Have you ever had a dream delayed, denied, or dismissed because of an obstacle that felt completely out of your control? Maybe it was a person, a policy, a perception, or even your own doubt creeping in. Whatever it was, it made you pause. It made you question. And if you are not careful, it can make you stop.

Have you ever found yourself in a comfort zone where you say, “This is the way I’ve always been. This is the way I’ll always be.”?

When I think about that through my front-row analogy, it is like sitting in a general admission seat. It’s not bad like the balcony, but it’s also not the best seat in the house. General admission is your comfort zone.

How influential are you, really? Not based on your title or your experience but based on what actually happens after you speak. Do people take action? Do they lean in, or do they check out? Do they feel something, or just hear words?

What are you waiting for? You’ve heard it before. Done is better than perfect. But hearing it and living it are two very different things. So today, I want to challenge you to stop thinking about what you want to do and actually do it. Because your life does not change in the planning. It changes in the doing.

Have you ever walked into a company and felt the culture before you even talked to a single person?

That happened to me recently when I visited Steelhead Productions, a full-service exhibition company that builds out custom booths and experiences for the trade show industry.

Today’s message is about perspective, possibility, and pushing past the limits that other people try to place on you. I recently came across the story of an author named Woody Brown, who just released his first novel, Upward Bound. I have not even read the book yet, and I am already inspired.

You know what’s interesting about conflict? In the moment, you always feel justified. Your point of view makes sense, to you. Your reaction feels reasonable, to you. Your frustration feels warranted, to you.
And that’s exactly where things can start to go sideways.

Have you ever been to an event where you were stuck in the back and thought… I can barely see what’s happening down in front? That’s exactly how I felt at one of my favorite concerts ever Earth, Wind & Fire in Las Vegas. My girlfriends and I bought our tickets the same day as the concert.

Sometimes the biggest difference between winning and losing… isn’t talent. It’s belief.

Recently I watched the finish of the Los Angeles Marathon, and I must tell you—it stopped me in my tracks. The winner, Nathan Martin, ran 26.2 miles and won the race by one one-hundredth of a second.