~ Knowing Yourself Better In 2021 ~

Are you afraid or have you given up within some small part of yourself to starting out the new year with the required passion it will take to see it through? Do not worry, you are not the only one. Many people have felt the added pressure to this new adventure called 2021. You are not alone. We often feel like our circumstances, and the details of those specific circumstances are very special and very niche, no one understands what we are dealing with. Next to nothing encourages us, little inspires us, we feel out of touch and maybe a little lost. Do not lose hope in yourself, your family, your friends or your passion to continue. Keep searching and keep reinventing a better you, keep building, the best is yet to come.

Do not lose hope in yourself, your family, your friends or your passion to continue.

Last year was a huge learning curve for me. I learned that everyone inevitably makes mistakes, it is impossible to be perfect and it is impossible to be one who will never make a bad choice, big or small. One day it will happen, some days it may even happen multiple times. It hurts doesn't it? It can suck the life out of you and it can suck everything that you hold dear in your life away in a moment. Our choices matter. The paths we choose matters. Our destination matters. Everything matters to a certain degree, however, we cannot live in fear of making bad choices so much so that we make no choice at all. That in itself is a choice, so wisely we must choose our stance or position.

Did you know that everyone has to fight for what they have? The most powerful and influential men and women of this world fight, everyday. You must get up and fight for what you want and what you need. Whether that be a job, a home, a family, a career or simply a biscuit. Some people do not have to worry about what they will eat or where they will sleep tonight or tomorrow, but there are people who do worry about that. Do you want to know what I worry about? Come here, let me invite you in and tell you one of my secrets.

I worry about not being a good leader. I worry about not being a strong leader. I worry about making wrong choices or weak choices or bad choices. I am afraid of being wrong. I don't want to see a big red X anywhere along the paths of my life when I look back. I want to see good choices, right choices and wise choices. I want my choices to have results of success and progress and finished races, goals and visions that I have sought and fought towards for years and years. I worry about not being a great Father figure to my nephew and teaching him and mentoring him the way my Father wasn't able to do for me. I worry about not being a great husband for my future wife. I worry about losing, crashing the ship of my life and effecting others lives. I do not want to hurt people, especially the ones my heart dearly loves.

I want my choices to have results of success and progress and finished races, goals and visions that I have sought and fought towards for years and years.

I do not want to be a great man, I merely want to do great things. I want to add value to creation, by something that I was responsible for whether in part or as a complete whole. One of the things I want to do is set a great example for others, so they know they can do it too. I want to achieve the said, "impossible" by others. I want to conquer the unconquerable and enjoy the sweet scent of victory that resonates throughout my whole life and spills over into others lives.

John Maxwell, Dave Ramsey, Christine Caine and Gary Vaynerchuk are people who I respect in the sense of applying their mentorship and values to my life in the hope of coming out at the end of my life with better results when applying their leadership techniques to my daily actions. I believe most of what they all teach and preach. One singular aspect they all talk about is knowing your value; understanding your strengths and weaknesses and doubling down on those things. Being realistic with your expectations, being intentional with your actions and working to know yourself better.

To know yourself allows you to have the power to lead yourself in a very strong, potent and particular way. This past year of 2020 has taught me more about myself. I want to know myself, because I want to rule over my choices; I wish to allow my life to be led in the most amazing direction, the wisest direction. I want to be a beacon of hope, inspiration, encouragement and tenacity to those around me and those who I come in contact with every day. I want to be more intentionally focused on myself. In the long term I will be enabled to give less focus to myself and focus more on the needs of others around me. Helping others to know themselves more so they too can become better at leading themselves is one of the most rewarding careers.

To know yourself allows you to have the power to lead yourself in a very strong, potent and particular way.

Recently I hurt someone that I love very dearly and I made a horrible mistake. I cannot take that back. It will forever be a mark on my past and that persons past. I created history and it is forever written. Now, what I choose to do is pick myself up and prove to myself and to that person, that my choices do NOT define me. I am working towards proving that I can lead myself better and be more wise with my actions and my choices. I can rise up and take ownership of the direction I am intending to go. I will better myself and improve myself.

This is my goal for this year, knowing myself better, leading myself better and being better. This in turn will allow me to be better not only for myself, but for others. When I learn to lead myself correctly, then and only then can I be a leader that others can follow anywhere. Knowing myself and leading myself is the best choice I could ever make for me and for you. Inevitably both you and I will rise as a result of these ongoing metamorphosis'.

When I learn to lead myself correctly, then and only then can I be a leader that others can follow anywhere.

Commit to knowing yourself better this year, commit to leading yourself and growing after a year of intense pressure in the year 2020. Become more this year, do not do more, be more. Culture a characteristic of servitude and be your best self for others. This is the true definition of loving others. Make yourself right, so you can help others right themselves. I wish to see everyone around me obtain their true greatness. We all are great, so let's work together in becoming the best versions of greatness. I won't quit, if you wont.

This article was written by Benjamin Y. Jackson. - His Father, Jack Jackson a highly decorated Navy veteran brought home their first freshwater aquarium and let him help set it up, that was well over 30+ years ago. Having been recently afforded the opportunity in the last quarter of 2016 to become OWC (Open Water Certified) he has become an avid SCUBA diver. He currently serves as President of T.E.A.M.S. (Tennessee Elite Aquarium and Marine Society) and also shares his passion for animals and people by serving a growing base of clientele within Aquatic Professions, Inc. As one who thoroughly enjoys writing, he is also currently working on a handful of books, one being co-authored with his nephew Ethan so he can share his passions with others of all ages.

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