Dear Family,
Every day we wake up is a blessing, whether we recognize it or not. We're given two things that are easy to take for granted: a choice and a chance.
The choice is deciding who we want to be and how we choose to show up in this world. The chance is the opportunity to do something about it. There are no promises or guarantees that things will work out the way we want them to. We can do everything right, make all the necessary sacrifices, and still fall short of our expectations.
That's just life.
But as long as we're fortunate enough to wake up the next morning, we have another opportunity to take a swing. I don't know where you are as you read this or what's going on in your personal or professional life. But I imagine many of you are in the middle of the grind, or what I jokingly like to refer to as "the belly of the beast."
You might find yourself winning in certain areas of your life while struggling in others.
Your business might be doing better than ever, but your marriage or personal relationships are suffering. You might be making more money than you've ever made, yet somehow feel less fulfilled. Or maybe you're doing everything you can to hold things together, wondering when all your hard work is finally going to pay off. And you know what? That's okay. You're human. We all are. But here's where I want to challenge you, and quite frankly, myself.
It's easy to take responsibility for our lives when things are going well. The real test comes when they're not.
When business is slow, the economy isn't cooperating, relationships are strained, or life simply isn't unfolding the way we imagined, it's human nature to start looking for something or someone to blame. We blame the market, our upbringing, our circumstances, our employers, our spouses, or the people who didn't give us the opportunities we believe we deserved. And sometimes, those frustrations are justified. Life isn't fair, and we certainly aren't all dealt the same hand.
But at some point, we have to ask ourselves a difficult question: What am I going to do about it?
That's what I mean when I talk about having a choice and a chance. One of the greatest blessings of living in America is that, despite all our imperfections and inequalities, we live in a country where people from different backgrounds and walks of life have the opportunity to change the trajectory of their lives.
That doesn't mean the playing field is level or that success is guaranteed. Far from it.
But it does mean that every day, millions of people wake up with a fighting chance to improve their circumstances, build something meaningful, provide for their families, or pursue an opportunity that didn't exist for them yesterday. Some people squander that opportunity.
Others keep swinging, even when life keeps knocking them down.
I've come to believe that one of the most important things we can develop is an internal locus of control. In simple terms, it's the belief that our decisions, actions, and responses have a meaningful influence on the direction of our lives. It doesn't mean we control everything that happens to us. We don't. Markets crash, people disappoint us, opportunities disappear, and sometimes life deals us a hand we never asked to play.
But there's a difference between acknowledging the circumstances you're facing and surrendering your future to them.
And that's where the person looking back at us in the mirror comes in. When things aren't going our way, how often do we stop and ask ourselves what we could be doing differently? Are we being honest about the decisions we've made? Are we putting in the work required to change our circumstances? Are we having the difficult conversations we've been avoiding? Or have we become so consumed with everything happening around us that we've forgotten to examine what's happening within us?
These aren't always comfortable questions to ask, but they're necessary ones.
Because the moment we convince ourselves that everything wrong in our lives is someone else's responsibility, we also begin giving away our ability to do something about it. And I don't know about you, but that's not how I want to live. I want to believe that regardless of what yesterday looked like, I still have a say in what happens next. I want to wake up knowing that even if I can't guarantee success, I can control my effort, my attitude, my preparation, and the decisions I make when nobody is watching.
That's the beauty of life.
We don't know how the story ends, but we still get to participate in writing it. So as you go about your week, I want you to remember something. You may not be where you want to be financially, personally, professionally, or spiritually. You may be frustrated, exhausted, or wondering whether all the sacrifices you've made will ever amount to anything.
But if you're reading this, you're still in the fight.
And as long as you're still in the fight, you have a choice and a chance.
The question is, what are you going to do with it?
Are you going to spend another day pointing fingers at everything and everyone around you, or are you going to look in the mirror, take ownership of what you can control, and keep swinging?
Because every day, we're given a fighting chance. Some squander it. Others make the most of it.
Which one are you?
From LUX, With Love,
Matt
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