I was a multi-sport athlete. I remember playing soccer for a few years (couldn’t breathe), leading to a few weeks in a bubble in the hospital (Pneumonia), and then years of weekly allergy shots and an irregular heartbeat.
It was driven into me since I was born to never quit, so I had to finish out the season.
When I hit school age I played basketball, football, track and field and wrestling. Elementary school was a bad time for me and there are many things that I don't remember. Many things I do remember were not good. I had many issues, starting with a learning disability, then others such as ADHD, dyslexia, slow learner, or some of the more popular students and my classmates calling me stupid. One time, my mom about ripped off the principal's head when he told her he didn’t want “mentally retarded” kids in his school and recommended I go elsewhere. Year-round tutors and special Ed became part of my life.
All of these sports I did had conditioning, but I hated it because I couldn’t breathe. Long story short - my dad got me into a private Powerlifting Gym when I was 13. THIS I loved. This made me bigger, stronger, and I got better at sports.
It also built my confidence. I did go from the kid everyone beat up and made fun of to the kid nobody wanted to mess with - and with that came my share of more trouble, learning how to get out of school work and internal excuses I made as to why I would never be smart but I knew I would be strong AF.
It took me several more years to realize the skills and work ethic I learned in the weight room could be applied to my education; even longer to see how it could be applied to business, and way too long to see it could be applied to relationships.
You can say I was beaten up, bullied, held down, held back, and worse: made to feel less than I was, could be, or ever would be. You could, but I won't! Do any of these feelings creep back up on me today? You bet they do! And sometimes they win. Most of the time they lose. But I welcome the battle because it's all on me - it always has been...
And I was not raised to quit!
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