Author and speaker, Stephen Covey, focuses his attention on success through personal efforts that are ethically acceptable. In the book "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People," Covey lists the 7 imperatives that he says make you successful in achieving your goals. The second habit is "begin with an end in mind". Covey focuses this chapter on knowing what you want to achieve so you can make it a reality. This past weekend, I accomplished the goals I have set forth for myself.
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I graduated from the University of North Carolina - Wilmington with a degree in both mathematics and economics. I graduated with a 3.69 GPA (cum laude - almost magna...), university honors, and a highly coveted job at Bloomberg LP. I could not imagine my four years at any other institution or with any other people. I made such great friends through my time at UNCW, most from the honors freshman dorm way back in 2011 when we moved onto the beautiful campus for the first time. Graduating and finding a sense of family away from home were my two biggest goals when I was coming to college. I am proud to say I have achieved both of those things. A statistic I learned in my last class of college was that "there are 7 billion people in the world, but only 8% of them have a college degree." As soon as my classmates, friends, and I moved that tassel to the other side of our caps, we instantly became the 92nd percentile in the world in terms of education. As a economist and mathematician, I understand the magnitude of such a position. We are the people who are leading this world into the future. We are the people who others look to for inspiration. We are those few that people will look to for help. Without going into depressing facts about living conditions in the world, there are many people who are not fortunate enough to have affordable or available healthcare, housing, or food. This is why I believe that we, as motivators, innovators, as world changers, should make a difference in the lives of others. I have focused my life to this point mostly on myself and my education, but now I feel it is my time to share in the wealth that I have accumulated. It is my time to be the hero that my past self always wanted to be.
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My spring semester Junior year was the hardest year I have ever had to handle because I was promoted to manager on short notice while my entire staff was quitting and the job was changing drastically. I worked 30+ hour weeks as well as taking advanced classes in my major like abstract algebra. I was stressed and I was miserable. I wrote a note to myself a year ago right after this semester. Reading a note that I wrote when I was drowning in life, I did not know what to expect. When I started to read it, I realized that it was not what I expected. It was saturated with hope. It was about what I wanted to accomplish in my last year of college. I did not talk about going out with a bang or creating a legacy. All that I wanted was to "shine my light onto others." If I was to be known for anything, I wanted to be known for being a good person. For doing good for others. I ended my letter by saying that: "It is easy to put out the flame of one person. Spread it to others to make it a fire that is much harder to stop." Of the things that I have accomplished in the past year, this is one thing I am proudest to say I achieved.
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With the money I received from graduation, donations from coworkers, my company ProMetrics, as well as family and friends, I have reached my minimum goal for fundraising! I am not going to lie, I am scared. This is the first time I will be doing something that doesn't classify as preparing for the future. My life to this point has been about studying harder to make a better grade, making better grades to get a better job, and getting a better job to increase my ability to help others. Reaching this final place concerns me, because what comes next is nothing I can control. What comes next is sharing this ideology with others. It is spreading joy, compassion, and reason to those who are capable of helping. I am never going to be done helping others, donating or volunteering, but I have nothing left to build on. I would like to encourage you to join me. Maybe not in biking across the country (though, I will be proud and supportive if you do - Erin Danneker), but in making a difference. Helping an elderly person with their groceries at the store, letting a car in front of you when there is traffic, or simply smiling and saying hello to strangers as you pass them. These things are all contagious. All of these things inspire me as I go through my life of helping others. It might be a stretch, but I do not think I would have this goal of giving back without each of those things happening consistently in my life. Many seemingly menial things like smiling at people you pass on the street can make such a difference in a person that they go out there and make that huge action like Erin and I are doing by biking across the country.
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Again, thank you all so much for taking part in this journey and reading this blog post. I have reached my minimum fundraising goal, but I am not done raising money. My personal goal is $6,000! I hope to reach this by the time I arrive in Seattle on August 4th. My friend and one of my role models, Erin Danneker, is not yet at her minimum goal, though. She could use donations that will help her to go out and change the lives of others by providing low cost housing across the country. I promise that it will give you a warm fuzzy feeling inside by donating. Like spreading joy, there is no such thing as not enough. She will be travelling almost the same amount of miles as I am. With an average of about 70 miles a day, $70 will fund a whole day of riding/$35 for a half of a day/$10 for about an hour. Try to see it within yourself to help her shine her light on others. It is greatly appreciated.
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Thank you and God bless!
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Erin's Page for Donations - Bike and Build - Benefit the Affordable Housing Cause
http://bikeandbuild.org/rider/8312
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Zach's Page for Donations - Bike the US for MS - Multiple Sclerosis Research and Awareness
http://biketheusforms.org/cyclists/detail.asp?cid=656
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