I didn’t characterize many of my life lessons as gifts in my younger years. Growing up on a cattle ranch lacking sophistication and social graces, I viewed those early years as full of trials and tribulations. It’s taken a while to understand that those same trials...
The word “can’t” is probably the only four-letter word I never heard in my 24 years as an FBI agent. I learned early in my career that negativity would impair my ability to analyze a tough case that looked impossible to crack. Once you allow a negative thought to take...
Like every kid, I have some painful memories from childhood. We never bought milk at the grocery store; instead, we had Spot, a mangy-looking Holstein who often grazed on weeds rather than grass. She kicked, and twitched her filthy tail, so Dad had to hobble her every...
My grandmother knew how to develop a strong mind with lots of spunk and grit. She was a crack shot with a shotgun. She never allowed me to say “I can’t” when she told me to do my chores. Come summer, she was the kind of person who would rather burn her front yard than...
The biggest challenge I had in graduating from the FBI Academy was meeting the physical fitness standards. I was a slow runner and found pushups very difficult. I did not have a competitive advantage. As a result, I failed the interim FIT test and was almost washed...
Recent Comments