Overcome and Thrive

The song Things My Father Said by Black Stone Cherry is a song that absolutely captures how I feel about my father.

My Old Man and The Worst Thing That Ever Happened to Me

Good Morning my friends! There is not going to be a Workout of the Week post this week. I am basically doing the same workout I did last week this week. Instead, I am posting a reblog of a post I wrote about two years ago. This post is in honor of my old man. When he passed away, it was TOUGH. After a time though, I taught myself to overcome and then to thrive.

My Father passed away on April 17, 2008. He was 53 years old. He died unexpectedly.

It was the worst thing that happened to me. I wrote about it in detail in the post Turn The Worst Thing…

I Was 25

When he passed I was 25. At the time I was working in a warehouse as an order picker/forklift operator. I had recently been a “homeless coach-surfer”. Alcohol was consumed almost every day. I had a terrible attitude, was lazy, was sedentary, and I never tried hard at anything beyond the immediate easy task in front of me that I could be good at.

Avoided Challenges

If there was anything challenging, I would avoid it at almost all costs.

Make a Change

Eventually, I used the death of my father as the motivation to change my life.

Returned to School

At age 28 I returned to school. From 28 to 34 I worked a full-time, 40+ hour a week job and went to school part-time. I did all of my college courses online. I never once even met an instructor face to face. Doing online college you don’t really have anyone teaching, students teach themselves and the instructors grade the work and provide feedback. The online school taught me to be more resourceful than almost anything else.

LPSAGs

I developed a Goal-Setting System that changed everythign about my life.

LPSAGs – Little Puny Specifically Aligned Goal s.

Use LPSAgs to get your BHAGs.

Today

I hold two business degrees today. One of them says “Summa Cum Laude” on it! I had no idea that was even possible.

Today I have a good career, I have a side-gig (this blog), I have a healthy lifestyle and am active everyday.

I even got myself certified as a Personal Trainer!

Anywhooo… Here is the post – Turn The Worst thing that…

Make It A Great Week

Thank you so much for reading! The Workout of the Week will be back next week with an all new post so check back next Monday! Look for a mid-week The Food post!

My Dad changed his life when he decided at age 40 to return to school and pursue an education and different career path. He decided to write a story for his life where he became the hero. His death was the most devastating thing that ever happened to me and my family. After dealing with that event, I decided to change my life and follow his example. I said I was going to use his death, the worst thing that ever happened to me, to change my life. Since then I earned two degrees, went from about a 450 credit score to over 700, earned professional certificates, started a blog/side-project, learned how to handle alcohol as an adult, taught myself guitar, and adopted an active lifestyle while getting physically healthy. Use your pain to push you to greatness! Be the hero or heroine in your story!