to be what you might have been." -George Eliot

Last night on my weekly men's call, someone gave me one of the most kind compliments I have ever received.

In short, I was told I am a person that clearly knows my "why" and I show that by living by it through my actions.

It hit me like a ton of bricks because this ^^^ used to be so far from the truth.

Today I feel like a completely different human than I once was. I feel this way because I am. It was an intentional change.

And the change started with the quote that kicked off this email.

The pity party I used to throw myself "I can't switch careers, I can't play new sports, I can't pick up new skills, I can't go to new places...I can't, I can't, I can't."

I still have a hard time believing ^^^ this is what my mind used to be filled with.

And then I realized something, it's better late than never.

I decided to live a life where I did everything I have always wanted to do. Even if it meant doing it on a different time frame than I had original planned for.

I decided ...

1. Life is way too short for me to work in a single job or career for my lifetime. So I quit searching for the right "job" or "career." And started building the one that was for me.
2. Playing one sport, soccer, wasn't how I was going to spend the rest of my years. So I quit. I haven't kicked a ball in almost 3 years now.
3. I am an entrepreneur. So I helped anyone and everyone I could build products and services that would be valuable enough to sell and make them money.
4. I am a podcaster. So I started with just my phone and my friends... and now we are over 130 episodes in, and will hit the 3 year mark this April.
5. I am a writer. I have written thousands of posts on social media, and 320+ emails on this newsletter alone. Next up is my book.
6. I am a hybrid athlete. I have competed and placed in fitness/endurance competitions, and plan to run a 50 mile race in the future... and while I can run pretty well, I still pride myself on remaining strong and lifting a decent amount of weight in the gym.
7. I am a content creator and producer. I can fly drones, use gimbals, run trails/go under water/jump off cliffs with go-pros... I can script, edit, distribute... have helped others build and sell digital products and services... I can do it all.
8. I am so much more. I can do so much more. I am whatever I decide to be. And I am also what I decide NOT to be.

Okay this email has a lot of "I" in it.

I purposely did this because it is now your turn to do the exercise.

You now must write down your own version of

"I decided..."

Except you are writing for the future version of yourself.

If I were to ask you 5,10 ,20+ years from now who did you decide to be, and why did you decide to be that person... what would your response be?

At this very moment who do you want to decide to be? Who do you want to stop being?

Society wants you to believe that you don't have a choice in this matter.

Yet EVERY SINGLE DAY that you wake up... is a new opportunity to drop the old and start new.

So what is it that you will decide to be today? Tomorrow? And each day moving forward.

#thriveon

CJ

p.s. today I am grateful for the beautiful moon I got to witness last night. Such a great reminder once again of how small we truly are. Literally we are aliens floating around on a giant rock in a universe that we cannot even begin to comprehend the size of.