RESOLVE to Live Forward

No matter what the situation is, most of the time we can choose to live with a grateful mindset. The attitude of gratitude is not some whimsicle behavior to try and trick ourselves. Even when we don't have a reason to feel thankful, if we intentionally recall past experiences where we had something truly wonderful happen in our lives, it can draw a smile on our face and lift our spirit. Novem...

Okay, I confess ... I'm a day late. Having said that, at the launching of this podcast episode, it's October 31st. We have arrived at the last TWO MONTHS of 2026. Let's not wait for New Years Resolutions. Let's beging NOW to fully engage the next 61-days starting with TODAY. It's time to not just confront life, but to LIVE IT!

There will always be moments when others will take us to task. Often it happens because we did something carelessly. Other times it happens even though we are honest, caring, and have good intentions. Not everyone is going to agree with us, but we don't have to let the disagreement become a point of the creation of a broken relationship. The key is to Pause, Process, and Proceed based on comp...

The second letter in RESOLVE is the 1st of 2 "E"s. It represents the personal best practice of engagement. To engage is almost always about people, places, and things. To engage is also about doing the next RIGHT thing. You've exercised resilience. Now get out and engage what comes, both planned and unexpected. 

Mindset, fixed, growth, visionary, blended .... They all have value and a place in our personal operating center, but Emotional Resilience is about exercising certain fundamental mindfulness that helps make our day-to-day live run much more seamlessly. There's no such things as the perfect day, and life doesn't ever ask us for "PERMISSION" when stuff happens. However, having th...

It's a new month and the last quarter of 2026. We now begin to shift focus from just John talking about the RESOLVE Mindset to John having conversations with you and special friends. Today, John talks about some very important personal history that, in retrospect, has played a massive part in where this podcast and RESOLVE to Live Forward have traveled up to this point. Let's talk about...

The launch of this episode is on the last Friday of September 2026. It is the last in a six-month series of 25 podcasts that began with an idea and became something far more possible. It became a "Launching Pad." Yes, I live in Central Florida and I live about two-hours from the Kennedy Space Center. I know what a launch pad is, and I've seen several launches. I say that to say this...

Three letters, one word ... In the context of Living Forward after a shattering life-changing experience, it may be the most important YES you will ever say. Today we talk about why saying YES to Living Forward opens a new chapter of amazing and wonderful events in your life. YES it's a little scary, but YES it's exciting too. It isn't saying no to the things that you loved but lost...

25-years ago today, September 11, 2001, we were brought to our knees. Many of you remember because you were there. This episode is a departure from my series that started back in April 2026. I want to share with all of you my reflection on the vast millions upon millions who serve unselfishly and without any recognition. They are a "Quiet Majority of Good". It seems as though the only pe...

When we are shattered by loss, devastation, and grief, we can start to fade, diminish, and become smaller, not physically but emotionally. Returning to a life lived in forward direction is not about forgetting or moving past our heartbreak. It's about the fact that we are still HERE! An if we are still here, then we still still have a meaningful purpose for not just existing but living fully...

Choices .... Moment by moment, day after day, we make choices. Sometimes, the choices are made for us. That's part of life, but by and large, we are the agents of choices. We make choices all the time. That begs the question: "What Choice Will I Make Today?" Today's episode is about living forward with success in mind. It's about having a definite, firm plan of action whic...

What if I said, "The Teacher Will Always Be the Student"? If you think about it, teachers are continuous learners. Not only must they stay current with their craft, but they must understand the time changes the students and the teachers. Although you won't hear this phrase in the podcast, the more that I learn the more I know that I need to learn more. Lifelong learners are never co...

Here's a quote for you, "Extraordinary lives are rarely built through extraordinary moments. They are built through ordinary choices repeated with extraordinary consistency." It's not about the seemingly BIG CHOICES that we make, but the persistent, daily practice of doing one good thing at a time. Truth is, we are creatures of habit. If you don't like how your life is bei...

Here's a quote for you: "Extraordinary lives are rarely built on extraordinary moments. More often, they're built on ordinary moments repeated with extraordinary consistency." I don't know who penned that quote, but I can personally testify to it's accuracy. The greatest heros of our lifetimes weren't people who did massive and extraordinary things, but rather, t...

You were never created to remain who you were yesterday. Life's greatest adventure is BECOMING who you were always meant to be. You've heard the phrase, "Change is inevitable." It's a true statement, but change almost always begins on the outside. BECOMING is about what's inside of each one of us. Today we talk of the Action of Becoming, and in doing so, becoming what...

Our lives do not have to lose meaning after personal devastation. Yes, it's true that "Living Forward" after such times as these may seem meaningless and hopeless, but I have learned that living is a choice. Making the choice to LIVE FORWARD takes great courage. If you have suffered deep loss, I want you to realize that the fact that you are still here, living now, means that there...

Have you ever noticed that our lives rarely change all at once? Yes, there are occasional life-altering events that occur such as death, accidents, loss of a job, and others, but usuually life is built around the accumulation of small, individual moments that carry us, hopefully, in a forward-living direction. Today's episode is about those small events, or steps, that we take with intention....

Our "Character" is built one choice at a time. We are not born with a specific type of character. Our personal character is learned, and as we learn, we make more and more choices about that character. This brings us back to the beginning question: Do you like the person you see in the mirror? In most cases, I think we all, for the most part, like ourselves, BUT if we are Forward Living...

What is SELF-TALK? Simply put, self-talk is what we say to ourselves about ourselves. If we speak unkindly or harshly about ourselves we have a "Negative" self-talk. This kind of personal, inner conversation creates and fosters limiting beliefs. YES! People will say terrible things, but the greatest stories of invidual success come from people who were treated the most harshly. And yet,...

The one person that gave your life meaning and purpose is gone. Where do I go from here? That's the expected question of the brokenhearted, but maybe the more important questions is, "WHO AM I NOW?" I've said it before and I will continue to say it, this is not the end of the life that you were meant to live. It's the next chapter of the life you are meant to live. 

What if I thought that I was healing, but suddenly I'm hurting again. I am learning that when I hurt again, it does NOT mean that my healing has failed or even had a setback or relapse. In our journey of grief, the healing process is not a straight line. Today, I want to share with all of you how the sudden and unstoppable death of a precious four-legged fur friend (a cat who was my constant...

Presence communicates things that words cannot. A text can convey information. An email can convey an idea, but eye-contact, a compassionate voice, a shared silence, even a hand on a shoulder, can communicate humanity. If you are waiting for the right time to connect, in person, with someone, especially someone who has suffered great loss and sorrow, you may be waiting for something that will neve...

I've often said that living forward is not random. It does not happen by accident. LIVING FORWARD IS A CHOICE. However, it is also important to understand that living forward is not about big steps or decisions, but about small steps of faith, hope, and positive momentum. These are the "Baby Steps" that create the results, later, that we will thank ourselves for. 

After a personal heartbreak in our lives, we find ourselves not particularly motivated to live forward with a meaningful purpose. Maybe we hope that "some thing" will show up and gives us new motivation to live with purpose. Usually, that's not the case. I am reminded of Andy's line to Red in "The Shawshank Redemption." Andy turned to Red and simply said, "Get bu...

They said to me, after my wife died and I was alone with my heartbreak, "It's time to move on." Sounds cruel. It wasn't meant to be cruel, but it felt that way. Grieving isn't something we "move on" from. If it's real grief, you can't moved past it, hude from it, or imagine it away. Beware of the LIE OF MOVING ON.