We were lucky to catch up with Michael Murray recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Michael, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?
A hard life. My father passed when I was two. I survived two abusive stepfathers and turned my anger into athletic prowess.
That athletic prowess led me to a successful Marine Corps career as an infantry officer for over 18 years until I was injured.
Post injury, I have overcome chronic pain, drug addiction, and PTSD.
Overcoming adversity has been bred into me since childhood.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I am the founder and president of Liberty Organization for Veterans and Emergency Responders, LibertyOVE.org.
We provide Trauma Recovery Intervention Protocol (TRIP) to active-duty military, veterans, and first responders. TRIP has over a 95% efficacy at removing how PTSD manifests in daily life by separating traumatic memories from emotion.
I am dedicated to providing TRIP to as many as humanly possible, train as many first responder agencies, to help veterans and first responders get back to a life of normalcy. I want to being down the veteran suicide rate, currently at over 44 a day (some estimates) and help the over 1 in 4 first responders who suffer from complex PTSD.
I do this because God has called me to it.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Persistence, personability, and hard work. Never Say Die. Hannibal was told he could not get elephants across the Alps to conquer Rome. His response was, “I will find a way, or make one.”
Nothing is free, life is hard. If you desire to be successful, you must put in the hours, the practice. You must practice as if you are in the game. The one who works the hardest has the best chance at rising.
This requires that you persist through adversity, failure, and disappointment. It requires that you learn, readjust, and continue on your dream. During this journey, you must seek others through the sheer vibrance of your personality to assist you. Whether you lead them, or follow them, you must learn from them.
Taking those lessons, you must constantly conduct self-reflection to assess yourself and your actions. You must take the best practices and implement them as you sharpen yourself, your mind, your reputation, and your leadership skills. No one follows a bully nor a weakling. Know your people as well as you know yourself and maximize their capabilities to reach your assigned goals.
Always, and I mean always, remain grateful to God for every failure, success, and opportunity. For it is by faith that one should walk, confident that he will provide. That every failure is his opportunity to sharpen you and that every success is his for making you better in the bad times.
What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?
I started LibertyOVE.org in January 2021 and had no idea of how to run a nonprofit. I work full-time, am a 100% disabled veteran, sing in a band, and am a father.
From 2021-2023 I was able to do the lion’s share of raising funds to provide TRIP to over 350. I hated money and business. I am the leader and the visionary, the doer. I learned my weaknesses would lead to failure of the nonprofit mission if I did not change.
The last six months I have focused on learning as much as I can and dedicated myself to building out the business infrastructure required. This has led to financial growth and growth in reputation. Now it us up to me to drive the team to capitalize on the growth and reputation and propel us to the next level.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.libertyove.org
- Instagram: LiberyOVE
- Facebook: Liberty Organization for Veterans and Emergency Responders
- Linkedin: Libery Org for Vets and First Responders
- Twitter: LibertyOVE
- Youtube: LiberyOVE
- Other: Telegram: LibertyOVE
