About Me
Merv Stevens
I'm here to help you grow and become a greater version of yourself.
I believe personal growth in life yields one of the greatest rewards. We live our lives with a perpetual hope to do better and grow as humans. We can learn from the lives of the greatest men and women who ever walked the face of the earth and engage in self-growth in simple, gradual steps.
My Background
In the past, I trained and competed in competitive sports, particularly boxing and track and field. I learned to use these activities as instruments for personal growth and empowerment. For example, boxing can teach us that we must learn how to take the punches that life throws at us. It's not only the one who deals an instant knockout punch that wins, but also the determined fighter who takes crushing blows but is still able to keep moving forward.
Everything that I have done and been through I have tried to take as a lesson about life, and I take nothing for granted. I learned how much of this has to do with the right attitude, and this carries over into other areas. We need to have the right attitude and a growth mindset.
The Day I Became a Police Officer
The day I joined the London Metropolitan Police, I entered with the idealistic goal to bring criminals to justice and make the city a better and safer place. But, I learned that things are much more complex.
I dealt with many men and women who had committed very serious crimes. Many of the people came from diverse backgrounds. You had individuals who had previously lived ‘normal' lives. You had people who had lived most of their lives as unscrupulous criminals, and you had the individuals who lived as the paragon of power and success.
What did I learn? I learned that in life, we always dance on a thin line between being constructive and destructive. We can either walk a path that will ultimately lead to progress, or take the path that leads to growth and empowerment. And, even if initial bad decisions are made, with the right attitude and the willingness to work hard, you can turn your life around for the better. I witnessed a few former criminals turn their lives around, escape their negative environments and make a better life for themselves. This was extremely satisfying to witness.
Working in the criminal justice system taught me that it doesn't matter how far you rise in life if you don't have integrity and work toward continual betterment.
As the father of algebra, Muhammad al-Khwarizmi once noted: “Man starts with integrity and honor. That gives him the number one. Then you have wealth and riches. That gives you zero for ten. Then you have fame and popularity, which gives you another zero for one hundred. Finally, you have greatness, another zero for one thousand. If you subtract integrity and honor from your equation, however, you will always have nothing. Zero doesn't equate to anything.”
I saw this time and time again working as a detective where even some in very influential and powerful positions were toppled from their perches. Live to make a positive difference.
The Decisions We Make Matter
The lessons I learned in the police department, and in competitive boxing at a high level, taught me that you can never stop striving for wisdom, justice, and personal growth. You have to make the right decisions in life, even when you think no one is watching. Even if a decision takes you down a wrong path, you can learn from that and recalibrate to make a better decision to take you down a better and more successful path.
That matters more than any material wealth because the wrong decisions can destroy you. I try and live my life with a growth mindset, or the principle that Tony Robbins espouses called CANI. C.A.N.I. stands for ‘Constant And Never-ending Improvement.' This concept comes from the Japanese principle of Kaizen, which means never-ending growth and improvement.
My Path to Personal Development
I'm in the process of learning from some of the finest minds in the field of personal growth such as Tony Robbins, Brian Tracy, and Bob Proctor. Each of these individuals gives me a perspective of empowerment.
I say this with the mindset of growth as a moving target. While I have felt successful in life, I know that much more exists, and I can continue to follow this path for continual enrichment.
Life is a journey. We don't live it to get to the end result, but we strive to acquire wisdom and happiness from the journey. Mindvalley.com is a great educational platform that exists with the purpose to elevate the human experience and re-imagine education. Founder, Vishen Lakhiani author of, “Code of the Extraordinary Mind,” teaches how to use education for personal growth and fulfillment.
I'm also a member of Launch You, which is a Digital Marketing Education and Transformational platform. Here you can learn the tactics, strategies, and be provided with the resources and support to become successful in the digital marketing space and earn an income doing something truly meaningful to you. But even here the co-founders, Stuart Ross and Jay Kubassek, place great importance on having the right mindset to overcome obstacles and continue to work towards a life filled with more freedom, fun, and fulfillment.
As Dan Sullivan, Founder & President of Strategic Coach, says, “…our future is something we create from our imagination and our aspirations. No one gives it to us.”
On this blog, you can expect information, tools, and resources that will help you fuel your ‘imagination' and ‘aspirations.' This will assist you to grow and improve as a person in every aspect of your life – from building the right mindset, relationships, health, career, and finances to spirituality. I believe that we all were put on this earth with the opportunity to grow and work towards becoming a greater version of ourselves. I hope this blog can help you on that journey!