As I sit here in my recliner after a long day at work, I’m almost ready to drift off to sleep, but we can’t do that yet because there is still work to be done and it’s not even 9:00 at night. I want to take advantage of the opportunity to get some work done here because my kids are in bed and my wife is out in the garage doing a workout, so here we go.
My name is Brian McClellan. I’m currently 41 years old, married to the love of my life and best friend for the last nine years, and we have two amazing boys. I’m a husband, a father, a homeowner. I’m on a significant weight loss journey. I’m a youth guide at church, a volunteer at my son’s school, and his baseball coach—and none of that includes this project. Something that has been weighing on me for over a decade now, with little sense of accomplishment in that time.
I’m a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to this project, and when things aren’t going my way, I tend to sabotage it so that I have to start over from scratch. That’s a pattern I’m aware of, and one I’m trying to overcome this time around.
In the past, I have been reluctant to launch the blog portion of this project until I was absolutely sure that I was ready, and then the blog would never get launched. This time around, I am going to build the project in public, and I think that might help me feel a bit more accountable for my actions. I’m going to put myself out there while I build The Young Napoleon Project from the ground up. It’s not about gaining attention or followers—it’s about proving to myself that I can follow this dream and see it through until the end.
So what is The Young Napoleon Project? Well, the public-facing portion of the project is a blog, but behind the scenes it is a project that encapsulates every aspect of my life, allowing me to work on each of those simultaneously while pursuing my dream of becoming a self-published author of books, blogs, and even songs. The truth is that The Young Napoleon Project is a complete life transformation from the person I have always been to the person I have always wanted to be.
This is not a journal or a diary, although there are aspects of those within the project. This is me saying I’m not who I want to be yet, but I have a plan for how I am going to get there—and then actually sticking to the plan and documenting the journey.
I can’t promise that this time I will be successful. My track record speaks for itself in that regard. What I can promise is that I’m trying again. I’m back at the beginning, working my way through this project one step at a time, and I’m glad that you have joined me for this ride.
The Young Napoleon Project 