This is TPS

Just Getting Started

The premise of my transformation from a shy, scared, self-conscious, overweight loner to a semi-functional, somewhat social and seemingly confident individual lies in one simple concept — self-awareness!

Unfortunately my self-awareness was triggered by a place I like to call ‘rock bottom‘.

No, I didn’t lose everything in a fantastic display of catastrophic self-destruction.

My rock bottom was more of a culmination of many years of indecision and apathy that had finally caught up with me and I could no longer ignore the problems it was causing.

I had hit rock bottom in my health, my self-esteem, my attitude towards life, my work ethic, my social life and my prospects for success in anything of significance.

Don’t get me wrong, it could always be worse, but the way I see rock bottom is the lowest one will allow themselves to go before they decide enough is enough.

And enough was enough!

It was during the year 2012 when I woke up one morning, stood bare before the mirror and could hardly recognise the person staring back at me.

With the help and support of my friends and family, this became a turning-point year for me — this was when I started to make some big changes in my life.

And, although it has been almost a decade and I can barely believe how far I’ve come, it was not quick and it was not easy and I still have a long, long way to go.

But perspective is a great thing to have and I’ve learnt so many principles that can be universally applied to most, if not all, aspects of life and personal development.

The first and most crucial step, however, is to just get started. And that’s half the battle won right there.

In any new endeavour, just getting started is the toughest challenge and the longest chapter. This element of everything in life is responsible for more broken promises, lost potential and failure than anything else I can think of.

To just start something, anything at all, is crippling and can be both the beginning and the end of our hopes, dreams and aspirations.

And this is not just true of those wishing to tackle a personally novel experiment, but even masters of a craft can find themselves staring into the face of procrastination when confronted with a grueling aspect of an activity they’ve done multiple times before.

Yet, it is those with the mental fortitude to push past the doubt and the fear; that can just get on with it and do whatever it takes to get it done, who end up succeeding in this world.

Step by tiny step, I started taking my health, my mindset, my confidence, my social life and my future very, very seriously.

Since then, I’ve made significant improvements to my health and have gotten in the best shape of my life.

When I took responsibility for my future and finally committed to getting admitted as an attorney (even when I realised it wasn’t something I wanted to do with my life) I put my head down and I made it happen (by the skin of my teeth).

When I finally decided to come out about who I am to my loved one’s, I was terrified that they would react negatively to the news. But, if I ever hoped to accept and love myself, I needed to live fully and honestly. That closet is a dark and lonely place and, much like my comfort zone, I desperately needed to get out. Yes, I’m sure there are people who will find issue with the fact that I’m both gay and an atheist and, although nobody has ever confronted me personally about my sexual orientation, I find it shocking to believe that we live in a world where people are still being harmed or discriminated against because their mere existence somehow offends another’s antiquated beliefs. I have, however, received backlash for my incredulity and, in the past, I would mostly just keep quiet and nod my head in agreement when the topic of religion came up. Most recently, after concluding that I was no longer willing to support an industry that profits off the suffering of sentient beings, my decision to go vegan has also been met with resistance. But we cannot let the fear of other people’s judgement turn us against ourselves in an effort to keep the peace. Unless it would put your life in danger, honesty is, as they say, the best policy.

And when I finally decided to pursue my dream of starting my own business, I was willing to take that risk because I was able to choose my fear of regret as a motivator over my fear of failure.

Together with the above, I have struggled through issues with confidence, procrastination, social anxiety, feelings of inadequacy as well as many other limitations and obstacles standing in my way of where I want to go.

Personal development is a set of skills that need to be honed and worked on regularly and consistently. It is not a one time deal; it’s not a set it and forget it sort of thing.

I’m not special or superhuman. Through grit, determination, perseverance and a little bit of hustle, I was simply able to overcome aspects of my life that other people seem to have all naturally figured out.

Nothing, and I mean nothing, came easy to me. I don’t believe I possess any valuable natural talent, skill or expertise (besides for maybe writing, and that’s also touch-and-go). Yet, we can all learn and acquire those things and, with hard work, become successful in anything we set our minds to.

I have also not had an especially difficult life. My particular flavour of adversity is admittedly extraordinarily vanilla. For instance, I’d say my greatest shortcoming, and one I’m extremely embarrassed to admit (but, for the purpose of transparency, I will reluctantly disclose), is the fact that I’ve never really had to take personal responsibility for many things in my life.

And, when life finally thrust responsibility into my lap rather unexpectedly, I was supremely unprepared for it and crumbled under the weight of all the pressure like a cheap chair being sat on by an elephant.

But the best thing I ever did, and something I do every single day in anything I do, is to just. get. started.

A Passion for Progress

But that’s enough about me, let’s talk about you.

I’d like to hear from you and figure out how we can get you started on your journey to becoming the best version of YOU!

My main goal is to deep dive into a particular aspect of your life that you feel is not living up to your expectations and then come up with a game plan to whip it into shape. 

Additionally, to take you to that next level of awesomeness, I’ll be introducing you to some key self-development practices you can start implementing immediately for massive results. 

Check out my products below to see where you can find me and how I could possibly be of assistance to you. 

I am also on a constant mission to create and curate resources for those just getting started on their personal development journey as well as introduce people to the best in the business who are even better positioned than I am to guide them along the road to success. 

My passion is for progress and I am committed to your success.