Action trumps all.

You will never be able to simply TALK something you want into existence.

You cannot research something into reality.

You cannot wish quietly day after day until the wish just spontaneously comes to be.

The only path to your dreams is the path of action

Sometimes action means taking risks—financially, emotionally, physically. It can mean risking a heartbreak, jeopardizing a relationship, losing your savings, looking stupid, or not looking anything at all and going completely unnoticed.

You will face criticism along the way, often in direct proportion to how far out you are sticking your neck to achieve your goal. Most of this criticism will come from people who are angry because they are too lazy or scared or stuck to go after their OWN dreams, and so they comfort themselves by tearing down anyone who is out there making things happen. Pay no mind to these people. They do not need your anger, or your defensiveness. They already live in their own self-imposed punishment every day. People like this love nothing more than to try to dull other people’s shine so that they do not feel alone in their underachieving ways. They take no responsibility for their part in their own stagnation. They are not supportive at best and highly, highly toxic at worst. Simply step around them.

Your fears will lie to you. They will say things like

“You aren’t good enough at that.”

“There’s too many other people out there who are better than you.”

“You’re gonna look like an idiot.”

“What if you fail?!”

“It’s too big of a risk, just be happy with where you are.”

I don’t encourage foolish, impulsive, reckless, self-defeating action. However, if your heart is screaming at you to do something…

Stop ignoring that. Stop allowing it to be batted down before you ever even try. Stop telling yourself it’s too far away

My journey to sobriety began with telling my dad I needed help.

My fitness journey began with walking into a gym, being confused as fuck for one day, and then hiring a trainer.

My career began with finding an internship and believing I had what it took to do it.

TAKE A GODDAMN STEP.

If you spend every day at your office job daydreaming about your childhood dream of being a vet tech…look up some classes.

If you roll over every night to face away from a person who hurts you that you stay with out of fear of being alone…call a therapist. Find a hobby. Start looking for what is missing inside you that makes you desperately need another person to feel ok.

If you can’t fall asleep at night or function in a social situation without getting half wasted, or you can’t stop eating painkillers to get through your day…..acknowledge it’s a problem and call a fucking treatment center.

If you hate your body and eat too much or don’t eat at all when you get anxious and then get anxious about how you look and cry when you try on clothes…get to the gym and sign up. Talk to your doctor or a dietitian about how to eat the right way for your health.

If you have a friend or family member you fell out with and it hurts you every day to be without them…PICK UP THE PHONE AND DO YOUR PART TO FIX IT.

Almost any of the situations we remain paralyzed in, we do so because of fear or pride. We fear things like rejection, failure, and the unknown. Pride holds us fast in resentment and unwillingness to change.

As you grow older, and you start to face realities, especially losses, you may start to develop a sense of urgency. You start to realize that if you do not go for it, you will never have it. And that the time you have to do so is not only very short, but it is not guaranteed. Sadly, most will do nothing with this realization except let it cause them regret and anxiety.

We all laughed and rolled our eyes at “YOLO”.

But shit, maybe those kids were onto something.
Because honestly…. you only get one life. There is only one you. There is only so much time that the world will get to experience your unique set of gifts and traits for. Don’t waste that away in mediocrity and fear of what you don’t know.

Get out there and make it happen.  OWN that shit. If you fall…laugh, cry a little if you have to, then get up and brush it off. Next time, you might fall again. But you’ll land a little better. And getting back up will be easier. Do that 178 times if you have to. You’ll learn so much more about life and yourself by failing a million times then by sitting in your couch reading articles on your smartphone about what you WISH you were doing. You have everything you need right there inside of you to be the person you want to be. But you gotta get up and MOVE.

Don’t talk about it. Don’t dream about it. LIVE IT.

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