Identifying Moments to Become Built Unstoppable
It is my firm belief that throughout life every single one of us are presented with moments where we can choose to take the unstoppable route.
While there are many situations that we can be presented with, these are examples that can drive us to make decisions that can either positively or negatively affect our lives and those around us:
Overcoming a negative situation in our life.
Pushing ourselves to start eating correctly and getting a gym membership after years of not working out.
Choosing a new professional opportunity though it can be uncomfortable for us and/or our loved ones.
Dealing with a severe injury.
Dealing with suddenly losing someone close to you.
And these are examples of what choosing the wrong path can lead you to:
Early onset diabetes, back and knee problems, as well other issues attributed to being overweight.
Not taking an opportunity that could advance our career thus creating a better life for our family.
Becoming addicted to alcohol or drugs as a result of an injury or losing someone close to you.
Throughout my life I have been presented with several of these issues and what decisions I made to help me become unstoppable:
I grew up under the poverty line often having to go to soup kitchens for food and I spent time in and out of domestic violence shelters. I resolved to never lay my hands on a woman ever in my life. I further resolved that I would always provide for my family and that I would donate money to help others who are growing up in a situation such as the one I grew up in. By the end of this year alone we will have helped provide meals for 60,000-70,000+ people, never mind the previous years that we have continued to donate to Feeding America.
When I lost my mom it was right after being accepted to all 4 of the universities I had applied to. I was determined to attend college because she never had a chance to. I focused all of my attention on doing well. This included not drinking, working multiple jobs and focusing on my studies. I wanted her to be proud of my accomplishments. I graduated a semester early with honors and 2 bachelor's degrees. I would go on to earn my Master's degree becoming one of the first 150 citizens to be allowed to earn the degree.
I have taken on new professional opportunities that have included pivoting to a career in social media in the early days before we even knew if it would last. We moved to Boston without knowing if it would work out. Follow that up with moving across the country away from family. Every one of these professional decisions have led to increasingly better opportunities.
When I was recovering from my shoulder and brain surgeries I was on every pain medicine you can imagine. I was very concerned about becoming addicted to the pain killers and becoming sedentary to the point of becoming overweight. We have all seen those stories on TV before and I didn’t want to become one of those statistics. That is why I pulled myself off of my pain killers within a one week period. I also immediately started staying active. If I walked 8 steps one day, then the next day I would try to walk 10 steps, and so on. I also started running the stairs outside and anything else I could do to keep myself in shape.
The moments that you will experience may not be as extreme as the ones above. They could be as simple as saving money for a family vacation. To save enough money you decide to not eat out as much and bring food for lunch to work every day.
How does something as simple as saving for a family vacation make you unstoppable? It helps you to escape the grind of your daily life and spend time with your loved ones. Maintaining your relationship with your family is among one of the strongest relationships that you can maintain.
In fact, soon after being admitted to the hospital I had several people reach out saying that they were going to take that dream vacation with their loved ones that they had been saving for, in many cases taking it long before they had planned.
Throughout your life you need to identify these situations and work through taking the unstoppable decision. Make the changes that are necessary, including working through any fears that you may have. That doesn’t mean making these decisions recklessly, but after weighing the considerations, don’t let something like fear hold you back. As I have found out too many times throughout my life, you never know what tomorrow may hold for you.