Fortune favors the bold! This quote, one of my favorites of all time, encompasses a philosophy, a belief, and a lifestyle. It is the mantra by which I live my life. It is one of the criteria I use when evaluating options. It is one of the mantras I repeat daily.

I was eleven years old when I lost my vision from an illness. My entire identity changed on that day. I went from an athletic, physically active boy to an overweight blind kid who had lost the two most important things to him, football and freedom. I was lost.  What value does life have when you feel imprisoned by total darkness?

A few questions haunted me: Who am I? How do others see me? What do I do now? Do I have other dreams, aspirations? Am I worthy? These were just a few of the negative thoughts and beliefs that I had after going blind. Losing my vision was so much more than the loss of my sight. It was the loss of my identity. So much of who I was, was wrapped up in my physicality.  With that, more questions came. How do I go about regaining my confidence, creating a new identity?  How do I reclaim that essential element that allowed me to know that I was going to make it to the NFL and be a starting quarterback? How do I resurrect the youthful swag that would push me to chase my dreams?

I’m not going to say it was easy. I didn’t wake up one day with an entirely new perspective on life, boiling over with self-confidence. I was lucky. I have a fantastic family who pushed and supported me throughout this experience. What I didn’t have were role models. I’m from a small town, and I was the only blind student in my school. The few other blind people I met were not living the kind of life or doing the kind of work that I wanted to do. They all seemed to be merely surviving, what the so-called experts considered a success. My parents and I wanted, no, expected more for me. Therefore, I did the next best thing. I found role models that had the qualities and beliefs that I wanted for myself. I studied, I analyzed, I implemented.

Everyone faces life-changing events that derail or crush personal dreams. How do you rise after life sucker punched you and knocked you on your ass? Only you can decide whether to be a helpless victim or a conquering victor.  Remember, fortune favors the bold.

Here are my recommendations that have brought my clients the most success.

·       Decide what kind of person you want to become. Actively work to become that person.

·       Stop focusing on what you can’t do, but instead acknowledge that you have unique gifts, and start focusing on what you can do.

·       Remove the word “someday” from your vocabulary and replace it with the word “today."

·       Relabel personal weakness as challenges, because perceived weakness is hard to overcome; however, challenges can be beaten. 

·       Awaken your instinctive competitor.  Unfortunately, the weak are food for the powerful.

Be strong, not ruthless.

·       Put yourself in challenging situations, and if the result is a success, great. If the result is not a success, it is not a failure. Instead, it's an opportunity to learn and revise your goal. 

·       Personal choice is the ultimate power in the universe. It is your destiny. Choose wisely. Live life with the knowledge that fortune favors the bold.

Ryon Anderson, Esq. is a Success & Vision Coach working with CEOs, founders, entrepreneurs, and professional athletes to increase their mental performance, mindset, and relationships. He has a Masters in counseling psychology from Tarleton State University and a  law degree from Texas Tech School of Law. Ryon is also a member of the Texas bar. He lives in downtown Austin, Texas, with his Seeing Eye dog Ziggy and gets to spend his free time being Ziggy’s wingman. Find more about Ryon at www.ryonanderson.com and on social @RyonEsq.