Throughout the past few years, and especially over this past year, I have learned a lot about life and what it takes to live. I say live in reference to what it feels to actually be alive…whether that is being scared out of your mind, or happy beyond belief. And truly, over the past year, I have experienced more of the “scared shitless” feeling that I ever had before…because I was pushing myself in all areas to the limits, right to the edge, and often of times taking that little leap of faith that wasn’t possible in previous years. Life is a gamble.

Most of us gamble with other people’s money, hearts, friendships, and anything else they can find. But in all honesty, you can only truly learn once it is your “money” on the table. Nothing else has the same effect on you as an individual until your reputation is on the line. The greatest amount of learning comes from betting on yourself, your character, and you who are deep down. Because when you bet on yourself, you have already won. Even if you fail, you are learning from it. When you aren’t betting on yourself, the impact of loss rarely has any true long-lasting effect.

I have admitted in the past and I have tried and tried and continued to fail over and over again. But I don’t let this get me down because I know that I will continue bouncing back and keeping my eyes on the horizon. The hardest realization you have to make is the true answer of what you are doing it for? Am I doing it for the achievement, or am I doing it for the reward? I have been mixed up in both, but time and time again I have realized that doing something for the sake of personal achievement and being proud of what you are doing…will reap much more satisfaction.

Run your own show. You will always hear those people out there ripping on someone who has “made it” etc…but most of the time, the pure honest truth is that they are completely jealous of what that person has achieved. Everyone runs to the person who has achieved success and wants to interview them and find out how they got there…but during the time of struggle no one cared. No one wanted to deal with them. In fact, the absolute opposite happened. They got ignored, they were put on the back burners, and people took the worst and amplified it. No one cares when you are on the journey and are struggling to get to where you want to get. Success has many fathers…failure is an orphan.

One day though, it all turns around. And when you do it for the sake of being proud of who you are and creating a real life tangible representation of who you are as a person…you will be rock solid. In no way am I a perfect man. In fact, I make more mistakes and fail more than people would probably expect. But I think what makes me different is I have the ability to own up to my mistakes, tell people I am sorry, fix situations, and move forward. Because I am betting on myself. I am betting on the person I am and what is deep down inside…because I know with all my heart that what is in the burner inside of me will come to reality. I just have to keep the flame lit.

Evan Sanders
The Better Man Project