Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jacob Pacheco. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Jacob, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
How do you find purpose as your body betrays every move? It’s insufferable.
Imagine stumbling upon as Viktor Frankel says: meaning in our suffering.
There’s beauty in our adversity, manifesting uncertainty.
Revealing life-long lessons to winning our wars within.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
Living with a disability means being flexible to changing currents of life. This belief grants freedom over my choices. I feared my foreboding future of pain, and misery in my youth with no job, and no home, and no friends, and no love… It’s always no. How would that make you feel? I felt cursed.
I listened to enough noes to last lifetimes.
I took those feelings—transformed them, to thrive. I believe you can too. When our eyes sparkle with hope, I come alive because eyes are portals to our souls. I love that feeling and share how I find hope on my platform called ProneToRide (Prone-To-Ride). That fulfilled dreams of representing Team USA on the biggest stages of para-sport, to TEDx talk presentations. Yet I’m finding new ways to serve like accepting a board member role for Surf and Turf Therapy: we care for disadvantaged populations (disability, low-income, at-risk youth) to live healthier, happier lives. I’m growing into the role as we speak, I’m loving it.
I’m conscious of what I need to enjoy life on my terms. Now I hear yes, daily.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
I keep my focus on my windshield, not my rear-view mirror because everything behind me is getting smaller, while I move toward possibilities in front of me. That’s commitment to choices, making choices and owning them.
Our creativity blurs the bounds of traditions, and fixed outcomes, and mindsets; we become sponges soaking up every useful tip, trick, or tool as we go.
I had many chances to turn back into safety and comfort; stepping forward into the unknown with courage gives me inner belief to own my decisions, find creative answers, and learn needed skills.
What’re you seeing through your windshield? It must be beautiful. I urge you to drive toward it.
What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?
When is life not overwhelming? We all have moments of pure ecstasy, and fear. Our heads get hot–hearts thumping our chests like drums, while flooding chemicals into us, it’s intense. I exercise to focus; when the next big moment arrives my body/mind/soul is built to be as calm as possible.
I find the better care we give ourselves and each other leads to less stress daily. How do you feel after a warm, welcoming shower or a coffee date with your lover/friend? Life feels better, simpler after those small moments to me.
There’s power in our life-long lessons, we can trust them to guide us when we are overwhelmed. I wouldn’t be here without my gut guiding me forward. What does your gut say? Trust it, it has whispered secrets to share.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.pronetoride.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/pronetoride
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pronetoride/
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/pronetoride
