For those of you that don’t know me, a brief introduction, or you can get a bit of an overview from my LinkedIn profile. Professionally I have been in sales for a number of years, I was a developer before that. I had an IT placement agency for about 14 years, with a partner, we parted ways and closed the agency. It wasn’t really a choice, there were a number of factors, not the least of which was massive debt incurred (the background of which I won’t go into, except to say, trying to get someone healthy from a disease is expensive, and may cost you everything. Regardless of the outcome, however, that attempt is always worth the effort). Today, I have Brainwerx Group, it is a way for me to start over, I tried working for others to get my foot back in, but I work better as a leader and “on my own”.
All of that said, I kept myself more, or less, sane (depends who you talk to) during that entire period by training. I have been doing martial arts since I was 14, Karate (Goju style), Tae Kwon Do (ITF style [I prefer it to WTF]), and Wing Chun. All of which I am quite good at. Frankly after 40 years I better be. But, at 16 I had a motorcycle accident. It tore up my right knee, broke and dislocated my left hip, put a 30cm gash in my right arm (down to the bone), and other minor injuries. I love to ski, I really do, but I can’t today, because of my knee, mostly because I loved skiing moguls, and that does a number on your knees. A brilliant pastime for someone with a knee injury. I have also dislocated my shoulders (martial arts and skiing), broken my toes (martial arts) I could go on, but I think you get the general picture, I’m a mess. Did I mention that I am a bit of an adrenaline junkie?
Ok, at this point you are asking yourself WTF is his point? The point here is that I have never let these injuries stop me, I have modified how, and what I do. Today, I primarily box (I am exceptional at blocking with my face) and weight train. I train in a gym that has one of the top boxing coaches in Canada, he is 65 years old, and has the energy of a much, much younger person, he also looks like he is in his 30′s, he still has a washboard stomach, and is in amazing shape. The bodybuilders there are also an inspiration, as many of them are around my age and in amazing shape. Again, WTF, right?
In business you’re going to experience ups and downs, people will look at your resume, your past, and use that as a guide to say, quite generally, that it equals your future. They may or may not be correct. I don’t know, only you do. But, what I can tell you is this, regardless of the past, mistakes (we all have them), errors in judgement (we all have these, too), they can all be overcome. That’s all up to you. As a recruiter, I talk to many people that have these kinds of things in their past, for the most part, all have learned from them, and allowed them to help them become better. Better people, better business partners, better spouses and better parents. Better in general. Some haven’t, but time, and nature, has a way of teaching all of us. I’m a big believer in second chances, sometimes even three, if it’s worth it. I strongly believe in them. We all make mistakes and we all will, hopefully, learn from them, different ones, sure. That’s all part of learning and growing as people, and human beings. If you have made an error, there is a real chance to learn from it, and move past it and in the process become better at being yourself. If you don’t take the time to “train past the past” nothing will ever change, and neither will you.
