The majority of people are on earth dying,
they're not living, they're working jobs they don't like
or they're doing things that they just don't enjoy.
I feel like gratitude, if a person can just live in a state of gratitude
they could change their whole entire life. And I can make this quick and simple and
easy for everyone to comprehend. Me, a man with no legs and one arm,
there are millions of people as we sit in this couch
that would switch places with me in an instant because they just don't have it like me.
There are kids and adults that are confined in wheelchair beds,
there are kids and adults that are paralyzed in wheelchairs
that look outside and say, “man, I wish I could just
go outside and breathe the fresh air, I wish I could just listen to the birds,
I wish I could get out of this hospital bed”, like it gives me chills, that's all the motivation
I need because I know that my situation isn't bad. And the sad thing is that there's
people with full bodies that say, “oh, man, his life is bad”, no, it's not.
The biggest disability is a bad mindset, it's not this, it is not this,
it’s people don't have their mind right. People are just like, “oh, my God,
I can't do this, I can't do that”, no, you can, you're truly capable of anything,
you put limits on yourself. The only limits you have are
the ones you put on yourself. So to go back to gratitude, like
start being grateful that you woke up today, start being grateful that you were in a bed,
you can go outside, there's people sleeping on the sidewalk,
like how can you not be grateful? So living in a state of gratitude and waking up
and starting your day off with gratitude, listening five things you're grateful for,
thinking about five things you're grateful for, you'll notice that your mind gets in a rhythm and
at first it may be big things like, oh, my family, my house, whatever it may be
but then your mind will get in the rhythm and start thinking about the little things,
the little things you're grateful for like, “man, I got good health or
man, I got food in the refrigerator or I got friends”,
you know the little things, your mind starts to just become grateful for the things around you
and you realize that the things you complain
about on a day to day basis and the grand scheme of life
they are not problems, we don't have problems. It's important to know that one moment can
induce those toxic thoughts in your head but the important thing about that
is when I'm in those low moments and this is for everyone needs to do this,
when you're in those low moments, embrace it. What are you feeling?
How are you breathing? How do you feel?
And realize that this is not a state I want to be in.
So embrace that low time and be like, “oh, my God, I feel like poop, I don't feel good,
this is my low state, these are all the things that I don't want to go through
and the thoughts that I don't want to think about”.
And that's the thing, you know, embrace that time, embrace that state
and realize that, “oh, my God, I don't want to feel like this”,
and then get out of it, and the way to get out of it is
start thinking positive affirmations, start thinking about,
because your mind can only think about one thought,
so if you're thinking about something negative, change that thought.
So I start to think to myself, “I am beautiful, I am confident, I am an athlete,
if that girl doesn't want to talk to me, that it's an organic filter
and that's the type of people that I don't want to be around,
Nick it was helping you, she's not the girl you want to be around,
she's looking at you for this”. So that's the one of the things
that helped me so much because I'm not going to lie girls
is still tough part for me, you know and especially as a twenty two year old guy,
it's a hard, it's a low point for me, but to realize that me being in this situation,
like we said about the tribes, it organically attracts the
right people you want to be with, so if a girl is going to not talk
to me or just not even respect me for my lack of limbs, “ok fine, take a hike,
because you are not the person that I want to be around”.
I would say, realize that for the things that you may
think you're disgusting or may think are bad about you
are probably your biggest strengths and your biggest influences,
because that was the case for me. When I was at that low point, I was like,
“I'm disgusting, I don't want to go in public,
I hate the fact that I'm born with no legs and one arm”.
It turned out the things that I thought were the most negative about myself,
the most unattractive, disgusting, became my biggest empowerments
and biggest influences. So people who are going through adversity,
embrace your difference, it stands out, embrace you,
embrace what you struggle with and what you're good at
and focus on what you're good at. And I think it's about working on yourself,
I feel like people don't work on themselves enough.
And if that's just like,
“hey, I'm going to wake up thirty minutes earlier this week”,
you know, and pat yourself on the back or, “I'm going to eat healthy”,
just work on yourself a little bit, a little bit, a little bit
and it's like you talk about the relationship you build within yourself.
People may not have that relationship with themselves
and they're looking to try to build relationships with other people.
You need to start with you, you need to start with your relationship.
So it's just like little micro steps, little stepping stones to
becoming a better you. And that's what I say,
as long as we're moving forward, a little bit of a time progression is winning
and as long as you're not going backwards, I always tell people you're either growing
or you're dying, pick one. And as humans, we love the feeling of progression.
I would say, it's great to have other
people believe in you but it starts within. Like you need to be your biggest cheerleader,
you need to believe in yourself and whether that's,
like I said before, working on yourself a little bit,
you have to do that for yourself and that's the beauty behind it,
the only person that needs to believe in you is you,
the only person that needs to believe that you can obtain your vision,
obtain your goal is you, no one else is going to do it for you,
so be your biggest cheerleader and embrace being different.
The sexiest thing you could be is different, whether that's,
personally, professionally, in business or whatever may be
being different stands out. So that and follow what you love,
because I say the majority of people are on earth dying,
they're not living, they're working jobs they don't like
or they're doing things that they just don't enjoy.
But you have one life, so I would much rather fail
and fall on my face at something that I enjoy, that's something that I'm pursuing that I love
than trying to work a job that I don't enjoy or living a life that I don't enjoy,
I'd much rather keep failing and working on something that I love
than something that I hate. And that's what I tell people,
live, live on this earth, don't die, be you, follow what you want to do
and forget the outside noise, use it as jet fuel, use it as motivation and elevate yourself
because everything around us whether it's negative or bad
you can use it in a good way and mostly the negative stuff, switch that energy
because life gives us energy, we dictate whether it's negative energy
or good energy, we have that choice. So for them to realize that,
you are the architect of your life, you sculpt your life,
so just follow your dreams, follow your passion and
like you said it sounds so cliche, but you’ll never work a day if
you truly love what you're doing. And that'll drive you more than anything,
that why will get you out of bed on those hard days.