Hello Everyone!

Welcome to my new author website. My name is Greg Vogt, and I am excited to show you what this page is about. I am twenty-four years old, and graduated from the University of Arizona in May of 2017. In college, I studied Marketing and Entrepreneurship in the business school. I am from Southern California originally before moving to Tucson for school. Currently, I reside back in my roots in Southern California.

During my college career, I was like everyone else…young, busy, stressed, but connected. The business school was strenuous, but fantastic. I was also part of several fun organizations on campus. Long story short, I was not hurting for things to do, time to fill or friends to meet.

What I did feel though, was that something was missing. But for the longest time, I couldn’t put my finger on what it was. I would think about this thought often, but I would find my mind wandering in circles. What did I feel was missing in my life?

When I went home for summer in between my sophomore and junior year of college, there was one night that ultimately would change my path. I was sitting in my room pondering deeply about what this emptiness could be. And then it finally came to me. I started thinking about not what I am currently doing in my life, but what I felt called to do in my heart. It all was becoming clear in this very instance. I knew what my next calling was going to be, with no hesitation.

It dawned on me that I was set out to help people. That was it… just help people in any way I can. Help them learn, grow, aspire, and love. I knew deep inside that this is who Greg Vogt is and who I knew I had to be. I had trouble figuring it out, but once I found it, I had to take it and run with it.

But everyone helps people, don’t they? This is true. So, I thought, how would I differentiate by the way I help people? Because if everyone is helping in the exact same manner, then it must not be accomplishing very much. I began brainstorming ideas on how I could execute my passion to help people. I thought of setting up a club, a non-profit organization, volunteering at various community groups, among many more. But wouldn’t it be more effective to help people through a way that comes natural to me rather than forcing myself on a situation?

I knew I was always a decent writer, and loved English class since I was in elementary school. What if I helped people through writing? Thoughts, feelings, rapid emotions began filling my mind and my heart. I knew instantly that I wanted to write a book. But I thought the chances of me going forward with writing it were only about 25%. The chances of me having a published book at the end, I put close to 1% in my mind. I thought it was few and far between. I didn’t think I had it in me. I feared the daunting time commitment. I was intimidated by the fact that most young people don’t write books. I was nervous that it would be a waste of time if I wrote it only for publishers to think it was stupid. Most of all, I was afraid of the judgment from my peers and friends due to the subject matter. I aspired to write a book about my own life story, particularly about the dark battles faced with depression. I knew I had an inspiring story, but feared that my classmates and friends would view me as weak, sensitive…or even weird.

This dilemma of pondering back and forth between writing the book or not lasted six full months. I didn’t write a single word because I felt so controlled by what other people would think. But I realized at the latter part of those six months that I couldn’t let other people control my life. I just knew in my heart that this was the right choice, even if there were risks to it.

On January 7^th, 2015, I began writing my first book, “The Battle Against Yourself.” Writing this story was emotional, revealing and humbling as I stepped back into my own footsteps in some of the most brutal times of my life. It took me 14 months to write and another 11 months to publish, totaling 25 months to create my first book. This book takes you along the journey from my childhood and ending in my final semester of college.

My life was so normal growing up, but when I entered high school, pure darkness entered. I ran into a head-butting relationship with my sophomore basketball coach, which plummeted my self-esteem because basketball was my greatest passion. I also liked a girl who didn’t feel the same way back. These two situations were enough to spiral my thinking downward to the point where it wasn’t just sadness and stress, but major depression. I thought awfully of myself and questioned the purpose for my life. I thought I was a failure, and loved by no one. I questioned why God put me on this Earth, because I felt that I was a burden.

Eventually, my depression became so severe that I would be submitted in and out of multiple different mental hospitals. When those stays would show no progress, matters got even worse. At the end of my sophomore year, I attempted taking my own life. The next fall, I resorted to the same intention, making it my second suicidal incident.

After the second instance, my parents and school district decided to meet. Ultimately, this later led to the decision that I would be sent out of state to a residential treatment center for one year. I was at absolute rock bottom, and truly thought I would never escape. I never imagined that I would be the kid going to a treatment facility. But it was me. And it was all so real.

The first month was a daunting adjustment, and difficult to say the least. New state, new people, new lifestyle, with very little freedom. But as the days went by, I slowly started to realize what I had done. I actually tried to take my own life. Though utterly depressed and hopeless, I realized how selfish and significant it was. From that point on, I made it a mission that I was going to change and become the Greg Vogt I envisioned; happy, confident, loving and inspiring.

Over the course of those 12 months, I began to recover my identity. I no longer was dominated by a depression that I couldn’t overcome. I was able to function, laugh, and even smile again. I was able to love, and feel love. I was able to set goals, minor ones, and accomplish them.

The decision to send me to the residential treatment center turned out to be one of the most impactful choices made. I finally became me again, and with every day, the depression seemed further and further in the past. Not long after, I eventually got off anti-depressants.

From that point, I have not had depression in seven straight years. I have also not been on anti-depressant medications in seven years either. There have been some very low times since, but I have developed to the point where no situation triggers depression.

Most of my life has been wonderful and full of times of joy, gratitude and happiness. But for three straight years, I was engulfed by nothing but darkness that I never thought I’d escape. That is why I set out on this mission to help people by writing “The Battle Against Yourself.” I believe in this story’s power, authenticity, and how relatable it is for people.

Whether you have experienced depression or not, everyone has battles. Everyone has problems. My personal battle was how I realized that I was my own worst enemy. Though the basketball coach and the girl affected me emotionally, I still had control over the decisions I made. I had control over my thoughts, feelings and actions. I learned that it was not their fault, nor any other external factor. It was all internal that triggered my depression. I realized that I was facing a battle against myself.

My goal is to help people gain perspective on how to overcome their battles through my personal story.

Since publishing in the beginning of 2017, “The Battle Against Yourself,” has helped improve the emotional and mental states of many different people who read this story. My goal is to continue to reach people and share my story because nobody is alone, and nobody should ever feel alone.

I am excited to be launching this new website. Now that you know a little about who I am and what my mission is, I must say that this website is going to be far more than “The Battle Against Yourself.” One of my goals is to write more books in the future, both nonfiction and fiction.

On this site, you will see where my book tour takes me on speaking events. You will find my opinions and reviews on other books. You will experience a great deal on mental health, and the severity it has on people. You will discover the power of faith, and why I keep God as my centerpiece in everything I do in life. In general, you can expect this site to be a place that discusses important topics about anything in life that go beyond surface level.

Furthermore, my mission for this page is to create a place you can be real with yourself and others. I want this to be a place where you can seek help, wisdom, interaction and guidance. I have developed numerous platforms to make the connection between us more intimate.

• I have created an Instagram page @thebattleagainstyourself, which encompasses other peoples’ stories of an obstacle they encountered and how they overcame it, along with a photo of themselves.
• My blog will discuss any important life topic from mental health to writing to accomplishing goals to developing faith and many more. I plan on blogging every month
• My YouTube Channel, “10 Minutes or Less with Greg Vogt,” is designed to expand upon what I write in my blogs to give you a more real, and personal experience to what I am talking about. In these videos, you will see me face first, discussing the importance to a wide variety of topics in no longer than 10 minutes. I will parallel these videos with the blog topics. I also want this to be a discussion board where you can send me any questions you may have. I want to converse with you and help in any way I can. I plan on answering three questions at the beginning of the next week’s YouTube video. I plan on uploading videos periodically.
• My Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts are other social media outlets where you can learn more about what I am doing and can connect with me there as well.

Anyways, I think this post just about does it. Thank you for taking the time to dive into the launch of this site, and I cannot wait to learn and grow together!

Have a great week!

Greg