I was just recently asked, "What's your favorite quote?" and after thinking about it for a while, I have to go with a quote from one of my favorite personal development writers, Jim Rohn. The quote is "If you don't like how things are, change it! You're not a tree." Those are some strong words because each day I come upon somebody who isn't happy with where they are in life. They constantly complain about financial issues, relationships, this and that, but what bugs me the most is that these people are not willing to make the necessary adjustments to improve their situations. Why? To me, it almost seems like people are content with being unsatisfied. They have become content with their scarcity of success, and they just complain because that's what they have been doing for so many years, looking to get someone to feel bad for them, but the truth is that they have no passion to change. I have been there before, but did what I could to get out of that situation by getting involved with P90X and ultimately the Beachbody Business. Now I'm one of the top beachbody coaches in the country!

It's unfortunate to watch so many people struggle. I have people in their 50's and 60's come up to me and say that they aren't sure how they will retire, and will most likely have to work the rest of their lives. What happened? I can explain what went wrong, they settled for average and perceived that they could never alter the way things were "supposed to be." They worked a 9 to 5 job for the last 30 years, doing something they did not enjoy doing, only showing up to work seeing that it was "paying the bills," but yet were troubled at the same time. seeing that they did not love their job and continually struggled financially, their relationships suffered, and might have even ended in divorce. They were raised to think that they could only succeed in life as far as their parents have. Seriously? You're going to set your child up for failure, brainwashing them to believe that they could never improve their standard of living, just because you were never able to do so yourself? That's unfortunate, really unfortunate. The truth is that you're in fact NOT A TREE and could alter anything, just as long as you set your mind to it. I have my parents to thank because they always explained to me that I can achieve anything I wanted to accomplish, just as long as I put the necessary effort towards it.

Let me explain my story for a little while. The majority of you don't know this, but when I graduated college and became a financial advisor, things weren't honky dory for me. I struggled financially, and even got suspended from my pay about five months after I began my career. I went through a bad breakup, and was pretty much at the lowest mark I had ever been in my entire life. I struggled financially, emotionally, and physically because I had let myself get out of shape. It would have been simple for me at the time to give up and just "accept" that this was the way things were always going to be, but instead, I decided to make a change. Soon after I started my financial advising career I came across P90X, committed myself 100% every single day for 90 days, and got into the best physical condition of my life. That solved both the physical and emotional issues I was having at the time, and the only thing that was next was the financial issue, which was a little harder to tackle than the other 2. However, being the way I am, never settling for failure, I came across something that would take care of that issue, and that's the Beachbody Business. However, ironically enough, I didn't know much about the Beachbody Business at the time, and only got involved because I really liked helping others (I used to be involved with Big Brothers Big Sisters), and of course was passionate about health and fitness once I went through that excellent physical change. Once I knew that there was an opportunity to make it a full time job, that's when I put in a ton of hard work to make that happen, and guess what, a year and a half after I began coaching I did just that! Now, I have become an extremely successful coach, winning Top Beachbody Coach 2010 out of 50,000+ Beachbody Coaches, and have created complete financial and time freedom for my loved ones and I.

The point of sharing my story is to show you all that you're "not a tree" and can achieve anything that you want, just as long as you trust you could and put in the hard work to do so. It doesn't matter your financial or emotional situation, how old you are, if you aren't satisfied with where you are, there is nothing stopping you from making a change other than yourself. You are in control of the outcome of your life, and once you accept and think that, success is just right around the corner. Stop being that person who complains each day about how depressing your life is and do something about it! If you're out of shape, commit yourself to a workout program and a healthy diet; if you're struggling financially, discover something that will permit you to create financial independence. I believe that EVERYONE has the same opportunity to change!