My favorite part...

"at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory, nor defeat."

I wouldn't be sitting here typing today if I didn't take risks that many deemed unworthy.

I have moved to cities where I didn't know anyone.

Earned jobs that I didn't "know" how to do.

Quit jobs that didn't serve me.

Changed career paths more times in my 20's, than most do in their lifetimes.

Spontaneously took a 12 hour road-trip to ask the girl of my dreams out on a date... and now she is my wife. Our 4 year anniversary is this summer... and I never could have guessed this would be my life a decade ago.

None of this is to brag.

All of it is to convince you to step into the arena of life.

All of it is also to get you to recognize that the pain of "failure" never outweighs the pain of "what ifs."

What ifs will deteriorate your life. They eventually turn into regrets as we age. And these regrets can turn a lot of us rotten.

Meanwhile, "failures" will give you lessons, and these lessons will help you continue to do better in the arena each time that you enter it.

Now I can go on and on about this. But I know you. If you have been with me this far, you get it. So I don't need to drag it on.

What I need from you though, is for you to challenge yourself this year. I want you to enter an arena that you know is going to defeat you. An arena that is going to leave you worn down and exhausted. A place that will push you to your wits end.

Most never know this limit.

And most show up every day half-assing their own life.

I don't take you as someone who wants to be like most people.

So what is it going to be?

Will you begin to enter new arenas this year? Even some that you know will defeat you?

#thriveon

CJ

p.s. today I am grateful for the recent cold start to the days. I used to hate them, but now I acknowledge that it wasn't the cold that was the problem. It was my own non-resilience and animosity towards limiting myself to not doing my normal routine because of the cold.