24 to 50: Snowflakes, Fingerprints & Eyeballs! part 1

 

Today is November 19, 2014...24 days from my 50th birthday on December 12th.        "...There is a single experience, one defining moment, when confidence replaces the self-doubt that most of us wrestle with." Charley Pride     Each one of us has a defining moment.  The one we could point back to and say, "that is where it happened...that is where my life turned...my character forged...my destiny was revealed."   If life were a movie, that moment would be depicted as a major triumph, or a major defeat.  It would be encapsulated in a nice and neat 5 minute vignette that would bring us to our feet clapping, or make us cry the deep tears of empathy at the hero's calamity, defeat or suffrage of injustice.   Those movies always pull me in (my top 10 list coming soon!).  I have always been a champion of justice, fairness and giving everyone an equal opportunity for success.  As a business leader, I have fought for meritocracy and beat down cronyism.  You have to be willing to fight, but if you are...I will fight with you for a righteous cause.   I always wondered where that came from.  We seldom look backward or inward to see how we came to be the way we are.  I felt like I knew the events, situations and circumstances that built my ideals and my character, but just over 3 years ago, I had an awakening.   Warning! I am about to take you deeper into my life... a place where few have gone.   Not because I want you to think I am such a great person (still human!) but to let you see from the inside how character is developed and where it comes from. Not so you recognize it in me, but so you recognize it, reveal it in unleash it in you!   I have a quote (my own!) that I use in every training class,   "Smart skims the surface, but genius goes deep!"   In this instance, I will say that if I only share the "easy" things that is superficial and only goes flesh deep, but this level of sincerity, vulnerability and authenticity cuts right to the bone.   I believe it will help some of you.   Over 3 years ago, I had the great fortune of speaking in Canada for an Investors Group branch.  My first book, "Crumbs from the Master's Table" had serendipitously found it's way into the hands of Tony Miele and through a few conversations, he invited me to speak.  Tony is a open, energetic, fantastic person, and a dynamo in his business...passionate and purpose-driven.   Me, Tony Miele and John Kanary   He invited me to dinner to meet John Canary, who is a pioneer of motivational, success and business training. Because I was just committing my life to a similar path, I deemed it and honor and great opportunity.  We shared backgrounds, ideas, and laughs...but then it turned serious.   John said to me "You have a pinned down excellence...what happened to you?"   I was not quite sure what he meant, so I gave the standard quizzical look. He was not going to back down.  Like me, he understood that this may be his only chance to directly impact a life and he was not going to squander it with superficiality.   "Something in your past is robbing you of the ability and God-given right to self-promote the awesome gift you have been given.  Until you reconcile what that is, you will be limited.  Limited by doubt...which is a manifestation of your self-image".     He looked me in squarely in the eye with a sincerity that brings out the truth and doesn't let you off the hook...   "Again...what happened to you?"   In the next 10 minutes, we began to systematically roll back the clock of my life.  Like Benjamin Button, I was no longer a 46 year old talking to two men...I had become an 6-7 year old standing in front of my third grade class...    During a Spelling Bee.   Until tomorrow...