Building and Living a Legendary life by Participating in Your Own Rescue

The legendary journey has been unwavering in the changes of philosophy, civilization, society, and technology. It entails being able to impact people around you, driving them to change beyond their former capacity. Being a legend goes beyond what the world now perceives it to be – having followers and an envious life on social media – to actually making an impact on people’s lives; helping them overcome a challenge, directing them to the path they wish to take, and setting a pace so that they can live their dreams.

No one is born a legend, but everyone can be a legend; in their businesses, personal relationships, and even to people who look at them from a distance. So many people can indeed be stuck in a situation; too many opportunities, too few opportunities, bad conditions, botched feeling of not doing enough, and even guilt from past mistakes.

To help you live a legendary life, we have invited Tommy Breedlove, a Wall Street Journal & USA Today bestselling author of the book “Legendary”. He is an Atlanta-based business, relationship, and mindset coach who is a regularly featured keynote speaker at global events. Tommy serves clients and audiences everywhere by empowering them to build and live Legendary Lives. He guides people to discover a life of significance while building a lasting legacy. The simple tools he shares shows them how to work in their zone of brilliance, obtain financial freedom, and live with meaning and balance. The goal is to help everybody to become the person they’ve always wanted to be.

What inspired the focus of the Playbook to be – How to Become Legendary?

Most people have the wrong idea of what being legendary means. We live in a world where social media has made self-promotion a norm. People can easily depict and brand themselves to appear to be living the most fabulous lives. Also, people’s definition of being legendary has gone beyond what it actually means to be attached to lower values. But becoming a legend is not a recognition we give ourselves; it is what the society, friends, peers, and our network attest to us.

We can be a good legend or a bad one, but the crucial aspect of being a legend is the impact. We all have to make an impact on people if we are to call ourselves legends; it has almost nothing to do with the riches and assets that belong to us. Ultimately, how we leave this world and the impact on the people after we’ve found them is what attributes you as legends. But to impact someone else, and become a legend, we must have changed certain aspects of our lives and must build value enough to serve other people. 

My playbook was from an insight that changed my life when I was 36 years old. I started doing relationships and mindset, business, and money coaching and saw how it changed hundreds of lives. I realized there was a formula for the development, which is why I put together all the simple action steps with great stories. It embodies all facets and areas of life from time management, self-love, finding purpose, financial confidence, and soft skills like developing intimate relationships with friends and folks, and networking. It is what everyone will need to read to make an impact in their life.

How can you Present yourself to people without appearing Egocentric, especially in New Groups?

No one will help you promote yourself. It is a necessity to tell people who you are, show them your capabilities, and serve them with your gifts, because those are what gifts, talents, and expertise are meant for. They are not meant for your benefits, but for the benefits of other people. In fact, it is a two-way thing. When you serve others, you become more confident and gain more experience and actually grow.

When promoting yourself to other people, the perks depend on your intention; are you promoting yourself for the money, the fame, or the impact? The intention is what determines how you promote yourself. And when the intent behind self-promotion is right, you really should not bother about the opinions of other people. Because people can impose their insecurities on you. Just be authentic with a positive ego and self-confidence, and you will find people willing to listen to your voice.

How can someone elevate themselves from ‘rock-bottom’ to finding purpose and motivation?

“I don’t mean to come off harsh, but I have been there in this same kind of situation.” Tommy Breedlove goes ahead to say he had to pawn his car and work a $6 per hour job to survive. “I have been there, and I know how it feels.”

The truth is that the resources you need to grow and change our situations are always around us. What matters most is your burning desire, a need, and want to do something different. The resources are always there; we all have the same 24 hours, the same insecurities, and the same basic conditions. All that makes you different is the willingness to take the first step and consistently to work the whole mile to the life you want. If you have got to be a legend, it has to start with you first.

“It all starts with self-accountability, consistent baby steps to be better every day. It always has a compounding effect, but you have to participate in your own rescue and invest in yourself.”

What is the first step to take when trying to change your situation?

Always attend to your basic needs first. At first, I was just trying to survive, I just wanted to keep the light and the internet running – just to take care of myself. If you are in such a situation, there is always time to develop yourself, no matter how small the timing might seem; 15 minutes, 10 minutes, and make sure you take a little time from the day to add knowledge and develop yourself in any area you wish to every day. It could be the mind, physical health, financial confidence, and skill set. You have the desire; all you need is just consistence and an unrelenting effort to get better.

What is your advice about coping with limiting factors; environment, peer, and family?

Pain likes pain; people always want to associate themselves with people like them. Once you want to do better and be better, you may experience a change in lifestyle, choices, and decisions. The network of people you want to associate with will change. Often, you may feel guilty, especially when your former peers are not in this same change process. But it is a necessity that you nurture your desire and commitment with the right environment. It doesn’t mean you hate them; it just means you need to grow.

Tommy Breedlove lived in an environment that exuded violence constantly; by 17, he had already committed a violent crime that left him incarcerated for seven years. He saw the need to elevate himself from that background. Tommy Breedlove was the first to graduate college in his family, which is a result of his commitment to working in the day and attending college classes at night.

When you decide to pursue your desire, it happens naturally that you may not have time to hang around on the old ruts of your old life. You don’t need to force it, you only need to be mindful about what you want, stick to it, and every other thing falls into place.

How do you deal with Self-rejection to grow into self-acceptance and Self-Confidence?

Every human being on earth suffers from self-doubt, low self-esteem, and controversies of self-love. It is a lot of work; negative emotions are always stronger than positive feelings. The first step is to realize you are not alone; you are not the only affected. Secondly, surround yourself with people who believe in you, people who are after your growth, and people who care about your values and perceptions.

If none makes you feel loved, you can do the extra work of moving out and changing your environment. The next practicable step is forgiveness; you should learn to forgive ourselves for each time you have groped in the darkness of mistakes. This is important because you cannot forgive others if you have not forgiven ourselves.

Tommy Breedlove says that after forgiveness, you need to live in the present because constantly thinking about the future can overwhelm you, the same as being overwhelmed by the regrets of our past actions. Then we can start switching from the downsides of our emotions to the bright and positive sides while remaining consistent. We can do this through mindfulness, meditation, surrounding ourselves with positivity, forgiveness practices. All these are contained in my book – Legendary – in the step by steps actionable principles.   

You Were Once in a Jail; how did that affect your Transformation?

It is easy to play the victimhood game – “oh, I have been in jail; no one will hire me.” It is an intuitive way of escaping what needs to be done to partake in our rescue. Different situations can allow anyone find an excuse for their rescue apart from being in jail, but becoming legendary falls back to the desire to save yourself and come out of any situation.

“I was once in an entrepreneur group, and I met two people who have been jailed. One of them was convicted of murder and had served 18 years in prison. But both are now successful entrepreneurs despite their setback.”

It is never too late to start progressing, to changing your situation, and to decide to be what you want to be. As humans, we may not have everything under control, but we can always control our choices and our mindset. It is better to choose to be positive than remain in the ruins of our past. Once we can accept always to be positive and be consistent with making little progress each day, your conditions will undoubtedly change. “it is like a compounding effect.”

What is in your book that can help people become legendary?

The book is comprehensive and yet easy to read for the legendary journey. It contains every tool that can help you with any part of your journey. Over time, if you apply these tools in your life, it will have a compounding effect, and changes will become more visible.

My book “legendary” covers everything including finding your purpose for people who may feel unfulfilled in life. It covers time management; how to reconquer our time, it covers financial freedom, building your network and mastering your mindset. It also covers mastering your mindset, building an intimate relationship with your family and the people, and learning self-acceptance and confidence.

But I need you to know that the most important aspect of reading books like this is in the actions. Whatever area you need you need to be changed in your life, you will have to apply them in little actions everyday and certainly it will work for you just like it did for me.