Thanking you all again for taking the time to visit my site. I hope everyone has found the content to be both  helpful and inspiring. I last spoke about having a resilient mindset, this is the cornerstone of all achievement. Before you set sail on any journey, you need to make sure you have the supplies to get you to where you need to go. You need to be ready for a storm before it comes... I am here to give you all the tools you need to get to where you are going and I hope that everyone reading and listening has an ear to lend and an open heart to the message.

For those that have listened to my first podcast, I opened up and told you my story... It was truly from the heart. I hope it served two purposes. First, to introduce myself and let you know exactly who I am. I can tell you that it is not easy to come out and tell the world, "hey, I hit rock bottom," but that is the real me. Secondly I wanted to show you that even from rock bottom you can accomplish anything!

I have spent over a decade learning about successful people, what they do, how they act, what they eat, what they do when they wake up, how they think and just about anything else you can think of. At the end of the day, it is my own failures I have learned most from, and I have failed more times than I care to think. Now as I look back, these were not failures, just lessons to make me better and stronger. Now, I am strong, focused, successful, and would not change a thing in my past as it has molded the person before you.

Success and happiness are not something you find, it is inside of you. If you want it, you can have it, you just have to go get it. No weapon is stronger than a still and focused mind that refuses to recognize failure. Believe in that and yourself and you are already half way there. 

Focus... Focus on what you have, focus on where you want to be. Start moving towards your goal, and let nothing break your focus. Focus is everything. You are already great. Like the legendary artist Michelangelo once said "every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it." 

Go find it! Stay strong. Stay focused. Stay inspired!!!

-Raf

First and foremost, I want to send everyone a sincere thank you for stopping by The Art of Inspiration. I hope you enjoyed my last post, I wanted to give you all a piece of me. That is the uncut version of my story. My reason for sharing is to show you that you can come from rock bottom to achieving your dreams. I am not special by any means and the tools I have used to get me to where I am today have been picked up from people much more prominent than myself. It is my hope to share what I have learned. 

My goal is to motivate you to get moving and help you find the courage and determination to move forward in your life. The reality is, it is just not as simple as flipping a light switch. You will encounter challenges and plenty of bumps along the road, so before you begin your journey, you must first build resilience. Angela Duckworth's "Grit" outlines this perfectly, it is a great book and one you should definitely have on your "to read" list. 

The importance of resilience cannot be understated. From my personal experience, setting off on your journey without it is a fatal mistake. Just like any muscle in the body, resilience can be built. A resilient mind refuses to recognize failure, can not be held down, and there is nothing in the world that can stand in it's way. 

I hope you enjoy the podcast. Stay Inspired!

Welcome everyone and thank you so much for stopping by my site. My reason for starting this site is simple, to inspire you to chase your dreams. Often as children we are taught to dream big, our parents tell us to reach for the stars. Somewhere in life between being a child and hustling the grind of a 9 to 5, we are told to forget our dreams and be realistic. My thoughts are simple, if you do not love what you do, why are you doing it?

My youth is the classic tale of a young boy who grows up in a small town with a great family and goes the completely wrong way in his life. There was a time in my life where I hit complete rock bottom. Slowly through the course of a few defining moments in my life, I began to climb out of the rubble, and piece my life back together. Once I was standing on my feet, I wanted to start over. I wanted to go back to being that kid with the vivid imagination, I wanted to dream again.

For over a decade now I have been studying some of the worlds most successful people to learn how they accomplished their dreams. I am now living mine, and I hope to share my journey, and give you the courage to start yours.

 Life is always full of ups and downs. Never lose sight of your goals, and always stay inspired...

I hope you enjoy!

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/art-of-inspiration/id1212672295?mt=2