*Originally posted to Instagram in December 2021 For every day I feel I’m: winning, doing a good job, pursuing goals, and progressing - I have offset days where my internal dialogue reads the opposite. I won’t tell you exactly what I tell myself, but the gist of it suggests I’m losing, stuck, not doing enough, and that I’m unworthy. Why do I speak to myself in a way I wouldn’t speak to anyone else? Man, I’m hard on myself. I question everything. I’m able to forget everything I am and everyone who’s on my team as I become overwhelmed by: past, present, and the imagined. “Imagined” because it’s not the reality of the future. Imagination dresses itself in fear, insecurities, and self doubt. It doesn’t read my resume or call for references. It hijacks my day and turns friends into foes, sunshine to darkness, and highs into lows. What’s changed? How? Why? What happened? When was the turning point? Why do I insist on all this advocacy? Because not long ago I found myself in a conversation that saw the same message, from a different voice. A message I’d heard over and over… What message? The one that tells you that you don’t have to go it alone. That tells you to seek help in a time of need, that it’s okay to feel pain, and that you’re not by yourself in this. “It’s good to talk.” What was it about the way this man spoke so candidly that made me realize I had so much I needed to address? What was it about his honesty that urged me to be just as honest. What was it about his voice clicking with me in a way that made me think I could be that voice to somebody else? Because I can be — the same way we all can. Thank you, Gavin. Gavin lived on the same floor of our apartment building and he was the one I consulted for brand and website design when the original brainstorms for Personal Best were taking place. It was in these discussions that he not only named the brand, but also guided me to the place that I now aim to guide others. Neighbors collaborating on an idea —imagining ways to encourage those around us to pursue their very own Personal Best. Thank you Gavin for the support and encouragement I needed in order to take those first steps in pursuit of my own.
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