I believe in inspiring continued improvement through camaraderie and movement. What better way to do this than to serve not only my local community, state, and nation all at the same time, but by serving in the oldest branch of the United States Military!

My personal proven process is what I call the rule of 3 and it is a win, win, win. This is what helps guide me when things get into what most people call the grey area. The other rule that I often apply also has 3 parts.

1. You can always control your attitude
2. You can control what you are doing right now
3. You can plan for the future (I have found that less is more in this department)

In all, after much deliberating and applying the rules to this decision, I had to go back to what I love, the Military and sharing it with the young people in the community. So I am now serving in the Minnesota Army National Guard’s Recruiting and Retention Battalion!

Think about it, my company, for the last three years, has been run much like a military unit. Because of my time working with some of the top business people in the Twin Cities and arguably the country I have improved myself not only as a leader, salesperson, marketer, but as a person and a human being. This go around, serving and leading soldiers will be much easier for me. Last time I didn’t even have a clear idea of what my purpose, cause or passion were. Not only do I have that defined, but I have a much larger tool box to pull from to inspire the future leaders of our community. I also have many mentors that have an outside the normal military box way of doing things that I can call on to help when things get challenging!

The best part about the whole thing is I get to work with new soldiers until they get ready to join their first duty station. This often means for their first 2 years in the guard I will be leading them. There is nothing that I take more seriously then leading soldiers, especially during war time. It is the most responsibility that anyone can have, and it makes me feel alive! So if you know anyone that is interested in being a part of something that is larger than themselves, please have them contact me and I will be more then happy to help them find out what the military is all about, and how it can help them improve them and everyone around them.

SSG Tim Peterson
Recruiting, Retention and Attrition Management NCO
Minnesota Army National Guard
651-775-5901