Just Do It! There is NO perfect time to get that degree.

JUST DO IT!?

Probably the most iconic marketing slogan ever devised. As popular as the term became, many aren’t privy to the source which influenced the now famous trademark.?

The truth is, the inspiration spawned from the last utterance of convicted murderer Gary Gilmore, who at the time of his declaration was facing a firing squad. With guns pointed in his direction Gilmore yelled “Let’s Do It!”.

Regardless of how this super catchy, extremely motivating, and straightforward three word expression came about, it’s still a powerful and uplifting one. As long as you’re not standing on a firing line.

It’s the ultimate rallying cry, one used to obliterate imaginary mind constructed walls. Barriers of doubt composed of fears like “I don’t have the time”, “I can’t do that”, “is it worth it?”, “what if I fail?”, or my favorite “I’ll do it tomorrow”. The longer the negative thinking persists, the more powerful the forces of doubt become.?

Here is the genius of “Just Do It!” Just as the first ridiculous notion of possible failure, high levels of difficulty, or doubt starts to seep into one’s subconscious, a person can motivate themselves instantly and can do their best Kool-Aid man impression while plowing through the walls built from over thinking - “OHH YEAH!"

My educational journey was not the archetypal path of learning it is for most eager teens coming straight out of High School. Let’s gloss right over the first few negative years. We can collectively face palm for effect and move on.

Fast forward to 2012. I am a 27 year-old, newly promoted investigations sergeant for a metro Atlanta police department working the?2pm to 11pm?shift. A slow day on the job involved a burglary or two and a busy day included robberies, aggravated assaults, murders, or a healthy “grab-bag” combination of the three.?

On the far more rare occasions when a slow day presented itself, I would be bored out of my mind - throwing a ball in the air to see if I could get it?close to the ceiling without it actually touching. You would win if you could get it so close that you couldn’t even tell if it hit or not. Why ceiling ball (patent pending) is not yet an Olympic sport is beyond me. In short, waiting on the radio to summon me to someone’s very bad day was all that was required.

This boredom allowed my mind to wander into “HaveILivedUpToMyTruePottentialVille”. Several times, I put the tennis ball down and googled colleges and what it would take to finish my degree. Each time those mental walls discussed earlier were quickly built and extremely effective. In the end, nothing would materialize out of these searches.?

Finally, one day it happened. I got on my computer, downed a Redbull, typed my information into an enrollment form and said “Just do it”. Honestly, I likely added an expletive in there, but the sentiment remains the same. I pushed all the way through to the payment process. I found that if you take it to the point of no return - mind blocks matter less and less.?

A joke I remember my friends father telling me at a young age sums this up nicely, “A man planned to swim across a large lake. He swam to the halfway point and thought to himself that it was too far to swim the rest of the way, so he turned around and swam back to where he started.” In short, put yourself in a position where it makes more sense to keep going then to turn back.

Some of the hurtles my mind was so fond of presenting when I had doubts were indeed there in real life needing to be hurtled. My days were long starting classes?at 7am?running?until 1pm?- short break for lunch in between - then it was homicides?from 2pm until 11pm. Studying, papers, and homework were done overnight and on weekends.?

I recall one example where I?worked 24-hours straight on a homicide and had to drive straight to the school and take a final, I was five minutes late and still in uniform. I made it through despite a slight tinge of delusion brought on from physical and mental exhaustion. On a side note, please know if you are wearing a police uniform, hurriedly enter into a quiet classroom of testing students, and are panting from running across campus, it can be fairly alarming. Their faces turned from concern to laughter after I said loudly "sorry I'm late for the test". Hey, what’s achievement with out sacrifice? Also, its great to handle adversity with laughter.

Quickly, the hellacious schedule became my groove, the incoming knowledge was invigorating, the intensity - goal affirming, and I felt headed in the right direction. Some of these feelings faded over time, but the adopted routines and techniques I learned to adapt allowed me to maintain the drive towards the finish line.

Two years later, I had my degree. I did it. Hell, “I just did it!” I felt smarter, stronger, more resilient, and inspired.?My bachelor degree opened doors! I wouldn’t event think of going into corporate security with only my High School education. There would be little money in any role that was accepting of lower levels of education.

I moved on from Law Enforcement in 2017 joining a major league sports franchise as a security professional. My bachelor degree definitely being necessary for my new company and role. In my first two years in this corporate job, I spent most of my time learning a new industry.

Fast forward again to December 31st, 2019. Boy, who knew how obscure retrospectively that ringing in a new year could be.?2020 would be the continuation of my “Just do it!” Campaign.?

Personal and global dominos started to fall on March 11th, 2020. I was on field at Aztec Stadium in Mexico City. It was halftime and Atlanta United FC just went down?3-0 to Club America and dozens of phone notifications lit up my screen. The headlines included: “World Health Organization declares a global pandemic”, “President Trump issues travel ban for all travel from European countries into the United States” followed by “Commissioner Adam Silver cancels all NBA games indefinitely”. Armed with hand sanitizer and a healthy bit of fear, my team and I helped hustle the team to the airport, and onto the plane, all the while hoping we wouldn’t get turned away prior to landing in America. We landed safely in Atlanta and I took a long deep breath. The next day everything shut down for months.

Meetings turned virtual, workloads diminished, and quarantining in the house became the norm. Even with the a slow down at work, my life was anything but leisurely. I now had a one year old and my wife was 7 months pregnant with my second son. Two professionals working from home with a toddler and a new born wasn’t a walk in the park. Mix in a fair amount of globally shared stress and fear due to a worldwide pandemic, nightly upheavals in all major cities around the globe, thousands dying everyday, and a media news cycle that wouldn’t let anyone escape the horrors. Think about it - there were so many tragedies in 2020 that most of us forgot that the entire continent of Australia was on fire that January.

Despite all of this, it happened again. A desire to get my Masters Degree crept in. The walls were there again as well. “Aren’t you stressed enough?”, “what about sleepless nights due to two screaming babies?”, and “what happens when work picks back up?” Once again - “Just do it!”. I jumped in head first and swam half way. Once again the hurtles were there, but the amazing human spirit of adaptation was there too.?

Once again, I was super busy, having to make time and sacrifices to achieve the degree. And once again I was experiencing the groove, the invigorating feeling of gaining knowledge, the satisfaction of reaching my goals, and the overwhelming reassurance that I was headed in the direction of success.

In 2022, with the worldwide pandemic, travel restrictions, and work from home life coming to an end, I finished school. Now I have my masters! “I just did it again!” I’m seeing even more promising?doors open.

I say all of this because there are so many people looking for that final push of inspiration to start what they can finish. My hope is that my story can help push someone to the point of “Just do it!”

Is it worth it? YES! Financially and Scholarly.

Can you do it? YES! Hurtles are a fact of life, you might as well choose to sky above the ones on the way to major achievement.

Will I fail? MAYBE. Failure is completely fine. Every human fails, but the worst form of failure is the failure to take chances.

Can you do it tomorrow? SURE, but why would you when you can change your life today.

JUST DO IT!?

Start swimming to the halfway point. The point where it’s ridiculous to turn back. Then put your head down go get your damn glory!