Every life has a purpose, by sharing your story you may help someone find their own story too.
By sharing my story I wanted to be the inspiration that others could relate too, and know that they too will have a story to tell, whether that is today, tomorrow or years to come. It is there for all of us.
In January 2024 I was invited to Penrice Academy to speak to 1150 pupils from years 7 to 10 to share my own story, a journey that I never thought would have happen the way that it did. A story I hoped would inspire others to stop, think, reflect and understand that we all have the potential to be awesome individuals no matter what challenges we face.
Continuously in life we are inspired and I for one am no exception as I shared the following quote from an 18 year old podcaster named Dominic Schlueter who recently inspired me.
You’re only mentally as tough as your life demands you to be, an easy life fashions a mind that can only handle ease, a challenging life builds a mind that can handle challenge, like a muscle that wastes away without use, mental strength fades unless it is tested.
When life doesn’t challenge you challenge yourself
We need to willingly challenge ourselves.
My message to the pupils was simple-
Many of you will pin your hopes and dreams on winning the national lottery, but very few of us appreciate that we hold the winning ticket, the ticket to an amazing life and today I want to make it my mission to show you what winning numbers to put on that ticket.
This environment here is where the learning journey begins, this place is not just about your education it’s about learning, growing, a safe place to make mistakes and learn from them but to also learn the lessons for life, and guess what that learning process should never stop.
This environment is giving you the tools for life, to put those tools in the toolbox, but it is how you use them, even if you do use them. Do you close the lid and forget them or do you work harder to add extra tools to that collection and gain a skill in using those tools.
From the age of 18 when I joined the Royal Navy, those 10 years shaped my life as the learning continued. The 23 years that followed as a Police Officer the learning never stopped, not just about the job but learning about myself to. I have I looked back and asked many questions, faced and seen many things that would bring even the strongest of minds to their knees….and it did.
Why did I learn so much from life, the biggest reason is I never learnt much in school, school was just some place you went to, a building, a process but I know now it was more than that, but I never realised it.
School, something that was defined by under achieving, failed exams, not amounting to much and not having the belief in my own intelligence not having the self-belief that I am unique, and I can achieve whatever I set my mind to. From childhood into adulthood failure was my mantra, I anchored my self-worth to those exam results, that feeling of being useless and told that I would never amount to much.
But why did no body tell me…. this was not the case; this was not going to define who I am.
But there were always lessons to be learned, because if you don’t why is all this daily hardship and struggle there for. We all must learn from it and come back stronger to face the music once again.
The only thing that you can always control 100% is the effort you put in, every single time. If you put in 50%, guess what that is all the returns you will get and deserve nothing more. But by putting 70, 80,90% effort in you’re more likely to get the same in rewards and achievements.
Life isn’t about who you were yesterday, but about who you have the potential to be tomorrow and what are you going to do about it today. Don’t forget those yesterday’s use them to create a better tomorrow.
Regardless of age, where you live, your background, your knowledge go and build a curious mind and that allows you learn no matter what as you discover your unique strength. The strengths that we so often don’t know that we had.
Marvin Walters- Life is the most difficult exam. Many people fail because they try to copy others, not realising that everyone has a different question paper.
You can not let words like excuse, denial, and blame shape who you are, you have to take the stance of responsibility, accountability and ownership of who you are and what you can achieve, because it is only you that is in control.
The richest place on earth.
Did you know that the richest place in any town or city is the local graveyard. Not from a monetary point of view but it is here that you will find all the hopes and dreams never fulfilled, the books that were never written, the songs that were never sung, the inventions that were never shared, the cures that were never discovered all because someone was too scared to take that first step.
You have been given talents and gifts, make sure that you use them.
Stop looking for the short cuts, short cuts tell you nice things, don’t listen to these, stop the excuses with the truth. It’s down to you, you have the time, the skills, the knowledge, it is all here for you to grab hold of. You must show discipline and take it.
You must see solutions, you have to see opportunities, you have to notice what your life is telling you and plot a different course of action if it is not working. Ask that difficult question, is this what I want.
Life is going to throw you all a huge number of curve balls and bad situations that you will have to deal with. I’ve had many and more than I care to mention but ultimately the different between success and failure and whether we become stronger or weaker is how you and I react to them. Will failure define you, me, like those school days for me of continued exam failures.
Do we let these experience win, do we rise to the challenge and take them head on. Do we allow them to define us or do we find the one small thing within it all to allow ourselves to achieve.
You are the greatest project that you will ever get to work on, so make the time for pursuing those things that spark a light in you and make you come alive. You must be patient, as it often take years before you arrive at that point.
You are going to face my challenges ahead, but I promise you that when you understand how to use the wisdom you possess you will become stronger to the challenge.
I hope that you find the courage to build a life around what matters most to you.
I hope you listen to that guide within and awaken the hero potential and resides inside.
I hope that you discover the energy to come back stronger and allow your life to flourish in ways that make you want to pinch yourself.
Because one day, when you’re old (like me) and looking back on life, you’re going to wish that you had.
If you commit to making better choices from today, choices that will unlock potential as you put yourself on the path towards fulfilment.
So, you have a choice right now if you want to live a life of meaning: you can either do nothing and continue with how things are, hoping that life will get better, or you can do something about it and surprise yourself.
If you choose the second option, then standby and get ready for a great adventure.
But why did no body tell me…. Be proud of the person that you are becoming.
What story are you currently living and what story do you want to be living. Your story awaits you.