I have been part of what’s called the working world for more than three decades. To some people, this is a lifetime. To some, I’m still young in the game and wet behind the ears.
Of course, three decades can sum up to the simple equation of thirty years. But more to this is the value of what I’ve learned. More to it is what I’ve seen because, in my eyes, I have seen the best and the worst in this world.

Understand that choice is an action. Even if this seems actionless, still, the choices we make are action-packed as well as impactful on our future selves as well as our sanity.
This is important. No, really.
It is . . .
If we want to understand more about ourselves, then we can always look at the details of our old relationships. We can look back at our selections of trust or the so-called trusted people.
We can look at who we chose to include in our lives as well as who we used to listen to. This is important to understand because there are lessons here, which are valuable and life changing.

There is no such place as Easy Street, at least not really.
There’s no easy way to make the world go around and there’s no way to gain momentum without effort.
I’m sure that by now, everyone knows this. Yet, i think that everyone forgets this from time to time.

I have taken certain ideas into consideration, such as Newton’s first law of motion.
This is the law that says an object at rest will remain at rest and an object in motion will remain in motion and at the same velocity unless altered by an outside force.
But do you know what I say?
I say that this is life.

Please forgive the personal speech. However, I’ve had no choice but to insert this here because, otherwise, other voices can take hold. Therefore, I had no choice but to place this here.
Over the years, I have had to learn how to narrate my victory and hear a voice in my head which pushes me to go and dream and do; but more, this voice is what pushes me to dare and execute.
This is the talk that destroys my doubt and the voice I choose when I question my worth or my beauty and give in to the ideas that perhaps I am nothing or worse, I am weak or incapable.

I know that there’s much to contend with in life. But at the same time, I also know that my biggest obstacles are the ones that come from the deception of my perception.
I know about the challenges of mental and emotional hurdles which can evolve into physical intimidations, if I allow them.
This is why I’ve had no choice but to create this voice.
I do this because I know all about the people who talk and put others down. I used to fall victim to this. I used to persecute myself with a perceived judgment that didn’t need to belong to me.
So, to change the script and recreate my sanity, I had to find something to help me get away from this.
Where else could this come from, if not from within?

We already talked about our connections to old ideas in Phase One. We talked about our introductions to fear and shame-based thinking. But this isn’t Phase One anymore. This isn’t about thinking or thought based strategies. No,
this is Phase Two. This is about action. This is about the ability to change our direction. This is about movement and the methods it takes to create the change in our world. This is more than about showing up.

I was overweight and tired. I struggled to look at myself in the mirror and, aside from that, I had other panics and emotional struggles. I had workplace stress and personal heartaches. This includes the ideas of disheartened or tragic thoughts of a dead-end mentality.
There was no drive. There was no spirit. There was nothing more than more of the same, which was tired and subpar from mediocre.
My job was my job. My life was my life yet there was nothing internal to give me a sense or source of redeeming light. I needed something.
I needed a spark. I needed a sense of inspiration and a push in the right direction.
Perhaps this began with an awakening. Or, maybe this was a result after the trip to a doctor, who, with no filter, chose to explain exactly where I was (and where I was heading).

What is forward motion? Or better yet, what is forward thinking?
Both questions are valuable and both answers are necessary for this application.
Forward motion is to move forward, as in move onward or to move ahead and to head towards something with a goal in mind, a plan in place and a strategy to achieve it.
Forward thinking is thinking in the direction we choose to go; as in no more looking back or looking to re-litigate the past.
There’s no more rehearsals in the mirror or practicing our speeches while driving to someplace we don’t want to be.
There’s no more giving in to intimidations that held us back. Mostly this means that we are out of the contemplation phases.
This means we are here ar the entryway and beyond the planning stages.
This means now is the time for action!

To be clear, we understand more about ourselves than we think we do. We know more about us than we believe and, just to add clarity, if we are open to a transformational change, we can learn how to diagram our behaviors to define old symptoms to which, essentially, we can learn from our history and improve our future.
I am a person who rejects the typical mottos and the overcomplicated programs that make life more difficult than it needs to be. I am, however, a fan of the best motto which is keep it simple. This is the easiest way to go.
However, as easy as this is to say, there are times when we need help with both personal and interpersonal navigation. There are systems of thinking and helpful behavioral methods which apply to us as unique individuals yet once we realize what works for us and our best level of understanding, then we can adapt and improve according to a new plan that supports our transformational improvements.
This is basically Self-Help and Self-Care 101.

After the ideas and contemplation and after all the back and forth thinking which, if anything; none of this has done much except lead us to excuses and distance from our goals or to another problem, which is known as procrastination. Once we get through all the realizations and when we find ourselves at “go time,” we have to understand that, at this point, there can be no such thing as turning back or giving in.
The time for excuse making is over.
It’s time for some action.

When we look at people who succeed and compare ourselves to them or to their success, what do we see?
When we think about people who dedicate themselves to a program or see how they invest in a strong routine in life, what do we notice about them?
Better yet, when we look at people whose drive to overcome seems to be unstoppable or undeterrable, and in their case, which may seem or appear unthinkable or unbeatable. Even in the face of pain or against the unbalanced odds, they still move forward, just like the underdog.
But how? Are they really built so differently?
Is this only something that comes with a privileged life? Or adversely, is this a level of understanding that comes with the knowledge and the experience of what it means to not have anything – privileged or not. Is this an internal understanding that connects in our head and once we’ve made the “click” everything in our life seems to “snap” into place? Maybe –
Maybe the click constitutes a moment of awareness where at last, we’ve finally found what it takes to cross the finish line.