Challenges are a part of life and they are especially part of an amazing life. Loving your life does not mean that you love dealing with challenges. It means a commitment to dealing with any and all challenges that come your way. Part of life is learning to deal with challenges in a better way and exploring how to succeed despite them.

When I want to take on something amazing, a big part of the process is understanding how my physical disability or mindset blocks are going to limit me. The goal is not to ignore these challenges or let them be roadblocks. The goal is to look at them creatively and navigate them on the path to amazing success.

I don’t love being disabled. I don’t love my speech impediment. My disability has provided me with a certain kind of unease, discomfort, insecurities and other emotions that can have the potential to kill my ambition, drive, and love of life.  To be honest, it has the potential to slow me down, and, in the past, it has.

I always...

I have a deep love of life. I love the possibilities of life. I love the opportunities of life. I have many experiences, both professionally and personally. I have the opportunity to inspire people. My career has introduced me to many unique experiences, which I cherish. I had the opportunity to have lifelong friendships and have a great time with the people who I love being with. I get to collaborate with amazing thinkers. Finally, I love my family, from my parents to my wife to my favorite boys, Andrew and Tyler. I love being a father, a husband, a friend, a professional, and a partner in crime to many. Frankly, I love life.

There is a difference between loving life and loving every single aspect of life. In fact, part of having an amazing life is dealing with struggles in order to find the parts of life that you love. I deal with my physical disability, and the psychological ramifications that go along with it. I also deal with the every day challenges of creating an amazing...

I have spent an exorbitant amount of time, energy, and money studying what it takes to live out an amazing life. I read books, attend conferences, and try to learn how I can achieve amazing success despite my disability.

There have been times when I blamed all my stress on my disability. In the past, I have started thousands of sentences with the phrase if I were not disabled…. That action does not empower me. It also provided many negative emotions and created feelings of victimhood.

With the pursuit of amazing success can come additional stressors and overwhelming factors. In fact, most of the challenges in my life are not because of my disability per se. They are because of the fact that I am going after an amazing life. I chose the challenges of becoming a speaker, writing a book, becoming a husband, and becoming a father.  My job is to enjoy my life and take on the challenges in a positive way.

Most people in the U.S. don’t have $400.00 in case of an...

One challenge that we all face is being stressed or overwhelmed. If you want to live out an amazing life, there is going to be some stress, some overwhelming factors, and some growing pains. These feelings are just some sacrifices that you have to endure on your path to an amazing life.

Many people experience stress and overwhelming factors and let their feelings be roadblocks on the path to amazing success. There is reality and your reaction to reality.  Feeling stressed and overwhelmed can happen because of circumstances that  are genuinely giving you those feelings. For example, if you were brought up in a chaotic family or your parents were not emotionally stable people, that adds a certain kind of stress. There’s no doubt that these kinds of stressors influence the way you go about your life or your mindset. There are many stressors that I have to deal with because of my cerebral palsy. I have to deal with the stress of relying on people, having to deal with a...

Factors that get in the way of amazing success and your dreams is the way we feel about situations, the way we feel about performing activities, the way we feel about others, or the way we feel about life in general. This is a topic I read about in the 5 Second Rule, by Mel Robins.

When we think of feelings, automatically, we think about sensitive people who cry at movies or people who get their feelings hurt over a joke. Everybody has feelings about their own lives, what it takes to succeed, what gives them pleasure, and what gives them pain.

Robins writes that people are not afraid of hard work. They are afraid of stress. It’s not inherently hard to have to call customer service, but we all have feeling towards that. When we have to have a tough conversation, it’s not inherently hard, but it can be stressful. We play out negative scenarios in our heads and these feelings get in the way of habits and routines.

The reason bad habits are so attractive and good habits are...