From Basement to Business Owner
The Life Journey of Adam White
It was a life changing experience I will never forget. It was a point in my life where I lost everything I had. I lost my home, lost my car, everything. I was forced to move into my parent’s basement.
It was in my parent’s basement is where I had the transformational moments. I felt I had reached the very bottom. I felt life and happiness had ended for me. It was in that basement that I began to feel unqualified and unworthy for life. I saw other people doing well, I saw other people successful and I wondered why that was not for me. What had I done wrong?
It was a point in my life where I began to ask my creator what I was created for. I asked my creator what was the original plan for my life. I spent more than 2 years seeking the answers to these questions. That desire for change in my life propelled me on a journey of study and research.
In less than 2 years I was able to completely turn my life around going on to buy a Subway Franchise and more than 14 pieces of investment rental property in just a 2 year period. In the basement is where I learn how to overcome my own fears. I learned in those 2 years that success is often built from the ashes and dust of failure.
I found my purpose and discovered my life meaning and mission. Over the next following 10 years, I researched and studied what caused people to succeed or fail, what caused organizations to succeed or fail and so much more. What I discovered is at the core of success of failure is Leadership.
Whether we are trying to lead our company, lead our department, lead our family, or simply lead ourselves, everything starts and ends with Leadership. If leadership is great, then so will our companies be, so will our families be, and so will our lives be. But without great leadership and leadership that is influential we will fail.
Back to my basement to business owner life experience, there were 3 keys that I used to turn things around and that I use today as I travel throughout the U.S. speaking to audiences and coaching clients in Leadership and Personal Development. You may be facing a tough life or leadership situation or you just want to improve as a Leader. These 3 keys have helped to shape my life and I am sure that will add value to yours.
Key 1 – It’s Not How You Start, But How You Finish
It doesn’t matter what resources you do or don’t have. It doesn’t matter who may not support you or endorse you in the beginning, the only thing that matters in your life is that you START. If you never start and continue towards your goals in life, you will forever see your dream from a distance, but never obtain what your eyes have seen. No matter the obstacles that come in your path, you must keep moving forward. Don’t get stuck in life. Don’t get stuck in a bad marriage, or in a dead end job and die with your dreams still inside. You may have to overcome some incredible odds, but always remember it’s not how you started, it’s now how long it takes, but the most important fact is that you pay attention to how you finish. I didn’t get a good start, I didn’t have anything handed to me, I faced what seem to be incredible odds, but I stayed focused on how I was going to finish and I am finishing great today.
Key 2 – Find the Meaning
Sometimes in life we end up in a career or in an environment for which we never intended. We may have been influenced by external forces, or family members that try to make life decisions for us. Sometimes we have to go back to the beginning and ask our creator what the purpose of our life is. We have to discover the real meaning and purpose of our life in order to be happy and find life fulfillment. You can never hear your own inner voice until you drown out the sound of external voices trying to tell you what to do. In that basement, I had to start over, I had to discover my purpose and meaning in life and that was what I built my life and leadership upon. Today I am very happy and fulfilled in life as I life out my life purpose by adding value to the lives of others every day. I had to find the meaning of my life and also the meaning of my circumstances. I discovered that failure was an opportunity to learn, grow and develop. I discovered that my life set back what simply the environment that my creator had designed for training and that everything I learned in a basement experience would become the tools for success today.
Key 3 – Decide
This is where most people get stuck in life. They come to the point of decision and retreat back. They know they must decide, but the fear of change cripples them. The fear of the unknown, the fear of losing our friends, the fear of being rejected all keep us trapped in a prison unable to make different decisions than we made before. It has been discovered by Psychologists that all fears stem from these 2 major fears: 1) the fear of not being good enough, 2) the fear we won’t be loved. When we can lose our fear of what others think and trying to live up to the expectations of others, is when we will experience real freedom. It was in my basement experience that I took a hard look at my life and the decisions I had made in the past. I realized that in order to turn things around in my life, I would have to make different decisions. The definition of Insanity is doing the same thing over and over but expectation different results. I knew that hitting rock bottom and living in my parent’s basement required me to make some different decisions. Those different decisions were the catalyst to success in my life today.
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Adam White
Adam White Speaks – “Where Leadership Lives”
http://www.adamwhitespeaks.com/
adam@adamwhitespeaks.com