Month: March 2019

What Is Your GPS Telling You

Where Are You Going 

When you look at a GPS what do you see? You see the road your own of course and sometimes it might show other scenic stuff. You will see streets and other roads around you. When you’re driving and moving along what is your GPS telling you? Where you need to go, when your next turn is or how far you are from your destination.

Have you ever been on a road and took a wrong turn or missed your turn and depending on if you’re in a good mood or bad you here that horrible word “recalculating” depending on your mood is how you react to that.

Me and The Road 

When I look at my GPS of my life? I see where my starting point is and where my end point is. Now the only difference is that I don’t have a voice telling me where to turn and what to do. On the screen, it’s not telling me in 600 feet turn left, or your destination is on your right. My GPS doesn’t say anything like that.

My GPS only shows my soundings and roads and that’s it. There are no markings to show me what I’m near or names of the streets around me. It’s all blank, I’m guessing trying to figure out what turn I want or where I’m going along my journey in life.

Where Am I Going 

Some people’s GPS might show their end destination and they have clues along the way showing them what they will be doing next. What I mean is if they already have college or a career figured out and plans along those lines. That’s what’s so fascinating about everyone. Everyone’s map is different, but how you use that map and what you did with the map your given is what makes you special.

I had no direction after high school, all I knew was I wasn’t going to college and I always believed I was going to do something different and special one day. That’s the honest truth. 10 years ago, I would have been out of high school for a year with no direction and just beginning to start searching. If I would have seen my future self and what I had accomplished in the next 10-years I would have called bull crap and said it was a lie.

What Changed 

The Peter I know hates reading and writing. That’s impossible, there’s no way that he has read almost 60 books and written five books in 8 of that 10 years and also been married for almost six months? Well, younger self it’s true. I’m still trying to make the most of my journey and the time I lost.

Yes, I did have a starting point when I was born and also have an ending point where my destination will come to a stop. But here’s the thing when I get to my destination that is when my life will end and it’s game over. Even though I might have taken a lot of wrong turns and looking back now, maybe they weren’t wrong turns after all? Maybe they were the turns I was supposed to be taking trying to get me to my destination. I’m glad I climbed those steep hills and made wrong turns or hit dead ends and had to turn around. Those hiccups or struggles I faced is what’s turning me into the person I was meant to become.

More Work To Be Done 

I wouldn’t change anything. I’m not ready to reach my destination yet, I’m only starting to live. Now, in this case, my destination is my career and what my purpose in life is. But my final destination, I’m not ready for that yet and trying to stay as far away from that as possible.

Sometimes in life, we take wrong turns, we get lost and well it sucks and it’s not fun. If we take a wrong turn or get lost, sometimes it takes us to something beautiful that we never expected or would have guessed we would ever see.

Keep Moving Forward   

If you took a wrong turn recently for example. Then embrace it and think about where you are right now? Recognize a couple of things. You’re still alive, you didn’t reach your final destination that’s good. You’re still moving and you’re still trying your best every day and you didn’t give up. That’s very important you can’t give up and just quit. What if you just stopped where you are? But one mile down the road on your left is the Swiss Alps and all you see is miles and miles of mountains and snow with open fields and flowers below?

If your picturing that like I am then that would be a beautiful picture if you ask me. Who wouldn’t want to see that? Imagine if your upset at what happened and you turn into this view. That would be a sweet reward for getting lost and supposedly making a wrong turn, wouldn’t it?

My Journey Through 31 Days

Enjoy The Ride 

With that don’t be too hard on yourself for making a wrong turn or getting lost. Now I can say that now because I lived through it, I’ve been there and I have taken those “wrong turns” many times. But again, I don’t think those were wrong turns that I took.

I want to enjoy myself and have fun why I can. After all, we only get one shot at life, we should live it up and have fun. Have fun and make the most of your life and help people along the way. That should be the goal for us all. Sometimes you need to cut out the noise around you, turn your GPS off and follow your heart. What is it deep, down inside of you that you want to pursue? What do you have a calling to do? Maybe your still searching and that’s ok. I’m 29 and I’m still searching and feel like I have only just begun. 

Ruts Are Killer

Stay Away

Ruts are killer and dangerous. They can ruin your life and hurt your goals and potential by doing the same thing dad after day, week after week. If you get caught up doing the same bad habits that aren’t going to help you in the world and help you grow to become a better person then no good can come from it.

I have been in a rut hundreds of times over the years and let me tell you they are not fun. Doing the same thing every day religiously can be very bad. Especially if you’re not in a good place or you’re not happy and feeling good about yourself.

Something New

I’m in a rut right now.  Now don’t get me wrong I’m very happy and blessed. But when I say rut what I’m really referencing is my workouts. I haven’t really been feeling it the last month, month and a half.

I know I need to shake it up, and shake it up I must. Now part of the reason why I haven’t been enjoying my workouts as much as I have in my past. Well, I want to write that’s all I want to do every morning. When I go to the gym after about 30 maybe 45 minutes I look at my watch and think I’ve done enough.

Not Always Bad

Now physically that’s not good because I’ve been slacking with my workouts and not pushing myself as hard as I know I could be and should be pushed. I love being challenged and I love sweating and feeling tired and good after a workout and proud of what I have done the last hour or however long. I haven’t felt that for a long time.

Now a plus with that and a good thing with that is I have been getting a lot more writing done on my books. So, it’s not a complete loss haha. I’m still very productive and always am every day. It’s just on the physical side, I haven’t pushed myself as hard as I should be.

Time for A Change

That’s why I’m starting a challenge tomorrow. It’s my 29th bday today, so I have one more day of freedom haha. I will be doing a challenge called #75Hard.

  • Work out twice a day for 45 minutes one workout must be outside
  • Drink a gallon of water a day
  • No cheat meals
  • No alcohol and I like my Merlot
  • Read 10 pages a day of a self-improving book
  • Progress pic daily

Will it be fun absolutely and I can’t wait. I wanted to start earlier but with my birthday I decided to do it after. Will it suck, probably, I have never done anything like this before. Is it going to be challenging absolutely, but that’s what I need? I need a good change of pace.

Early Bird

I started getting up earlier every morning to read a couple of pages in whatever book I’m reading. Then I work on my book till Lindsay wakes up. It ranges from 45 minutes to an hour in the morning and then I have breakfast and do my devotions. I feel better doing that because I don’t like sleeping in.

Getting up a little earlier helps me to accomplish a couple of things before the day really even starts. I think that’s a positive way to start the day doing a couple of productive things in the morning.

What About You

Are you in a rut? Now a rut could be anything. For me, it happens to be the gym. That’s why I’m happy I found this challenge and it couldn’t have come at a better time for me. I needed something new and I needed to be tested, challenged especially mentally.

If you are in a rut, what is it? Do you know you’re in a rut and just lying to yourself and trying to hide it? That’s not good and will only hurt yourself down the road. For me, I knew I was in a rut for a while I just didn’t know what to do to mix it up.

Now thankfully I heard about this challenge from one of my favorite podcasts. That’s what you need is something to kick your butt to test you and push you. That’s where a lot of people get it wrong nowadays. They see something challenging or hard and just give up and don’t even try, that my friends is sad.

A Much Needed Change

I have dealt with a lot of challenges over the years, realistically I’m sure we all have. Well if you haven’t had any challenges or struggles or any setbacks, then honestly what are you doing with yourself and your life? That’s how you grow and that’s how you find yourself and see what you’re made of.

It took me a long time to realize that. If I want to better myself and challenge myself then I need to do the things I’m not good at. From a young age, I always thought that was a stupid mindset. Well, as I got older I started to pick up and follow that stupid mindset and challenge myself.

Weaknesses to Strengths

Now, look at me. I have been married for almost six months. It’s crazy how fast that’s going already. I’m a published author and working on finishing four more books currently. The goal is to get one if not two hopefully done later this year.

Challenges are what makes you. Your struggles are how you find what you’re capable of. Ruts on the other hand that’s what kills you and your dreams and goals. When you start to recognize you’re not happy and doing the same thing over and over. Take a step back and look at what you’re doing.

If you’re in a rut then change it right away. If you don’t then you will be holding yourself from your potential growth and preventing yourself from getting to where you were ultimately supposed to be. That is a big loss and a big mistake. That my friends is a wasted life.

Passion vs Profits

The Battle

For years even when I was in middle school and high school I always thought profits and money were all that mattered. If you had money then you would be considered successful and you made it in life. A couple of years ago I realized how wrong that mindset of mine was and how it made me focus on the wrong thing. The battle of passion vs profits begins.

As a Christian, I always struggled with money and focusing on the right thing from a young age. It’s wrong to have money and be wealthy, that means you’re not focusing on the right things. I realized that is the wrong attitude towards money.

I had it all wrong. There is nothing wrong with money and nothing wrong with having a lot of it. Now it’s what we do with the profits and what we spend it on or how we get money is what might be questionable.

Storyteller

When I first started working on my first book I thought to myself. Alright, I’m going to be an author create books for people and to help them escape from the real world and fall into this made up world I created for them. I read an article about Tom Clancy a couple of days ago and loved what he said.

I told stories to take people away from driving trucks or fixing toilets or whatever they do.

Before that sentence, he considered himself a storyteller, not a writer. Now yes, I call myself a writer now because I am. I write books and blog posts now. But what got me into writing was creating something bigger than Peter.

What didn’t get me into writing was money. Yes, I know the money could possibly be endless with writing. If I write a good book and people like it well then, more people will buy it. Seems pretty straight forward haha. Now I wanted to write a good book that has a good story that people can enjoy, that’s obvious. What I didn’t want is to write a good book that people enjoy and want to read to fill my own pockets.

My Goal

It’s crazy how things change in a short amount of time. When I was younger I was searching for money and trying to make a lot of it. Now that I’m entering this new field and world I’m in the money is endless and it doesn’t drive me. Don’t get me wrong, a goal of mine is to be able to do this full time and have writing books and speaking my full-time job. That is still a big goal for me that I’m working on and trying to accomplish.

A goal of mine that I made at 25 was to sell a million copies of my book in my life. Now if I published a book and charged it $9.99 and I only get $1 of commission for each book sold. I would have still ended up with a million books sold and earned, how cool is that?

New Mindset

My dad said one day when he saw this goal in my room on my dry erase board. Pete, with what your trying to do with your books and help kids and young adults. Maybe you shouldn’t focus on selling a million copies. Maybe you should focus on reaching a million people? He then dropped the mic and left my room. It was crazy, where did he even get a mic? Ok, I lied about the mic part haha.

Ever sense he said that it completely changed my mindset. Money is not why I wanted to be a writer to sell books as a business and make as much money as possible. Writing and storytelling is what got me started. That’s where my hunger came from with wanting to pursue this new opportunity and passion of mine.

My Imagination

Sometimes when you start something new, I’m guessing you never thought crap, I wish I would have done things differently? No, that thought probably never crossed your mind haha. That’s when everything changed for me. Realizing my original goal and what I did. I quickly changed my goal on my board, and that quickly changed my mindset and work ethic.

Now do I want my books to sell, well yes, of course, I won’t deny that or lie about it. But the reason why I want my books to sell now is to be able to reach people with my words and stories. I want my imagination to grab their attention and see what I have created. That’s more important to me now than what’s in their pockets to pay for my books.

My Journey

Starting out I might have been a little more focused on the money side. Because starting out this isn’t a cheap hobby haha. I know once I make some money and reimburse Lindsay and myself with the money we put into starting this journey. When we become even it will change again, but for the better.

Don’t be afraid to admit you made a mistake. It’s ok to say that your original goal needs changed and fixed. I recognized my mistake and I changed it and edited it and fixed my problem. I’m ok with that and I feel much better about what I did and the changes I have made.

Now, will it always be that easy or simple no, of course not. Will it take time and some adjustments, well yes of course but that’s ok. What’s most important is you find something more important than profits? What I found was a passion  and purpose. Now I believe writing and my unique story is going to lead me into what I was ultimately put here to do and created to do. Will it be hard? Absolutely, it already is, but that’s all part of my unique journey that I’m on every day.

What You Say You Are

Not Good

Over the years I have developed a lot of bad habits. Some of those habits are, lacking confidence, thinking I’m a loser. Who would ever want to marry me? Always thinking I was stupid, you name it and I thought it. I learned from a young age what you say to yourself you are. What I have been saying to myself for most of my life was not good.

I never believed in myself from a young age and always thought I was a bum, and couldn’t accomplish anything without other people helping me. I always knew with my learning disability that was going to hold me back one day I just didn’t know how bad it would have been or how much of an impact it actually would have had on myself. Well let me tell you I was wrong and I completely miss judged that scenario haha.

Not Happening

At this point in my life, I never thought I would be in this situation that I’m in. This life I wake up to every day was always a dream, and I never thought I would have it. I know its wrong and not healthy and I know I need to fix it if I want to be happy and have a healthy life.

Having this heavy burden of thinking I was a mistake when God created me. Well, it’s not healthy and not good. From a young age, I always wanted to escape this pain I was putting myself through. I always thought I would die at a young age because of stress. For most of my life, I have always been my worst enemy and still struggle with this to this day sometimes.

What Do I Have

I know that mindset is wrong and again not healthy. I have so many amazing people around me and I’m truly blessed and I mean that I’m very lucky. But I have been broken for so long and still have my moments to this day.

I have been telling myself for a long time I don’t deserve Lindsay and I always think to myself why is she with me? Naturally, she doesn’t like hearing this haha. She has a successful career that she has been in for years and has a house, dog, and cats before I was even in the picture.

My Issues

I was living with my parents, no college degree and jumped from job to job trying to find my career and purpose. All I could think about is why me, what can I do for her? With my side effects and personal issues that I battle every day. Most people’s issues or problems they come across might be in there daily living. For me, that battle is inside my head daily.

That’s why it’s so important what you feed yourself daily. All I ever wanted was to be used for something positive and fulfill my destiny and purpose in life. I just didn’t know what that was. My whole life, I kept to myself because of embarrassment and being ashamed of my LD. That messed me up from a young age.   

Look What You Can Do

Now, look at what I accomplished in the last seven years. I published a book and written and finished two other books. I’m in the rough draft stage of two more books. I have read over 55 books in a little over five years.

I’ll be honest I still don’t like reading and it’s still a struggle to this day. What I do like is finding out people’s story and where they came from and seeing what they accomplished.

Yes, I still have a lot of personal baggage and personal battles I’m still facing and trying to overcome at this moment. I’m stubborn and used my sarcasm and humor as a shield and a mask ever since I could remember. Seeing people laugh or helping make them laugh always made me happier because if they were happier than they would be less likely being down or upset like I was.

One Opportunity

In the end, I wouldn’t change a thing. We are only given one life and one chance to live. This was all put in front of me for a reason. I wouldn’t get rid of my LD because of the hard times I had. That helped turn me into the person I was always meant to become.

I’ve turned my biggest weakness into a new opportunity in life. I was scared of reading and writing for most of my life and now I’m trying to enter that field as my future career. What does that tell you? I’m very stubborn or crazy haha, news flash, I’m both.

That stubbornness of mine is what helped form me into who I am today. I’m not a quitter anymore like I once was. I do have a purpose and I was created for a reason. All of those lies I have been feeding myself my whole life was just that, LIES.

Healthy Thoughts

It’s time I stop listening to my brain that I’m still fighting and battling with daily. Now is the time I start listening to my heart and doing the things I want to do. I want to write books and help young people. I don’t have a college degree and I just squeaked by graduating from high school. Up till the time when I met Lindsay, I didn’t know if I had a future. The moment we met was the moment my life changed.

Now I want to help YOU. I’m not saying I have all the answers or I am the answer. All I’m trying to do and share with you is embrace YOU. You don’t have to hide anymore. If I can do it, so can you and If I can find happiness and love with how broken I was for so long, so can you. If I can feel purpose and meaning in my life for the first time, so can you and I believe I can help.