Weldon Long is the poster child for turning your life around and getting what you want out of life. I have had the pleasure of meeting him and hearing him speak in prisons several times and his story is moving and inspiring. From being a career criminal to becoming a highly successful businessman and national motivational speaker, Weldon’s story is truly amazing. His message is clear and straightforward, if you want to change your life, you must change your thinking. Weldon simply puts it ” Your life is a reflection of your habitual thoughts.”
Learn how to change fear into a positive motivating force
After committing his first crime at an early age, Weldon became a career criminal. Years of committing crimes ended in spending more than a decade in prison –and a strained relationship with a son he barely knew.
From committing crimes to saving the life of a prison guard, Weldon shares his journey of self-discovery which began after a conversation he had with his father shortly before his father’s death. Weldon was lamenting the choices he made in his life and his father said, “it could be worse.” It wasn’t long after that conversation that a guard came to Weldon’s cell with news of his father’s passing. It was at this moment that Weldon realized he had to change his life and began focusing on the man he wanted to be.
The First Step
While in prison Weldon had read Steven Covey’s book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People and decided to dedicate himself to becoming the man he really wanted to be before he was released from prison. He made a list of his goals and dreams and stuck them on his prison cell wall with toothpaste so he could focus on them daily.
Once Weldon got out of prison into a halfway house, he looked for a job. A long wrap sheet made it extremely hard for him to find something, but he persevered and got a job as a commission-based salesman for an HVAC company. His powerful desire to get his life on track and his love for his son meant Weldon gave himself no other option but to succeed. In his first month, Weldon earned nearly $14,000 in commission on $149,000 worth of sales. By consistently focusing on his thinking, he completely turned his life around. He was finally able to see his 10-year-old son who he hadn’t seen outside of prison since he was 3 years old. Using his relentless focus, determination, and sales skills, he went on to start his own HVAC company. Within 5-years, Weldon’s company was making $20 million and was selected by Inc. Magazine as one of the fastest-growing small companies in America.
Simplicity and Consistency
Weldon quotes Albert Einstein, “We cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them.” Weldon believes once you understand how much your thoughts impact the course of your life, you can begin to do the work of changing your thoughts and developing the right mindset for success. This led to Weldon developing a powerful process for changing your thoughts called FEAR.
Harnessing FEAR
As Weldon says ” FEAR stands for Focus, Emotional Commitment, Action, and Responsibility. Using this process, you’ll accomplish two things: First, it will help you get clear on your goals, identify existing thoughts that might be holding you back, and replace them with positive ones about what you really want in business and life. Second, you’ll learn how to reprogram your subconscious mind to follow the direction you need to go to get what you want. It will take some time and effort at first, but eventually, you’ll get to a point where following the right path is second nature.” This process doesn’t happen overnight, but eventually, you’ll get to a point where following the right path becomes a way of life.
I encourage you to read The Upside of Fear and his other books The Power of Consistency and Consistency Selling, not only to be inspired by his story but to gain very tangible skills to take your life to the next level. And if you ever get a chance to see Weldon speak, do NOT miss it!
For more information about Weldon, his story, and his books, see the links below.
Website https://www.weldonlong.com/2018/10/30/the-upside-of-fear/
YouTube Channel; https://www.youtube.com/c/WeldonLong
Details on The Upside of Fear https://www.amazon.com/Upside-Fear-Prison-Poverty-Addiction/dp/1608320006
About Weldon Long
Weldon Long has an incredible story of prison and poverty to promise and prosperity. After serving over 13 years of his life in prison, Weldon Long built an Inc. 5000 company with over $20,000,000 in sales in just 60 months. Today this New York Times best-selling author is one of the nation’s most powerful speakers and a driven motivator who teaches others the sales and prosperity mindset philosophies that catapulted him from rock bottom.