As a businessman, looking into the future is an absolute must. The long term goal is something that weighs heavily in my mind at any point in time. With people relying on me for my trade and my business with employees and their families, I have no choice but to focus on how to keep my business afloat and sailing. Instant oatmeal businesses go as quickly as instant oatmeal.

Unpredictability and chance are two of mankind’s greatest weaknesses, because there’s very little we can do about it. Science says that we cry out of frustration over any other emotion. When you think about it, that’s pretty accurate.

At the intersection of victory and defeat is opportunity. One opportunity, one chance to seize the moment and suddenly you’re on top. This is where patience comes in. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but at some point your opposition will underestimate you or take their eyes off of you and then you have every chance in the world to take it for your own. Maybe all you need is a little boost, support from people who have been in it with you since the beginning.

Life has a habit of going its own way, not our way. When you turn on the news and see the constant and unrelenting flow of misery and sadness, it’s hard to look around and be grateful for the world as it is. Yet, at the end of the day we still have homes, families, friends, and so much else.

We trade our fresh sense of curiosity for the comfort of the reassurance that comes from seeing the sun rise for the thousandth time. In every person’s life there comes the night they go to sleep fearing that the sun won’t come up the next day, only to wake up and understand that nothing will impede the sun from making its voyage across the sky. It’s a natural part of life, aging and growing old doesn’t have to be a sentencing, it’s something that can be savored and enjoyed.

No matter what profession or situation you find yourself in, one of the hardest things for us to do is tackle something by ourselves. It’s one of the unspoken difficulties of being a leader, in fact it’s something most people gloss over, but a lot of the time you are looking down the barrel of a gun at whatever challenge is coming up all by yourself. You don’t have the luxury of taking it on with a well-assembled team, you’re out there fighting all by yourself. You have to learn to be okay to do it by yourself.

One of the things most people don’t realize, if you’re driving a certain kind of car and you’re entering a hard turn, you have to accelerate into the turn. The car is a rear-engine vehicle, which means it requires more traction. This is a great life lesson because our life is often filled with hard turns and twists, whether we see them coming or not, it takes great amounts of mental stamina and preparation to deal with them, because we have to keep ourselves from steering off the road, colliding with other motorists, and ensuring the safety of yourself and your passengers.

I like to stress the importance of having people around you who support you and elevate you while pushing you to do your best. By surrounding yourself with people to help you maximize your potential, you’re creating a safety net. I’m sure you’ve seen in a movie or heard someone say “I’ve got your six” or “I’ve got your back.”

You’ve been told by coaches, teachers, friends, instructors, generally anyone with a pulse that “winners never quit and quitters never win.” As cliche as it sounds, it’s important to remember that losing and quitting aren’t the same. Losing is a type of situational criticism, as loss can be our greatest teacher. Sage wisdom doesn’t come from a place of overinflated self-importance, it’s a humble understanding and acceptance of your flaws, your weakness, and the revelation about how to do it better.

Attitude and gratitude are two uniquely human perspectives that, for the most part, result in us having to make strong adjustments to what many consider to be a natural human reaction. When something doesn’t go our way, we tend to lash out in bitterness and blame ourselves, God, the universe, whatever is close at hand.

Learning something and applying that knowledge is something, but to understand requires an empathic connection with that experience that is necessary for growth. A growth mindset is what enables people to develop skills and mature in a way that is unique to our species. To dwell in the past is to reject that growth, but a forward lifestyle that values progress over stagnancy tends to reward us with greater personal development.

Everything in life requires some degree of effort. Sweeping a porch doesn’t require the same amount of effort as building a porch, but both require the motivation to get the job done. A lot of us coast off of motivation, others have moved past motivation into discipline. Regardless, there’s a lot of thinking that centers around the idea that being lazy requires no effort. I find this funny, because often enough, trying to get out of one’s duties and shirk on your responsibilities often means putting in more work just to escape the obligations or commitments.

If today is the last day on Earth, what would you do? Apply this train of thought to your day-to-day activities and see what happens. As I’ve drilled into your head by now, you are the only you that will ever exist. There may be people with your same name, there may be people who could be your twin, but your capabilities, interests, and choices will always set you apart from anyone and everyone else. That makes you unique.

Fortune is defined by a culmination of wealth and resources or simply luck influenced by external sources. Well, it doesn’t take fortune to make a fortune. It takes hard work, so when I tell you to make your own fortune, I’m telling you to make your own luck--that’s what will bring you success.

Life beats you down, you need to dust yourself off, shine your shoes, and get back out there. You take enough punishment from others and life itself, so even if you distance yourself from your naysayers, you can never outrun yourself. Take a moment each morning to look in the mirror and realize that you make a difference.

It’s important to give yourself the same respect you need to be giving others. It’s also crucial that you remember that while you’re not perfect, your value comes in the fact that you will be the only you to ever exist. That alone makes you unique, filled with unlimited potential. Respect your boundaries, respect your goals, and respect your integrity.

Suffice it to say, to be a man is almost to endure a shame so great that it eclipses any feeling of achievement or accomplishment. The merit of the self is lost in a sea of collected ire towards a faceless patriarchy. With the blame allotted, there’s no need to take personal responsibility when you can blame the nearest man for your latest misfortune.

As you get older, you start being able to look back through time. Back in Texas, I had the chance to pass by our old house and places we remember very well. It’s amazing how much water has gone under the bridge.

Without making decisions and choices that actively support our pursuits and help further our achievements, we face the treadmill effect--where we can make efforts, but ultimately we get nowhere as we set ourselves back.

You, like most people, probably plan out your day, your week, looking as far as five to ten years ahead. As much as you may invest in those plans, what are the chances they’ll come to fruition? Remember, you are one phone call away from being on your knees. Tragedy can strike in an instant, rendering everything you have in life meaningless.