You’re reading 5 Pieces of Life Advice from a Warrior and TBI Survivor, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

‘When starting from scratch to reinvent yourself choose a powerful and loving mindset.’
– Glenn Bott, Survivor, Speaker, Warrior

Imagine suddenly waking up with no idea of where you are or why you’re there? Everything looks strange. You have no recollection of anything prior to this moment. You somewhat remember “you”, but only from a deep feeling and familiarity. You can’t remember your name, or anything that happened before this moment.

I am very fortunate to fully recover from this normally devastating and rocky abyss known as a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). At first I was unable to explain my successful recovery. After years of continuous and incremental progress I now have at least part of the answer.
Recovering from a TBI is an interesting experience to say the least. And I can only recollect those circumstances that occurred when my brain began to once again “log-in and write” information to memory! Nonetheless, I fully recovered and learned a lot along the way. I gladly share these useful tactics as they helped me become a better human and may do the same for you. As with everything in life, it’s always your choice.
Here are 5 tactics that were essential to my recovery.

1. A Strong Warrior Mindset

Before my TBI I had done a lot of work on myself – mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. I always wanted to be a better version of myself, to be more authentic, and be the best Glenn Bott there was. I had taken a lot of personal and professional workshops on building my confidence and personal power. I understood that my job as a leader wasn’t to make all the “right” decisions, but rather focus the energy of the group to accomplish the task at hand – to find a way to get the mission accomplished.

I was masterful in my laser-focus to accomplish my goals/commitments while at the same time remain resilient and forgiving if apparent detours presented themselves. I knew I would ultimately succeed.

2. Find An Awesome Support Crew

We all need a little help as we go through this great adventure called life. No one does this trip completely alone. When you love and respect those you encounter they naturally want to do the same in return to you and those they encounter on their journey.
Are you familiar with the story of the Navy pilot who met the man who packed his parachute that saved him when he was shot down over? This story is about all the people we meet throughout our life that are there for us in ways we don’t even know about or may not give attention to.

My powerful and loving wife is at the top of my list. She stepped up in ways that are off-the-charts. She was there for me physically, mentally, and spiritually. She repeated to me thousands of times that I was strong, smart, and capable. She spearheaded my recovery, kept her small retail business running, and took care of all the household needs. She never complained and always had a positive attitude.

My business partners stepped up in my absence as it was almost a year before I could function in a reduced business capacity. My mentors all stepped up to offer free assistance, love, and shared their skills all without asking for payment.

Take the time to acknowledge and appreciate your support crew – those that pack your parachute.

3. Practice Loving More Fully and Frequently

A lot of what I was taught growing up about loving everyone was theoretical until my event – my game-changer. I went from understanding those platitudes as theoretical suggestions to knowing/living/understanding them at a soul level.
My two big take-aways from my TBI are:
• We’re all in this together
• Love is what it’s all about

I finally understood and could feel that deep down everyone just wants to feel a little better and improve their life. Some people are serious hurting units and lash out at everyone and everything because of their pain and aloneness. These folks need hugs the most. While you can’t/won’t change them overnight, offering a smile, pat on the back, or a simple kind word can make all the difference in their day. Their behavior says everything about them and nothing about you so don’t take it personal.

I’m fond of saying, “you can’t give what you don’t have”. In order to give them some love you’ve got to have an abundance of it to share with the world. As your own self-love and respect grows you’ll find it overflowing and you naturally want to share it with those you meet in your daily life.

4. Live With Your Heart and Mind Synchronized

A main ingredient in my successful recovery was living a congruent life. I had taken many personal development courses, both personally and professionally, that emphasized living authentically. Claim your power, know that you are worthy and deserving, and move forward with your heart and mind synchronized in achieving your goal. This resulted in maximum energy flow to be used in my healing and recovery.

I had healed my past regrets and “coulda/shoulda/woulda” moments. I forgave myself for my actions and realized I was doing my best at the time; otherwise I would have done it differently. It may not have been very good, but it was my best at that moment.
As I moved forward from this cleansing I made it a point to act with my head and heart aligned. When I was offered a new opportunity I would check in and see how it felt? Was my gut in agreement? Was my mind on-board and seeing lots of positive choices? If the answer was yes then I would proceed with 100% conviction.

I now fully realize that life is an incredible adventure. As those wise men and women preceding us have pointed out – it’s all about the journey.

5. Slow Down and Appreciate the Moment

It’s easy to get wrapped up in doing. We are taught and rewarded from a young age to get stuff done and accomplish our daily tasks. This is how many of us gain our feeling of being worthy. While this is an excellent formula when used in moderation, too many of us are way out of balance and only focus on the next task. There’s no time spent enjoying the accomplishment and giving ourselves a pat on the back for a job well done. We live in the future and don’t take time to appreciate this moment.

After my event I became very aware of the importance of being in the NOW. This is all we’ve got. Everything else is either a memory or something we’ve mentally constructed. When I lost my ability to record current events to my memory or pull from past experiences, I had no other option but to live in the NOW.


Glenn Bott speaks and coaches on positivity, innovation, and resiliency. He shares the proven techniques he used to successfully reinvent himself after recovering from a severe and life-threatening Traumatic Brain Injury.

You’ve read 5 Pieces of Life Advice from a Warrior and TBI Survivor, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.