Oftentimes, it’s challenging to make sense of our lives and it feels that life often happens to us.  Nobody has total control over their life and circumstances. With that being said, part of our job is to take control of the aspects that we can and have faith that the rest will work itself out.

There is a popular saying that is often used to understand the randomness of life, but there is another way of looking at the statement that can be empowering.

 Are you ready?

 The statement is…

Wait for it…

 It is what it is

 Traditionally, people use this statement when life happens to them. Guess what? Life happens to everybody. If you’re human, life happens. You are going to have bad days. You are going to have unexpected expenses. You are going to have disagreements. You are going to have rude waiters. And so on. Guess what? So, does everybody else.

 Realize that there are two powerful parts of life. There is reality and there is...

 From the beginning of time, human beings have pondered the meaning of life. This trend continues today. We all have a certain desire to find purpose and meaning, especially the meaning of times during turmoil.

As a disabled person, I have spent countless hours wondering why I am disabled and the simplest answer is that it was a result of unfortunate circumstances at my birth. I can, and I have, pondered other crazy reasons. Did I do something in my past life? Am I meant to learn a lesson? The conclusion is that I need to live out my amazing life and the simplest explanation is empowering. It was just a set of unfortunate circumstances.

Occam’s razor is a scientific theory that the simplest answer might be the best answer.  The simplest answer to the coronavirus it is a once-in-a-century unfortunate occurrence.  When you make that simple conclusion, then you accept the path forward.

In college, I had a idea of writing a book. My marketing professor introduced me...

We all have dreams and goals. We also have challenges that get in the way of our goals. Lastly, we all have obligations that take up our time and energy. There is very little left over for our dreams. It seems that we are pulled in different directions. However, I believe that big dreams take small sacrifices and we can start achieving our dreams and our goals five minutes at a time. 

Have you ever had an issue that annoyed you?  It could be as simple as a rattle in your car. It could be a buggy computer. It could be that something small is off.  More annoying than that is when a couple of weeks go by and it turns out that you fixed it within five minutes. I’m asking you to apply that to the rest of your life. I want you to start achieving your goals five minutes at a time. 

Of course, it’s going to take you more than five minutes to achieve your goals, but the goal of this concept is to get you out of your old mindset and get you into a new...

 One of the building blocks and engines of your life is the way you behave. Behaviors lead to actions, repetitive actions are your habits, and habits translate into the way that you live your life. If you want to improve your life, you have to shift your behavior.

 A common mistake that most people have is that they want their life to improve without shifting their behavior. They blame the system, socioeconomic issues, or the fact that there are not enough opportunities. There might be great truths in these assumptions. However, your goals should not be to constantly find evidence of these truths. The goal is to shift your behavior to live out your goals and dreams.

 I have been there. My disability makes part of life impossible. It makes some activities ten times more challenging. I have to deal with my physical disabilities, the psychological ramifications, and any other challenge that are part of the human condition. I have learned that I need to be focused...

Our lives can feel random sometimes.  We have goals and dreams.  However, we feel that life, obligations, challenges, and other outside factors get in the way of life.

 One way that we can take control of our destiny is to set intentions in our lives. With that being said, no matter how intentional you are, there are going to be situations that have the potential to get in the way.  If you are intentional about how you spend your money, the water heater will still break.  No matter how intentional you are on your diet, you will still crave ice cream or your coworkers will bring cake.  Don’t make the mistake of thinking that these random occurrences should cause you to give up.  Don’t be a victim.

 In order to be intentional you need to have control over your time, your energy, and your emotions. 

 Much of my life is dictated by the needs of my disability.  It often feels that I have to get permission from my...

Let’s face it, 2020 has been one of the most challenging years. No matter who you are, your life has been altered. At the very least, you had to change part of your lifestyle. In the middle of the spectrum, you dealt with professional challenges. At the end of the spectrum, you may have lost a loved one. 

One type of challenge that we face is a setback. Setbacks are just a part of life. You can do everything correctly and some setback can rear its ugly head. When my parents found out that I was going to have cerebral palsy and a lifetime of challenges, they quickly adopted the mindset of parents that have a special needs child. My whole life, I often wondered what it would be like not to have a disability. In thinking about my life, and wanting to create an amazing life, I learned the number one goal in life.

 Here we go.

 The number one goal in life is to improve our lives no matter where we are.

 One issue that I see when dealing with life and moving...

Many people expect others to acquiesce in their every desire and requirements. They expect their environment to be set up for their success or whims. If you want to create an amazing life, you have to understand your roles in different situations. The fact is that we are all in multiple systems and, in order to succeed, we have to understand our role in those systems. We have to understand the challenges that each of those systems present. We also have to understand the opportunities that we can exploit. The problem is that we have this narrative about how life should be and we have this false ideal about how everyone should act in our world. The better we understand our world, the more opportunities we have to succeed.

We are in each other’s lives to make life better for everyone. 

Throughout my life, I have struggled with a physical disability and I came to the terms that this world is not set up for somebody with my challenges. With that being said, in the United...

It often feels that our lives have been turned upside down. When this happens, people’s habits and desires need change. This change effects the way people make purchasing decisions.  Businesses cannot expect that the same messages that brought in customers will work in the short and medium term. Right now, most businesses need to engage in re-marketing. It’s similar to a couple going through a rough patch in their marriage. In order to get through that rough patch, both members have to reintroduce themselves.

As someone who deals with many challenges, I understand the importance adjusting the approach that I take. Because I need a lot of assistance with my business, I understand the power of coming into a changing situation with the understanding that I have to always be willing to move stuff around. I never had the luxury to be rigid.

The first step in this process is understanding what everyone needs right now and fitting your product or service into the new...

At some point or another, we have all had big dreams and aspirations. However, our narrative, mindset, circumstances, ego, or the people around us from prevented us pursuing those dreams.  If you want to build an amazing life, you need to have a mindset that involves always being aspirational. Even after you achieve your dreams, you need to replace the old dreams with new ones.

Oftentimes, our circumstances prevent us from being aspirational. We see our challenges as factors that get in the way of our dreams. I have struggled with this fact my entire life. There were times when my disability felt like a nuisance. There were other times when my disability felt like an anchor. I have to deal with random movements, needing help with the basics in life, and a severe speech impediment. I also have to deal with the psychological ramifications of my disability. 

The reason I never stopped going after my goals is the fact that I’m always aspirational. I always had a very...

 Traditionally, we see challenges as things that get in the way of what we want. Even worse, some people lower their expectations based on the challenges that they have. They think that they can’t go after their goals because dealing with the obstacles is too much. They say that successful people have connections or abilities that they don’t have. One of the types of challenges that people have to deal with is challenges that seemingly pop out of nowhere. This year, the biggest challenge that we face generationally has popped up. We are dealing with a world-wide pandemic called the coronavirus. This has disrupted every aspect of our lives.  Unfortunately, this will kill some dreams and aspirations.

 Challenges are just a part of life. There have been wars, civil unrest, and, yes, pandemics in the past. Instead of looking at challenges as something that stops you in your path, look at challenges as opportunities develop skills, habits, and new ways of going...