The past couple weeks have been busy, but awesome. We are editing our first set of stories that we captured on camera which we described on our last post. We are also redesigning our website, have redesigned the logo, and are on our way to lining up the next video shoot. With that said, I want to talk a little bit about circumstances. It can be a touchy subject for some, but let's give it a shot.
There's a quote that I saw the other day that made me give a big fist pump:
"I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions." - Stephen Covey
A lot of people believe that people are products of their environment. I believe this is true... to an extent. The environment that we have around us does have an effect on us, whether positive or negative. It is much more difficult for an individual to thrive when the environment around that individual is thwarting, suffocating, and offers little to no proverbial soil for them to grow. Time and energy is spent fighting their surroundings instead of focused on progress and making dreams realities. I imagine that it can be exhausting fighting this battle daily. If you are in this kind of environment, make the decision to get out or you will be stifled in many different ways. Whether it's a place, the friends you choose to keep you company, or the content (books, articles, music, movies, tv, radio, conversations, thoughts, etc.) you let enter your mind daily, make the choice to kick out the poisons in your life and fill it with hope and things that inspire. Condition your mind.
What I don't like to hear is when people use their circumstances as an excuse as to why they either are not pursuing a dream or why they never made the pursuit in the first place. The only way someone or some thing, like a circumstance, drags you down and keeps you there is if you let it. It's you. As mentioned above, change your environment if that's what it takes to change, but the root of it all is in you. And once you accept and digest that, then you can truly start to move forward.
Yesterday I had the privilege of speaking with an individual who came from very little: no money, no parents, no support. Since then he has gone on to work his way into Harvard, graduate (from the #1 university in the world), play in the NFL for several years, go back to Harvard for his graduate degree, and has now started his own company. You'll hear from him; he's coming in the studio in the next couple of weeks to share his story with you on camera. He is a pure testament to overcoming obstacles and creating his own circumstances. He could have very easily rolled over and told himself a long time ago that he was just dealt a bad hand in life and there's nothing he can do about it. Nah, he Ventured On and did not settle. We hope you do the same.
Until next time.
The Venture On Team