How to change the world from within : The best lessons I learned before 30.

By 18 I thought I knew everything and like so many before me no one could tell me anything.
This is not one of those quit your job and chase your dreams spiels.
This is what has worked for me if you wish to see the rest of the story and what experience I speak from visit the blog.

Lesson one: Know your value in a situation and never be afraid to walk away.

I learned a few things in my travels one of which is this never take yourself too seriously to the point that you are so high on yourself.
Earned success through discipline is indeed rare air these days as so many of my generation lack the wherewithal or dedication to truly make themselves and  I did not make it where I am by taking the first carrot dangled in front of me.
I have always been one to make my displeasure known in an untenable situation so many in this world are afraid of walking away most especially when I knew I had the crucial standing in any particular situation.

Lesson two: Being a decent human costs nothing.

I find more and more these days that simple acts of not only kindness but moreover just decency go a long way in improving my community.
I feel no need to compete with anyone in that area and as much as I can try to make it so that a win for one is a win for all.
What the world lacks fundamentally is simple empathy not apathy.


Lesson three: Make choices and embrace making mistakes.

This is the essence of life I learned in the military be it clearing a building an hunting the bad guy or farming a field not one person is born knowing everything.
I have found being indecisive not only breeds undue stress and wastes time our most crucial asset and currency.
Not only that life is a dichotomy of choice of cause and effect of action and reaction.
There are certain things that separate the driven from the average and this is one of them.

Lesson four: When you choose your path go all in.

If you wish to differentiate yourself from the pack this is a given.
Dedication and discipline win wars and more often than not the road to any given success is more a marathon than a sprint.
Most overnight successes are 5-10 years of day in and day out struggle to put it lightly.
For me, I have lost friends and family over choices I have made to do the work I do and honestly, I did not lose but found who I was in the process.

Lesson five: You will fail so expect it.

Embrace failure.
know it, love it, be it this is just what it is when you look to impact the world around you.
There will be hate, there will be bad days and most of all you will fail at some juncture that is just what life is when you swim against the current.
Hard work pays and remember that most that criticize you cannot do what you do.
I have had to deal with this in the private agriculture sector in my time it is just the truth anywhere you go.
I have failed more times than i care to remember and will admit it openly hybrid has not been easy at times nor has it been a cakewalk.


Lesson six: The right thing isn't always the easiest:

Knowing when to listen to your gut has been the downfall of many of my peers.
This is not me taking a moral high ground when I say this indeed what I am saying is this that for example when re-enlistment came up in the Air Force I leapt into the unknown because I knew I was done with their bullshit and politics.
And even with the ridicule I endured  I had to do what was right for me and fuck what anyone else said because I had to do me and only you will know when it is time to make that stand.
TRUST YOUR GUT INSTINCTS !!!!!!

Lesson seven: Know when to hit the gas and know when to hit the brakes :

THE UNIVERSE WORKS IN MYSTERIOUS WAYS ...... LET IT DO IT'S THING.
Now is not always the right time you may think you are ready for the next step but you may very well not be.
Everything in life be it relationships or goals or any combination of these.
Patience that things will happen in their right time if you are doing the right thing eventually what you need to happen will happen trust I am a living example of this.


Lesson eight: WORK YOUR ASS OFF !!!!!!

There is no substitute for this and no other way to say it.
When your peers are drinking or partying don't be afraid to be the one still in the lab.
Your work ethic will light your way forward I know very well of this and I live by it.
If you see something you want in life it will not be handed to you your work is what will set you apart.
After being a victim of politics in many realms and being subject to the whims of bad management my work ethic did not change no matter what I did .
WORK WILL WIN WHEN WISHING WON'T.

Lesson nine: Self introspection is the biggest favor you can do yourself.

There are times a person must look within themselves and realize that they are either wrong or full of shit.
As hard a pill as this is to swallow we are all at some point wrong and how we react to and move forward from this literally defines what kind of person you are.
I am fully guilty of being wrought with faults and flaws one of my main issues is patience and practicing what I preach holding myself accountable has disciplined me to curtail some of the errors in my way but also to understand I will fail and that I as everyone else is a work in progress.

Lesson ten: The clock will do what the clock does .......... keep ticking

Just because things are bad now does not mean that is the way it will always be just know the determining factor is you.
I do not look at the world positively I do my best to accept the reality of my situation and adjust from there and the determining factor is me and how I press forward.

Had I known this at 18 I think things would have been different but this is what makes life fun the journey in and of itself.