114. Looking At Yourself With Purpose with Paul Forchione

• Paul Forchione is a motivational coach who dives into mindset, helping people build a positive mindset
• Paul believes you can do whatever you want to do if you believe in it
• You have to find your why, or you’re not going to do it or you’ll stop when you hit the first roadblock
• Paul’s career started as a loan officer, selling mortgages and loan products
• With the changes in the industry post-2008, he started to lose his passion and interest in the space as he felt he couldn’t help people the way he used to
• As a result, he took the leap, leaving his job to start helping people build happier lives
• Going back to his personal story, Paul’s birth was a difficult labor, which resulted in his having Cerebral Palsy due to oxygen deprivation to his brain
• When he was 2-3 months old, the doctors told his mother Paul’s case was so severe, he should not be expected to walk ever
• Paul’s mother did not accept that, and sought therapists to help him to walk, with a daily regime from age 1 until he was 8
• Given the hard work, he was able to walk, but was still behind other kids
• Paul remembers being put in soccer at age 5 or 6, where he could barely run while other kids were running laps around the field
• His parents weren’t trying to force him or put him down by putting him in these situations, but were trying to raise him up
• He wanted to quit, but his parents helped him feel the importance of the commitment he made to do it, and finish the season, regardless of whether he wanted to quit at the end of the season or not
• Paul’s father was a huge baseball fan, so a love of baseball grew within Paul
• He had a desire to play baseball at a high level, but of course never thought it was possible
• He had an operation at age 7 that allowed him to run, and actually keep going so he could keep up with the other kids
• It was the first time in his life he felt like the other kids
• Despite that feeling, he experienced a lot of bullying, especially in junior high, and he spent a lot of time crying at night in his room about why he couldn’t just be like the other kids
• Something switched in him, and he decided he was going to do what he wanted despite his difference, setting his sights on the Varsity baseball team in high school
• He realized he can’t control what other people feel about him, but he can control what he thinks about himself, and what that allows him to do
• Paul started to practice and train relentlessly, and people started to notice
• Where people had bullied him before, now they cheered him on as they watched his commitment
• The hard work paid off, as he made the team, and senior year, as a pitcher, batted .300 and pitched a three hit shutout
• He took that same direction and self-belief, and applied it to his education, getting his college degree
• He kept flowing with his self-belief and went into a sales role in the loan industry
• Sales takes a tremendous amount of self-confidence and belief, and Paul went into it with the same direction and energy
• He found himself to be very resilient to the lumps people take in sales, seeing them as chances to learn and grow
• He’s found how life is a constant improvement every day that we can make through being aware of it
• We can be angry and sad – we don’t need to suppress our feelings – but then after acknowledging your feelings, focus on things to be grateful for and achieve
• When you feel like the world is against you, you have to look at what you might be doing – big or small – that could be contributing to it that are within your control
• This gives you insight into what you can work on to make your situation better
• Paul saw a TEDx Talk that vulnerability is a strength, and that really struck him
• He had been holding back on his story because it embarrassed him
• He realized instead that it’s actually a strength, and he has nothing to be embarrassed about in his story
• He’s achieved so much, having run a marathon despite his mother being told he’d never even walk

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• Website: A Call to Action
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