'Holding On and Not Giving Up On Self' is a special book written to motivate and inspire our youth towards positive change. This book is spiritually based and reflects upon my personal military experience where mental toughness is exemplified through facing challenges, disappointments, making mistakes, losing hope, taking risk and falling back on my faith in God to see me through. This is a 12 chapter book which has two bonus short stories about family members that have made poor choices as teenagers and have ended up behind bars. Nephew Domonick and cousin Smooth gives you a brief account about their experience along with their new perspective on God, choosing the right friends and staying out of trouble. I have added powerful scriptures throughout the book to help the readers focus on God's goodness. It is my hope that this book will resonate with our youth to instill a sense of purpose, drive, initiative, and ambition towards positive change.