Determination isn't where I want it to be...yet.  It's continually moving closer, and that is the key element.  It's fantastic to have something that you are passionately driven about, but having that thing can make life all the more frustrating.  As important as creating the dream slowly is, when you are so passionate about something, it makes the desire for wanting it here and now all the more intense.

Leaving my job last year was a tough decision, but looking back I was a 24-year old in a downsizing company, that all his friends had left.  I left a stable job where I would continue to build income in my savings, which is the con.  It's kind of stressful to think about that because I could have enough money right now to move wherever I wanted to go.

This may be true, but if I stayed at that job, a lot of other things would not be true.

I would not have this website for one.  I would not have my personal trainer certification.  I'd be nowhere near getting my hours done behind-the-wheel for my driver's license, which I am testing for next Friday.  Without my license, it's futile to go through, or even think about, a move somewhere.  With everything I have gone through with the state of Maryland to get me approved for driving, I owed it to myself to see that accomplishment through.

From leaving my job, I lost some savings, but I gained a wealth of personal experiences and lessons that I never would have gotten otherwise.  Determination is going to be coupled with one or two other programs come next year.  The people I am planning to partner with, I met them through situations I put myself in that resulted from leaving my job last October.  There's no reason to debate over which choice would have put me in the best position. As long as I gained experience and laerned something that will guide me in my future, then my time was well spent.

No two lives are the same, but being able to experience life, instead of settling for security, is a valuable thing.  Now I know exactly where I want to be and what I want to experience.  I may not physically be there yet, but mentally and emotionally I have ridded myself of aspects of my life that were holding me back.  I grew with every result that came from leaving my job last year.  That's the most important thing because it has taught me what is important and has taught me why it's important.

I was mad that I felt like I wasted 9 months of my life, but looking back, the only reason I am debating that is because of the experiences I gained over the last 9 months.  It put things in perspective.  I gained perspective.

Through that light, the con that I was dealing with has actually been the intial pro because it was what spurred everything else.  I have an appreciation for life and, even though I feel like I'm squandering my time now, the fact that I'm cognizant of where I want to be and what I want to be doing let's me know that I'm not squandering anything, but rather making the most of my time to get myself there as efficiently and successfully as possible.

This weekend is going to be very cool.  Last month, I drove up to Hershey, PA to give a speech, and this month I am driving an hour further north to Sunbury.  Their triathlon is a play off of Woodstock, using River since the event takes place at the Susquehanna River.

I have been talking to this guy Mark, who has been diligently raising money for me, and he told me that the stage is mine and to talk about anything I feel will motivate these people as they prepare to run a triathlon.  I’m planning on taking full advantage.

As I have developed this speaking program and continued to add subject matter and talking points, I found myself randomly giving spur of the moment speeches as practice in my room—no cue cards, no notebooks, nothing planned whatsoever.  I have come up with some really great speeches giving them as I wait for my bath to run or whilst purusing Facebook.

It’s definitely a risk, considering I have never given a speech off the cuff, but with as many times as I have found myself doing so at home, I owe it to myself to try it in a live environment and see what happens.

I think the main reason I am not concerned about giving a spontaneous speech is because my material is my life and the lessons that I live my life by.  It’s instinctive to me, and often times I find that saying something in the moment comes off so much more perfectly than when you are constantly editing and reorganizing sentences and tone in a set speech.  Besides, if I can play off of my audience and incorporate them into my presentation, that makes having no plan even more fun because the presentation caters to what the audience gives me and what they want to hear.  Ultimately, it’s about making the audience happy, so here is hoping these triath-letes are as extroverted as I imagine they will be.

I’m leaving Friday afternoon and I start my speech around noon on Saturday.  As of now, it doesn’t sound like there is a time limit on my speech, so it’s a good thing I have continually strengthened my rhetoric skills and know how to transition between any two points in the matter of a couple sentences.  It’s going to be a fun weekend full of new, and always desired, experiences—a perfect situation to further polish Determination as it continues to gain momentum and frequency.

Go to FB, search Determination and it should bring you to a link for the FB page I created for Determination.  (If you can't find it, there is a link on my FB page.)

Join, Invite your friends and help me make this program a successful company within the next year.  This is my dream and so many people are behind it.  So many other people NEED it.  I'll only get there with help.  Please help me any way you can.

Love,
Greg

I started my new full-time job on Thursday, and after two days I feel like anyone does after their first two days...completely and utterly lost.  I know that no question, however many times it gets repeated, is a stupid question.  It's going to be funny to look back in 4 months and realize how brain-dead I was.

It's been a very busy month besides the new job.  Last minute vacations and getting everything ready for working 9-5 took up a lot of time.  In fact, I forget how much time gets dedicated to working full time.  I'm remembering completely why I left my last job and needed 6 completely- focused months to get Determination fully prepped.  There is still more work to be done on Determination, but it's nothing that I can't now work into my work week, once I get a grip on what it is I do in my job, haha.

It's been an interesting start to work though.  The bus blew past me after my first day, I nearly lost my ID card on the second day and I'm not even going to get started on the computer issues involved with the temporary machine they gave me to use last week.

I'm just glad that I don't have to work 4 hours daily on Determination anymore.  There's a lot of work to get done yet, but now most of it is going to involve some collaborative efforts that you are going to be hearing about much more very shortly.  For now, I gotta go.  Time to pack my gym bag for my morning pre-work workout.  Let the schedule continue, but I promise that these updates are starting up again.  Check back tomorrow =)