Swing First, He'd Say

Seven years ago today, he opened his eyes to a blinding pain, permeating his cranium. He peeled his head off of the pillow, pulled himself into the bathroom and looked in the mirror.??

The man he saw looking back at him was rough. His face was swollen, his eyes bloodshot. There was an emptiness; he was devoid of any curiosity about the world around him. No hunger for life.

He looked like he had lost a fight. But really, he had just been partying for three days straight.

An old-school beatdown would have been easier on the body than what he put himself through.?

He was 32 years old and had just become a father.?

He didn’t look like one.

He didn’t feel like one.?

His business was in constant crisis. He was an inconsistent manager and a mess of an operator. His feast or famine cash flow had him bouncing from lender to lender, always robbing Peter to pay Paul.

But he was tough.

He was a ship with no rudder, but he charged full steam ahead.

Swing first, he’d say. Ask questions later.

He would blindly sail into any storm, with purpose or without, never sweating the consequences.

Every day, he would add to the pile of trouble.

Instead of taking proactive measures to improve things, he would let problems fester, unbothered by the pain they caused. He was proud of his toughness.

A knucklehead of an entrepreneur.?

But he was done.

He was done scrambling through business, constantly sabotaging his own success.?

He was done with the self-loathing that came from being a constantly hungover father.

He was done with failing to meet the expectations of his young wife.

He was done.

So, seven years ago, he made a change, and nothing about his life is the same.?

Today, he’s got the best kids in the world, three of them now, and they are amazing. All they want to do is spend time with him.

His wife is grateful for him. They support each other in all capacities. She inspires him, and he, her.

He runs his businesses without panic. He plans and executes long-term visions, absent the constant clean-up of a reckless and sporadic leader.

Every year has been marked by growth and progress.

The husband, the father, the entrepreneur, the athlete. Every bucket of his life has improved 10X.

Every single one.

We are what we do, every single day.?

When we describe ourselves, we describe what we do. When we describe someone else, we describe what they do.?

What we do, is who we are.

I’ve made some colossal mistakes. I’ve done some very bad things.?

I’ve been a very bad person.

But as life turns out, you can be a bad person and still do the things that good, productive people do. You can still do the things that high-integrity, accountable people do.

Even if you are a bad person.

And what a gift that a bad person can live a good person's life. Just by doing it.

Simple as that.

Seven years sober today.

We are shapeshifters, and we get to choose our shape every single day.

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