Nate Gray A Winning Perspective @HaveAWP www.haveawp.com Facebook: Nate Gray Zone

A Winning Perspective

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Nate Gray A Winning Perspective @HaveAWP www.haveawp.com Facebook: Nate Gray Zone

Part I Purpose/Mindset A Winning Perspective is about your perception and how you choose to respond to your challenges, and transform adversity to opportunity, to live your life and dreams. Having A Winning Perspective helps you see many angles of your own life that will help you over obstacles and shape your dream into reality. One of these angles is, finding your purpose and having a positive mindset. One lesson of purpose and how I rebounded to continue is when I reflect on a moment when my life could have been taken at the hands of another police officer or from being mauled down by a police dog. It was summertime in Chicago. I was 22 years old at the time and I had just started a great new job with a A Winning Perspective

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Nate Gray A Winning Perspective @HaveAWP www.haveawp.com Facebook: Nate Gray Zone

Fortune 500 company. I was out at a party with my cousin Josh, also known as Author J Maurice, and our friends. After having a straight blast for the night, we headed back to my home and we decided to walk since my guys lived fairly close in the vicinity. En route home, we were approached by police saying they were responding to a call about a shooting in the area and I fit the description. I remember my cousin saying he felt like something was up when we seen a squad car drive past us, with the officers looking and zooming directly in at us, and making a U-turn circling back around to us. They jumped out with their guns ready, and telling us to get on the fence. It was in the wee hours of the night around the 3am hour, on a main street in Chicago, as we were faced against A Winning Perspective

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Nate Gray A Winning Perspective @HaveAWP www.haveawp.com Facebook: Nate Gray Zone

the fence of a car dealer lot, being questioned and searched. I did not trust the moment, I was in fear as they approached and I was frustrated that we were being stopped because I just wanted to get home. Before getting on the fence, I tried talking to the officers. More cops pulled up to the scene in the meantime. As the officer searched me against the fence, he asked, “Where is the gun?” I told him I did not have anything. While the search and questions continued, he stepped back and I heard the squad car door open. I turned around only to see another cop of the canine patrol unit letting the dog out. My mind started thinking quickly and the first thing I thought was not to run, it will make dogs chase you. I did the opposite. As soon as the door was opened, the dog charged out from the car, with no muzzle, barking and running full force directly for me. I panicked, A Winning Perspective

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Nate Gray A Winning Perspective @HaveAWP www.haveawp.com Facebook: Nate Gray Zone

put my hands down from the fence and ran. The dog chased me, I slipped and fell, and from that moment, the dog caught a hold of my leg and gnawed away. I was wearing shorts and a tee shirt getting bit straight through the flesh and bone. Although trying to get away from the biting only makes it worse because a dog will lock its teeth in harder, I still fought to get up from the ground. I was so in shock, disbelief and seeing a flash of my life, dreams, and pictures of my loved ones and friends all in a millisecond. My heart was racing as I was bracing myself not knowing what was next. I just knew I was going to hear the gunshot or this dog was going to maul me away. I took the last bite when it jumped up at me aiming for my neck. From the moment the dog sprung off its legs to jump, for a quick second, the moment felt slow motion like the Matrix. I froze. I gasped and felt like all breathe was A Winning Perspective

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sucked out my body. I just knew that was it. I could see this dog getting my neck and I felt defeated, but I had a reflex that kicked in and before I knew it, I threw my arm out and blocked. The dog’s teeth were clamped down on my arm. This is when the officers called the dog off. I could not believe I was still alive, but I was still in fear for my life. After bleeding severely, with deep open dog bite wounds on my legs and arms, in some serious pain, I was laid face down on the ground still getting searched, handcuffed and thrown into the back of a cramped tight space in the police car. While waiting to run my ID in their computer, they were talking to Josh outside and he and I heard the description of the suspect repeated on the cop radios, and turned out that I was a mistaken identity.

A Winning Perspective

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The officers drove me to Holy Cross hospital, the nearest in the area. I sat in a room with one of my hands cuffed to a rail there with them answering their questions while waiting to be treated. The officers were changing shifts at that time, still with one of my hands cuffed to a rail waiting to be treated. I could not walk and could barely move my legs. While I was waiting for a doctor, I remember an officer coming into the hospital saying, “Why did you run? You know you’re not supposed to run from a dog. You’re lucky I wasn’t there. I would’ve shot your ass!” I just remember remaining silent, and feeling invaded of my civil rights, and feeling angered that I had just gone through this. What did I learn from this and what was A Winning Perspective I had about this situation? This reminds me of my purpose and let me know I am here for a reason when I A Winning Perspective

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Nate Gray A Winning Perspective @HaveAWP www.haveawp.com Facebook: Nate Gray Zone

could have been another statistic in Chicago or another case like Eric Garner, Freddy Gray, or many other lives that have been taken by police. In the beginning, I was angered and it was hard to move forward from this. I learned that in any situation maintaining your composure is always best, and this case potentially could have had a better outcome. Rather than using energy and time toward having resentment against police officers, I am glad to still be alive and have come a long way in more than ten years later since then. I look at everything I have in life and realize that these moments are all possible by me being able to live. I continue to have many opportunities and have been able to marry my longtime friend and beautiful wife, see my first and only nephew grow up, who was born just a month before the incident, meet new people, and pursue my A Winning Perspective

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Nate Gray A Winning Perspective @HaveAWP www.haveawp.com Facebook: Nate Gray Zone dreams. I never imagined I’d be where I am today nor would I have known I’d be writing about this time of my life and sharing it with you. You may have been asked do you know your purpose, or have heard you have to discover your purpose in life. You may not be sure of what you want to achieve in life, but are aware there is some need for you to fulfill. Think about your dream that you have in your mind and heart at this moment. You can see in your mind the picture of what you want and where you want to be in life. That is your vision. You see it, and you have everything in you to work with it. The essence of who you are and what you believe in and everything you aspire for is a part of your purpose. To find your purpose, make a self assessment and ask yourself the following questions: A Winning Perspective

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1.)

What are you passionate about? Think about

what you are passionate about. This is something you love or feel strongly about. You may be someone who wants to be a nurse or physician because you care for people and their well being, perhaps you want to finish school and pursue that degree in your field of interest, you may be passionate about art and paintings and want to be an artist, you may have experienced some life issues and want to share your story and help others in their lives. This is also something you feel good about and love to do and would still do it if you weren’t getting paid for it. Think about this. If you have a day job right now, you are working that job for a paycheck to make a living, but if you weren’t getting paid for it, you would not want to do the work because this is not your passion.

A Winning Perspective

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Nate Gray A Winning Perspective @HaveAWP www.haveawp.com Facebook: Nate Gray Zone

Or it can be something that bothers you in life to a point you want to provide a solution for it. Some people in Chicago are pursuing their purpose by being community activists to create solutions because they are angered by gun violence, police brutality, and political corruption that they’ve become community activists to create solutions. Instead of complaining about the problems and not doing anything, they found a purpose and opportunity to make a difference by fighting against those issues. As I meet Chicago community activists and build relationships, I’ve discovered a part of my purpose in partnering with them to help our city and becoming a volunteer mentor for the youth. 2.)

What are your skills or uniqueness? Everyone

is different and unique. You have to identify what your

A Winning Perspective

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Nate Gray A Winning Perspective @HaveAWP www.haveawp.com Facebook: Nate Gray Zone

skills are and what you are good at. Think about your strong points and what impacts you can have. 3.) What makes you who you are and how you got to where you are today? This is what you know about yourself. Look at where you have been in life through today. Look at your progress and experiences and think about the future you want. As you think about those questions, I will show you my responses to show you how I defined my purpose. a.) I have a skill for networking with people, and I have identified in my journey that the right relationships are crucial for your personal and business life, which is covered more in chapter 5. b.) My heart, personality, drive and ambition, perseverance, life challenges, and overcoming adversity, is what makes me who I am today. A Winning Perspective

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c.) I have a passion for writing and entrepreneurship that has led me on my current journey of building that career and creating the life I want. Summing up my responses, since I love writing, I was inspired by some of my own hard times and life challenges at a point in life that led me writing and publishing my first book, “From Him to Us: Volume 1,” As I pursued the book publishing industry, it took my drive and ambition and perseverance to get out there and pursue my passion, learn the ropes, and meet the right people to help me. I will share more on this in chapters 2 and 3 on cultivating your vision, working effectively, and creating good work habits. Don’t give up five minutes before the miracle.”Barbara Niven, Actress, best-selling author and media training coach. A Winning Perspective

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Nate Gray A Winning Perspective @HaveAWP www.haveawp.com Facebook: Nate Gray Zone

A Winning Perspective

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Nate Gray A Winning Perspective @HaveAWP www.haveawp.com Facebook: Nate Gray Zone

Positive Mindset Now that you’ve discovered your purpose, a positive mindset can catapult you to the next level. A positive mindset is the cornerstone of your dream life and your personal life. Having a positive attitude empowers you to believe in yourself and discover your greatness, and helps you to get through the tough times in life. Your dreams, accomplishments, start in your mind. You can go as far as you are willing and you’ll never know if you’ll succeed unless you make an attempt. The parameter of your imagination is the limit. So why not think positive and go? A positive mindset will give you focus. There are many distractions around you in the world that can make it hard to focus on what’s important. Miscellaneous situations sometimes arise in life that you have to tend to before you can resume with your normal A Winning Perspective

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duties, but in the midst of that, you need to maintain your focus. You can face some hard times and never rebound from it by not staying focused, so you have to set your mind to not fall to distractions. You can do this by analyzing what is important and what you want in life. The more focused you are, you will be able to implement the actions you need toward your dream. You will need to remind yourself that every minute counts and it might not seem like it, but the time you apply to it are steps toward reaching it. Anytime you lose focus sets you back. Ask yourself is it worth it focusing on something that is not important or has no benefit to you. Every great work of innovation started in someone’s mind as an idea. Any successful person you see today is there because they have A Winning Perspective. A Winning Perspective

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Nate Gray A Winning Perspective @HaveAWP www.haveawp.com Facebook: Nate Gray Zone

Think about how your immune system works. It fights anything trying to attack the body. Having a positive mindset is the "immune system" for pursuing your dreams. It helps you to continue working for your dreams and protects you from any negativity or discouragements that can stop you. When I was rejected by major publishing houses for book deals, and literary agents to represent my first book, “From Him to Us: Volume 1,” my positive mindset did not change about getting published. Rather than to give up, I kept a positive attitude and took these opportunities to learn and find ways to help me succeed. A strong mind helps you keep pushing. You have to build your mind to be strong by mentally preparing and telling yourself, “I can do this. I got this.” Keep going! Don’t stop at the first setback. Don’t stop at all. Do not give up on your dream because you had A Winning Perspective

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some failed, discouraging moments. You can build on those setbacks by being open minded. Opening your mind will allow you to see the opportunity by analyzing your mistakes and learning from them. This is when you make note of how you can improve yourself. No one is born into the world with knowledge or experience. Everything is learned as you go through life. There is no one solid surefire guaranteed way to succeed. Your success is built from what you learn as you pursue your path in life, and how you use what you’ve learned to make it work for you. An example of someone I know who has a positive mindset and is living her dreams today because she did not stop at rejection or setbacks, actress and video marketing trainer, Barbara Niven. I had an opportunity to interview Barbara about having A Winning Perspective and how she A Winning Perspective

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Nate Gray A Winning Perspective @HaveAWP www.haveawp.com Facebook: Nate Gray Zone

overcame challenges in pursuing her acting career. At the beginning of her acting career over 25 years ago, Barbara auditioned in New York City for a role that she did not land. She was told by her agent from a major casting director that she does not have “star power,” and she needs to give up this career. She believed in herself and did not allow her positive mindset to change due to the director’s feedback. She took the statement, “Barbara does not have star power,” and returned to where she was living in Portland, Oregon, and started studying and breaking it down what star power means. She began to study the people who had the career she wanted and started watching what they were doing so she can recreate it and incorporate it into her own life. Barbara stated, “It is all about your perspective. You can learn from your failure or let it shut you down. ‘A Winning Perspective…’ takes your failure, A Winning Perspective

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and uses it to be your best teacher. We are not born knowing how to do it. Actors and actresses like Meryl Streep; they’ve learned acting classes and how to communicate well.” I love Barbara’s story because how she made the decision to continue versus giving up. As a result, she is one of Hollywood’s busiest actresses, shooting over 2500 commercials, TV shows and movies. You’ve seen her on NCIS, Cold Case, Lifetime, Hallmark, One Life To Live, and as Marilyn Monroe in HBO’s “The Rat Pack.” She served on the National Board of Directors for the Screen Actors Guild, and is a speaker and best-selling author. She has also become Hollywood’s Top Business Media Trainer. Once you have your mindset, you are ready to take action. Your mindset is crucial for cultivating your dream and for life. With a positive mindset, you can identify A Winning Perspective

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Nate Gray A Winning Perspective @HaveAWP www.haveawp.com Facebook: Nate Gray Zone

something positive, and make it work for you when you face challenges. When you first think of an idea or have a vision, it can be automatic and natural to wonder if it will work, but don’t doubt yourself out of it. Some examples are saying to yourself, “I don’t have everything I need to get started,” I don't know if I'm ready," "It's too late in life for me to do something." While you are making assumptions you are losing time and stopping your own progress. I could have said things like, “There are enough authors and speakers already, who wants to hear me, or who wants to read my books?” I would not have found mentors and had a chance to meet and talk to motivational speakers such as Les Brown and many others later in my career if I did not have the mindset to continue. I had the opportunity to speak at the first annual ProPops Foundation Father’s Day Celebration with NBA A Winning Perspective

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Nate Gray A Winning Perspective @HaveAWP www.haveawp.com Facebook: Nate Gray Zone

Dads in Miami, 2012. When I first heard of the event through a post from a friend on my social media page, I immediately noticed an opportunity and seized it. I thought it would give me the exposure and networking opportunities I was looking to accomplish from it. I had the mindset I could be one of the speakers on the panel. I found out about it on one of my online social networks through a post from a friend. I took the time to call the company and ask if I can speak at the event. I do have a connection from back in the day with the founder of the company, Dwayne Wade Sr, but still I gave my pitch to who I needed to, and I secured a spot on the roster! This was an experience of a lifetime. It was my first time in Miami, Florida, Father’s Day riding in the limo and talking with some of the NBA dads, on my way to deliver a speech at a local university

A Winning Perspective

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was priceless. It was a great learning experience, networking opportunity, and an opportunity to touch lives. Once you have discovered your purpose, and positive mindset, you are ready to cultivate your purpose or vision.

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