"Homelessness is not a choice,
but rather a journey that many find themselves in."
- Asa Don Brown

I recently asked several friends and posted this question on social media and would ask the same questions to you: Do you ever see a day where you would become homeless?

I guess I should define the term "homeless" since my initial feedback indicates this could mean many things. The nature of my question would be in reference to someone who is living on the street with no shelter, no food, and no money.

Disclaimer: I am not perfect.

That said, I want to address this question myself because I can say, with a high degree of certainty, what is true for me. In short I struggle to believe I would ever find myself in that situation.

So to begin I come from modest means (i.e. not born with a silver spoon) and the baby of 7 siblings in a single parent household since the age of 7. I grew up in an environment with much calamity so my home life was not ideal. My family faced many financial hardships as I was growing up but was able to make ends meet with limited government subsidies. I attended church nearly 7 days a week from the age of 7 to about 15 when I began working at Dairy Queen. I was motivated and encourage to be an A/B student throughout school and for the most part I maintained that from K-12; evident me graduating in the top 10% of my class as part of the National Honor Society. 

Before even working at fast foods, my sister and I would work at a neighbors house cleaning up and I worked on my friend's father food truck. We had pecan trees all over our yard and my sister and I would sell bags of pecans in the parking lot of a local store; I also threw newspapers as well. So I believe working was built into my DNA at a very young age.

I was very fortunate to avoid the world of substances and never found myself addicted to drugs or alcohol. While my mother worked multiple jobs simultaneously to make ends meet, our relationships was filled with love but had it's challenges as all relationships do; may she rest in peace. I had sibling rivalries with my sister and my youngest older brother continuously. My church community was good and provided a social outlet that influenced a lot of my early years and I believe provided a moral compass for me.

I was a member of the Army Junior Reserve Officer Training Corp (JROTC) in high school grade 9-12, which provided me a significant amount of discipline and responsibility as I moved up the ranks. While I didn't immediately enter the armed services, I ultimately did a few years after high school; not the Army but the Navy.

I spent 10 years serving in the Navy which again provided me with a significant boost in skills in the area of: discipline, planning, organizing, strategy, technology, leadership, public speaking, etc. While serving in Hawaii onboard my first Submarine, I was exposed to the book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. This book was the beginning of a significant transformation in my life. Toward the end of my naval career I attended a mega church in Northern Virginia where I expanded my social network tremendously. I also begin working for the On-Site Inspection Agency (OSIA) as a part of my shore duty which through a merger with other agencies in the DC Metro area became the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA.) I had the opportunity to become a course facilitator for the agency of the very book that begin my transformation into who I am today.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure

I provided you a brief history to support my belief that it is not probably for me to become homeless. I've learned a tons of skills (some I mentioned above) and have built numerous relationships that I believe provide a foundation on which would prevent me from becoming homeless which I will outline below. My hope is that this will also help others in preventing homelessness:

• Health (Mental and Physical). Without your health, you can't do anything else. I was trained while serving in the Navy to check on my physical health on a regular basis. Living under the water for months on end require you to be in solid health because you can't just leave and go to the doctor. I formed a habit of getting a physical every year to ensure whats on the inside I can't see is operating properly. I expose myself to wise council on a regular basis and via the work I do, books, videos, and podcast I continue to strengthen my mental agility.
• Relationships. No man is an island. The relationships that I have built and maintained with God and man over the decades would afford me a place to land if misfortune ever came knocking at my door. I have countless people around the globe that I believe if I were to be in need, they would open their doors and wallets to help me out. My success was not built entirely by me alone, many along the way have helped me, but I was teachable. The instructions that were given to me, I followed; again I am not perfect - some not all.
• Knowledge. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. (Hosea 4:6) While I do not often use scripture to validate present circumstance, it is a timeless principle that without heeding wise council, one can find themselves destroyed. As I mentioned above, my knowledge of personal development principles I've adhered to from 7 Habits of Highly Effective People to Think and Grow Rich to How to Win Friends and Influence People, these books have provided me with knowledge on how to live and interact with society. In addition, the timeless principles from the bible have provided me with a moral compass which guides my daily actions. 
• Create Value and Make a Difference. Work and never stop. Continue to gain skills so that they can be leveraged to create value. When you create value, it allows you to be compensated. This provides you resources to do more. Opportunity is when hard works meets preparation and it looks a lot like hard work. Gaining skills happen one step at a time and it requires time.
• Resources. Spend less than you make. I've been fortunate to learn financial principles from many in my network. It begin with a young man I met onboard my first Submarine who was 3 years my junior but had $20K in the bank at the time. He taught me about Mutual Funds and my learning of making money and have money work for me, has never stopped. The principles of Rich Dad, Poor Dad, influenced me to become and entrepreneur and just being in the right place and the right time prepared opened that door for me after my naval career. I've worked to build a nest egg, a safety net, in the event I find myself in dire times, I still have resources to help me maintain my life.

Leveraging all the above, I was trained to have plan A, B, and C. I am constantly planning, asking myself, what will you do if this happens? What will you do if that happens? If you know me, you know I hate getting caught off guard. As Asa Brown mentioned above, homeless is not a choice, but rather an journey that many find themselves in. Can it be prevented? Easy for me to say yes, but I do believe more can be done by those who find themselves on that journey. Here are some things I would say IMHO could help if you are already on that journey:

• Get and Accept Help. If you are struggling with some form of addiction, be open to talking with a counselor or just wise counsel from family and friend. Sometimes pride and ego can play a game on us. Be willing to allow others that reach out to you and make an attempt to pull you up. That will come with conditions but if you are dependent on others you must adhere to their standards until you can get back up on your feet.
• Say No and Say Yes. This can be somewhat contentious but I believe you have to say no to the bad habits that might have gotten you where you are and say yes to new habits. However, it may be no for now, not forever. Say yes to new habits. While they might feel odd at first, I believe over time it gets easier.
• Be Patient. Be patient with those who are attempting to help but more importantly be patient with yourself. It's not going to be easy but if you desire things to change they will; change takes time. 
• Never Give Up. No matter what happens keep working to make things better. One foot in front of the others is the best thing you can do because your success is just one more step before failure.

This is such a complex topic and I don't believe there is a one size fits all solution. The journey is not the same for everyone - each person is different and their situation is different. If you have someone in your life who is facing homelessness, I encourage you not to give up on them, continue to talk with them and make every attempt to help them or get them help. I do not advocate enabling them to do the same thing the same way. I am on that journey and my hope is that I will find something that will help make a difference for them.