For most of my life I’ve made my own choices, I’ve been blessed with two free-spirited parents that gave me the green light at an early age to mold my own life and fill it with original experiences. Whether those choices had positive or negative outcomes it was ultimately my choice, and I would have to attain to the consequences of my poor decisions or celebrate the rewards of a good one. I come from a middle class family of four that has seen its ups and downs just like any other one, I guess what separates us in my eyes from others is that we choose to do things the difficult way because to our four person nucleus it’s the right way. During my childhood I remember coming home from school and always being asked at the dinner table, “So, what’d you learn at school today?”, like most elementary aged kids I would respond, “Umm, nothing.” or “The same stuff as yesterday.” I would say sometime after Christmas break during 5th grade my father asked me the typical aforementioned question and I would give him the typical response. I figure he had enough of hearing the same thing day in day out and said the following words that have stuck with me ever since, “Uno no viene al mundo para simplemente existir, viniste al mundo a dejar una huella y si no te preparas desde ahora te iras sin dejarla”, the English translation is as follows. “One does not come into this world to simply exist, you are here to leave your footprint and if you fail to prepare yourself now you will leave without having done so.”

It felt almost as if someone had lit a fire underneath me, ever since that moment everything I decide to do I do it with extreme passion and desire. It sounds great on paper, but if you’ve ever been close to a person that’s as dedicated to succeeding in everything as I am you would know. You would know that it’s hard for that person to be content with second place, whether it be at a state tournament or at checkers. I do not regret for one second taking my fathers advice all those years ago and internalizing it the way I did. I encourage my employees and co-workers to do the same, whatever it is you do today do it with a purpose, don’t go through the motions. That philosophy can transcend into everything in life, love, work, finances, family.

In my eyes the greatest world leaders have lived with purpose, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa. Why wouldn't you want to strive to be like them? Wait, I know. It’s hard, it’s damn hard actually. Why would you ever want to stay after playing a basketball game and shoot 500 free throws like Kobe Bryant would? Because it matters, it’s not about the game, not about getting an “A” on that test you have coming up next week, it’s about not failing yourself. You set a bar low enough and you have no where to go but up right? The problem is that by aiming low you miss low, I set my goals disproportionately high at times just because it forces me to work as hard as I possibly can. I urge you to do the same.