ELEVATE BEYOND
The Blog of Jake Kelfer
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Earlier this week, I went to visit four colleges in Rhode Island. Luckily for me, the state is pretty small so I was able to cover a lot of ground. It also helped that these four colleges were all pretty close to one another.
My mission was to walk into each school and find decision makers who brought in speakers as well as meet with the athletic department at Providence College. I had no meetings scheduled. No one was expecting me. No one knew who I was. I was just showing up and going for it. I wasn’t sure what to expect but I knew that I would have to be creative and make sure that I was sharp with my elevator pitch and reason for being there.
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Can you believe it's already March? We're almost a quarter of the way done with 2018! Now that 2018 is well underway, I thought it would be great to bring up goal setting. Most of the time we focus on goal setting at the beginning of the year and by the time March comes around a lot of us have already stopped pursuing our goals for the year.
This shouldn't be the case and I hope that these 13 quotes will light a fire under your butt to keep pursuing your goals and fight even harder to achieve them. For those of you that don't have any goals or already stopped trying, create some new goals after you read this article and make it happen! All it takes is one step at a time. If you want help or feel like you need someone to talk to, feel free to send me an email and I'd love to connect with you. "If you set goals and go after them with all the determination you can muster, your gifts will take you places that will amaze you." – Les Brown "The trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend you life running up and down the field and never score." - Bill Copeland Last week, I embarked on a journey through the south. Over the course of three days, I traveled from Nashville to Alabama to Mississippi to Memphis and back to Nashville.
A couple things I should point out before you read about my three days through the south. First, I was making this trip because I wanted to drop off my book in person to different departments to try and get speaking gigs. I’m all in and willing to do whatever I have to do to separate myself from the pack. Secondly, I was planning to meet with as many basketball teams as I could while I was visiting the schools to raise awareness for the Professional Basketball Combine. Lastly, I wanted to visit the south as I had never been and see what the hype was all about. With all that in mind, I was going to be on the road a lot. So, I decided to make a LinkedIn post opening up a few hours for informational interviews. I received quite a few responses and DMs so throughout my drive I had some great phone calls with people aspiring to break into sports and build their network. When it was all said and done, the trip was about 800 miles of traveling. Here is goes.
Over the last few weeks, I’ve been interviewing candidates to work for the Professional Basketball Combine.
I originally announced the opportunity to join the PBC on a LinkedIn post, where I asked for people to comment their email addresses if they were interested. From there, we sent them an email discussing the opportunities and how to apply. As the author of a career and life motivation book, it was only fitting that I viewed the process through the lens of someone who works in the career space. Throughout the process, I decided to keep track of the way people sent in their application, how they communicated with me, and if/how they followed up. What I found was fascinating. I’ve been thinking a lot about the concept of instant vs. delayed gratification. This idea first entered my mind when I was in Florida for Elevate America which is my national speaking tour where I travel the country elevating and inspiring students, staff, and organizations.
I spent a lot of time with my friend Max and his family and this idea kept coming up. His mom, who is an absolute saint, originally brought it up with regards to food and making decisions about what to eat and when to eat it. So what exactly is instant vs. delayed gratification? This year I want to do some amazing things. I want to release my second book, take my businesses international, create new programming and courses, speak all over the nation, and take the Professional Basketball Combine to the next level.
On a personal level, I want to achieve more financial freedom, eat healthier and take care of my body more than I ever have, have more fun and go on trips, love more, continue to appreciate the journey and so much more. All of these things are possible and will happen, but it’s going to take more than me just writing them here. It’s going to take CONSISTENCY, and that, my friends, is my one word for 2018. Inspired by one of my favorite authors, Jon Gordon, I’m focusing on the word CONSISTENCY for 2018. Going from the heart of New York to the swamps of Gainesville, FL was quite a shock. After spending two weeks in one of the busiest cities in the world, I found myself in one of the most chill cities I’ve ever been to.
My trip to Florida could not have been a better experience and that’s not including how great the weather was. It was about 75 and sunny for most of the trip :) When I went to Florida I knew it was going to be mellower than other parts of Elevate America, and I was completely okay with that. I spent most of my time in Gainesville with one of my best friends Max and it was awesome hanging out with him. Max is one of my childhood best friends and is in the acknowledgments of Elevate Beyond. Max is one of those people who just knows how to make you feel good. NYC! As I type this sentence for the 100th time trying to come up with a phrase or word to describe my time, I am just in awe. There it is, AWE. That’s probably the word I’d use to recap my trip to New York City.
New York was an interesting place for me. This was the first time I really had a chance to explore NYC and experience everything it has to offer. Continue reading to see my top 5 rapid reactions from NYC. 24 hours was all I had, but I made sure every hour counted.
I could tell you everything that I did in Philly, but there’s something else I want to discuss with you. If you are interested in seeing what I did during my 24 hours in Philly take a look at my Philly highlights and photos at the end of this article. What I want to talk about is how Philly made me feel. From the minute I woke up, I felt more patriotic. I felt DAMN PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN! I was so excited to see Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell for the first time. I mean come on, how many times do you get to see the room where your country was created. Before I talk about the trip to Syracuse, I have to ask a question. Why, in 2017, does Greyhound not have digital tickets that I can use from my phone?
It was 12pm so I headed to the bus station to make the 2pm bus to Syracuse. I took a Via which is a new form of Uber in NYC. It’s actually pretty cool. It’s a set rate of $5.95 and will supposedly take you anywhere in the city. If you are on a budget I recommend it. As you read this, keep in mind that it was pouring rain and I had two bags to carry around. Oh, I forgot to mention but Via has specific locations they pick you up at to avoid having to get off the main streets. So there I was trying to walk and carry my bags in the pouring rain while answering the phone of my impatient Via driver. He turned out to be a great guy, but it was a bumpy start. |
Hey, I'M JAKE!I am on a mission to help ambitious entrepreneurs and freedom seekers start their dream business, build a world-class network, and scale to 6 figures!
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