In my early years, my parents sent me to a Baptist school followed by a Catholic school after I got into a fight at the Baptist school. After getting into another fight at the Catholic school and several thousand dollars on tuition and the multiple jobs my parents worked at the time, there was a mutual agreement that it was time to stop spending money on private schools.
I was young. I was immature. I was encountering changes across the board. In short, there were many transitions already in my early stage of life.
Fast forward to May 8th, 1999. This day is significant because it was 2 days before I left for boot camp at Parris Island. It was also the day my recruiter called my house and informed my parents that I was leaving for bootcamp in the very near future. Between my parents justified anger and my fear of my parents at the time was about to be another transition.
A transition from civilian life to military life.
Over the course of the next 14 years, there were many more times of transitions. Transition in rank, transition from state to state, transition from the United States to foreign countries, transition of friends that I served with, transition of life and sometimes death. Transition after transition. Then there came the coveted DD214. When I left the Marine Corps for good in 2013, I was only back stateside for a few months. I told myself and my family that I had the right to grow a beard, take some time off and relax. In my head, I told myself, ” I am a Recon Marine, every employer will be lucky to have me. When I am ready, I will get a job, no problem.”
Man, was I wrong. It took me over two years to start to figure things out. I almost got divorced, went through marriage counseling, drank a little bit and blamed the nasty civilians for my lack of success in life since I left the military. I think this was the most important transition for me.
Transition Of My Mind!
I realized that I was not entitled to a damn thing. I had to be honest with myself. I had to stop blaming others. I had to stop playing the victim.
Jason Keating
Fast forward to present day, August 2019; I have been in the real estate industry for four years, I am still married and I am planning on hiring people at a rate of 4 people a year and bringing them into my world of business.
Another transition.
If you made it this far into my writing, you may see a theme here. It’s all about transitioning.
Every day there will be transitions or pivots as I like to call them. They are nothing more than a turning point in our day, our week, our month, our life, and the best part is that we always control the narrative of the transitional outcome.
As veterans, or law enforcement officials, or firefighters or human beings in general, every day we wake up is an accomplishment. We have overcome so much in life to not allow anything to hinder our forward movement, our positive progression.
Back to the theme. If there are a few tips I can pass on to you, they would probably be something along the lines of:
- Don’t wait until the last minute to create a life plan
- Surround yourself with others who are better than you
- There is a model for success in everything, find someone successful
- Never play the victim
- Keep your mind sharp, it’s the strongest muscle in your body
- Embrace every transition, it creates opportunity
- Be your own hero
There is no such thing as only a transition from military service back to civilian life. It is a transition, but it is not the only one that you will face in your lifetime.
If you feel that this article has helped or touched you in any kind of way, please leave a comment down below!
Reach out to Jason Keating for more information about how he can help you, whether you’re a veteran needing to transition or even buying Real Estate in South Florida!
