Risk & Reward
Hello everyone and Happy Labor Day! I hope everyone has had an enjoyable day off and was able to spend time with family and friends. If you did have to work today, I hope you made the very best of it, too!
Below, you will find the first video to my new YouTube channel. I would appreciate your support and following! And please feel free to add thoughts and comments on this and future videos!
The primary focus of this week’s video, aside from an introduction, is to discuss risk and reward. As most of you are aware, without taking risks in life there is not an opportunity for a reward – at least a reward of which you are deserving. You see, everything you and I have accomplished in our lives is a result of risks we’d taken. Think back to when you were just a young child when learning to ride a bike. At that point, learning to ride a bike was likely one of the most difficult and challenging tasks you had to deal with. You had to risk potentially falling flat on your face, getting bumps, bruises, or scrapes when falling down. Additionally, you had to risk the fact that you may be teased or looked at funny because mom or dad were still holding on to you while “in training”, or in fact you had to ride with the training wheels while others were riding freely. You chose to do this because you wanted the reward of being able to have freedom and ride to create new adventures. Although there was pain associated with the thought of falling down and being teased, you were willing to endure it because the thought of being able to one day ride freely on your own was increasingly more satisfying than the alternative of never trying and having to stay home while others rode bicycles.
This is just one example of many risks that you’ve likely taken in your life to gain a reward. If you truly take time to think about what you’ve accomplished in your life, you’ll recognize that all of it has involved some sort of risk. Have you joined a sports team? Started a new job? Quit a job? Created new friendships and relationships? Walked away from friendships and/or relationships? Moved from home? Went to college? Dropped out of college?
Whatever the case may be, risks have been a part of your life. And for that, I commend you. It’s not easy taking risks. Often time they leave you uncomfortable and fearful while walking into the unknown. However, I can assure you, if you want to keep growing, if you want to attain the level of success you desire financially, relationally, physically, and/or emotionally, then you need to take BIGGER risks! You see, the more you risk, the more you gain! If we’re just risking minimally because we don’t like to be too uncomfortable, then our reward is going to reflect that. But, if you are willing to jump into the deep end, without truly even knowing how to swim, the reward you’ll gain in return will not only be much larger, but it will too be more satisfying.
So, I encourage you as you move forward with the remainder of this week and year to begin taking bigger risks. Start asking questions you may have been fearful of hearing the answers to. Don’t be afraid to quit your job that makes you feel miserable. Expand your network and begin creating friendships that will bring you up instead of bringing you down. Seek out new adventures and attempt to do something that you’d been otherwise told would be impossible. Risk it all, and be not afraid of the end result. Because I can assure you, if you take the first step in deciding to take a large risk, as long as you work hard, are persistent, and relentless in your pursuit, your reward will outweigh any of which you’ve had in the past!
BIG RISKS = BIG REWARDS!!!!
Keep Believing in Yourself
During Christmas break of my freshman year of college, my mom welcomed me with this small card of encouragement. She probably thought that I would keep it for a week or two then toss it away upon traveling back to Florida. I didn't. In fact, I've held on to for almost five years and during difficult times it has helped serve as a subtle reminder that the belief in myself - more than anything else - is what's most needed during difficult and troubling times.
Recently, difficulties have been present in my life. My "can-do" attitude that had always been most evident, had been seeming to diminish. This new business venture has created a lot of uncertainty. Have you ever told someone what it is you're going to do, and know that they don't believe in it? Not only by their words and saying they don't, but too by their body language and/or tone of voice.
Yeah, I certainly have.
It seems like every time I turn around to tell someone what I'm going to do now, I get that funny look of uncertainty or the response of, "that's not a real job. How can you make money doing that?" Truthfully, it's been very challenging overcoming these opinions. I'd always been someone who said that I'm not too concerned with the "nay-sayers" or those whom don't think my dreams are possible. But when EVERY PERSON you talk to, doesn't believe in you, it's only natural you start to question yourself. I was beginning to think perhaps I needed to go back and seek out a 9 to 5 - find some sort of comfort and certainty. But then I'd realized:
I don't need to do that. I don't need to give in.
And this short message on this card has helped me to remember that. It's again served as a reminder that the biggest of our dreams begin with one simple step. If dreams were meant to be attained easy, then every one would be everything they desire. The fact of the matter is, however, people aren't willing to endure the funny looks and criticisms that you're DEFINITELY going to get. They're not willing to face the uncertainties of not knowing, & the uncomfortable feeling of not fitting in with the "societal norm."
However, I encourage you to join me today, in being abnormal. To take a risk that you'd been wanting to take but may have been a bit fearful of due to the "looks" you might receive from others. Look, we have one life to live. We have only a few opportunities to make this thing called, life, work itself out. The time is now. There is no tomorrow - there's only now. What are you doing now to ensure you fulfill your dreams? What sort of sights (similar to this card) or sounds are you allowing in your life to impact you in a positive way? When things become challenging, as they most certainly will, I strongly recommend you find a similar message to the one my mom had given me and remember to KEEP BELIEVING IN YOURSELF!!!
I welcome and would appreciate any comments about this post or other sights or sounds in your life that have been helping you push past your day to day obstacles!
Thanks as always,
Adam
Staring Out; Into What?
As I'd been walking the Naples Beach a few weeks back, I found myself on their pier staring out into the ocean with more than a hundred men and women doing exactly the same. While allowing my mind to wander, I happened to think, "what are all these people staring out into? What am I staring out into? What is it we're searching for?" Then it hit me. In life, we're constantly searching, constantly pursuing. On this day in particular, this stare out into the ocean was a chance to re-energize my passions, admire the beauty, and envision all of my dreams coming to fruition. While this "sight" served as a positive for me on this day, I'm aware that some may relate the beach to a negative thought or feeling. If that's the case, how might you be able to transfer that negative energy into a positive feeling? Also, how could we utilize this sight in our lives to bring us more peace, relaxation, and success? Even if we don't live near a beach, how can we use its representation to help us on a daily basis?
Please share your thoughts as to whether this image gives you a positive or negative vibe. And if negative, how might you be able to transfer it into a positive?
Continue to live well & stay inspired!!
Thanks,
Adam
Sights & Sounds
For as long as I can remember I've always been fascinated in understanding what makes people "tick". Or in other words, why do people do what they do? It truly hit me even more so after I moved to beautiful Southwest Florida. I would fly back home during holidays to the suburbs of Pittsburgh, and instantly my mood would be changed. First, I'd be happy and excited to see my family and friends, but soon, I became discouraged, tired, and even partially depressed. During the drive home from the airport I'd most always see graffiti written bridges and buildings, vacant homes and old businesses, homeless men and women, police with sirens in an active pursuit, and ultimately run down and depressed cities that appeared hopeless. Then, I would turn on the news and hear of the shootings in my hometown, McKeesport, just one night prior. Or the robbery just blocks away from my parents home. Seeing and hearing such tragic and depressing news always left me desiring an answer. An answer as to how, in just three hours prior I was driving around in a safe gated community surrounded by palm trees and the Gulf of Mexico. As I dissected this thought more intently, I came to the realization that people live based off the sights and sounds surrounding them daily. If you're accustomed to, adapted to, and comfortable living in an area that is run-down and depressed, soon you begin to embody that feeling. You begin to, indirectly, become a part of that lifestyle. Although you may not even see yourself in that light, your vocabulary reflects similarly to things of which others around you see. Along with your vocabulary change, your mood changes, your expectations change, and your comfort zone becomes an enclosed 2X2 square. You are unable to see beyond what's outside of your specific area.
Considering how powerfully we are moved by our daily sights and sounds, I believe it's best apporpriate to react to, reflect upon, and discuss some of things you and I may be accustomed to daily. So, within this tab, I will share different images and sounds each week. The picture, video, or even small sound will be viewable for the entirety of the week. During that week I encourage you all to interact with one another in discussing how that particular image or sound makes you feel, and before long, I hope you all are able to develop a few places of tranquility or peace that will allow you live peacefully, happily, and fearlessly!!
On this first post, I ask that you please respond to my comments above, and add any sights or sounds that currently put you in that place of tranquility or peace, a place where you do your best thinking and develop your best self!