to stand in? Give other people the energy you want to feel from them. You'd be surprised at how much it will brighten your day even more when your smile makes them smile back. =)

So many people tend to focus on the negative aspects of a situation that they end up making it so. Before it's finished unfolding itself, they can only think of the worst case scenario. Instead, we should remove the fear of other people's perceptions and provide information to them without our own expectations being involved. Stop suggesting how people should react to what it is that we say--JUST SAY IT! When we speak though, we should do so with intent and choose the proper words for the appropriately matched moment. If you wish to obtain your goals, you know you have to take action that produces measurable results. It's the combination of what you do that creates your success through repetition and adjusting accordingly. Now you have the experience from doing it already to create your success even faster next time. You know the recipe for your own success as long as you are willing to get the ingredients you need and do the work to make that bread rise.Sometimes it's easy to see something, yet hard to identify that very thing. Through self awareness are we able to recognize both and make it possible to achieve both. Challenge yourself to note the changes you make and adjust how you act based on the desired outcome you want to see. Stay dedicated to the actions that produce the results you want that you have already achieved. And just know, it's gonna be good! And keep going...

Have you ever noticed how time seems to fly by faster when you have a purpose or a mission to accomplish? Yet in order to achieve your goals, you have to grow beyond your current position and strive for more in life. It doesn't mean you are necessarily failing at anything in particular, you can just feel you are capable of better if you could just do X. You become aware that there is so much more meant for you if you just try for it. You realize there is an imbalance somewhere for you personally, and you have to find out how to make it all even again. Sometimes that's only one step, sometimes it is giving infinite effort.Some goals you walk to, others you run to. NO goal is met when all you do is stand still, because time moves on whether you move with it or not. You are an artist of lying to yourself about what you are capable of accomplishing and self sabotage before you've even begun some missions. You have to decide whether you want to become comfortable with some place you've already been and stay there, or if you want to take action to change your future to your liking.When you imagine yourself in the future, what has to be done in order to arrive there? Everything is relative based on where you are in life right now. Your efforts today will reflect how you live your life tomorrow. Figure out how to balance your time and efforts so you can live your very best you every day.

We tend to have a hard time moving on from people at certain seasons in life. There's a  mental capacity that we CHOOSE to allow other people to take up inside of our minds. We give them credit, regardless of whether they are actually worth as much as we give them. The difficulty of moving on is more consuming that the fact that we allow them in our space in the first place. Then, we go even further by letting them maintain that space of ours. Until eventually, they have the power to rule over our own minds more than we do.Why don't we focus that energy and time on the positivity and motivation we need in order to progress further on the journeys of achieving our dreams? Concentrating on problems will only ensure you fill your mental capacity with, you guessed it, more negative problems. It is human to feel negative emotions, but it is also human to be able to take a moment to process the situation, and CHOOSE to act in a way that isn't consumed with our gut feelings.Whatever people say to you, you can take it in and allow it to harm you, or let it motivate you to continue growing and pushing yourself forward. People can't talk shit when you're doing things they can't. If they do, then they aren't your people. Your people support you and lift you up, not bring you down just because they CHOOSE to stay down. "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." We give the power to the words. You CHOOSE what you do with that power.