VanderWaal Post #2

Last week, I had the chance to catch up with Brian again. Over the past few weeks I feel that our conversations were more about me opening up to Brian and explaining to him my current situation. He has given me some incredible wisdom and has really challenged me in the first few conversations. However, this past week we started to just talk more in general.

This past week, Brian and I began as we usually do; we just talked about the week and what happened in the past few days. We also talked about things that went well in the past week, as well as, things that came up that caused problems or came unexpectedly. This past week was pretty much the same in terms of routine and schedule for me. The thing that stuck out about our conversation is that Brian started to talk to me more in depth about his life and his current situation. He began to talk to me and mentor me not just from his past experiences, but from his current tribulations and life events. This was surprising to me because I thought he had his whole life together, and also because I thought he would just give me insight the whole time. I'm not saying that he doesn't have his life together, but I'm merely aiming towards the fact that it can be surprising to have someone as successful as Brian to tell you their struggles.

Overall, this week's conversation with Brain was a huge reality check for me. Someday, I hope to be as successful as him, and it is was very surprising to see that he portrays some of the same struggles that I do. Even the most respected and successful people have struggles and things to improve on. This might seem obvious but I just found that we often forget that. I feel that Brian and I have started to establish more trust with each other and because of that we can be more real in our conversations.