April 30, 2022 by Brian Weiner No CommentsChanging The World One Thought At A Time., Lessons From The Mountain

The boy who is going to make a great man must not make up his mind merely to overcome a thousand obstacles, but to win in spite of a thousand repulses and defeats.

THEODORE ROOSEVELT

Go around it, knock it down or go through it. Those are the options for an obstacle. Anything less is allowing the obstacle to prevent your progress. In some cases, when encountering an obstacle that is clearly not possible to overcome

For those who have an intense desire to prevail, it requires a fortitude and determination that are indomitable. It requires a spirit of persistence that is unyielding. And it requires a mindset that recognizes that life is going to continually impede your path with disappointments, set backs, frustrations, fear, agony of defeat, and anxiety… all so that you are getting prepared for a growth that is genuinely required to achieve whatever you have really set your mind upon.

Theodore Roosevelt was a larger than life human being. He was shot in the chest in Tammany Hall during his last run for President, and the assassin’s bullet lodged in a bible in his breast pocket and did not enter his body. From there, he opted to go with his son into a part of the Amazon jungle that no Caucasian human beings had ever ventured into. The book River of Doubt takes you on that horrific journey in one of the most compelling chronicles of courage and determination that I have ever encountered.

When I found this aphorism, it made me reflect on how this man was stating his truth, and not spewing a philosophy that was not backed up by deep life experience. It is for that reason that this resonated for me.

PBS did a special on his journey. https://www.pbs.org/video/amazon-theodore-roosevelt-urhdgc/

Happy Saturday!

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Written by Brian Weiner

When I was 5 years old, I discovered that the lemon tree in the backyard + dixie cups + water and sugar and I was in business. I have been hooked on that ever since. In 1979, I borrowed $14,000 to create a brand new product... photographic greeting cards with no text on the inside, called Paradise Photography. That was the start of The Illusion Factory. Since then, The Illusion Factory has been entrusted by all of the major studios and broadcasters with the advertising and marketing of over $7 billion in filmed, live, broadcast, gaming, AR, VR and regulated gaming forms of entertainment, generating more than $100 Billion in revenue and 265 awards for creativity and technology for our clients. When I took a break from film school at UCLA to move to Hawaii, my mother did not lecture me. Instead, she took 150 of her favorite aphorisms and in her beautiful calligraphy, wrote them artistically throughout a blank journal. That is the origin of the Lessons from the Mountain series. Since then, on my journeys to the top of a mountain to watch the sunrise, I have spent countless hours contemplating words of wisdom from the sages of all races, genders and political persuasions, constantly accumulating the thoughts to guide me on my life path. I hope you enjoy my books. Please let me know your thoughts, as I highly value your feedback!