The best things that I create…

Tend to come from the torture that goes on in my mind. 

The non-stop chattering that seems to ripple across an infinite loop. 

No end in sight. 

Until the build up of angst becomes so great…

That it forces an action from my body. 

A long run.

A workout.

A podcast episode. 

A video editing session that I become lost in. 

A set of businesses that fuel my incessant need to help our world. 

I never used to understand the sentiment that the work I was meant to do was going to call me, rather than me running towards it. 

How could I expect myself to understand it?

You and I live in a world that subsequently has built a system of making money off of force feeding human beings down lanes they would never choose on their own. 

The system, it stifles our ability to hear what calls us. 

And then hands us substances to numb us from any lingering calling that does get through to us. 

Many, including my old self, go along with the numbing.

Because on most days, it is far easier than dealing with the torture that lives on in a mind that knows that the body and spirit is capable of more. 

We constantly fight that resistance…

When we should be leaning into it. 

And now I will ask you to start walking towards the resistance that you feel in your mind/body/life.

Maybe you dread showing up to your job.

Or you reluctantly say yes to the activities your friends and family "love."

And that gloomy city you live in because you know people around you...

When reality is, you love sun and adventure.

LOL. ^^^ this used to be me.

Exactly me.

NYC/Philly area winter 2014/2015.

I can vividly remember walking to work in wet sleet/snow, in a suit I never wanted to wear, in expensive dress shoes that I bought to fit in, to an office building that people justified sitting inside 10+ hours a day because the"views" were decent....only to then walk downstairs to the bar for "happy hour."

How contradictory the word "happy hour" is because it is a bunch of unhappy/unsatisfied people showing up to it.

"Was this my life?" I thought to myself.

"Was this my existence?"

You need to snap the fuck out of it CJ.

My mind would torture me with ideas.

Places.

People.

An existence that was more than what I was living at the time.

So I started to follow breadcrumbs of hope.

A trip here.

A trip there.

Reconnecting with old friends.

Making new ones.

I began to open my mind up to the "torture," rather than closing it off.

I let myself step into my "crazy" ideas and thoughts...

Instead of pushing them down into the darkness.

I always knew I wanted to leave the East Coast...

So I signed a contract to move to Nashville in the summer of 2015.

New place, new faces, new opportunities to keep leaning into the whirlwind that goes on in my mind.

And the rest is history.

7 years later my life looks absolutely nothing like I ever imagined.

And I fucking love it.

Because what I used to imagine was an un-imaginary life.

Heck, during my time as an athlete in college, I was interviewed by the school newspaper, and they asked me where I saw myself in 10 years...

You know what my response was?

An Engineering manager.

LMFAO.

WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK.

Who was I?

Now ask me the same question today...

And my response will be I have no clue where I will be 10 years from now.

All I know, is that I will have morphed into another new version of myself, one that remains principled in his values of health, family, and the pursuit of a meaningful life.

I will also have thousands of pieces of content making a positive impact on people across the world, a global podcast where I talk to people who are improving their communities/countries, multiple businesses that are helping improve our world, and will be a better athlete in my 40's than I was in my 20's.

;)

.

.

.

.

10 days left in 2022.

So what's it going to be?

The same old shit from you in 2023?

Or will you give yourself a chance to dream bigger, act bigger, and LIVE a bigger life than you ever have?

The choice is yours to make.

#thriveon

Cj

p.s. I am grateful for all the people in my life who have encouraged my crazy ideas and dreams. You saved my life.