I have always a pretty positive person. I can say with conviction that it really doesn’t take long for me to see the bright side of things even in the midst of what some people might consider despair. I recognize that this is the result of a mixture of things that might be a little more than I have tome to list here.

I loved the Hardy Boys series as a kid

I know that one benefit of this mindset is that I am always open to encouraging content. I read a lot of crime and mystery books when I was a kid, and I remember that pretty much in every case the protagonists would find themselves in difficult and seemingly impossible situations. However, through tenacity and clear minded thinking they were always able to overcome such obstacles. I see a definite parallel in the kinds of resources I draw on these days. There is a vast array of content that is chock full of real life stories of bravery and triumph over difficult odds.

In a time where everything can be found online, I fully stand by the title of this post. How can one possibly pass through life without taking time to feed their minds with the any one or more of the encouraging content that is at your fingertips? You can even search for it according to your particular passion. Name any walk of life, and I bet you can find someone that has faced similar obstacles to you and in that you will be inspired to lift yourself up and have the life you were meant to live, or at least consider the possibility.

Another important aspect is to always be aware of the attitude of those around you. I know this has been done to death, but I have not been immune to forgetting how important this is. Even more critical is being astute in selecting those you may consider entering into business partnerships with. I personally had a friend once who was also a business partner. It came to pass that at some stage he needed help in a business that I already knew a lot about, and at the time I was looking for a new project. We kind of fell in together. I should have known very early from his words and actions that it may not have been a good investment of my time or money. My idea was that I saw an opportunity to build on the success that had come along in the line of business. I threw myself into it, trying to develop new ideas and use encouragement and mentoring to hire, develop, and manage staff. He went about his day in a fog of mistrust of those we worked with, even his own wife. Conversations where filled with gossip and derision of pretty much everyone he knew, including friends.

It was a constant battle to try and instill a sense of direction in anyway, shape or form. In an attempt to transition into larger, more sustainable opportunities, I introduced him to others in my network. It wasn’t long before they were one by one refusing to continue doing business with him. This was another sign I should have heeded. In the end, we parted as business partners, but sadly, also as friends. I found it was unsustainable for me to feed his neediness at the expense of shining a light down my own personal path. In the scheme of things I am grateful for this experience. It allowed me to firmly plant a stake in the ground and be firm but fair in considering those I do life with.

Now it may not be for everyone, but I myself have found in my consumption of encouraging content that I want to share the same encouragement with others. I am in the early stages of developing my platform in this regard, and the online world provides a great vehicle for this. A large part of this will be the podcast project I am working on. Based around a travel theme related to Australia and it’s neighbors, I will also be filling it with a good amount of inspiration for the very idea and reason for travel itself. In this I get to engage two of my passions in the one format.

Along the way I will be looking for more and more opportunities to also engage in communities that I know will enhance all my efforts, but more importantly perhaps allow me the chance to reciprocate and be an active participant. Through it all I want anyone reading this to share your thoughts and provide your stories. Never doubt that you have the chance to touch someone in a significant way yourself. We all have different ways of relating to things we see.