Who Am I To Be Giving Advice?

Good question!

I was thinking earlier today about how I'm posting blogs with advice about what the road of success is and how to get onto it and stay on it, but then I thought....you're probably wondering "why should you take his advice?" That's what I would be thinking if I didn't know me. So for those of you who do know me, hopefully you think enough of me to think my advice is worth taking...or at least taking into consideration. And really that's all I ask of you. I don't want anyone to just blindly take my advice, I'd rather you take it into consideration, and then decide for yourself if you agree or not.

So who am I to be giving advice about success? I'm not rich, I'm not famous, I don't have a lifetime of experience behind me to prove my points, and I don't have a Ph.D. in anything (not yet anyway). So why should you take my advice? Well, I'll tell you why...

First of all, as I said before, I only want you to take my advice into consideration. Then after you think about it yourself and how it could apply to your life, you can decide for yourself if it makes sense to you and if you believe it, and want to do it - or not.

Now that I've gotten that disclaimer out of the way, I'll tell you why I think my advice is worth taking into consideration in the first place. There are two main reasons. The first reason is because I read a lot, have had many different experiences in my own life already, and I think about the things I talk about in my blogs a lot before I write them (and apply them to my own life too of course). Now I may not be the most eloquent writer, and I might not write as clearly as a professional author would, but I do think a lot about the things I write about a lot before I write them, and I try to make what I write pretty easy to follow and understand. Since I read a lot, I get many ideas about the same things from many different people (some of whom have spent decades doing research, and do have a lifetime of experience behind them). So I take all of the different things I read about into consideration when I am determining what I believe is the best, or the correct way, etc., and that's what I apply to my own life and that's what I write down in my blogs. This type of reading I am talking about is called synoptic reading. It's one of my favorite ways of learning about a specific subject because it allows you to get many different viewpoints, see what is widely agreed upon and what is controversial, see how the subject you are reading about relates to other things and they to it, and develop a better understanding overall of the subject so you can decide for yourself what is correct or the best way to do something, or what you should and shouldn't believe about the subject in question. So by reading my blogs and taking my advice into consideration, you get the benefit of this type of reading (synoptic reading) without having to read everything yourself. Now I have to admit that obviously the things I write are what I have decided was right or the best way or whatever, and therefore still a biased view; but it's still useful.

The other main reason I think my advice is worth taking into consideration is because of the type of person I am. I am a successful person (at least as far as my definition of success is concerned). My definition of success is when a person has made the decision to travel down the road of success, to stay on that road for the rest of their lives, and to be happy and enjoy the journey. This means that they are consistently and constantly trying to improve themselves and every area of their lives, and will keep trying to for their entire lives. This is exactly what I have done, and will continue to do; therefore, I am a success.

Since I decided to travel down the road of success I have improved my relationships with my friends and family, I have graduated from the University of Notre Dame even after having to go through many tough times during my college career dealing with less than desireable grades, family getting cancer, financial problems with paying for my schooling, and other challenges in my personal life. I even had one class remaining after I had already "graduated" that I needed to take before I could receive my degree due to things that were out of my control. I did. I have successfully completed the United States Marine Corps Officer Candidate School program even though I wasn't in great physical shape when I went, and had to convince a board of high ranking marines why I should stay in the program twice even though I wasn't in the top half of the class as far as physical ability. In fact, about 65% of the people who started the program at the same time I did, either chose to leave or were forced to leave before completing the program because they weren't thought to be up to the Marine Corps Officer standard. I have gotten better and better jobs even though I didn't have all of the "required" experience for my current job when I began, or the job I had before, and even though I was unexpectedly laid off from my last job a month before my wedding day because the company decided to move 80% of the work to their China facility to save money. Now I am married to a beautiful woman who I love very much, I see my kids more often than I used to be able to, I like my job, and I am back in school working towards getting an MBA.

I'm not trying to brag about myself by telling you this. I think that almost anyone can and could do what I have done if they had enough drive to succeed, enough persistance, and enough faith. I believe I can do anything I put my mind to with enough time and effort. And so can you!

It's worked so far in my life, and as I learn more it'll just keep getting better and better! And I want to take the people I know and care about (and even people that I don't know but are good people) along for the ride! That's why I think you should at least take my advice into consideration, decide if you agree with them or not, and decide for yourself if you will apply it to your life and join me on the road of success - or not.