Quotes about Personal Growth

Growing up watching WWE, they used to have bra-and-panties matches or pillow fights, and that's why my mom didn't want me to watch wrestling. But when my parents divorced, I was able to watch wrestling again, and that's when I started to really get into wrestlers like Ivory.

The transition to WWE has been an incredible road. It's been great, it's been difficult, it's been motivating, and it has allowed me as a person to just completely see myself differently and allowed me to grow in a different perspective with their input.

When I was in Cleveland, Ohio, if you asked me what I'd be doing in 10 years, I'd probably say, 'I'll own my own Mr. Hero, living in Cleveland, married with three kids.' Now I can say I've literally traveled the world with WWE.

It's kind of a tricky subject because I had a great time in WWE. There were highs and lows, but I cut my teeth there. I met my wife there.

I feel as if I accomplished everything in Japan, so I wanted to challenge myself. I wanted something new, so I decided to come to WWE.

It's been a long road for me coming from NXT. I've been with NXT for almost four years, and just getting to WWE, and now being able to travel with them, I kind of have to make new friends and get hotel rooms and travel in different cities every single night. It's very different, but it's so much fun.

So many things come with your maturation process. I changed throughout my time with WWE from a kid in his 20s into a man.

It would have been very hard to grow if I hadn't stepped outside the WWE bubble and gain a clear perspective on everything.

When you're by yourself and not with WWE, you are your own business. And I was very successful in that business because of all the lessons I learned.

I was 21 years old when I first signed with WWE. I finished my university degree and came straight to America.

I moved from home in Scotland to home in WWE, and that was the first time being out on my own in my life.

Before I signed with WWE, I thought my athletic career was done. I was going into the finance industry and I just thought I couldn't compete any more. But the mind is a really powerful thing and you can unlock your potential if you choose to ignore what your mind is telling you.

If you would have asked me three or four years ago when I started wrestling whether I would have worked for any other company than WWE in the long-term, I would have told you no.

I was very green when I started in WWE and felt very uncomfortable with talking.

I had something to prove and went in the studio and started writing. I got into fitness and style and learned the whole craft. That was when I wrote everything on the album. I put out 'Don't Ya,' and it took off.

All that time I spent chasing Yale was time I could have been using to actually make a difference in the world. Bravery, not perfection, was the key that unlocked all the doors I've walked through since.

I went to college at Harvard, then did three years of graduate school at Yale. At both places I studied comparative literature. People find it odd that I went to both Harvard and Yale, and I guess it is odd, but that's just what people did where I grew up.

Grissom comes from a place where we know he had a deaf mother, he was raised in a silent household, on some level, had a father who potentially was not around and he learned what he knew by himself in the back yard, with bugs and animals. He's not comfortable being a supervisor and that's his problem.

My own back yard, and my mom and dad's back yard, is where I learned about tomatoes and weeds and daily maintenance.

I was in 'Seussical,' and I was in a cage onstage in a purple yarn suit singing backup, and I was like: 'I've had it. I can't do this anymore.' I will say for the record that I did love the show, but I was like: 'I want to do something else. I need a little more.'

But obviously you don't want to just be the guy who comes in and sort of spices up every movie. So yeah, definitely moving into more of a leading man role would be great, but on my own terms.

Early on, yeah, my life was a bit of a roller coaster.

Mostly, I just write about feelings that people can relate to. Because, yeah, I don't know who I am, and this is not my sound forever... I'm a human, so hopefully, I will always develop.

I'm 64 years old and, yeah, I went through a transition in my life last year, with the death of my son, that woke me up to a lot of things. You know, I'm perfectly happy in my own little groove. Marching along, building my company, and you know, a happy person.