Olympic Motivational Speaker Ruben Gonzalez

I just read “Wild at Heart” by John Eldredge. Here are some notes I took from it:

Adventure, with all its danger and wildness, is a deeply spiritual longing written into the soul of men.

What makes you come alive? What stirs your soul? What is the secret longing in your heart? That’s what you’re here for. If you could do what you’ve always wanted to do, what would it be?

Adventure is a test. Men yearn to be tested to see what we are made of – to discover we have what it takes.

There is something wild in the heart of every man.

Man needs a battle to fight and someone to fight for.

After years of living in a cage, a lion no longer believes he’s a lion. After pushing his dream back, man no longer believes he’s a man.

All me die. Few men ever really live.

Without a great battle in which a man can live and die, he withers and he has a deep sullen anger inside.

Men that are into watching sports on TV or too much into their careers are not fighting their true battles and are not living their adventure.

Explore, build, conquer, risk, face danger.

Until a man knows he’s a man, he will always try to prove he is one, while at the same time shrink from anything that may prove he is not.

The quality of a true warrior is that he serves a purpose greater than himself – a greater cause.

If you deny the anger that you feel it becomes fear and you lose courage. Unexpressed anger becomes something weaker – fear. Expressed anger gives you strength.

A man’s addictions are a result from refusing his strength. Always express your strength by showing how you feel about things.

Let people feel the weight of who you are. Let them deal with it.

A hesitant man is the last thing a woman needs. She needs a lover and a warrior, not a really nice guy.

Maximus (in Gladiator) and William Wallace (in Braveheart) are great because they are willing to die to set others free.

Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive.

Adventure beats boredom. Adventure is the secret to a man’s heart. It cures all his ills.

Mystery – no guarantees of success is essential to adventure.

A man is never more of a man than when he embraces an adventure beyond his control, or he walks into a battle he isn’t sure of winning.