Why do We need another newsletter? - PWP Article #1

Another blog. Another newsletter. Another... thing to read.

Congratulations, you found this newsletter! Actually, congratulations to US. To be honest, it's very difficult for me to subscribe to yet another newsletter titled "How to be successful with this #1 thing to do" or "Top 10 things about ___." I have zero interest in roping you in to read regurgitated information that you can very well Google on your own. No roping, no fluff, just unscripted, unedited stories and lessons that I've learned to help you "Pivot with Purpose."

Who is this guy anyways?

I'm just an average guy who has made it my life goal to achieve greatness. So bold, so... conceded? I wouldn't say that. I've navigated my childhood upbringing with my single mother, whom escaped Belize, and my brother through abusive relationships, the realities of poor rural life, the culture shock of foreign countries, and participation in two wars. I've fallen into and pulled myself out of difficult situations, divorce, and depression. I pride myself on being a first generation college student with two masters degrees, and I am now accelerating faster with my career in a Fortune 500 company. To be clear, I could not have done any of this without an amazing support network and people taking time out of their day to share their experiences.

Whether this newsletter reaches 5 or 1 million people, I'm not too overly concerned. At the end of the day, if my sharing helps just one person, I will have considered this newsletter a success.

What can you expect from this newsletter?

My own perspective on events, people, and experiences that helped to shape who I am as a person today, and how those same elements have ultimately led to continued successes within my own life. We all wish that we could have some trait, or some advantage that we can use to be more successful at "___." I'm here to tell you that YOU ALREADY HAVE THAT! Whoa, bold statement. Not really. Let's break it down:

• You are unique
• You are valuable
• You have been through unique events that only you can understand at the deepest levels

I'm here to destroy stereotypes. I'm here to tell you, through my experiences, that YOUR experiences and the way that YOU perceive them are important.

Why do WE need another newsletter?

Emphasis on the WE. This newsletter isn't meant for me to show off what I know. In fact, this is meant to be a way for YOU to take what YOU need from my stories. You may not relate or even empathize on everything you read here, but you will hopefully be able to pick small things from my writing to apply to your own life. We need this newsletter so that we can share our perspectives, free from key word optimization, and learn how to "Pivot with Purpose."

What inspired me to write this?

If I told you that we're in a golden age of information, how would you respond?

*Pause*

Who comes up with these phrases? Memes? Regurgitated words that have lost their true meaning from being copied and pasted over and over and over and over... and over again.

Inspiration to start this newsletter came to me this morning. My partner and I were having a lazy Sunday morning and I was texting my Dad, asking how his work has been. The evening before I was telling him how I felt exhausted from my week that had been chock full of meetings and socials. He had said that his last day off was a while ago, and he's been traveling between two airfields, working overtime to keep medivac helicopters flying. My Dad retired from the Army as a Huey helicopter crew chief, and has since devoted his entire life to aircraft maintenance - he's been doing the same work for well over 40 years! I began to wonder: how is that I had only worked on helicopters for 6 years, am only 34, yet I am in a very rewarding role in the corporate world of a Fortune 500?

Pivot with Purpose

Being comfortable with being uncomfortable is the key to success. There you go, you don't have to read anything else that I write.

Think about your own experiences. Think about a time when you accomplished something that truly had an impact on your life. I guarantee that what you're thinking of wasn't easy, trivial, and you probably had a few people (including your internal self) that didn't believe in you. What you did was "Pivot with Purpose." You took skills, ideas, experiences from the past and you did something new. You could have failed, and if you did, it would have sucked. Like, really really sucked - to the point where it would have adversely affected your life.

Some life coach out there will always say things like "The best things in life don't come easy" or "You have to get out of your comfort zone." I'm here to tell you that those are watered down phrases. "The best things in life come when you're hungry, tired, about to not make rent, and you're beat down to a pulp that barely resembles your past self." This is where growth happens.

See, we get comfortable. You'll give yourself a goal, and say "if only I can achieve ___, I'll be happy." Let me tell you this, you're not going to be happy when you achieve that thing, and you're going to lose a bit of yourself if you're not careful. To truly "Pivot with Purpose" is to recognize that you bring unique experiences, skill sets, and relationships to EVERY part of your life - professional, personal, physical, virtual, spiritual. You must draw on everything, recognize the relationships and processes that are both very unique and eerily similar to accomplish a goal that you don't even know exists yet. You need to be (un)comfortable with your life and circumstances to truly grow.

(Un)Comfortable

Say with me: I am AWESOME. You're awesome. You know something that I don't, that your family doesn't, that no single person in this entire world will ever know. Be comfortable in the skillsets that you know now, and then throw yourself into those uncomfortable situations that will bring growth.

In the coming articles, I will share my experiences so as to give you inspiration from your own experiences. You may ask, "Why not just give me the formula in a list?" If only pivoting were that easy...

Why do WE need another newsletter?

I'll let you be the judge of the coming articles, but know that this isn't meant for my own ego boost or viewership. This is meant to clearly show how YOU can leverage the skills that you already have, develop new ones, and understand the synergy that your experiences provide to blaze your own, unique path.

Follow me on this journey of self-exploration and let's learn to "Pivot with Purpose!"

- Leland Sutter