Reflect upon your journey

The past couple of months have been an interesting time in my life. If you've been following along, you'll know that I was granted early release by the parole board at my employer in mid-August.

I say it that way because I felt relief immediately after hearing the news. It was the end of a chapter in my life that saw significant growth as a person, professional, parent, and husband.

It was also a period of intense struggle against forces trying to contain me.

It was my chance to start fresh with a new set of challenges.

I had been working on several projects already. One of them coaching and mentoring people on their journey to start businesses, change careers, or just get a fresh start in life.

Some of you are reading this right now :)

I love helping people work towards their dreams. It's something I will continue to do and continue to expand on.

I also have the deep desire to educate the masses on what I've learned over the years that helped me become successful in my life.

I'm still working through that, but it's a much larger project than I ever thought possible.

But I'm plugging away and figuring it out as I go. Just like I always have.

In the meantime, with all the extra time I have on my hands due to the recent freedom, I've been reflecting on my journey to this point.

The most recent phase of my journey has been quite a wild ride that started with almost nothing. Support, prospects, opportunities, and our chances of success were near zero.

I think we knew that when we jumped into this adventure back in our early 20s. But we did it anyway.

As I reflect back on it, I realized that I have already achieved a life more successful and meaningful than anything I could have ever dreamed of when I was a kid.

I built a career that allowed me to earn enough to give our family opportunities that most people don't even know exist in the real world.

I have a wife of more than 20 years that has stuck with me through everything.

My efforts to be the first one in my family to have a college degree.

All my crazy business ideas that almost never worked. Even the one that did succeed and almost killed me before I shut it down. I'll share more on that crazy time in an upcoming book I'm working on..

We've managed to build a life that nobody around us thought was possible.

I can't think of one person that actually thought we had a chance.

But never gave up. We just kept moving forward no matter what was thrown at us.

But somewhere along the way, I think we forgot about how far we've come.

I think that happens to a lot of us. We get caught up in always striving to do more, be more, have more.

So as I enter the next phase of my life, I'm writing down my life story to help me remember the amazing journey I've been on so far.

I challenge you to do the same.

No matter where you are on your journey, take some time to reflect on how far you've come so far.

All the challenges overcome, the losses sustained, the wins earned, and the successes achieved.

Remember what it took to get through all of that. Remember how it made you feel. Remember the lessons learned and the lessons missed.

Write it down and give it a good readthrough.

It's been an eye-opening experience for me.

One that will lay the foundation for what's to come as I enter the next phase of my journey.

Maybe it can do the same for you.

-John