The most successful people in life know how to leverage all that is available to them. They may do this consciously or subconsciously but they all leverage whatever and whomever they can to achieve their goals. If you have attained big achievements, then you no doubt owe some of the credit to somebody else and/or to circumstances or opportunities that you leveraged along the way. To be in denial of this is egocentric, and no offense, but you are full of crap. I am not saying that hard work, laser focus, grit and determination do not play into the equation, but leverage is almost certainly a key to how you made it big.

I snuck through the hardwoods and made my way down into a lower drainage trail to try and sneak north to where I planned to hunt that morning. As I’m creeping through this lower path, I realize that I finally found a way to stay undetected while accessing this tricky area to hunt. The drainage offers a thermal effect that contains my scent beneath where I figured the big 10-point I had come to name “Elvis” was feeding. Typically with these lower areas the wind will stay down low until 9 or 10 in the morning so it can offer the perfect access route to keep your scent contained and fool even the smartest mature deer. This is not perfect science, but I had observed this first-hand in this spot so I knew I could leverage it. Let us call this leverage point #1: hiding my scent by taking advantage of the drainage trail by leveraging the time I had spent in these woods and checking wind direction I knew this plan should work. After what appeared to be a clean sneak in thus far, I am now about to make my riskier move and climb back up to the west and creep into the northern tip of the big alfalfa field about where I expected Elvis to be in less than an hour.

Although dawn is not upon me and the sky is still dark, it is high-risk anytime you enter the edge of a field in the morning as you may send whitetails flying everywhere and botch the entire hunt as the deer are likely feeding in the field, catching their last morning meal before heading into cover for a nap. I am freaking out with each baby step I take and trying to keep myself low to the ground and as close to silent as possible. From scouting the area I had noticed that Elvis consistently drifted over to this high corner of the alfalfa field just after daybreak and lo and behold there sat a random clump of bushes in the middle of nowhere yet right on top of where I repeatedly spotted Elvis. The wind was a steady breeze out of the south, so by my calculations I expected this crazy plan just might work. Let’s call this leverage point #2: the bush blind. It consists of leveraging what I had noticed scouting and leveraging a random growth of cover in the middle of an area of the huge alfalfa field.

I nestled into the isolated bushy cover and began quietly twisting vines and branches in front of me and behind me to add in some extra camouflage for when I came face-to-face with Elvis, who is a smart old son of a gun. Here, I am leveraging both the remaining time before daylight when I can still move around a bit, and I am leveraging the available vines and branches to offer more camo post-daybreak to disguise me from Elvis or any other deer that comes close. Let us call these leverage point numbers 3 and 4.

I set my grunt call (buck call when looking to breed, fight, or be heard) and my rattle bag (a bag of wood sticks that sounds like two bucks fighting when rolled around in your hands) on the ground next to me. I made sure that everything was in order so I would be ready to rock as soon as the sun rises. In the first 30 minutes of daylight, my plan was working like a charm. I had three does and two younger bucks pass me within 15 yards south of me and the wind direction and the cover worked harmoniously as I went unnoticed. Few things are cooler than watching a plan work like this work, as this is leverage at its best.

I see his massive antlers approaching before I see his body as I am hunkered down low in this bush. My heart starts slamming and the shakes begin in a big way. I remember thinking that this is for sure a county record 10-pointer, he is majestic as he exhales and blows steam from his mouth and nostrils. With each step closer to me, my heart is beating faster and faster. I am freaking out. I come to full draw and I am moments from releasing my arrow and he stops dead in his tracks. He looks right then left and then for some reason which I can only call the “sixth sense” of a mature monster buck, he turns and walks the other way, leaving me no shot.

I watch him walk away calmly and steadily in a direction that is counterintuitive to every other deer I saw that morning or any path I have seen him take in the past. I think to myself, “what the f-ck just happened? I played everything right. I leveraged every possible piece of data correctly and then by some fluke Elvis pulls this 180 on me.” I begin to laugh to myself and lay down in the bush and smile as I gaze up into the sky. I guess that even the best at leverage, even those that play each step right cannot always come through with a win. I guess that in this case Elvis must have known a thing or two about leverage himself and he leveraged his knowledge and experience and trusted his sixth sense that told him, “something isn’t right here, so I’m just going to turn around and head to bed somewhere else, sorry Farbz.”

While even the best at leverage cannot always achieve their goal, I came damn close. Or maybe in some way I did achieve my goal. I could have arrowed eight other deer that morning, including three bucks. In addition, I was literally one step short of Elvis and the rush was incredible and will always live on as an amazing memory and it provides an experience that I will leverage for years to come. I now use random cover, thermals, daylight, you name it to my advantage as leverage points that are a part of me. The next time that you feel jammed up on something think about the leverage points that are available to you and start thinking about how they can help you succeed. When you look at the people that are the best at their trade, start asking them about what they leveraged to get there and by all means leverage them for their help, but remember that leverage is a two-way street. I will end with a proverb I made up: “He who leverages must be willing to be leveraged.”

There is a difference between overcoming adversity by pushing through tough days and riding out a losing battle too long while not changing strategies. As a hunter, a businessman, and a human being, you must know that sometimes you have to pivot in order to succeed. Some days are days for hunting, some days are for scouting, and some days are for changing plans and sitting on the sidelines until that plan crystallizes. This is the secret behind so many successful hunters, businessmen, and just plain “in flow” types of people. My uncle Michael Towbes, who is an incredibly successful banker, real estate investor, and philanthropist, summed up his career success with a few sphinx-like words: “David, my success comes because I have never been afraid to miss a great deal.” I find these profound words to be insightful and worthy of following.

I rolled over in bed and saw the clock read 4:55 AM. “It’s time to rise and shine,” I think to myself as the rut is in full swing. For the last two days, I have been hunting hard and sitting all day. I am after a buck I call “Old Gray” because of his abnormally gray coat and gray horns. He is a solid buck and is at least four-and-a-half years old. The only problem is that this darn deer is super smart, I mean like an Einstein deer or something. Over the summer while I was shining and glassing, I put my eyes on him three different times. I also have a few trail cam pics of the brute but he is not seeming like a mistake maker and it’s getting annoying. To add to his nuclear physicist-like mind, the weather has taken a turn for the worse. The wind is howling and I know that its swirling nature will cause almost certain drama in the woods and likely lay Old Gray down or send his search for loving down low in the thick stuff. Nonetheless, I decide that since the rut is peaking I am jumping in and going after him.

As I enter the cedar swamp, the trees are blowing in each direction and the cattails and other swampy grasses are swirling every which way. As the sun rises, a wired-up spooky doe comes trucking by my stand and sending out an alert snort that shakes me to my core. Few things are worse then getting busted right at prime time, and having her blurt out to all deer in the area, “hey deer of the swamp, some jack ass hunter is in here and stinking up our home, so don’t go anywhere near here!” I am in my stand with a look of frustration and defeat. As the tree is swaying, I think it’s probably best to bail out of here ASAP before I ruin this hunt, but then out of the corner of my eye I see Old Gray approaching very cautiously. He is right on the trail I hoped he would be on. Then, in a second’s time he winds me, snorts, and is off and running. I stare up into the sky with a look that is somewhere between anguish, disgust, and shame. I realize he is likely gone for the season because I simply didn’t sit out the morning and wait for the right weather. We have all made this mistake no doubt in business, life, and if we are sportsmen, then in the field as well.

I did not shoot Old Gray that year. Even worse than that, he ran straight across the road which borders our property to the south and two days later on opening day of gun season a hunter that had never even been on the property shot him at 40 yards with a .30-30. While I would love to give myself an assist on this lucky hunter’s score, this ain’t basketball or hockey, hunting is for real and no credit goes to the goofball bowhunter that did not simply “sit it out” and wait for the right conditions. As it turned out the next morning provided the absolutely perfect weather conditions to have pursued Old Gray, shocker…

The next time you are chasing a big deal, pursuing a life goal, or are on the trail of a monster buck, remember to take your shot at the right time. Sometimes the best move is no move at all and instead you should allow the right plan to come to you. Do not misunderstand me, by all means you should be a person of action, but in the end remember that “life is a marathon and not a sprint”. So don’t be afraid to sit a day out sometimes and allow the great thoughts to come to you. It may well be the difference of closing the deal instead of coming up short.

Failure is a part of life. It can be a tough part of life, but if you change your mindset you can shift your moments of failure into those of success. However, this will not happen without “keeping the faith”.

Often in life you are forced to push through tough situations. Do you know what I mean? The kind of stretches in life where your flights seem to be met all too often with a head wind. I have found that, more than anything, when we are in these periods of our lives we must keep the faith. If we lose the faith, we will not reach our goals and likely be displeased by our outcomes. If we do not constantly remind ourselves to rise above the situation we will be trapped in a less-than-optimal place, and we cannot rise above the situation in rough times if we do not keep the faith. By believing in yourself, believing that you will achieve your goals, and trusting that the world is as it is supposed to be, you are keeping the faith.

I leap up from my bed like I’m waking up in the middle of a bonfire. On my cell phone screen I can see the reflection of my face. I look tired, I look scared, and I simultaneously see myself as 10 years older and 10 years younger than I am on the surface of the phone. Memories force their way into my mind and I remember the feeling, the taste, the smell, everything that comes to me when the possibility of failure is lurking.

“I know this place,” I think to myself. I know it all too well. The feeling of nausea, the waves of stomach tightening and the jolts of pain moving throughout my body. I perceive things differently in these moments. There is a certain haze that appears in my vision. I know that when these moments come I must clarify my desired outcome and most importantly restore my faith. Whether I want to admit it or not, I am stressed out and it feels like things have been out of alignment. I have learned to not fear these stretches and instead keep the faith that a breakthrough is around the corner.

It’s 5:57 AM. I rise from bed and set out to do one of the hardest things a true hunter ever has to do. It is the ultimate roller coaster ride, the ultimate challenge, the challenge of trying to recover a shot-but-not-retrieved animal. I grab a couple rolls of toilet paper, my knife, my deer tag, and a camo hat. As I hop into my truck I think to myself how rough business has been as of late, and I seem to be more confrontational and less in flow with those around me. Things have just seemed “off”. I look in the rear-view mirror and I pump myself up and yell out “Farbz, you will find that buck, you will find him, you will find him, and it will be a turning point. It’s time to get back in flow baby!” The song “Free Falling” by Tom Petty comes on and I crank it up. The Bose system in my Avalanche is jamming and I begin to feel an energy lift as I belt out the lyrics at full tilt. I am heading to a big chunk of property in Northville, Michigan behind the old mental hospital where I arrowed a 9-point buck the night before in the rain.

I see my buddies Matt and Pete and they look ready to go, and think to myself, “good, we are going to need perseverance today as the rain last night has likely washed away any evidence of the buck’s escape route.” I thought it was a solid hit, but after 5 hours of tracking I could not recover him and decided to call it a night and meet Matt and Pete when it was light outside the next day. I find the spot where I lost his trail last night and we begin to go to work. Within about 20 minutes we find a few specks of blood that I had not seen the night before, but the trail quickly stops. An hour passes and we cannot find anything new, so we do what most responsible hunters do when they feel they are at a loss. We begin circling the area and wrapping toilet paper around saplings and branches along the way, and the whole time I am keeping the faith that we will recover him.

Our circles are becoming larger and larger until we are sprawling over 100 acres of hardwoods and I realize it has already been 4 hours. I am missing a slew of meetings back at my office but it doesn’t matter to me, as right now recovering this deer is all that I am focused on. I can apologize to people later for the last-second cancellation but as a hunter I believe it is our responsibility to recover the animal and preserve the meat and eat what we kill. I stay laser-focused and completely aware of my surroundings with each step I take. I ask myself out loud, “where are you? Where would you go?” I think deeply about all the trail camera pictures I had of this deer from the summer and early fall. I experience an epiphany: he must have been living in an isolated eastern corner of the property based on the times of day he reached certain spots where the cameras were placed. Suddenly this feeling of confidence that he must be close to that area leaps into my thought process and I feel it internalize and I know it is real. I start rapidly marching towards this area in the woods and as I am approaching the very area, Matt yells out “got him, got him, dude I got him Farbz!”

Running full-speed and erupting in joy, I trip on a log and come smashing into the ground just before reaching the “Northville niner” as I would later nickname him. Although I both cut my hand on the ground and hooked myself up with a black and blue shin compliments of the log, I am overjoyed! I hug Matt and Pete and say, “damn it boys, I knew that if I kept the faith and we stayed resolute we would recover him! Matty, I actually had a vision and I felt that energy coming to me as you were about to yell. I swear it, bro.” Matt looks at me like most of my boys do when I say something metaphysical with a look that says, “Farbz I do not always feel many of the things you feel, but I do half-way believe you man.” I am certain that our combined effort of keeping the faith and believing that we would push through and achieve our goal of recovering that buck was the key ingredient that made it all come together for us.

Keeping the faith is a foundational necessity. You must have a solid foundation in order to build something substantial on top of it. When you feel like it’s you against the world, when you are afraid of failure, when you feel scared to act, it’s best to get back to the core. Get real with things, identify your desired outcome, and keep the faith that you can and will achieve it. Whether it’s a lost deer, a health or a relationship issue, or a bleak business situation you have to keep the faith. The next time you find yourself in a pinch in life, in business, or out in the wilderness, remember that a great breakthrough is somewhere nearby. We often cannot see the illuminated path because without keeping the faith we can become blind to the light.

It was the morning after Thanksgiving in the year of 2002 and I found myself rolling around in my bed, having slept only a few hours through the night. I looked at the clock and it was 5:22 AM. Although I should have been tired from being out late the night before, I couldn’t sleep. I still had a deer tag and the “inner voice” in my head kept telling me to get out of bed and hunt. I have learned through the years to listen to that inner voice and motivate myself when it comes into play, so I hopped out of bed. I fired through the shower, threw on my camo, tossed my bow in the back of my truck and jumped on Interstate 696 west towards Wixom, Michigan to hunt a chunk of property a buddy of mine owned. He kept telling me that in the summer he had seen a hulk of an 8-point a few times while screwing around on his 4-wheeler. I hung a tree stand a few weeks back along what I perceived to be the big 8-pointer’s rub line beside a creek running along the west side of the property. I had not yet had a chance to hunt the spot.

I stopped at a Mobil station to snag a coffee and I realized the wind was howling out of the north as I walked across the parking lot. I thought to myself, “oh crap, this wind sucks for me. I will get busted for sure if I sit in that tree stand, so I guess I am ground hunting.” This thought comes from an instant awareness of the environment around me. When I left my house, the wind was out of the west and barely blowing. Now just 20 miles west of my house the conditions have changed and I instinctively call an audible. The instincts and awareness of an avid bow hunter have served me well in life. I have learned to trust these instincts in business and in life and they no doubt stem from my experience hunting in the field. This same awareness has saved my life on a mountain in Idaho, bailed me out of the worst of business situations, and carried me through brutal meetings that looked like impossible situations. You do not have to be a bow hunter to have these instincts nor that “inner voice” that motivates you, but thinking like a bow hunter will help you in life.

As I parked my truck at the property, I thought to myself, “maybe luck will be at the side of the able navigator today”, and I started my trek to the general area where I intended to spend my morning hunt. I was totally awake and conscious; my instincts came into play and that inner voice fired up again and told me to hunt further south of where I was heading. I listened. I was confident that if Mr. Hulk 8-pointer showed up where I figured he would, I would be positioned with the wind in my favor. I didn’t use trail cameras back in 2002 so it was all a best-guess scenario, but I trust my instincts when it comes to hunting mature whitetails. I believe that on the mornings where you listen to your inner voice and you trust your awareness and knowledge that is embedded into your being, good things can and often do happen.

I nestled into some cover and pulled down my camo face mask, set my quiver on the ground and nocked an arrow. I couldn’t see much of anything as it was still pre-daylight and the ground was flat and covered with brushy bushes. There was a hard frost on the ground and as it began to lighten up, the frost-tipped brush looked breathtaking as rays of the first light of the day gleamed through. The morning was slow, other than a few squirrels and some birds playing in the trees. Then out of nowhere a doe comes trotting by me, and I realize she is in heat by the funky tail dance she has going on. I hear a deep grunt and some thrashing around in the brush in front of me and my heart starts pounding. I come to my knees and I take a deep breath but I cannot see a thing around the brush-covered ground. Then I see him and he is indeed a hulk of an 8-pointer. He’s almost a freak show 8-point, the biggest I have ever seen on hoof in Michigan.

I hear the crunching noise with each step he takes and I begin to shake hard as serious buck fever sets in. Bending around a prickly bush in front of me, I put a rangefinder on him and I realize he is now at just over 40 yards away, standing broadside. I pull my bow back as calmly and fluidly as possible and lean out to the right so I have a clear view. I put my sight pin behind his shoulder and release my arrow. “I hit him a little far back,” I think to myself, as I had a pretty good eye on the arrow as it flew off of my rest towards the giant 8-point. “Definitely a fatal hit, but it could have been further up. It’s probably best to sit for a while and then go look in an hour or so and see what kind of blood I can find.”

After what seemed like the longest one-hour wait of my life, I walk to where the deer was standing and spot my blood-covered arrow that passed through him. I make my way up the blood trail and then I see his massive antlers sticking up glistening in the sun. I nearly faint when I realize how incredible this majestic buck is. The Thanksgiving buck is to this day the biggest 8-point I have ever harvested. While I never registered him into the record books, I believe he is unofficially one of the top three 8-points ever taken by bow and arrow in Michigan scoring nearly 160 inches. I have never entered the Thanksgiving 8-point nor any other deer I have killed into the record books as it just has never been my thing. I suppose if I ever broke the world record or something this would change, but I am fine with scoring him, naming him, and mounting him on my wall, as it is more about the buck than myself in my eyes. After all, he is the one that survived the wild for 6 years, and one can only imagine the will, the patience, and the sixth sense he must have possessed before finally making a fatal error on the morning after Thanksgiving 2002. What I will never forget is the way that my inner voice pushed me to the field that day and then guided me to the perfect spot in the dark. Without my hunter’s instincts and that inner voice, I would have been eating Thanksgiving leftovers and watching SportsCenter. Instead, I shot the buck of a life time.

Have you ever had a time when your inner voice was trying to drive you to do something or to take action and you didn’t know why, but you knew you should listen? The next time your inner voice is trying to motivate you to rally or to pivot perhaps you should listen. I believe that when we are attuned to the universe this “inner voice” will enter with more and more clarity and purpose. Sometimes it’s simply our ego playing with us, but often it is a sign. The clearer we get, the more authentic we are, the better our instincts become. There are an infinite number of great opportunities in the world, but without an attuned mind, body, and soul we will limit the number of them that come our way and are successfully pursued, whether in business, life, or on a hunt. Start paying attention to that inner voice!

No doubt we all remember precisely what we were doing on 9-11. I can remember each and every moment like it was only two hours ago. I remember driving on the freeway after delivering a speech to local business groups with tears streaming down my face as I began to grasp the horror that had taken place. I remember talking to my ex-wife, with whom I was going through a divorce with at the time, and standing outside of my home staring at my TV through the window displaying CNN’s coverage of the disaster. The headlines were flashing and my ex-wife and I were crying as we talked to each other.

It was a day where you just wanted to hug someone, to put your arm on somone’s shoulder. It was a day where you knew that nothing would ever go back to the way it was in this country, and to this day it still has not.

Eleven years have passed since that unforgettable day in America. As beyond-belief catastrophic as that day was, there was never a day, never a week, never a month quite like the time that passed after it. Never before was I so proud to be an American. Never before had I felt so connected to the people around me in this country. Regardless of race, religion, or beliefs, we were all so American after that horrible moment in time. For a little while people stopped yelling at each other, people stopped getting road rage, things were more connected than ever. We had such resolve to just be Americans together and to love our country!

On this eleventh anniversary of the catastrophe that brought us together, let us not take our lives in this country, our freedom, our ability to do as we see fit for granted. Let us take some time throughout the day today to appreciate this amazing country that we live in. Let us appreciate our friends, our co workers, our families, and our fellow Americans. I mean it when I say we are all so blessed and God bless America, the land of the free!

Let’s make it a day to remember and let’s remember those that left this world on that day. Let it deeply resonate in us all, as this is the greatest country in the world and I am so proud to be American.

I am staring out into the green oasis of Central Park from 110 feet up in my room in New York City. I used to have an aversion to New York as I am a country boy at heart after all, however time and experience have altered my view of the Big Apple. Sure, it can be intimidating to be boxed in by monstrous high-rises. You can see a bum drunk from the night before dying a slow death. Then there are the well-dressed GQ bankers that walk with a certain entitlement about them. Tourists from all around carry their expensive cameras and don their fanciest clothes. New York City has it all. However in the midst of the insanity, with all of the attitude, depression, arrogance, and steamy air lies a green oasis that anchors the mayhem.

If you have not been to Central Park, it is a place that you should see. At first glance you may think of it as simply a park with statues of famous writers and poets from the 1700s, but it is far more than just a park. Central Park is a endless stream of energy and a needed resource for all that visit her. With the worst of hangovers, in the most down-and-out state of mind, when the stress seems unbearable, she is there awaiting her people. You should go lie on one of the rock formations and observe the way people merge themselves into the nature of Central Park. People gather with their children, they hold hands and walk around the pond, read the inscriptions of statues of Scottish poets like Walter Scott, walk their dogs, and be one with nature.

Think of the power that lies within her domain. Never before have I seen collective energy quite like I have in Central Park. With the right mindset and state of consciousness flowing you will be amazed at what amasses inside of her sprawling trails as you lie there and stare. With all of your senses at their full awareness levels, it truly is remarkable what you will observe. People use this park like a drug that is necessary to live. They are addicted to her every inch of ground. Even a country boy like me can see that Central Park, besides being some of the most valuable real estate in the world, has deep meaning and provides something priceless for all that enjoy her beauty.

Think about the power of nature in this way and how amazing she can be. Think about how the trees, rock formations, water, and beauty can create a truly tranquil place in the middle of the madness of New York City. Go and be one with nature, and never take her for granted. Each tree, each lawn, each inch of nature is magical if and when we choose to see it, to feel it and to appreciate it. The connection is and has always been there for us all. Go and harness nature, for life is too short not to. The sun will rise tomorrow morning and it shall set again as well. Go and make the most of life and harness the power of nature in between the dawn and dusk of each day. When you pass by a local park or stare out at a section of woods or fields, know that there is far more there than what meets the eye. Nature is alive and well and it harbors a deep energy that is available to us all.