Do you need a reputation repair plan? Who truly determines your reputation in the modern world of social media, and the internet? Who? You?

We officially live in the world of “Guilty, until Proven Innocent”. That’s fucked up! I mean just look at what happened with Justice Brett Kavanaugh through his Supreme Court nomination hearings in the United States back in 2018. Where are these liars today? Why aren’t they paying the ultimate price for destroying a family? Yes, Brett was eventually voted onto the Supreme Court, but who gets the bill for the damages done to his family? The battle of the mind for this family isn’t over. The evildoers just move on with their lives, with no sentences for their crimes. The sad stark reality is, this is just one story.

Many of you who know my family and I personally, know that we have suffered through one of the most painful endings to this decade. Yes, I’m so happy to officially flush the toilet on December 31, 2019 on these last 10 years of my life. The most painful being these last 4 years. As I have been writing my new book, the Startup King, set to release on 1.11.2020, I have been reminded how painful this climb has been. I have shed many tears, I have felt Hopeless, I have wanted to jump off the bridge again and again as the enemy whispered in my ears “there is No Hope for you, just jump”. I have wanted to quit everything. Throw in the towel. Walk away. But then who wins?

The battle of the mind is real! We are just one story. Yes, it’s a crazy one, but it’s our story. Not some bullshit opinion of one. A story that has been lived through Blood, Sweat, Tears, Fears, and mostly alone. No one truly tours the behind the scenes of the horror that haunts the darkest corners of our lives. There are some days where we are locked away into these hopeless rooms, and the keys are thrown away. No one really cares. No one is coming to rescue you. The reality is, it’s just you and your Creator. So how do you escape? How do you climb out? How do you #Breakout ?

This year has been one of the most challenging years of my life. So much good, so much hope, so much progress, but also so much pain. It’s truly a miracle that I’m still here today fighting for my dreams, and fighting for this purpose driven life God has called me to. I was recently reminded how painful our safe seasons can become. Safe seasons? Jeremy, what the hell is a safe season? Let me explain. The one thing we all long for, and crave the most is safety. Feeling safe. Love that makes us feel safe. Our safe place. This is why most of us play it safe in life. No Risk, No Drama, No Pain, No Bullshit, just Safe. So why are some of us wired to risk it all? We literally run from anything that is safe. We swim upstream. We climb, rather than sitting on a lounge chair watching others scale the mountains. This has been my question this year to my Creator, my God. Why? Why Me God? Why do I have to make this climb? Why? Because it’s the highest calling. It requires absolute faith. Complete dependence upon your Creator. It’s a supernatural connection to time and place. This is my safe place.

When we get comfortable, and settle into a safe season, we don’t need faith. We don’t need complete dependence upon our Creator for time and place. This year I was starting to feel safe in my personal life. Through others that were telling me what I wanted to hear, and making me feel the way I wanted to feel. It was all bullshit. This can also happen in the church. The message is preached loud and clear that we will not judge you, or your past, but in the next breath of actions taken, they do the opposite.

So what do you do when your church becomes bad for your mental health?

That sounds really fucked up, but it’s true. It’s a real question. Probably my next book. Too much content, but it will be a good one. The reality is, the church is full of regular, imperfect people just like you and I, so you will find good people for your mental health, and you will find bad people for your mental health. The problem is when the leadership at the highest levels don’t represent what they preach. The best medicine for my mental health is real truth. Someone who walks through every valley, and every low, willing to get into the messy corners of life with you, and then we do the same for them. When you have this, you have everything. I’m blessed, because I have someone in my life who represents this fully. Yes, most definitely my wife, but also my best friend. I’ve been so blessed to have that safe place, to rest in, confide in, and walk in. It’s like God gave me this friend as a reminder of how steadfast His love is for me. It’s so powerful, and I will send this message to him today so he knows how much he means to me. If you have someone like this in your life, remind them today how much they mean to you.

So to answer the question in closing on how do we Breakout, and into a New Year? It starts with something so simple. Make the decision! Decide to stop living in the past. If you have people in your life that continue to take you back there, then remove them from your life immediately. Decide to protect your mental health at all costs. Your environment, your associations, your relationships. Take inventory of what is good, and what must go. It won’t be easy, but it’s necessary. You must be transformed by the renewing of your mind daily. You can make so much progress, but lost it all in a moment with a trigger. So lose the losers, the triggers. Take the trash of your life out for good. Don’t look bad. Walk into the future confidently knowing Who You Are, and Who You Were Created To Be.

Create the Best Year, the Best Decade of Your Life. Breakout! 🥂

~ Jeremy Crawford