Dream Big

The further I get away, in time that is, from that moment I decided to leave Active Duty, the closer I come to realizing that I should have stuck to my guns and my initial plan.

We have a skill set and an attitude that no one else on the planet has.  Save one country and there's a good book out there that I recommend, "Start up Nation".  It really does say it all and I believe whole-heartedly that GallantFew is capitalizing on two of it's cornerstones.  Entrepreneurship and the Veteran network. Check out 1KVets and the whole idea behind it.  What Karl and Sudy are doing is spot on.

We have created great things and accomplished monumental feats with little more than the will to do so.  We inspired others to follow us in the face of almost certain failure and come out on top. Over and over and over again.

Our economy sucks.  The government, it's agencies and a lot of civilian corporation post positions to cover their backs; building a "Look at me, I'm doing great things for Veterans and our economy" facade.  Yet we see through the BS.  ACAP, well intentioned as it is, is a joke.  Career advice from folks with little to no experience in the civilian market and job fairs with companies that have little to no experience with the military...that recipe ain't gonna taste too good.

So what are YOU going to do about it?

My whole life, folks have told me that I couldn't or wouldn't.  Too small, too slow, not smart enough.  Well I did.  Still am doing.  But somewhere along the way I lost sight.

We need to dream again.  We need to hold on to that dream and be willing to suffer to make it work.  People gravitate towards us.  Capitalize on that.

The transition is hard.  We lose our network of friends and support.  We lose our mission.  The jobs we take don't take care of us and don't mean as much to us.

That's fine.  When you realize that a job is nothing more than a means to an end and you have an ultimate goal or DREAM, life becomes a little more clear and a lot less stressful.

My goal is to support my family and be able to spend time with them.  I want to support myself, be my own man.  100% self made and sustaining.  My mission is to get there.  My dream...I let it slip away and I was miserable.

I started to dream again.  I read only things that help me imagine more and support my dream.  Here's another blog that I read (http://www.jamesaltucher.com/).  This guy is out of control.  Just my style.  It's going to take a lot of time.  I'm OK with that.  It's going to take even more work.  I'm enjoying that work.

What are you going to do?  Figure it out.  Don't stop until you get there and surround yourself by only those that will help you get there.  Everyone else and everything else is irrelevant.

Over the last few weeks, things have been coming into my view about this whole topic.  Certain celebrities telling kids that no one owes them a damn thing and to just get a job.  That dreams take a lot of work.  That they suck as people because they only care about themselves.  Athletes that are told they aren't good enough to play college or professional ball and write angry letters to powerful people and constantly prove everyone wrong.

I'm surrounded by Veterans like Mike Schlitz and read articles about Cory Remsburg.  These two men inspire the hell out of me.  "Never tell a Ranger what he can't do."  Are you kidding me?  The dude said it with a smile too.  The audacity.  I love it.  Mike pours every ounce of energy he has into others.  In a recent interview he did, Mike told us what made him turn that corner, and I'll paraphrase here...."That spoon saved my life."  Immense challenges, ungodly pain and they shrug it off like it's nothing.  Hell it seems like they enjoy the challenge.  And on top of it all, I'll bet those two men smile more than anyone they meet.

The safety of our country is still on our shoulders.  We just don't need an M-4 to ensure that safety.  The development and mentoring of our brothers and sisters in arms are still our responsibility.  But we're more spread out now.  Find them.  Actively seek them out.  Be that person that never stops riding their butts.  You might be the one to save their life or jump start the next big idea.

It's up to us.  I've seen the competition; it's not very impressive.  We all see what is being "done" to fix the economy and "our" situation.  No one can do what we do.  So, let's get to work and redefine the 1% that everyone is so pissed about.  We're the 1% that matters and no one is going to see us coming.