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I had a delightful weekend. I feel ahead of some of my work, I laughed a lot with my wife over the absurdity of raising twin toddler boys even when we were on the verge of insanity. I’m going running today and already pumping myself up over the anticipated 5 miles I am going to conquer today.

Fall is upon us in earnest. The light is golden and the air is learning toward crisp. We are sleeping with the windows open and the chill in the mornings makes you want to snuggle deeper into the covers and the arms of the lover next to you. Next weekend is Pride and then after that, the weekends of October are full of endless possibilities. Orchards for apple picking, pumpkin patches and corn mazes, photographs in piles of leaves and early night-falls with s’mores around the back-yard fire pit. My heart is really full these days.

I am underwater with all the responsibilities and overjoyed to feel that I am swimming. We are adjusting to some major life changes these days, but I am proud of us (Nicole and I) for pulling together and really *doing* it. I love her, love her. I had some epiphanies this weekend about our relationship and how I’ve grown and she’s grown and how we are so much better for each other and how much communication we’ve learned. I am proud of her, I’m proud of us. I’m proud of this family we’ve created and I’m proud of myself as I overcome fears and work toward a better and more fulfilling future.

Nicole and I sat out in the cool fall night on Saturday by a warm fire and relaxed together and my heart swam in the joy.

My dad is in the hospital for an infection in his leg. They are taking good care of him, but not for the first time do I wish we were back in Texas. Luckily, I’m one of the more stoic ones of all six of us, so I can do it.

My weekly Jon Gordon email this morning spoke to me and I thought I would share:

"How do you become an Overnight Success?

You work really hard for 10 years.

You show up every day. You do the work. You see yourself as an artist dedicated to your craft with a desire to get better.

You try new things. You fail. You improve. You grow.

You face countless challenges and tons of rejection that make you doubt yourself and cause you to want to quit. But you don't.

You keep working hard, you stay positive and persevere though it all with resilience, determination and a lot of hope and faith.

Then you make it!

And the world says, "Where have you been?" And you say, "I've been here all along but you didn't notice me."

But they do now.

To the world you are an overnight success. To you the journey continues.

I know this journey well. When I started speaking 10 years ago I was told that I was wasting my time. When I wrote The Energy Bus it was rejected by 30+ publishers. When Wiley decided to publish it none of the book stores would carry it. I went on a 28 city tour, paid for by myself, to share the message and spread the word one person at a time. For every hundred people I invited on the bus, one person got on.

When I arrived home after driving thousands of miles I walked in the door, fell to the ground and just wept as my wife hugged me.

Years later The Energy Bus is frequently on the best seller lists, approaching a million copies sold worldwide and most importantly impacting many people, organizations and families.

I don't say this with an ounce of pride. I say it with tears in my eyes because I know the miles I've traveled, the failures I've experienced, the adversity I've faced, the rejection I felt and the faith that carried me.
I say this to you because I want you to know there's no overnight success. There's a story behind every achievement and it's filled with sweat, pain, hard work, struggle, tears and joy.

Wherever you are on your journey, stay positive, keep doing the work, keep improving.

Expect challenges, criticism, rejection and failure but have an even greater expectation that you will overcome them.

The valley always leads to the mountain top if you are willing to stay on the path, weather the storms and make the climb."