Blind Ambition by Chad E. Foster

Imagine you lost your eyesight. Imagine you woke up tomorrow and the world you love started to fade to black and you could no longer see anymore. How would that shake up your life? How would things change? I know for me, I would be terrified. I would be upset and angry. I love the ability to see, but what if it wasn't such a good thing? What if when you woke up and you lost your eyesight, your life actually got better? You became a better person. See, that's exactly what happened to this author right here, Chad Foster, the author of Blind Ambition: How to Go from Victim to Visionary. I loved reading this book. In Chad's early years, his parents brought him to the doctor because he was bumping into far too many things. He never saw anything coming, right? A little bit of a reckless kid, but maybe too many bumps and bruises. And unfortunately, the doctors told Chad's parents that, hey, Your son has a condition that affects 1 in 4,000 people called retinitis pigmentosa, and there's a good chance that Chad is going to lose his vision entirely. Chad had a pretty normal childhood growing up. He played sports, he was high school wrestling, but over time, again, this world started to fade to black, and he could no longer focus or read or really pay attention, get these fuzzies in his eyes, and before you know it, Eyesight gone. Now, this book isn't a sad story. See, Chad— it's all about strength and tenacity, right? Chad had a lot of rough times growing up. Now, this is part memoir, part business inspirational personal development, and in the memoir piece, it's a fascinating story. I learned so much about what somebody who's visually impaired and disabled has to go through in order to interact in life, and that made me grateful for my eyesight. It made me see my own eyesight in a different way. But it's also hilarious. Like, Chad has so many funny moments in this book that will be entertaining to you as a reader. In 2nd grade, this kid calls Chad blind boy and Chad punches him in the face and the teacher is on Chad's side. You know, it's a funny story the way that he frames it. Or Chad goes to a bar with some friends and gets a couple girls' numbers because of his seeing eye dog on the same napkin. And again, the way that he tells it is lighthearted and funny and there's a lot of joking around. But then on the serious side, it's a really tough condition, and Chad reminds us as a reader to be grateful. Gratitude. I mean, Chad's actually grateful that he lost his eyesight, and I'm going to read a quote to everybody in just a minute. But it really forces me to kind of seriously sit up, perk up in my chair, and reflect on the fact that so many of us claim a victim mentality in life. We look at our obstacles and we think they're insurmountable. But then you read about somebody like this and you become inspired. There's no reason that we should let things stop us. Most of the things that stop us or cause fear or insecurity in our lives are not nearly as bad as what Chad had to go through. And so over practicing daily gratitude in the last few years, I've developed a lot of tips and tricks and things and strategies that I can use to reframe myself when I start to think like a victim. It is so unhealthy to do that. Instead of, I can't do that, it's, how can I do that? I constantly think about people that are in worse situations than I am because it forces me to be grateful. I constantly think about how things could have gone the wrong way or worse than they did because it forces me to be grateful. And Chad, he's blessed that he lost his eyesight because it really forces him to be grateful that it wasn't worse than that. Like, he's at this school for the blind where he's being paired with a seeing-eye dog or a guidance dog, and there are people at the school with worse conditions than him. That was a big slap in the face. Chad, wake up! Your life isn't that bad. All you did was lose your eyesight. You didn't lose your hearing. You didn't lose your ability to speak. You can still interact with this dog and have a good relationship with the world and other people. Wake up, Chad! It's not so bad. And that reframe helped me a lot. So check out this quote from the beginning of the book. It's really powerful. Chad says, quote, it won't help me or anyone else if I'm ashamed or apologetic about being blind, or if I fail to express myself fully because of it. This self-awareness was forced upon me by my blindness, but it has made me a better person today than I was before I lost my eyesight. I'm a better person because of my blindness. Not in spite of it. What an inspiring thing to see. Now, Chad has also gone on to become incredibly successful in the tech space. I wasn't even aware of the technology available to people who are blind or disabled in different ways that gives them the ability to overachieve in virtually any industry on the planet. You even think about sports. I mean, to this day, Chad is out on the mountain skiing competitively. It's crazy what this guy has been able to accomplish. So whatever problems you're facing, reframe them. The obstacle is the way. The obstacle allows opportunity. It's such a beautiful book. And so if you're interested in Chad's story, there's a lot of great stuff in there. The memoir is fantastic. If you've never read about somebody who is blind, understanding how they have to go through day-to-day life is really cool. But there's a lot of funny stories in here. There's a lot of inspirational stuff. And then on the business side, there's a lot of practical advice on how to navigate life and be successful. So I would recommend it for all of those reasons and more. If you have any questions for me about the book, drop them below, send me a DM, do what you got to do. If you've read the book, drop a comment down below and let me know what your biggest takeaways were. And if you haven't read it, I would highly recommend checking it out. So that's the end of today's review. Go read something. Bye.