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Apogee is an online mentorship program for young men based in a philosophy that puts moral values first. Apogee’s mission is to shape young men into better providers and protectors with experiences that prioritize servant leadership and personal growth.
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My Journey
Operation "Yes Sir, No Sir"
Being a leader takes on many forms. One of the lost arts of leadership is being a gentleman. The gentleman commands respect because he is confident enough in himself to take charge in every room, giving respect to others.
Operation Family Meeting
A good man learns to live by a code, and leads others to do the same. This was my first step to opening up communication with a team, and elevating everyone, together.
Operation Pathbrite
Resumes are mostly relics of the past, whereas a Digital Portfolios acts as the wave of the present and future.
Operation CEO
Understanding how to create a network is a highly undervalued skill. Taking advantage of people’s willingness to help the youth in order to begin building the network is only advantageous in the long run, while also gaining valuable insight from years of experience distilled down to the answers from a few questions. I had the honor of speaking to Jim Riley an entrepreneur, Peter Poggione a marketing expert and Bill Leininger a realestate broker.
Jim Riley
Author, CEO and Public Speaker
Operation Plan Ahead
Human nature is to take for granted that today will look just like yesterday. Because of this, we are normally ill-prepared to take on some of the most strenuous situations in our lives, precisely because we don’t prepare for them to happen. Having a well thought out game plan of how you and your family would respond in a given scenario can quite literally save your lives.
Operation Into The Fire
Understanding how to create a network is a highly undervalued skill. Taking advantage of those willing to help the youth by beginning to build a network and gaining invaluable insight from years of experience distilled down with the answers from a few questions. This is a mostly untapped resource of hearing from this population group, and getting their perspectives on buisness careers for young leaders. I had the amazing pleasure of interviewing Steven Seroka a former Air Force Veteran and public speaker, Jeremy Patton a local Fire Chief and Chuck Lewis a former Marine Core veteran and weapons engineer.
Steven Seroka
Air Force Veteran and public speaker
Operation Stand Up And Speak
Communication is the most important skill a leader can have. There is also an element to speaking in public that requires you to overcome fear. The fears of judgement and ridicule from our fellow man are fears that nobody is immune to, but that we must all learn to control. No better way to overcome the fear than to tackle it head on. For this project I was very fortunate too preach a message on hope and promise at my churches youth group. It was an amazing learning experience and I look forward to doing more public speaking in the future.
Operation Get To Work
Getting a job; even a DREAM job, never has to be a dream. Just like baking cakes or getting in shape, there are recipes to open doors for yourself and others. This is a time-proven recipe to getting yourself an interview to a paying or non-paying position, and non-paying positions lead to paid positions. For this project I worked multiple days for Empire Finished Concrete Construction.
Operation Board of Directors
Great mentors are roadmaps for the voyages we wish to take. They also illuminate the heroic nature that resonates inside of all men. We are going to be intentional about identifying those heroes who have come before us and honor their journeys by downloading the lessons they’ve learned into actionable steps taken by us in good time, and in hard times.
Operation Paperclip Flip
Ingenuity, resilience, creativity, non-linear thinking, not accepting traditional limits, discipline, tenacity......you’ll need all of these for this challenge. You’ll need all of these for this life.
Operation Alter Ego
Resilient, creative, optimistic, and courageous. What sort of man do you want to be in every circumstance? Thousands upon thousands of men have implemented this very strategy in order to build out their heroic selves, and you are doing the same.
Operation Philanthropy Undercover
Leaders lead whether others are around or not. The true test of a man is not when he has nothing; it is when he has something to give. Are you able to use your Alter Ego to drive you forward, while simultaneously putting the ego aside? Do you crave the recognition for doing the right thing from others, or are you willing to do the right thing because it is just the right thing? I helped multiple people while being unnoticed but bringing a donkey back to its owner was a very memorable task.
Operation Kim's Game
Situational Awareness allows us to run from danger before it begins. Situational Awareness allows us to spring into action before others realize action is needed. Situational Awareness allow us to lead in good times and in bad. Kims Game is a thirty day memorizing exercise to help improve situational awareness by observing specific items and reciting the items later in the evening.
Operation Man Skills
A good man is self-reliant in as many ways as he can be. He is also able to transfer those skills of self-reliance to others in good times and in bad. Mastering critical skills in important areas of life will serve you and those you care about for a lifetime. I have been raised in a very indapendent family and have been very fortunate to be taught necessary skills to help me through life.
Operation Garbage In Garbage Out
What you put into your body determines a major percentage of your physical and mental health. We are atrocious at understanding what we truly consume until we have been intentional about tracking it. Only then are we able to “estimate” even relatively closely. Controling what your diet consists of is very important to me and not only in the fact of my health but to also maint my discipline.
Operation Hospice or Shelter
Service is never a weakness. More importantly, the development of the humility to understand that those who have come before us are the benefactors of wisdom we do not yet have, nor can we even necessarily understand. We need to be sponges for that wisdom.
Vic Holmburg
Navy Veteran and buisness owner
Operation Old School
Discipline = Freedom. Discipline is being able to decide what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, AND THEN DOING IT.
Distractions are there to compromise the mission. YOU WON’T LET THEM. The Old School is a one month challange where you will limit your phone and computer time to thirty minutes or less a day and absolutely no video games. The project is intended to improve self discipline and to break
electronic addictions whether it be social media, video games and or watching TV.
Operation Big Brother
Leadership is about putting your needs behind those of others, but it’s also about sharing whatever you have to share. If you don’t pour into anyone else your entire life, you have wasted the only opportunity to leave a legacy. Me and my sister rarely.
Operation 4th Quarter
75 Hard is about discipline over everything else. It is a mental challenge more than a physical one, and it highlights the amazing things that
can be accomplished in a short amount of time when discipline and consistency are applied. This was by far the most diffacult challange I have faced during Apogee. If you procrastinated any of requirements you would pay the price eventually. The 75 Hard challenge has changed me for the better and plan doing every year.