I Got Stranded in Bear Mountain 🏔️

What started as a pleasant cruise from NYC to Bear Mountain quickly cascaded into survival.

For Oktoberfest, Circle Line reached out with a great opportunity to check out the Hudson River and Bear Mountain.

Awesome. Just my kind of experience.

Now, when we heard that it included traditional German food on board, my friend Leah and I grabbed our equipment and jumped into action.

Before we knew it, we were 40 miles upriver, entrenched in the Appalachian Mountains of New York.

We saw bears, vultures, and a whole lot of wild that you can’t find in the city.

It was all cool until we became stranded …

So, what happened to us?

Did we become food? Am I writing this from my office in the afterlife?

WATCH our fate, and let me know how you enjoyed the video in the poll below.

 Talk To Me Nice 🗣️

For years, my internal monologue was a back-and-forth toxic mess of needless chatter, doubt, and negativity. 

It made me more close-minded and isolated from people I wanted to be closer to and strayed me further from the person I wanted to be.

I shrugged it off – until I realized that this cacophony of cynicism and fear wasn’t taking me anywhere, or keeping me safe.

In reality, negative self-talk brought me closer to a constant state of deluded psychosis rather than progress.

I started to listen to the voice a little closer.

I realized that it sounded a lot like my own voice.

Except I never really said such negative and hurtful things out loud.

Where was all this fear emanating from? I dug deeper.

When I found many of the answers I was looking for, it made me sad.

It made me think about the little boy inside who was never this doubtful or negative.

The little boy I would never say these things to.

It made me think about the little boy who was only eager and playful, not fearful and retracted. 

Show Mercy 🫵🏽

That’s around the time I started to be more kind to myself, and began to practice positive self-talk at every step of my life.

If I deliberately showed grace to myself and spoke with a nurturing tone, I noticed my mood and behavior was more favorable.

I started receiving the outcomes I truly desired, rather than watching in fear from the sidelines. 

You got this 🔥

Ahead of big moments, when positivity is needed most, I’ve learned to step up the pep-talk, nearly deluding myself into thriving.

It’s a powerful technique that I am going to exemplify with the piece below. 

I wrote this piece ahead of one of the biggest interviews of my journalistic career.

I noticed I was anxious and fearful when the days approached.

Feeling the urge to stop doubt in its tracks, I delivered a powerful speech for an audience of one. 

Heads up. This is one of the biggest, most pivotal days of your young life.

Tomorrow will be an even bigger one. From now on, you must eliminate doubt.

But calmly. Take your time with it. Recognize what doubt – agents of chaos – look like.

Do they take the form of people? Or thoughts alone?

Notice how doubt makes you react, and edit that behavior in real time.

Learn from the present moment.

Focus. Relax. Make a call, and repeat.

Execution is the key.

Own the results, and do not get caught up in perfecting the past.

What is done is done.

Start fresh when a new moment comes.

Keep your eye on the prize. Do your thing!

Be wide open and breezy in your attitude.

Pleasant, like walking on a windy beach on a warm summer evening.

With your subject, be curious, kind, and reciprocal.

Take charge of the conversation by listening.

Be dominant in the pursuit of understanding.

Tomorrow morning is your interview.

Get into the right headspace from now; welcome the morning like a powerful sunrise that rejuvenates as it inspires. 

No stress, just preparation, and positive assumption.

Things will fall into place if you do this.

Stretch, run, and do whatever you need to get into a good place physically.

A strong mind follows a strong body.

Don’t be afraid to hop around and get bouncy.

An interview should be more like a basketball game than an interrogation. 

And in the end, you are an athlete who is interviewing another athlete on the subject of greatness.

This pairing couldn’t be any more natural.

Be your true self, and the truth shall shine bright. 

I love you more than you know.

Red