Jared Graybeal - The Self Help Book: 6 Practical Ways to Never Stop Growing

My name is Jared Graybeal, and I was born on February 1, 1990, in a really small town in Central Florida called Bartow. I was raised in Lakeland, Florida, which is just a bigger small city next to Bartow (where Publix grocery started).

Im a NASM Certified Personal Trainer, Fitness Nutrition Specialist, Behavioral Change Specialist, CrossFit Level 2 Trainer, and Corrective Exercise Specialist with an education in marketing and psychology from the University of North Florida.

I own and operate two companies (at this moment but working on a few other projects). One of these is Superfit Foods, a subscription - based , fully customizable healthy prepared food company. The other is E3, a business consulting and marketing agency.

I host a podcast called The Business and Leadership Podcast , where I publish monthly, practical teachings on everything business - and leadership - related , and I bring on guest interviewees who are leaders in digital marketing to multimillion - dollar supplement or healthy beverage companies (such as 1st Phorm and FitAid).

Ive done a few cool things in my professional life so far, like exhibiting Superfit Foods at Forbes Under 30 and giving a TEDx Talk on nutrition and mental health, and every day I get to work hard at doing what I love.

There is much more to my story, from my complicated upbringing, to my short stint in jail after high school, to a few years on house arrest, to what brought me to my never - ending personal growth journeybut we will cover some of those stories along the way (and most likely in my next book).

Also, as of late, Im a writer!

I was never good at writing, at least to traditional education standards. I did enough to pass all the English, writing, and literature classes but never felt confident or competent enough to consider myself a writer, or to ever aspire to put anything out in the world.

Until one day I read a quote by Benjamin Franklin that says, If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading or do things worth writing.

Whether its my own vanity to be known, or a God - given desire to create, this quote inspired me.

Not long after, my good friend Alex Sanfilippo asked me to guest write a blog on his popular Christian blog site, DailyPS.com.

I was nervous, but I felt that if its for Alex and for his readers, I will put forth the effort. That blog I wrote got a lot of great feedback, so I kept going.

Ive always been passionate about teaching. As a kid, one of my first careers I was interested in was teaching math. After my teachers consistently pointed out that the way I did math was not the way they liked (even though I got the answers right), I decided maybe that wasnt the path for me.

Regardless, everything I learn, I try to teach. I think thats one of the core principles of quality leadership, and Im grateful that it has always come so natural to me.

Once I began writing blogs, I realized that I had sort of been doing this my whole adult life. From the time I was nineteen and managing health - club chains and creating training documents, until now, Ive been writing blog - like teachings on a regular basis. I just never thought of it that way.

As I transitioned out of the corporate world and into owning my own businesses, I carried that same habit of teaching. I would write my teachings ahead of time in a blog format, so it was much easier to memorize or at least use for notes as I taught.

When my business started to grow and I became more recognized, I began getting asked to teach and speak publicly. One of those opportunities was at a church I was involved in, and thats when I began writing content for a four - part teaching called Taming the Lion: The Biblical and Ethical Principles of Leadership and Entrepreneurship.

My ultimate goal was to write a book from this teaching, so I started. But I really had no idea what I was doing. After about a year, I took a break from writing the book.