Mindset is by far one of the most important places. It is within your mind that you start anything and convince yourself to take action and make change. Dont get me wrong, you can experience something that sparks a passion or enthusiasm, but at some point, that passion or hype turns inwards to a “why”. It’s in these places that the knowledge, experience, openness and awareness of who you are as a person comes into play. Dare to dream, but honour and respect the dream by giving it an environment to thrive in.

I like to imagine having a conversation with yourself and you have to negotiate. What a great place to learn this skill. But you have to ask yourself, do I want this in my future? Do i want this to be represented within my life? What do I want in my future? Am I setting an example that my family, friends and those watching would be proud of? From this place you start to build a priority list, short term, long term and generational plans and build a framework to base your life towards and through. In this place, you become more sound in who you are as you have vision, you have purpose and you’re more likely to get through tough times as you have an anchor in the future; something to work towards. Sure it can sound overwhelming. But its the same as a daily routine. There are so many steps in a daily routine that we do and rarely question them all. So why not do the same for your life.

Learning to communicate and articulate your thoughts, frustrations and experiences is a skill to be learned with friends and family. This requires a form of venerability, but when you wish to see people succeed and learn from things, then being venerable is a skill in itself.
Learning to listen. What a hard skill. One I struggle the most with. But if you don’t listen and then repeat your interpretation of a situation, how do you know if you’ve understood correctly or something vital could be missed. Being fluid in your approach is something that is developed by character and experience. Learn to love the process and not the result. Celebrate the result as its worth celebrating, but if you find your identity in the result, youll fail to notice change. The process teaches you whats involved with a situation, how to adapt and pivot when needed. When your new to something, it takes time to build understanding and your first experience towards something good or bad, leaves an impression. So don’t be afraid to look back at things and rewire your experiences. It’s hard, but damn rewarding.

This leads me into “Why”.
Why work hard? Why try the extra mile? Go above and beyond?
It’s comfortable where you are and you know whats going to happen. However, growth challenges you and the world changes. If you stay where you are you’ll get left behind in one way or another. Truth is, I dont think we can excel at all things, but thats when your community and friends become vital; choose wisely.
By trying new things or prioritising things such as your health, relationships and environment, you may surprise yourself. You’ll learn things you do and dont like and open yourself to new opportunities. Great. You discovered more about yourself. But as you advance, those who inspire you and are ahead of you should celebrate with you and encourage you. Those with you will be working along side you and there will be people who want to start but dont know how; you can inspire them. What a beautiful thing.
This in itself inspires and changes peoples lives. Congratulations, you’re making a difference already. Once an individual becomes apart of a community or looked up to you need to start looking at your own ego, humility and other factors of life or that position can become your “result” and you can become stuck.

So with that being said, work on yourself. Ask questions. Broaden your horizon so that you can be adaptable. Take time to check in with who you’re becoming so that you can make changes. Be venerable, tell the truth, read, have difficult conversations in the pursuit of advancement. Know when to let go of the past, when to take a step forward, to try new things. Its an adventure and you’re the author to your own story.