Just wanted to drop a quick post. One Year ago I started vlogging and documenting my life. In the time since, I have learned so much about myself as a person and looking back at all the footage makes me realize even more that life truly is amazing.
Check out the video below!
I start my job as an auditor in 2 DAYS!! I am super excited and also very nervous/anxious. Going into any new setting can be uneasy at first, but eventually it comes around.
Certified = I am now officially a CPA (Certified Public Accountant)!! I passed all 4 parts and couldn’t be more relieved.
What you think is what you manifest. If you keep the end goal in sight, have relentless hard-work and dedication, you can accomplish anything you put your mind to.
Bostonian= I am now officially moved in to my Boston apartment! I am living in Brookline, MA, which is about a mile from Fenway park where the Redsoxs play!
Get out and see what the world has to offer. Yes, being settled and having ties to “one city” is nice, but I promise you that there are hundreds of other cities and experiences you are missing out by not venturing out.
Living in a different city makes you meet new people, learn a new culture/way of life, and grow as a human and appreciate the world.
Made 2 quick little youtube videos about my road trip out to Boston!
Business: Currently about 2 weeks out from starting my job at Ernst & Young as an auditor! In my free time, I am also developing a “business plan” for a drone company specializing in commercials/promotional videos for hotels and resorts. I am also still putting the pieces together on a podcast that I want to start soon.
Travel: Recently just drove across country from Wisconsin to Massachusetts if that counts! Travel for the next couple weeks will mainly be either to Wisconsin or the surrounding area near Boston.
I saw a couple awesome YouTube videos where people throw a dart at a map and go to wherever it lands. I think this concept is great and hope to do it sometime in the near future.
Fitness: Dealing with an ankle injury from my half marathon in July, I had to scale back my training to just weightlifting and very light cardio over the last couple of weeks. It is starting to feel a little better, so I hope to continue running soon. I would like to do a marathon within the coming months!
2018 has been crazy! I can’t believe its been 6 months since my last post. I am excited to pick up where we left off and keep delivering content that keeps you coming back!
I saw a quote the other day that I want to share:
“If you are depressed you are living in the past. If you are anxious you are living in the future. If you are at peace you are living in the present.” -Lao Tzu-
This quote strikes a cord with me because life is all about ups and downs. No one will ever be in the “present” at all times, its just human nature to either think about the future or dwell on the past. However, the quicker you can realize and minimize these ups and downs, the more at peace and content I think you will be in your life.
Earlier this year I was living in the past constantly. It wasn’t just a day or a week, it was months. It wasn’t until I truly realized that the only person that can control your feelings, your well-being and your path in life is YOU. Live each day as if its your last and I promise you’ll get more out of life.
If you have never checked out Gary Vaynerchuck, please do. The guy is hands down one of the best motivational and inspiring people around.
Business: My start date for EY is October 1st! I have passed the FAR, AUD and BEC sections of the CPA exam! I have one more section to go (REG)! I am also currently 2 weeks away from being done with my masters of accounting program! I am excited to step away from the classroom and put my skills to use in the real world.
Travel: I went over to Spain for a couple weeks to have a go at professional roller hockey. I had an amazing time while I was their. I unfortunately had to cut it short due to where I am at in life and what was important to me (school & CPA exam).
I then came back and went to Lake Havasu, Arizona to visit my grandparents for a couple days! After that I drove over to Los Angeles. It was my first time in LA and I loved it. Everything from the weather, to the Santa Monica Pier, to the Hollywood sign was awesome.
I went to Nashville for a roller hockey tournament with some of my close buddies. We made our own team for the summer and are called Floss & Sauce. Took first place in the tournament. Not a big deal.
Check out the unis:
I went to Punta Cana in May with two of my closest friends for a little vacation. Check out the video:
After that it was another Floss & Sauce roller hockey tournament in Milwaukee, WI. New tournament, same story. 1st place. Not a big friggen deal. Its what we do.
I then celebrated an epic birthday week and July 4th with friends!
Family trip to San Francisco in July! I also ran a half marathon with my father, while my mother did a 5 mile run. This was a trail run in the Marin Headlands just north of the Golden Gate Bridge. Finished in 2:17. Al took a controversial 2nd place finish in his age group with 2:21. Mom took home 2nd place as well with a 1:03 time. Peep the video:
Went to Atlanta July 20-23 for a national roller tournament. I went with my buddy Eddie Matsushima! We ended taking 2nd place and I took home top scorer for the division.
Future: I am headed to St. Louis for the last roller hockey tournament of the summer. This will also be kind of last hoorah for all the boys this summer. As we go our separate ways come fall: moving, school, jobs etc. Bitter Sweet!
I move out to Boston on September 1st!
Fitness: Successfully trained and completed a tough trail run half marathon in San Francisco! I am now trying to put some muscle back on that I lost while training.
I hope everyone had a nice holiday break and is already hitting the ground running in 2018!
The New Chapter:
What is next-up in your life?
What’s next for me is 4,000 miles away in Europe. What’s yours? Never get complacent at where you at in life for too long. You should get comfortable with being uncomfortable. When your uncomfortable and out of your “element”, that is when you find out who you truly are and where you really want to go in life.
My New Chapter:
I am currently sitting in the Chicago airport getting ready to fly over to Spain! I will be playing professional roller hockey for CPLV, in Valladolid, Spain. I will also be continuing my online grad school and studying for the next section of the CPA exam!
I am so excited to be able to finally showcase my talent at the pro roller level. However, the decision wasn’t just simple. In life, we are constantly faced with tough decisions and sometimes ponder back and fourth on what to do. For me, I kept going back and fourth on what i would be giving up in the USA vs. what I would be gaining in Spain. After thinking about it, the pros outweighed the cons and I was ready to start a new chapter in my life and pursue something I love to do.
Moving to Spain I am not sure how what exactly I will be doing with my Vlogs and YouTube channel. I have some things in the works so subscribe to stay updated!
Check out my latest Vlog’s about my trip to Aruba, London, & Austria!
UPDATE:
Business: Currently waiting to start my second semester of the MSA program at UConn. I will also be studying for the Auditing section of the CPA exam.
Travel: Over the last month, I think I have accumulated almost 20,000 miles of travel between traveling to Austria, London, Aruba, and now Spain!
Fitness: Maintenance has been the name of the game for me lately. Just keeping my muscle mass, staying lean, and improving my cardio has been my goal in order to be in good shape for hockey.
I wanted to give a quick update on what is going on in my life!
Business: I took the BEC portion of CPA exam last week. It was HARD. I find out the results of that exam in a couple of weeks, so fingers crossed!
Travel: I am headed on a European adventure! My first stop will be Austria, where I will be visiting my long time high school friend Jan. Jan was a foreign exchange student for a year, while I was a junior in high school. While in Austria we will be skiing in the Alps and catching an Austrian pro hockey game! From Austria I will travel to London to sightsee for a few days on my own.
Fitness: I recently just attempted to 10,000 calorie burn challenge! Check out my YouTube video to see how I did!
This past weekend I played in a roller hockey tournament in Cincinnati, OH. The boyz took home first place going 3-1 on the weekend. Next up is the Narch Pro Roller tournament at Huntington Beach, CA in January! Looking forward to playing at the highest level possible.
As always, keep grinding people and don’t stop pursuing what makes you happy. Life is to short to be filled with regrets.
Welcome back to another edition of the Rise & Grind blog. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and is getting exciting for Christmas!
Speaking of the holidays, I wanted to talk about the new year coming up.
Every year as October, November, and December roll around you hear people start talking about how they will make a change once the new year happens… Nothing makes me cringe more…I repeat…nothing makes me cringe more. Why?
As a society, why are we fixated on this idea that just because a new year is coming that we will all of the sudden make changes in our lives? STOP PLANNING AND START NOW. There is two glaring issues with new years resolutions.
Why are we waiting to make a change in our life? Why not start right now, or whenever you say you have a new goal. You shouldn’t waste time in your life. There will never be a “right time” to do something. You have to just dive in and do it now.
EXAMPLE: Its October 22, 2017. Your 20 pounds overweight. You say to yourself, My goal is to lose these 20 pounds in 2018. First off I am not hating on the goal, I think its a good goal, but why are we waiting an additional 2 months to make a change in our life? Start the process now, better yourself now, live the life you want to live now.
2. Most goals fail within the first month of the new year. Why is the gym so packed the first two weeks of January? All those new year resolutions. As a society, we just think change and good fortune will happen overnight. Because we put in the effort for the first two weeks of new year, we can take a break for awhile. News flash, this break ends up lasting until October/November of that year, and the whole process starts over again. Get mentally tough, accomplish goals now, look in the mirror and envision a better picture of yourself by starting those goals right now.
As for myself, a couple goals that I started this year and didn’t wait around for include:
Starting this blog
Starting my YouTube channel. A big goal for my YouTube was I wanted to hit 10,000 views by the end of 2017. I currently am at around 7,600 views! 10k was a lofty goal, but I am not going to give up! (so go check out one of my vides lol)
Playing pro roller hockey
Taking the CPA exam
Traveling the world
Getting a 4.0 in school
Check out my latest Vlogs for entertaining content. @Brett Skibba Comment, Like, Sub
Welcome back, welcome back. I wanted to start out by saying thanks for the continued support on the blog and on my YouTube channel! I wanted to share a text I got from a follower the other day…
Anonymous: “I just wanted to let you know that you last couple blogs/vlogs have been awesome my man. I am more focused than ever to pursue my goals. Keep it up”
It’s comments like these that keep me going. If I can change just one persons mindset/life, then I would consider this movement I am creating a success.
Never Give Up:
“DON’T GIVE UP, DON’T EVER GIVE UP” – Jim Valvano
The 7 most important words ever said in a speech. Average people give up. Great people don’t. Keep pushing and scraping and clawing and begging. Even in your dreams, don’t give up. Eventually you determination will pay off.
Advice: When your down or feel like giving up, ask yourself what is that other person in your same shoes doing? When your sleeping, that person is working. When your having a bad day, that person is having a good one. When you don’t keep going, that person keeps going. Bottom Line: When you and that person meet, they will beat you. Don’t let happen. Make a choice. Who are you going to be, what are you going to do, and how your going to do it.
BIG ANNOUNCEMENT:
I feel like I give a lot a good information out and try my best to show you/tell you how I am living the Rise & Grind lifestyle.
Every since I was a little kid I had dreams of playing “professional” hockey. Either roller hockey or ice hockey doesn’t matter. I have devoted my life to hockey and wouldn’t change that for the world. The only time when I can block out all of life’s distractions, is when I step out onto the roller hockey rink or ice rink.
I am proud to announce that I will be playing in my first professional roller hockey tournament from January 12-15 in Huntington Beach, CA! I will be playing for the Jets Young Guns roller hockey team.
Unis pictured below:
If you are dedicated and relentless in pursuing your goals you will get the opportunity to achieve them. You find out what your really made of once that opportunity comes. All my life I felt that when an opportunity presents itself I take it. Now that I have my foot in the door for pro roller hockey, you can bet I will make the most of this opportunity.
Check out my latest Vlogs & Subscribe to me on YouTube @Brettskibba https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCa2pmGksDbDGh3lLOOYtoyw/videos?view_as=subscriber
I hope everyone has been doing well! With Halloween only two days away, we only have two months left of 2017 people! Crazy. Keep grinding everyday to make sure you make the most of these two months.
In today’s blog I want to talk about the importance of time and opportunity.
Photo of me in Cape Town, South Africa.
The one commodity that is most valuable is TIME. Think about it. From the moment your born, your “clock” has started and every day that goes by you are actually slowly starting to die. You need to ask yourself how much time are you willing to waste in your life. At the end of the day, right before you fall asleep, reflect on your day and ask yourself if you made the most of your time.
We all have the opportunity to do better than we did yesterday. We all have the opportunity to learn more today than we did yesterday. We all have the opportunity to grow more today than we did yesterday. Opportunities will not present themselves to those that have lost hope, to those that have given up, to those that feel like the world is against them. If you think the world is against you, then the world will be against you. Whatever you are willing to put out, is what you will get in return.
Don’t wait for opportunity. Create it. Seek the opportunities you wish to find. Seek the opportunities that you are passionate about and when you do: CONQUER THEM.
Check out my latest VLog on YouTube! Be sure to subscribe!
Business: Travel: Fitness
Business: I only have two and half weeks left of my first semester of grad school! Time has been flying by. I am also 36 days out from taking my first CPA exam.
Travel: I recently just went to Las Vegas to watch my sister Loren play in a college golf tournament. She did really well and it was great to see her play. The weather in Vegas was great and it was so nice to be in the hot sun. My wallet didn’t like Vegas that much though lol.
Upcoming Travel: I will be going to Detroit in mid-November and Cincinnati in December to play in roller hockey tournaments. I am also headed to Florida most likely to visit my friend Blake in December. Lastly, two days after Christmas I am headed to Aruba for vacation!
Fitness: 10,000 calorie burn challenge is coming up. Going to see how far I can push my body! I will post a video of how it goes. I am still taking my workouts seriously, however I view working out as a way to enhance your quality of life rather than consume your life.
To start, I just wanted to say thank you for the continued support. The blog has now surpassed over 750 views in just 6 posts. The family is growing. Keep spreading the word!
Rise and Grind has been a way of life that I have embraced since right around my junior year of high school. Around this time frame is when I realized life is an amazing thing and literally you only live once (YOLO). That being said, every day needs to be your best. Now I realize no one is perfect, especially myself. Life WILL throw you major curve balls in life and you may end up taking a couple days, weeks or even months away from the Rise and Grind lifestyle. Three steps to minimize the damage and to get back on track.
Recognize the dilemma in your life
Grieve or take time to recover
Accept it and move on
The other day a really good friend of mine told me something he does in these situations. Every day that passes after life throws a curve ball, your goal should be to get 50% better than the day before. If you follow this eventually you will be back to that rise and grind mentality. For all you math nerds out there, sure technically this strategy won’t get you 100% cause constantly getting 50% better just leads to infinity ya ya ya. Long story short, the more days you can live the fullest and be happy the more fulfilling your life will be.
Motivation:
I came across this video many years ago… If I am ever feeling down or in need of motivation to do anything in life, I watch this video. If you listen to the wording and take it to heart, I guarantee you that you will transfer it to your life. SO WHAT DO YOU SAY?
WELCOME TO THE GRIND (This video is based on fitness, but the speech and way of life can be applicable to anything you have a passion for).
Amazing Right?
Last week I released my first Vlog on YouTube. The Second one is now up. I am taking the right steps in my life and am trying to make a name for myself. Are You?
Rise and Grind
Business: Travel: Fitness
Brett Skibba
Have any blog ideas you want me to talk about? Leave a comment!
Hey Everyone!
Photo of me in Cape Town, South Africa.
Brett Skibba Business: Travel: Fitness 