Hello everyone. Welcome back to Real Talk With Reginald D. 

 I'm so glad you could tune in with me today. We're still talking about balancing your life for your purpose. This is part three. Hope everybody's having a good day today.

Let me tell you a little bit about myself, I grew up in a single parent home. My mom and dad didn't reunite and get married until I was around 30 years old. Being that I was raised by just my mom, people that were close to me told me that my life wouldn't amount to anything because I was raised by a single parent. The crazy part is I started believing it because we didn't have much. I used to look at everybody else and see how well off they were and how well they were living. And then I looked at how I was living, and it looked like it was true. So, I got to the point where I just wanted to be accepted. I wanted to fit in.  So, I started hanging with the wrong crowd and getting in trouble, and things like that. That was the biggest mistake that I made. I was too busy trying to be accepted instead of respected. I wasted a lot of time going nowhere trying to be accepted. Then something triggered in my mind, and I began to pull away from people. I changed my way of thinking, which ended up changing the direction I was headed. You can't redirect your life if you don't realign your mind. Whatever you do, don't waste your time trying to be accepted. Trust and believe that you can be whatever you want to be, no matter where you come from. God made you who you are for a reason. He designed you for something great. You just have to believe it and walk in it. And when you start walking in who you are, some people might say you are going the wrong way. But you're not. It's simply a way of your own. Don't worry about what people say. Ask yourself this question how many times each day do you mean to say one thing but ended up saying something else because you were worried about what other people might think? Don't do that to yourself. Be who you are. Don't let people take your identity. If they take that, then they can control your life. The greatest accomplishment is being yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else. Just be yourself. There is no one better than you. And remember this, you have to be yourself because everybody else is already taken. You can't be anybody else but yourself.

 In balancing your life for your purpose. You have to love yourself. You can't just like yourself. You have to really love yourself. Love yourself first and everything else will fall in line. You have to love yourself to be able to get anything done in this world. Love yourself enough to set boundaries in your life. Your time and energy is precious, you choose how you use it. Don't let anybody else choose for you. Don't let people treat you any kind of way. You teach them how to treat you. If people reject you for that, then oh well, people's rejection could be God's direction for you. 

 You have to learn to let things go in your life. Some people believe that holding and hanging in there are signs of great strength. However, there are times when it takes much more strength to know when to let go and do it. 

 This is important. Setting boundaries is simply about communicating your needs for a healthy interaction with someone else. It isn't always easy. Not everyone will like or understand your boundaries or your reasons for setting them. But if you don't set those boundaries, then you can't expect them to be followed. It often takes strength and courage to set boundaries. But when you do so, you can feel comfortable knowing your lines have been set, your needs have been communicated. And if someone chooses to violate your boundaries, you are in your right to create further distance between yourself and that person. No one has the right to violate your boundaries. It's important to know that you must create boundaries for your emotional and physical wellbeing. You also must create boundaries in the workplace, with your time and with your finances. Now, if somebody throws a fit because you set boundaries, it's just more evident that the boundaries were needed. The lack of boundaries invites the lack of respect. Now, you can't force someone to respect you, but you can refuse to be disrespected. If someone is crossing your boundaries, it's because you allow them to. Boundaries mean this. be aware of what is unacceptable and normalized. Saying no and do what is best for you. And know that it's not your responsibility to sacrifice yourself for others. Setting boundaries will allow you to separate who you are, what you think and feel from the thoughts and feelings of others. 

 You also have to realize and know that your life is not ordinary. So never look down on what you can do to be impactful, you have to take things that are given to you and use them in the most impactful way that you can, even if it's not your normal way of thinking. 

If I gave you $100 right now, what would you do with it? Would you go buy an outfit that you don't need? Would you go out to dinner or happy hour with your friends? Or would you find a family that's hungry and feed them? Which one is more impactful? The family that doesn't have any food, right? So, there's nothing impactful about going buying some clothes that you really don't need. Nothing impactful about that. Some people may bet to differ, but you're sitting home right now with your closet that fell in because of all these clothes. 

 Make impactful decisions. If you do impactful things, then you will become influential, powerful and effective. Don't wait for an opportunity to come. You create it. Do not let the greatness of life and the greatness of yourself pass you by. In three words, I can sum up everything about life. It goes on!  With or without you!  You just have to choose which way you want it to go. 

 The best thing you have is the power of choosing. Know that you got this. You just got to keep trying, keep moving, keep dreaming and keep believing. 

 Thanks so much for stopping by with Real Talk With Reginald D. Let's keep going on this journey together. But until next time, have a great day!