If you’re unclear on how to find inspiration and meaning turn to service. In my experience, you can find purpose, meaning, and fulfillment by serving something greater than yourself.

I recently gave a TEDx talk where I spoke about a time that my father unwittingly gave me some of the best advice I’ve ever received at one of the lowest points of my life. He said, “Son, I can’t understand everything you’ve been through and I know you’re hurting, but if you could find a way to make your new mission about helping someone else, to attempt to put value in someone else, then I think you’ll find that will help you.”

I’ve found that the reason for living is giving. It’s really that simple. If you’re hurting and not sure what to do or where to turn, start thinking about what you can do for somebody else. From there a life filled with purpose and fulfillment is yours for the making.

More details appear in TALES FROM THE BLAST FACTORY: A Brain Injured Special Forces Green Beret’s Journey Back From The Brink. These lessons we’re paid for in blood, it is my honor to give them to you. What I once thought was the worst thing in my life is now the best thing in my life, it can be the same for you.

De Oppresso Liber,
Andrew Marr, MBA
Chairman & Co-Founder | Warrior Angels Foundation
Author | Tales From the Blast Factory
TEDx Speaker | Defined by Action
Film  | Quiet Explosions: Healing the Brain

It starts by deciding to pursue a life worth living and then figuring out the why behind it. Nietzsche said, “He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.” In short when you have something to live for it gives your life meaning, and that makes the sacrifices and vulnerabilities of being human worth it. I’ve found in my life that the how can always be determined if you have a big enough why.

Challenging the status quo can be a daunting task, even more so when you’re navigating through uncharted territory. My why revolved around returning to the man of my pre-injury status. To come off the dozen plus medications I was on to be the husband and father my family needed me to be. After that it was to help others receive the same healing I received through Dr. Mark L Gordon. In Tales From the Blast Factory, we identify the steps to plan, prepare, and perform in the face of a desired outcome and then show how to measure the effectiveness of that plan against a desired outcome.

More details appear in TALES FROM THE BLAST FACTORY: A Brain Injured Special Forces Green Beret’s Journey Back From The Brink. These lessons were paid for in blood, it is my honor to give them to you. What I once thought was the worst thing in my life is now one of the best things in my life, it can be the same for you.

De Oppresso Liber,
Andrew Marr, MBA
Chairman & Co-Founder | Warrior Angels Foundation
Author | Tales From the Blast Factory
TEDx Speaker | Defined by Action
Film  | Quiet Explosions: Healing the Brain

My suffering as it turns out was in large part self-chosen. When confronted with life altering information and circumstances it’s easy to get wrapped up in yourself. For me it was, “I’ve lost my purpose in life and I’ll never be a Special Forces Operator again, my health is failing, I’m being mistreated, and no-one understands me.” If you don’t know what a victim sounds like the previous sentence provides a good example.

I finally realized it was nobody’s job to take responsibility for my life, that was on me and me alone. I decided to take ownership of my life again. It occurred to me that absolutely everything that had ever occurred in my life was a result of my own doing, and if there was something going on in my life that I didn’t like it would be up to me to fix it.

If you want it you have to earn it, plain and simple. That realization is the birthplace of our personal responsibility and there is real liberation to be found in that. The freedom found in taking full ownership of your life is a decision. Life is really about decisions, every decision we make is an opportunity to learn, to grow, to serve, and to love or to do the opposite. If our decisions are not producing the outcomes we desire then it’s time to analyze what we’re doing and why. My transformation and healing sprung out of the decision to commit to live a life worth living again.

More details appear in TALES FROM THE BLAST FACTORY: A Brain Injured Special Forces Green Beret’s Journey Back From The Brink. These lessons were paid for in blood, it is my honor to give them to you. What I once thought was the worst thing in my life is now one of the best things in my life, it can be the same for you.

De Oppresso Liber,
Andrew Marr, MBA
Chairman & Co-Founder | Warrior Angels Foundation
Author | Tales From the Blast Factory
TEDx Speaker | Defined by Action
Film  | Quiet Explosions: Healing the Brain

In 2014 I successfully gave up tobacco, alcohol, and the 13 different medications I was on, FOR GOOD. I was at a functional neurology brain treatment center in Dallas, TX where I was being treated for traumatic brain injuries incurred in combat. I was called out by their medical director at the time and my life has been forever positively altered. The following excerpt is taken from our upcoming book Tales From the Blast Factory.

“The doctor said, “You’re still on the battlefield and there are forces attempting to kill you. The next time you feel like you need a drink, ask yourself, Is this more important than my wife and children? Make up your mind right now. What’s more important: your family or having another drink? If it’s your family, then put the drinking behind you. At your current rate of consumption, it will kill you sooner than anything else. Choose to win the fight today and everyday hereafter.” Right then and there, I made the decision I would not consume another drink. That was in October 2014, and I’ve honored it. I was, and continue to be, grateful for the reckoning.”

I came to realize that the reasons that I had experienced any success in my life came from ability to create goals that were in alignment with my highest ideals. In my experience, a goal became real after a mental price tag was put on it. For me, the price tag always came down to a situation of life or death. Fulfill said task and live or come up short and die.

My job entailed one life or death decision after another. That’s how I handled everything as a Special Forces Operator. We can choose to pay the price and live or accept the fact that we’ve chosen the alternative. I’ve found when it’s life or death there is no alternative. Identify what’s important and then execute.

These types of decisions usually need to be made only once. So, when 5:30 am rolled around I didn’t allow any negative inner dialogue, I got up and went to work. That decision was made way before 5:30 am rolled around. When it came time to train it didn’t matter if I didn’t feel like it, that decision was made long before any feelings of procrastination got in the way. I made the immutable decision to win and to live for something, to contribute and perform to the best of my abilities in the service of others.

That was one of my epiphany moments. Find your why, and then make the pursuit of fulfilling it a life or death scenario. I could continue with tobacco, alcohol, and the meds and leave a legacy of failure and suffering to my children. Instead, I decided to make the changes that I deemed necessary in my life. The flip side of that decision would leave me facing certain death and the destruction of everything I love.

I gave them all up, and as of today I have not allowed those substances any power over me nor will I. It starts with why. You must find and pursue your why as if your life and everything you love depends on it, because it does.

More details appear in TALES FROM THE BLAST FACTORY: A Brain Injured Special Forces Green Beret’s Journey Back From The Brink. These lessons were paid for in blood, it is my honor to give them to you. What I once thought was the worst thing in my life is now one of the best things in my life, it can be the same for you.

De Oppresso Liber,
Andrew Marr, MBA
Chairman & Co-Founder | Warrior Angels Foundation
Author | Tales From the Blast Factory
TEDx Speaker | Defined by Action
Film  | Quiet Explosions: Healing the Brain