Maurice Chandler

My book provides insight about my life and my community. I describe my mindset from a child into adulthood, explaining how the odds were stacked against myself and many others from my neighborhood. The system was designed to keep me living in the same city where I was raised. We didn’t have much growing up and I explained how not having the necessities in life influenced me in school. Eventually, with my back against the wall caused me to make some risky decisions that put my life in danger. Desperate times caused me to take desperate measures. Which one wrong move or dealings with the wrong person, at the wrong time, would’ve literally cost me my life.

I go into detail how I evolved over the years, going from someone who didn’t care about learning to someone who loves, and looks forward to always learning. I had to transition into the workforce which wasn’t easy for me. I came to the realization that I developed some very bad habits from being in the streets. Luckily for me is I held myself accountable and saw most of the areas in which I was lacking and knew I had to improve if I wanted to make it in this world.

My story is very relatable to a lot of people coming from areas where I come from. Not only did I explain how my experiences and lack of education prohibited me from being the best version of myself. I also go into detail about how my vices played a big part in my life and how I almost allowed it to destroy me in so many ways. I dealt with chasing money and women. Drinking alcohol, smoking weed, and gambling all day everyday while not looking to better myself. My days became very dark where I was lost and didn’t understand how I got in the many situations I had gotten into. I became complacent and comfortable with being mediocre, typical, and average. I continued to put myself in deeper holes everyday making decisions that caused my life to continue to go down.

I explain how my lifestyle changed from self-destruction to self-love. How I went from being lazy, and making excuses to someone that works hard at everything and I always hold myself accountable and don’t make excuses. I grew tired of my condition and where my life was headed and knew, I needed to change the way I was living. I got tired of talking about doing better, so I started to do the work.