Welcome to The Adaptive Mindset. I'm Brett Gallant, cybersecurity thought leader and founder of Adaptive Office Solutions. Here, we don't just talk tech, we unlock the strategies, stories, and mindset shifts you need to stay secure, lead boldly, and thrive in a digital world. Let's get started. Welcome back to The Adaptive Mindset. Really happy to be here today doing a solo episode to share with you what's on my heart. And my question is all centered around investing in yourself. Have you ever invested in yourself? Not because you knew it was the right thing to do or, or you weren't certain what you were going to do, but you just had this feeling that I know I got to do it. There's always that hesitation. And I want to share with you today, A few examples where I've made that decision to invest in myself. I'm a person who's been driven by personal and professional development. And I can look back at that really where the most compelling time where I embraced personal and professional development was back in the nineties, I was in this course and I was given two, two books that had a tremendous impact on my life. And the two of them were thinking, grow rich. Actually, there were three, how to win friends and influence people and the power of positive thinking. Those books changed me. They changed me forever. They led me on this quest to continuously work on myself, to improve myself, to be the best version of me. And it sparked reminders along the way and my whole transformation in my life. And even to today and as recent as a few weeks ago to Remember that the best thing you could do is always invest in yourself, whether it's coaching or a book or feeding your mind. And what I want to share with you is a couple of examples of that today. And my hope is perhaps it inspires you to take action. First, going back to April of 2020, it was right after my father had passed away. I had ballooned up to 349 pounds, dangerous weight, and I had played and toyed with trying to get my health in check over a number of years. And I did initially hire a fitness trainer later in that year, and I had success. I released about 50 pounds at that point. It didn't stick. Sometimes you have to have habits and a new thought, a new mindset, a new belief that what's possible and what your new way forward is going to be. And that happened for me in October of 2023, when I was having this tremendous reflection with my coach, Dave, at the time, I said, Dave, I don't have time to get to the gym. And he hit me with a real reality check. Brett, you mean to tell me you own your own business and you can't get to the gym? And that moment changed me. changed me in ways that I'm really thankful for because I faced the truth. The truth was I did have time. I just had a priority problem. That's what a power of a good coach can do for you. Make you ask those questions to dig down deep, deep and reflect on the truth and where you may be seeing some gaps. I set out on my journey, my fitness transformation journey, my identity journey, because it is an identity. I'm a person who puts myself first with the intention to serve. I had it all wrong. I thought that I needed to be the rescue, the hero for everyone. But I wasn't serving anybody if I was keeping the most important part of me last. because I didn't have the energy or the fortitude to serve at the highest level of myself. So since then I've released over 120 pounds and I've inspired people with my own story and my own journey. My intention on sharing that story is to inspire you to consider that The best investment you can do is investing yourself and making a decision. Just like my decision was back in October of 2023. I have tremendously changed and how I feel about myself, how I show up, how I serve my business, my clients, How I am as a father, a husband, volunteer, and so much more. And that was from that pivotal moment where I started to make that identity shift, that mindset of putting me first. Like I was told so many times, you have to put that oxygen mask on first. That is one of the biggest things that I know that we all forget to do. We forget to take care of ourselves. And we all deep down, I feel we all want to serve and help people, but we sacrifice ourselves. So looking back at that, I've had other times where I've had accountability partners that have helped me and also the most recent time that I've made a decision is I decided to hire a speaking coach and that decision has impacted me and it's continued to pay off on how I feel about myself. Most importantly, also how I present myself. I feel so much more confident. I'm still a work in progress. I meet with my coach regularly. I started another engagement with them. decided to join Toastmasters to continuously work on sharpening that ax, if you will. Learning how to use my voice to impact. But I would never have done that if I didn't really get that first taste of the coaching, that experience I had with my business coach. Sometimes you have to look for the signs. the signs when an opportunity is given to you and you have to embrace it. I know about eight years ago when I was first asked if I wanted a coach, I originally said no, because I didn't have the time. Isn't that ironic? I spoke to two business leaders And they told me how impactful it was for them. And I'm glad I took their advice and I'm forever thankful. You know what's really interesting about this? I said no initially, even when the business coaching was 75% funded through a government program. Someone I know in the business community in one of the programs that there are countless programs out there, folks, if you haven't ever looked into it with your local government agency, there are all kinds of supports. I even said no when it was a no-brainer, when the risk, the financial risk was low and That started a whole journey where I've grown as a business leader, as a father, and as a person who believes in what's possible. My hope with this episode is to inspire you to think about embracing investing in yourself in whatever way that is. It could be a fitness coach, it could be a business coach, it could be a mindset coach, an identity coach, or life coach. There are so many different coaches. I even had the belief that I could only have one coach before. I remember when I was speaking to one of my most recent coaches about possibly joining the program, I said, I already have a coach. And he said to me, well, that's okay. I have multiple coaches. I had never even thought about that reality. And I was questioning him, even when I had my own multiple coaches at the time, I just didn't even realize it. I had a fitness coach at the time, or I I'd finished one. This was before my real transformation. And what I know now is that that real power comes when you make a decision to go in. Sometimes that mindset comes and plays a trick on us. How many of us have a treadmill that's sitting in the basement that's collecting, becomes a towel rack? I know I've had a few. And the point of what I'm trying to say right now is I've seen even myself initially join in on some of these coaching programs and not participate or not go all in. And I know oftentimes the transformation happens at the transaction. What I wanna share with you today though, is to make you think if you're investing in coaching or personal development, give yourself the permission not to make your coaching investment to be that towel rack. I see a lot of people that are in some of the group coaching programs, a few people actually, I don't want to sugarcoat this, but I know there's many people that invest in a great coaching program that can have a tremendous impact on their lives and their business, and they never attend the meeting, or they never come in and participate or learn or even watch the recorded coaching calls of this group coaching. I often wonder why. that happens. And I think sometimes that happens is because they've already got what they needed initially, the transformation happened at the transaction. But it's a disservice to themselves by not taking that leap of faith and showing up and going for the continuous showing up and implementing all the great things that are in these coaching programs. For example, I have a tremendous coaching program that I've been in for the last four years that have helped me with all the aspects of transforming my business with cybersecurity. And I've taken my business and transformed it where not to toot my own horn, but within that community, I feel like I'm looked upon highly for the success I've had. I don't say that lightly because it was not just me. That was also my team, was me leading my team. But with the success of embracing the teachings from those various different coaches from that program, I know that there are people around the world that have looked at what I've been able to do. Because a lot of times people say, hey, that's not possible. You can't do that. I'm living proof. I'm living proof that in a small community, I've taken my business and where I once had that limiting belief, that mindset, that my market is just within an two hour drive. My market is, I used to think it was Atlanta, Canada, then I expanded to Canada and now the North America, but I realized the market for the services that I can offer are worldwide. And the lesson here is don't count yourself out. Make sure you have that belief, but also most importantly, if you invest in a program or you purchase a book, pick it up, read it, study it. listen to that same thought later on social media, go back to where those thoughts came from, and keep going back and, if you will, go to the well. So I want to reflect just for a moment on where this has all led for me, this investment in the cybersecurity coaching that I've been in, the business coaching, the mindset coaching, the fitness coaching, public speaking. And I forgot to say, I actually started to embrace French second lane, which teaching I have an instructor, but I'm going to call that a coach. Okay. I'm going to call that a coach. What has that done for my life? Well, like I said earlier, I've released 120 pounds. I feel so much more confident about myself. I show up as a better husband, a better father, a business leader, a thought leader in my community, my thought leader in the community of cybersecurity. I know because of my own story that I share, online through Instagram and LinkedIn and Facebook. I know other people have started their own fitness and mindset transformation because of what I've shared. And I was asked once before, why do you share it? I share those stories to help the other versions of me that needed to hear it because somebody else shared their story. And the great thing about this story about where my life is right now, it's still just starting. There's so much potential where I'm going and I'm embracing this version of me that I'm peeling back every day. And what I want to share with you today is why not you? I even asked that to myself because I have other people that have inspired me and I have visions and goals of where I want to go. And sometimes I doubt myself, but today I want to say to myself and to you, why not you? Why not you be the person or the business leader the father, the son, member of the community that goes all in on their goals and chases it, embraces it, and makes a difference and be the 10X version of you. That was what was on my heart today. I would love to hear your story. I would love to hear if this has connected with you, please reach out, DM me. But I want each and every single one of you to know how special you are and that you all have unlimited potential more than what you'll ever, ever know. So this week, ask yourself, why not you? Why not me? And let's go after it. Go after it with passion and intention. And if you need a coach, reach out, connect with people that can help you and inspire you to lead you. And if you can't get a coach, get an accountability partner. And ask the question together, why not us? Why not us? Why not now? Have an incredible week. I'm so thankful for you. I'm so grateful to be able to share these words with you and just go all in. Why not you? 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