Me.Now. completes its first 100 days tomorrow. While those 100 days feel like they have passed somehow both fast and slow, what has been accomplished is owed to all of you who continue to participate in our growing Me.Now. Movement. It is with humble thanks that I share the benefits I’ve seen from Me.Now. in these last 99 days.

Me.Now. is built on the principle we can achieve more together than apart. This principle has manifested for me in ways I never thought possible. The Me.Now. Movement has carried my ambition to be an entrepreneur from bar-napkin doodle to reality. I’ve found encouragement, business connections and practical guidance in the last 99 days that have enabled me to develop a product and launch a business with international ties. Trust Ema LLC is primed to begin sales in April 2017 and would not have been possible but for those Me.Now. early adopters in Washington, Oregon, Arizona and Florida who lifted me up every time I stumbled. While I do not know what the future holds for EMA, I know that I am surrounded by support.

Me.Now. advocates that commitment to passion and ambition will lead to new confidence and new opportunities. I found out this week that I was awarded a full-ride scholarship to the US business school of my choice. I applied for the same scholarship last year and did not receive the award. In my previous application, I researched and prepared a package that modeled every pillar of the scholarship’s ‘ideal candidate’ attributes. I was stressed throughout the process and greatly discouraged when I found out I was not chosen. This year, leaning on Me.Now. principals, I built an application designed only to represent me, not the ‘ideal candidate.’ I felt almost no stress because I knew that my success was not dependent on the scholarship. While I do not know why my package won the scholarship this year and not last, my confidence and commitment are redoubled to both the Me.Now. Movement and my own entrepreneurial journey.

Me.Now. encourages all people to stand firm against doubt and fear. A few weeks ago I wrote a post about ditching discouragement and noted that I and other members of the Me.Now. Movement had suffered recent setbacks. As I write this post, the same members I referenced then have overcome their adversity and built bridges to new opportunities through personal courage and collaboration with other Me.Now. members. The Me.Now. Movement has seen new job opportunities, new goals, new supporters and even new babies in the last two weeks simply because we do not let doubt and fear steer our course.

Thank you for letting me share this good news through a blog usually dedicated to storytelling. I believe it is very important to celebrate the victories whether big or small and simply couldn’t let these first 100 days go by without thanking this group for what you’ve done for me and what our Movement continues to do for one another!

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8 thoughts on “Me.Now. – The First 100 Days

  1. Congratulations on your scholarship award. Any kind of education is paramount in the growing process and serves us throughout our lives, that said, I would like to add attitude, common sense, self confidence and honesty. These links coupled with said educations is the “key” to success. There’s no real blueprint for life itself, but these links that form a chain have many parallels with great successful individuals past and present.

    You wrote;
    ” I built an application designed only to represent me, not the ‘ideal candidate.’ I felt almost no stress because I knew that my success was not dependent on the scholarship. While I do not know why my package won the scholarship this year and not last, my confidence and commitment are redoubled to both the Me.Now. Movement and my own entrepreneurial journey.”

    I believe you unlocked the door in you second attempt by trying again (ambition/attitude), I’m sure the application included past experiences (education), but HONESTY (integrity) is what got you there. You kept it real to yourself. These few links to the “chain of life” are only as strong as the weakest link. A well rounded individual is unstoppable, take away one link, say common sense, and the chain will break. When we fail or succeed, its how we react and adapt into the future based on our individual links that forged our chain or character.

    We all have the potential for a solid character, some find it early in life and others struggle a lifetime. Once we forge our chain we must also maintain and protect the links from corrosion until we die. The people around us, (especially our children) will have a blueprint for their future based on our character.

    ME.NOW. is a great source for those individuals looking to improve and follow their dreams, just remember to work on our “links” as these basic tips make or break us.

    In closing, I want to share my appreciation for the individual you have become and for striving to reach new goals. Your willingness to help others achieve their dreams indicates you possess the character I’m writing about.
    I’m proud of you Andrew, and congratulations once again.

    • Great comment, Paco – and thank you for the constant encouragement and support! Your comment gave me perspective I did not previously have, particularly when you explained how my second application attempt may have represented my ambition, tenacity and integrity to the approval board. It is insights like yours that keep me energized to come back each day and forging my chain. My sincere thanks – Andy

      • I know you were entering marathons all over the world. Are you going to continue to challenge yourself on this front or have you found another more challenging activity to focus on in your life?

        • Juna – Great question! Me.Now values physical challenges equally with professional challenges. For me, I’m in a period (and an age!) of life where physical challenges take a lot more planning and preparation than professional challenges. I have ambitions for a few big hikes (Argentina in April!) and hopefully another long race in the coming 1-2 years. I will be sharing both my plans and my challenges on this blog – stay tuned! Thanks for the comment.

  2. Andrew, This is awesome and I want to take a moment to congratulate you on both the success of Me.Now. and your acceptance to business school. The Me.Now. Network has been working for me thus far and I will continue to feed into it as much as possible. What we put in is what we get out but I can say I wouldn’t have had the “small victories” had I not tapped into the resource. Thank you and great work! In regards to your business school, if you need to bounce any of the business theories or management principles off me for ideas or explanations, please don’t hesitate to use me as a resource. My Bachelor’s Degree had a heavy foundation of curriculum based on entrepreneurship and corporate lessons. Case studies, leadership, database management and accounting were some of the few aspects I studied. It has been some time since I flexed that knowledge but I’m sure if I can knock the dust off I can help if you ever need any. Good luck and keep on the fight brother! You are well on your way and the inspiration is much appreciated, I just wish I can return any support back if I am able to.

    • P – Thanks for the comment and the offer to help me drive my graduate education forward. I am excited to hear you are finding similar support from this group as well – we are stronger together for sure! I have no doubt I’ll be leaning on you and all members of the Movement to help me reach my goals. I’m stoked for what we build next…

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