Grit, Gratitude, & Grace Newsletter Reader Here are 2 insights, 2 quotes, and 2 challenges to consider this week... 2 Insights From Me I. "I failed 47 times before I got a 'yes.' Forty-seven job applications. Forty-seven rejections. Each one felt like confirmation that I wasn't good enough. But here's what those 47 failures taught me: Fear of failure is actually fear of feedback. Every rejection told me something: Application #12 taught me to customize my resume for each role Application #23...
10 days ago • 2 min read
Grit, Gratitude, & Grace Newsletter Reader Here are 2 insights, 2 quotes, and 2 challenges to consider this week... 2 Insights From Me I. "Every morning during Florena's cancer treatment, I visualized the outcome I wanted—not the outcome I feared. I didn't visualize her cured (I couldn't control that). I visualized myself showing up with strength, presence, and love regardless of what happened. I saw myself making her smoothies with intention. I saw myself sitting through chemo appointments...
17 days ago • 2 min read
Grit, Gratitude, & Grace Newsletter Reader Here are 2 insights, 2 quotes, and 2 challenges to consider this week... 2 Insights From Me I. "The voice in your head during crisis becomes the script for your life. In 2024, when my wife had cancer and I lost my job, I caught myself saying: 'I can't handle this. I'm not strong enough. This will break me.' Then I realized: I was programming failure into my operating system. I changed the script: 'I'm handling this one day at a time. I'm discovering...
24 days ago • 2 min read
Grit, Gratitude, & Grace Newsletter Reader I tried to build better habits. Morning meditation. Consistent exercise. Healthy eating. Journaling. Reading. I'd start strong and then get busy and then stop. I thought I lacked discipline. Willpower. Commitment. I discovered habit stacking. "The secret of your success is in your daily routine." — John C. Maxwell What habit stacking actually is Habit stacking is simple: attach a new habit to an existing one. Your brain already has strong neural...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
Grit, Gratitude, & Grace Newsletter Reader Let me tell you what I wanted to scream every time someone said "just breathe" or "stay positive" during the worst season of my life. I wanted to scream: "DO YOU THINK I HAVEN'T TRIED THAT?" Wife with cancer. Unemployed. Bills piling up. Medical bills suffocating us. The future completely uncertain. And people would say: "Just take deep breaths." "Try to stay positive." "It could be worse." I know they meant well. But platitudes don't pay bills....
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
Grit, Gratitude, & Grace Newsletter Reader April 2024. Month three of Florena's treatment. Month two of unemployment. The anxiety was eating me alive. I'd wake up at 3 AM with my heart racing. Intrusive thoughts about worst-case scenarios. Constant tension in my shoulders and jaw. That gnawing feeling in my stomach that never went away. I tried everything: intense workouts, journaling, talking to friends, prayer, reading, distraction. Nothing worked. The anxiety always came back, often...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
Grit, Gratitude, & Grace Newsletter Reader I used to look at resilient people with a mixture of admiration and envy. You know the type. The ones who face adversity and somehow keep going. Who get knocked down and bounce back. Who endure unimaginable hardship and still find a way to smile. I'd think: "They're just built differently. They have something I don't." I was wrong. January-March 2024 taught me a truth I wish I'd known earlier: Resilience isn't something you're born with. It's...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
Grit, Gratitude, & Grace Newsletter Reader I learned the most liberating truth of my life: My brain was not fixed. For decades, I had believed the lie: "I am who I am. This is just how I'm wired. You can't teach an old dog new tricks." I believed my personality was set. My habits were permanent. My capacity for growth had a ceiling. Then I discovered neuroplasticity—the brain's astonishing ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections throughout life. And I realized:...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
Grit, Gratitude, & Grace Newsletter Reader It was April 2024. My wife was lying on the couch, exhausted in a way I'd never seen after a chemo treatment. I asked my usual question: "What do you need? How can I help?" She looked at me with tears in her eyes and said, "I don't know. I don't have words for this." In that moment, I realized something: I had spent many years confusing sympathy with empathy. Sympathy says: "I'm sorry you're going through this." Empathy says: "I'm here with you in...
2 months ago • 3 min read