#4LESSONS Number 4

You are not the sum-total of your past mistakes

If you want to change the way people see you, you need to change the way you see yourself. Sounds pretty simple but it's hard as hell. Pretty sure we all know that. Haha. You may or may not know that I had a music and comedy career before I went all in with barbering. I was cutting for 10 hrs a day, making enough to keep my dreams alive. Then I'd hit stages 4 nights a week and be in the studio for 3-12 hours a week on days off. After 7 years I wasn't making enough to quit cutting, so I packed it up and now do it for fun here and there. (I'm still nice off the head incase anyone wants to test me. Boom!)

So at that point, I'm owning my shop, making a name for myself and just killing it. And I'm still sitting here thinking of myself as a failed rapper and washed up comic. That's crazy! Isn't a much better lens, one that views myself as a successful business owner? As my own boss who makes his own path?  I was deliberately operating below my potential based on past events; past failure. That's awful. So I changed the way I see all that. Now it's just a thing that I didn't win. That's it. I've lost so many times at so many things. This is just another one.

When I focus on my wins, I see a bunch of GREATNESS! I'm married to a beautiful, strong, and inspiring woman. I own the busiest barbershop in the area. I have 2 healthy kids and…...and…...and I have the ability to understand, then inspire people. That's my legacy. That's my story. And now that I live from that POV, things fall in place, man. I've gotten in touch with my purpose. I've helped a lot of people in a 1on1 format. I've helped save marriages and gotten people back to their faith. I've given 4 other men jobs. This is what I do. This is my power. So am I failed rapper? Nope. I stopped on my own. I quit because I didn't know how to win at that. That's all. I cut hair for 50 hrs a week for a decade, so I went pro at that. If I made music 50 hrs a week, I might have made that my profession.

I changed the way I viewed myself and so did “they”. Now.…….What's your view that you need to change? Did you screw up somewhere? Did you let someone down, mess someone up? Did you kill someone? Did you hurt somebody? We all have that story in us. The choice is ours whether or not we want to change it……...whether or not we want to add a new chapter that changes the direction of our story. It starts with you realizing that regardless of the mistakes you've made, you have UNSURPASSABLE WORTH to God. Live life looking through that lens. Tell me what changes then.

One!