We have moved!

PEACE

I wanted to take the time to thank everyone who has followed us for your support. We greatly appreciate it. We have moved on to greener pastures. There are a few more features we are adding on. We needed to expand and grow. As a result we have moved to Wordpress. But, I wanted to personally thank each of you and also extend an invitation to stop by our new place and please follow us when you get there. Please stop by when you can. Our new address is 

www.themotivationandinspirationstation.com

Thank you all again for everything and I look forward to seeing you soon.

PEACE! 

NO ONE IS COMING TO SAVE YOU!

I'm almost embarrassed to tell this story but there is actually a point.

My mother retired about 20 years ago from a job that she had been working on for about 30 years. After she retired her friends and loved ones gave her a retirement party. At the retirement party there was plenty of laughter and plenty of tears. Apparently my mother had a huge impact on a lot of people. Throughout her retirement party many people had given her quite a few gifts. But, there was one gift that was very special to her. A few of her friends and co-workers had prepared a speech and  got together and bought her this beautiful 24 Karat gold herringbone bracelet. My mother is a tough lady but when they gave the speech and gave her this bracelet, as tough as my mother is she shed a few tears behind it. She really cherished this bracelet, not so much for the monetary value. She cherished this bracelet because of the sentimental and emotional value that was attached to it. She was friends with and worked with some of the people who gave it to her for 25 30 years. So there was a lot of emotion and time and history attached to this bracelet.

I happened to have an event or some sort of dressy affair that I was going to shortly after my mothers retirement party and I asked her if I could borrow her gold bracelet and she was hesitant but I begged and begged. She finally said yes. But, not before giving me the "Be careful. this bracelet means a lot to me" disclaimer. So after telling my mom how careful I would be and promising that I would take care of her bracelet and promising that I wouldn't lose it or let anything happen to it, she let me borrow it. I took it and put it on and went on my merry way with her prized bracelet. At the time I was working for the County and I was working on a garbage truck. So I came in that night from my event and I ran out the next morning and went to my job and came home. The next day my mother asked me for her bracelet back and I had forgotten all about it. I forgot that I even borrowed it or had it on.  I checked my wrist and my heart sank. The bracelet wasn't on my wrist. I did the best I could to retrace all of my steps but I couldn't find the bracelet anywhere. I felt absolutely horrible. She cherished this bracelet. It had sentimental and emotional value attached to it that I could never replace. She put her prized possession in my hands and I carelessly lost it.

In hindsight I believe that maybe I lost it because it wasn't mine. I didn't have the same emotional attachment that she had to it. I wasn't friends for 20 or 30 years with the people who gave it to her like she was. The bracelet didn't have the same sentimental value to me as it did to her so in my childish immature mind I didn't care for it or take the same cautions with it that she would have as the actual owner of it. It didn't mean to me what it meant to her.

Years later I recalled this story when I had a business idea and a dream that I was working on. I had a plan to build this business from the ground up and there were a few people whose help I needed to get the idea off the ground. These were people that I felt that I could leave my dreams in their hands. They told me "Yeah, no doubt! I got you kid! I got you! I can help you with this! I can do this for you  and I'm gonna do that for you!". They told me a whole bunch of stuff which led me to believe that I would be able to trust them to develop and nurture and take care of my dream just like I would. I trusted that my dreams were being left in good hands. Time went on and I would call the people whose hands I left my dreams to follow up and see how things were going, and would get no answer, I would text and get no response, I would leave voice mails and no return calls. What I have learned is that NO ONE AND I MEAN NO ONE WILL CARE FOR AND NURTURE AND PROTECT YOUR DREAM LIKE YOU! No one has the emotional ties to your dream like you do. No one has spent as much time with your dream as you have. Your dream doesn't have the same emotional sentimental value to others as it does to you. NO ONE WILL EVER CARE ABOUT YOUR SUCCESS OR YOUR FULFILLING YOUR DREAMS LIKE YOU! I have learned that if you leave your dreams in other peoples hands, your dreams will end up in the garbage truck, your dreams will be left in the trunk of someone's car. If left in other peoples hands your dreams will be under the front seat of someone's car with old French fries and cookie crumbs stuck to them.

I have learned that when YOU have a dream it is YOUR duty and YOUR obligation to protect it and to make sure it comes true. Be extra careful about whose hands YOU leave YOUR dream in. YOUR success or YOUR failure is on YOU. Don't leave your dreams in anyone else's hands and count on or depend on ANYONE to make YOUR dreams come true. People are busy and have their own lives and priorities and YOUR dreams will be put on the back burner of other peoples lives. Delegate, maybe ask for help when you need it but do not put your dreams in other peoples hands and expect for others or depend on other people to make YOUR dreams come true. TAKE PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR OWN DREAMS! As much as people love/like you, your dreams will never mean as much to them as they do to you.

I have learned that being able to blame someone for your failure is not the same thing as success.

Keep in mind that...

Responsibility is the price of greatness.
-Winston Churchill
The mould of a man's fortune is in his own hands.
-Francis Bacon

DREAM BIG, TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR DREAMS AND THE WORLD IS YOURS!

NO ONE IS COMING TO SAVE YOU!!!

KEEP GOING!

PEACE!

HOME RUN HITTERS STRIKE OUT A LOT!

 

 

I used to be the biggest baseball fan in the world when I was a little kid. I mean we would practice twice a week and I would get up early in the morning on Saturdays and play baseball. I was in 2 different leagues. After my games on Saturdays, my father and I would go to baseball card shows and I would spend hours looking at baseball cards. After the baseball card shows, we would come home and I would hang out with my father and we would watch baseball for the rest of the night. My whole life was baseball baseball baseball. I knew all of the players and I knew their statistics and everything. One of my favorite players maybe of all time was Reggie Jackson. I missed a lot of years while he was playing because I wasn't old enough. But I read and heard all kinds of stories about him when he played with the Yankees. Reggie Jackson was the ma. I'm talking Being 14× All-Star. 5 World Championships , MVPs, Silver Slugger Awards, Home Run Leader etc. He was such an extraordinary clutch player that the guys nickname was "Mr. October"  (For those who might not follow baseball the world series which is the championship series for Major League Baseball takes place in October). Reggie Jackson would always come through for his team in a major way during the World Series. 1977 World Series against the Dodgers Reggie Jackson hits three-home-runs off of three pitches clinching Game Six. I mean this guy was the man. An absolute hero.

What's interesting is that if you were to look up Reggie Jackson's statistics, you would quickly find the number of home runs he hit, his batting average, RBIs (Runs Batted In), On base percentage etc. But one detail that isn't so often publicized is that for as many home runs as Reggie Jackson hit, as many games as he saved with his clutch home runs, as many time he was named MVP (Most Valuable Player), As many times as we was named an All-Star and while he hit 563 career home runs, at the same time Reggie Jackson leads the Major League Baseball Association with all time career strikeouts. Mr. October, the man who was known for saving games and winning world series championships voted MVP because of how great of a hitter he was, also struck out more times than any player in baseball history. In fact some of the greatest hitters in history's names are on the all time career strike out list. Players who have established themselves as some of the best hitters in history, names like Sammy Sosa, Alex Rodriguez, Jose Canseco, Ken Griffey, Barry Bonds etc. All the names that we associate with Home Runs and everyone we know for their tremendous batting skills, have struck out more than everybody in order to get there.

I guess my point is that if there is ANYTHING that you want to be known for or something you are looking to achieve, If you have a business idea that you are looking to launch or a business that you are trying to start and things don't seem to be taking off the way you would have liked or hoped or expected. If you are in a sales position and sales don't seem to be closing the way you'd like, If its a new job you are trying to succeed in and maybe it seems you are off to a slow start, if it is a new skill you are trying to acquire or develop to develop a career as a barber, writer, actor etc, If you are searching for a job and it seems like you just aren't having any luck. Just remember that some of the GREATEST hitters, rappers, poets, barbers, authors, mechanics, actors etc had to strike out several times along the way in order to become the GREATEST. Most have had more failures than successes. Most have had more "Strikeouts" than "Home runs". One thing that they all have in common is that they had the nerve the gumption, the drive, the desire to stand in the batters box and take a swing. More importantly, after they swung and missed they kept swinging again and again and again. They got in the batters box determined to knock the ball out of the park and they did not stop swinging until they did so.

I say all of  this that to say that if you want to be an award winning actor, if you want a successful business or ministry, if you want to be a successful poet, author, auto mechanic, rapper, singer, dancer, athlete, entrepreneur, salesperson etc. GET IN THE BATTERS BOX AND START SWINGING. KNOW THAT FAILURE IS A PART OF THE PROCESS AND YOU WILL SUCCEED WITH ANOTHER BLOW! DO NOT GIVE UP ON YOURSELF OR YOUR DREAM! ITS RIGHT THERE! JUST KEEP GOING! BIG HOME RUN HITTERS STRIKE OUT A LOT!

I HAVE LEARNED THAT...

FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION, IT IS AN ABSOLUTE NECESSITY!

My motto was always to keep swinging. Whether I was in a slump or feeling badly or having trouble off the field, the only thing to do was keep swinging.
-Hank Aaron


Remember that .....

"Success is failure turned inside out-
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt-
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems afar;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit-
It's when things seem worse that YOU MUST NOT QUIT."

KEEP SWINGING AND THE WORLD IS YOURS!

PEACE!    

MOVE FORWARD VERBOT!

When I was a kid in the early 80's there was this robot toy called Verbot. Verbot had buttons on it that you would use to program it. Once you had it programmed and it recognized the sound of your voice, you can give it verbal instructions and you can control it simply by saying stuff to it and shouting commands into it. It would react to whatever you say to it. So you could be like Verbot speak and the mouth would light up like its speaking. If you said move forward Verbot or backwards it would move according to your instructions. If you said Verbot pick it up Verbot or Put it down Verbot it would do it.  So you completely controlled this thing simply by using words. It was pretty cool technology especially for the 80's.

I recently had a conversation with someone and I didn't particularly like the conversation. I didn't like their choice of words, their tone, their demeanor or attitude towards me. I felt that they were being totally condescending and I just didn't like anything about the interaction. It just wasn't a positive conversation or experience. Initially I started to get all upset and react out of anger and start using a few choice words of my own. But, then I thought of Verbot and how it was controlled.  For me to have gotten angry and changed my attitude and demeanor, if I would've started getting angry and using choice words of my own, would mean that I would have had to have completely lost control of myself and my ability to think for myself. It means that I would have completely relinquished control to the person that I was speaking with. It means that they would have had full control over me and my actions just by the use of their words. They would have had as much control over me as I had over Verbot. If I would have lost control and lost my temper and would have just started saying angry stuff, I would have no longer been a man in control of himself. I would have been reduced to a $30 plastic toy robot, who has no ability to think for himself or control his own actions. It means that I react and respond to this persons words and verbal cue's and commands. It would mean that THEY CONTROL ME.  

One of the cool parts about Verbot was that the buttons that were on it were how you programmed it to the sound of your voice and also how you input the specific commands. So the person who programmed it was the only persons voice it would react to. If anyone else tried to control it, Verbot would straight up ignore them and leave them there shouting a bunch of commands out loud like a fool.  If Verbot didn't  recognize your voice or your tone it would simply ignore you and not do any of the commands. I suppose my point is, the next time you have a conversation or interaction with someone who's is less than positive or pleasant or respectful, don't let their words control you and make you fly off the handle. Don't relinquish control of yourself and your behavior by allowing others words to control your actions. Instead, the next time someone is mean and nasty or angry handle it like Verbot and simply don't recognize their voice. Don't react! Simply leave the person standing there mean, bitter and angry and shouting at themselves like a fool. You continue being your POSITIVE, PRODUCTIVE, DRIVEN, FOCUSED AND AMBITIOUS self and move on! Surround yourself with other people who have POSITIVE, PRODUCTIVE, DRIVEN, FOCUSED AND AMBITIOUS voices that you can understand and react and respond to. leave the angry, bitter, negative, voices alone. Only respond to the voices that command you to MOVE FORWARD.

A WISE MAN ONCE TOLD ME....

"NEVER ARGUE WITH A FOOL, ONLOOKERS MAY NOT BE ABLE TO TELL THE DIFFERENCE"
-Mark twain

ONCE YOU ENTERTAIN A CLOWN, YOU BECOME A PART OF THE CIRCUS!

STAY POSITIVE, PRODUCTIVE, DRIVEN, FOCUSED, AMBITIOUS AND DETERMINED!

THE WORLD IS YOURS!

PEACE!

MONEY CANT BUY LIFE!

Ever since I could remember, I always wanted to be rich. I wanted to be filthy stinking rich. I'm talking fleet of private jets and a helicopter, a 175 foot yacht, 13 to 15 homes in various states and countries, a suite of luxury vehicles, hundreds of pairs of thousand dollar shoes and suits and colognes, jewelry and trinkets, I'm talking millions and millions of dollars in cash, Billions of dollars in net worth kind of rich. I remember when I was younger, it was all I thought about, it was all I could think about, it was all that my decisions were based on. My obsession may have even caused me to do some immoral things to get it. I wanted it so bad. I thought that it would be the solution to every one of life's problems that I could or would ever encounter. I wanted the money so bad because I was just a kid and I thought that there is nothing that you cant do if you have enough money. That was until I got a little older and I actually had a problem that money couldn't fix.

When my daughter Brianna was born in Danbury Hospital in Danbury CT. She was born extremely ill and needed to be rushed to the Maria Fareri's children's hospital in Westchester County NY. She was sent down in an ambulance and my wife and I followed in our car. I remember when we pulled into the parking lot, I remember seeing big huge ridiculous Mercedes Benz's and BMW's, Audi's, Range Rovers etc. This was Westchester County so I knew that some of these big fancy cars get parked in the driveways of some big ridiculous mansions somewhere and that these same people whose cars were parked outside in this parking lot had big huge ridiculous bank accounts as well. I had a Honda Accord at the time. So on the OUTSIDE of the building my little Honda Accord was parked next to these big fancy luxury vehicles. But, when we walked INSIDE of the building to check on our daughter, I noticed that some of the parents inside, some of which were the owners of these big fancy cars and houses and huge bank accounts had children who were just as sick as my daughter. Some of these people were crying and shedding tears and on their knees praying for their children's lives to be spared, just like we were. It turns out that even if I would have had a fleet of private jets and helicopters, 13 to 15 homes in various states and countries, a suite of luxury vehicles, hundreds of pairs of thousand dollar shoes and suits and colognes, jewelry and trinkets, I'm talking millions and millions of dollars in cash, Billions of dollars in net worth IT WOULD HAVE DONE ME NO GOOD. THERE WAS NO WAY TO BUY MY DAUGHTERS LIFE. Til this day, even right now at this very moment, if I did have all of the money in the world, and all the "things" in the world I would gladly trade it ALL in to just to have my daughter back and hear her talk and laugh and giggle. EVEN IF I HAD ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD, I COULDN'T BUY MY DAUGHTERS LIFE BACK!

I thought that money would some day solve all of my problems, THAT WAS UNTIL I LEARNED THAT THERE WERE CERTAIN PROBLEMS THAT MONEY COULDN'T SOLVE! I HAVE LEARNED THAT THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE, AREN'T THINGS AT ALL!

Nowadays, Its not the money I focus on. I focus on my family and loved ones and friends who I could never replace with money! I focus on contributing something to society and accomplishing and achieving something BIG and knowing that if I do that right, the money will come.

The true measure of ones wealth is what he has after he loses all of his money!

MAKE NO MISTAKE MY FRIEND, IT TAKES MORE THAN MONEY TO MAKE MEN RICH!
- A. P. Gouthey

I HAVE LEARNED THAT.......

A TRULY RICH MAN IS ONE WHOSE CHILDREN RUN INTO HIS ARMS WHEN HIS HANDS AND HIS POCKETS ARE EMPTY. 
-Unkown

PLEASE, CELEBRATE YOUR LIVES, AND GIVE THANKS FOR YOUR CHILDREN!


PEACE!

Please sign up and join our blog

follow us on twitter @Just4dreamers and

Like our Facebook page www.facebook.com/Brianmckoyimaginethepossibilities

SURROUND YOURSELF WITH THOSE WHO ARE ON THE SAME MISSION AS YOU!

Many years ago when I was in a training program to be a stock broker, we would make lots and lots of phone calls every day all day with the hopes/intention of getting a potential investor on the phone who could potentially invest in one of our stock ideas or recommendations. We were primarily looking for those who had lots of money so that they could invest with us or hire us as their broker. To be successful it took lots and lots of effort, lots and lots of practice, hours and hours of making hundreds and hundreds of phone calls etc. We would get the names of people to call from services that rated and gathered and sold information on people and businesses and business owners etc. The prospects information would come on a lead card.  The lead cards were color coded so for example if it was a blue card it meant that that person has a net worth of ____ or an orange card meant that they just bought or sold a house, or a red card might mean that their business makes ____ revenue per year. I was just a kid so I wasn't really savvy or yet comfortable speaking to multi millionaires. I was a little intimidated at first. So I go to one of my mentors who brought me into the business and I explained to him that I was a little intimidated by speaking to millionaires so I'm going to practice on the people who had lower net worth and less money and I will get better and work my way up to talking to the high net worth millionaire guys. He explained to me that my theory wouldn't work because a $5,000 $10,000 $25,000 or $50,000 net worth guy doesn't live in the same world or even speak the same language as a $20 $50 $100 $250 million dollar guy. They have different tax laws, different financial concerns, different perspectives and views of business and the future, different views and feelings about risk. A $25 $50 $100,000 guy might not even understand what you are even talking about. They may not understand your story, or your idea. Your ideas wont resonate with them the same way they would a guy who has a few million that he is willing to invest knowing that he could possibly lose it. A $25 $50 $100,000 guy wouldn't even say the right things you would need him to say to be able to practice on him. Because he wouldn't understand

I learned something extremely valuable from that experience. I have learned that you must be very careful about sharing your $20 $50 $100 $250 MILLION DOLLAR ENERGY, THOUGHTS, IDEAS, DREAMS, GOALS AND PLANS, with individuals who have $100 $500 $1000 mentalities. When I say $100 $500 $1000 mentalities it doesn't relate to how much money a person has or their net worth. It refers to their attitudes and the size of their thoughts and dreams and ambitions and often negative mentalities and what they think is possible for themselves. Because of that, $100 $500 $1,000 mentalities wont understand your ideas, plans, your energy, your dreams, goals or ambitions. Because they cant fathom the concept of being a $20 $50 $100 $250  MILLION DOLLAR person themselves, they don't live in that same world so they wont be able to see it for you either. They just wont get it. By sharing your $20 $50 $100 $250 MILLION DOLLAR IDEAS AND PLANS with $100 $500 $1,000 mentalities you run the risk of inviting their mentality into your life. By having them try to tell you how bad your idea is and how you wont succeed and how your dreams and goals and plans will never work or how they are impossible. You run the risk of  them trying to discourage you. You run the risk of adapting to a $100 $500 $1000 mentality yourself.

Be careful who you share your energy with. I'm not suggesting that those who have $100 $500 $1,000 mentalities are bad people. I'm just saying be careful sharing your $20 $50 $100 $250 MILLION ENERGY, PLANS, IDEAS, DREAMS or GOALS with them.

If you have shared what you know in your heart of hearts to be a  $50 $100 $250 Million DREAM, GOAL, PLAN, ASPIRATION, IDEA, GOAL, AMBITION and a person isn't as excited about it as you are, or tries to discourage you, DO NOT BE DISCOURAGED, DO NOT GIVE UP, you may have shared it with $100 $500 $1,000 mentality. DONT WORRY, KEEP GOING!

IF ANYONE AT ALL NEEDS LIFTING UP AND ENCOURAGEMENT AND HELP AND YOU CAN PROVIDE IT, BY ALL MEANS PROVIDE IT BUT....

I have learned that....

“Life is too short to spend your precious time trying to convince a person who wants to live in gloom and doom otherwise. Give lifting that person your best shot, but don't hang around long enough for his or her bad attitude to pull you down. Instead, surround yourself with optimistic people.”

-Zig Ziglar

CONTINUE TO DREAM BIG, CONTINUE TO PLAN, CONTINUE TO WORK, CONTINUE TO BELIEVE, CONTINUE TO SURROUND YOURSELF WITH INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE $20 $50 $100 $250 MILLION DOLLAR ATTITUDES, MENTALITIES, DREAMS, GOALS, AMBITIONS, IDEAS AND PLANS, CONTINUE TO SURROUND YOURSELF WITH THOSE  WHO ARE ON THE SAME MISSION AS YOU AND.....

THE WORLD IS YOURS!

PEACE!

We got everything we need!

I ended up watching this show the other night about animals of the Himalayas. I was fascinated by it because, I happen to know that winds on Mt. Everest and certain parts of the Himalayas can reach and exceed 175 miles per hour and the temperature can drop to less that 50 degrees below freezing. So I was fascinated because I'm wondering as harsh and brutal and as that environment is, how is it even possible for animals to survive and live there, let alone thrive. It caught my attention and I continued to watch. What I discovered about animals in the Himalayas and other animals who survive ridiculously harsh environments is that they have adapted to these environments. Everything they need to survive is encoded in their DNA. These animals already have everything they need to survive and thrive in all kinds of ridiculously rough conditions. On Mount Everest they have big cats called Snow Leopards. Snow Leopards bodies are very stocky, they have extremely thick fur, they have very small ears which are rounded so they don’t lose too much heat, Their paws are wider than most big cats because they are better for walking on snow, and have fur on their undersides to grip on steep and unstable surfaces. Snow leopards have short front limbs and long hind limbs that are used to launch the cat up to 30 feet (6 times its body length) in a single leap! In addition, robust chest muscles aid in steep mountain climbing, and allow the snow leopard to easily keep up with its wild prey. Snow leopards’ tails are long and flexible, helping them to balance, which is very important on the rocky mountain slopes. their tails are also very thick due to storage of fats and are very thickly covered with fur which allows them to be used like a blanket to protect their faces when asleep. I read that in Alaska they have frogs known as Wood Frogs and when the winter hits and the temperature is consistently below freezing, Wood Frogs can freeze themselves solid for months at a time and then thaw out when the season/temperature changes They can do this because they have an over concentration of Glucose in some of their organs (or something like that). I read that Atlantic Cod and Bluefin Tuna have some sort of an antifreeze molecule in their blood which keeps them from freezing to death Etc etc.

I'm not trying to bore you to death with a long drawn out biology lesson. I actually do have a point. I guess my point is that we are no different than these animals. We too have everything that we need to survive and thrive in our environments, circumstances, conditions, predicaments etc however cold and rough and harsh as they may be from time to time. From the loss of a job, if you are having financial difficulties, if your behind on your bills, If you are nervous about starting a new job or going back to school, difficulties with your children, starting your own business, difficulties in your marriage etc. I guess my point is whatever situation or circumstance or environment, no matter how harsh or cold that you may find yourself in, there is no need for fear or worry or questioning how you will make it out. There is no need to question or second guess yourself or your skills, talents, know how or instincts. I'm willing to bet that Snow Leopard never says, "I just don't know what we gon do if it keeps snowing like this". I have a sneaky suspicion that the Snow Leopard doesn't stay in its cave and worry or complain about the weather or the temperature? The Snow Leopard moves about that mountain and hunts with confidence and ease simply because HE KNOWS WHAT HE HAS BEEN BLESSED WITH, BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY HE USES IT.

The next time you find yourself in less than favorable circumstances that feel a little harsh, cold, rough, bitter or difficult to manage, DON'T WORRY, DON'T FEAR, DON'T SECOND GUESS OR QUESTION YOURSELF, DON'T LOSE FAITH.  Move about your circumstances like the Snow Leopard with full faith and confidence, knowing that IF YOU HAVE A WORKING BRAIN, A BEATING HEART, AND WORKING LUNGS YOU JUST ABOUT HAVE EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO SURVIVE AND THRIVE AND MASTER YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES WHATEVER THEY MAY BE. IF YOU HAVE THE ABILITY TO SEE, HEAR, SPEAK, THINK AND WALK THOSE ARE ADDED BONUSES BECAUSE SOME OF US DON'T HAVE ALL OF THOSE ABILITIES BUT STILL MANAGE TO THRIVE!

Just like the Snow Leopard, we already have everything we need, but just like the Snow Leopard in order to survive and thrive WE MUST USE THEM!

RELAX! HAVE FAITH! WE GOT EVERYTHING WE NEED! THE WORLD IS OURS!

“You have within you, right now, everything you need to deal with whatever the world can throw at you.”   
-Brian Tracy

PEACE!

"NO" IS NOT A STOP SIGN!

 

I'm from the era of the $100 sneaker. When I came of age Jordan's were first making there debut. Charles Barkley's came out. Reebok Pumps, The David Robinson Nike pumps, Nike Air Flights, L.A. Gear catapults, Gore-Tex Boots, Beef and Broccolis etc.  I came up during the Avirex, Starter Jacket and 8 Ball jacket era. My brother and sister were older than me so certain stuff didn't cost that much at the time. So my mother wasn't used to paying that kind of money for stuff like that and she refused to do it. She would not do it. I remember one time I almost got her to do it and we got to the register and she was almost there and the cashier rang them up and as soon as she saw the tax added she said nah you know what I cant do it. I'm not paying $100 for sneakers unless you can guarantee me that you will run faster or jump higher and land an NBA contract because of these sneakers. If you can guarantee me that these sneakers will get you into the NBA then I will buy them. If not, I'm not buying no kid no $100 sneakers. My obligation is to buy you sneakers, not $100 sneakers. She said I will pay what I would have paid for your brothers sneakers, which is $50 and that's pushing it. She said "Now, I will buy you $50 sneakers OR if you are foolish enough to still want $100+ sneakers I will give you the $50 and you can go EARN the rest of the money yourself and buy yourself $100 sneakers if you want them" Boy was I mad. I was just a kid and my friends had Jordan's and Air Flights and all of the fancy sneakers and coats and I wanted them too. So I wasn't going out with no $50 sneakers. I had to have Jordan's too. This was my first experience with having a BURNING DESIRE for something and setting a personal goal. All I knew was that I just had to have those sneakers. So, I hustled, I raked leaves, I shoveled snow, I babysat, I bought cans of soda from the store for 50 cents and took them to school and sold them for  $1 I took my profits and gambled with them and doubled and tripled and quadrupled my profits. I did whatever I had to do to fulfill my DESIRE and meet my GOAL. But, when I achieved my goal, the most amazing thing happened. Over the years my DESIRE and goal to get some sneakers and clothes and jackets grew bigger and bigger. After I hustled and got the money up for my sneakers and clothes and stuff, my desire and goal to get some clothes and sneakers grew.  Suddenly my desire and my goals were to get a car and I hustled and achieved my goal and got one. Then It grew into a desire and a goal for a better car one and I got it.  My desire for a car grew into a desire and a goal to buy a house and I worked and hustled and got dirty and got one. But then it grew into desire and a goal for a bigger house with a big yard and land. That desire grew into a goal of me wanting to stack a decent amount of cash up, which in turn led to me having a goal of leaving this earth with a bare minimum of a $250,000,000 net worth. Which then morphed into a desire and a goal to motivate and inspire and encourage as many people in the world as I possibly could to set and achieve their own personal goals as well.

 

Ever since the day my mother told me NO, I'M NOT BUYING YOU $100 SNEAKERS, it let me know that as long as someone else is controlling the purse strings and as long as I am depending on someone else, "NO" would always be a possibility. But, more importantly she let me know that IF I WANTED SOMETHING BAD ENOUGH, I ALWAYS HAVE THE OPTION OF GOING OUT AND DOING WHAT IT TOOK TO MAKE IT POSSIBLE FOR MYSELF. SHE DIDN'T SAY NO YOU CANT HAVE $100 SNEAKERS. SHE SAID NO, I'M NOT BUYING THEM FOR YOU. IF YOU ARE FOOLISH ENOUGH TO WANT THEM, YOU WILL NEED TO GO OUT AND GET THEM YOURSELF. That was all I needed to hear was that it was possible!

 

I was pissed off when I was  a little kid, I was like what you mean you wont buy them for me my friends parents are buying them. She said well go ask your friends parents to buy you a pair too, because I'm not. Now that I am older, I am so grateful and happy and thankful that she told me no. Perhaps If she would have given them to me she could have possibly completely killed my desire thereby killing my hunger and drive and determination to GO GET THEM MYSELF. I would have never learned the hustle, I would have never learned about grit, determination, ambition, drive, focus etc. I would have never learned the value of hard work, or strong work ethic. I might have ended up thinking that everything in life is supposed to just come to me. I might have grown up with a sense of entitlement. Without her lesson I might have grown up thinking that I am just entitled to stuff and don't have to work for it. Ironically one of the best things my mother ever did for me was to not do something for me. She forced me to set a goal and when I accomplished it, it gave me the confidence to set a bigger one and a bigger one and a bigger one etc.  I LEARNED THAT "NO" IS NOT A STOP SIGN, IT IS JUST A DETOUR SIGN THAT SAYS YOU MUST GO ABOUT YOUR GOAL ANOTHER WAY!

 

I guess my point or the moral of the story is in looking back over my life, I have learned to be grateful and thankful for the "No's" the rejections the adversities, the foreclosure notices and eviction notices and repossession notices of the past, the past due bills of the past, the jobs I wanted and applied for but didn't get. I have learned to be eternally grateful and appreciative for all of the people in my life who supported and encouraged me and helped and pushed me to pursue my dreams, because they made me who I am. I have also learned to be eternally grateful and appreciate all of the people who discouraged me and laughed at me and told me that my dreams were impossible and everybody who did me dirty over the years because they made me who I am.

 

Whatever your goal or objective is in life, whatever you are looking to accomplish THE ONLY PERSON WHO CAN STOP YOU IS YOU. All you have to do is want something bad enough, work and keep a positive attitude and THE WORLD IS YOURS! Set a goal, achieve it and set another one! Just try to keep in mind that......

 

 

"Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude."

 

"The biggest hurdle is rejection. Any business you start, be ready for it. The difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is the successful people do all the things the unsuccessful people don't want to do. When 10 doors are slammed in your face, go to door number 11 enthusiastically, with a smile on your face."

-John Paul DeJoria

"My motto was always to keep swinging. Whether I was in a slump or feeling badly or having trouble off the field, the only thing to do was keep swinging."

-Hank Aaron

There is in this world no such force as the force of a person determined to rise. The human soul cannot be permanently chained.

-W.E.B. Dubois

 

THE WORLD IS OURS!

 

Thanks ma! I love you!

 

PEACE!

 

THE BEST YOU!

I got in the financial services/stock game many years ago. The job was to call people and sell investment ideas/strategies over the telephone. I got in the game with a bunch of young black entrepreneurial spirited, determined, driven focused men who were either from or lived or existed in the "hood" at one time or another. We were making our way in a business that was made up of mostly white men. The clients we dealt with were mostly white men, the majority of the brokers I have ever worked with were white men etc. There was this ideology that we seemed to have that if these rich millionaire white men knew that we were young black men from the "hood" calling them about stocks and doing big business, they wouldn't want to deal with us since this was a "white mans business". So we did everything in our power to make sure that we sounded like what we thought polished young white men sounded like. Eventually the group that I started with split and went separate ways. I ended up going to other firms and even in other places I was the only black broker in the building. So I carried on trying to maintain my "Whitest" voice possible. It was a terrible feeling that I walked around with. I walked around thinking that in order to be successful, I had to speak like and pretend to be someone other than myself. What kind of business am I in where in order to be successful, I have to pretend to be something that I am not. But, I kept on pretending and kept on moving forward In the business. I was 22 years old, I was just a kid and hadn't realized that there was a difference between sounding like a professional black man and a white man.

Until, one day I applied for a job at a bigger more well named firm and I was called for an interview. I was going in to interview with the branch manager of the firm. When I got into the interview, lo and behold the branch manager was a young black man. Finally I could be myself (I think, unless he was also one of the black guys who thought he needed to be "white" too). We begin the interview and this guy is speaking to me like a professional black man and not a "white man". We interview, and I get the job and I begin work. This is great but, small problem, this was my first job in the brokerage industry where I will be meeting clients face to face. How can I pretend to be something other than myself now? There is no way I can convince these clients on the other side of my desk who are looking right at me and shaking my hand that I am white. Now, what do I do? Since I was in the habit already whenever I made calls I had my "white" voice on and everyone in the office would laugh at me and ask why I'm talking like that. My manager explained to me that you cant run from yourself anymore, he told me that I just have to be myself. But in being yourself you have to be the best you. You have to know your business, know your product, know your customer and offer extraordinary service. He asked me HOW LONG DO YOU THINK YOU CAN YOU KEEP UP THE ACT OF BEING SOMEONE ELSE? There is nothing wrong with you being yourself, YOU JUST NEED TO BE THE BEST YOU, THAT YOU CAN BE!   I took my managers advice and I learned the game, learned the business, learned the products and tools and solutions that I would need to sell, I learned the customers. I learned how to create value etc. Some time went by and suddenly these millionaire clients that I was once concerned about finding out who I really was started asking to take me to lunch and dinner and wanted to hang out with me and stuff. These same people that I was so concerned about hiding from and these same customers who once made me doubt myself were now telling me how great I was. They acted like they even wanted to be my friend. I would ask them all for tips and advice on becoming a millionaire and secrets to their success and they would tell me and even mentor me.  I learned that the race issue that I had made such a big deal of and that I was so concerned with was more so in my head than anything else. Along the way I have encountered some blatant and overt racism from customers who were overtly and blatantly racist who made no apologies for being racist, who didn't care how good I was or how well I knew my stuff, they just didn't want anything to do with me, but they were very few and far between. The majority of the people were more concerned with how competent I was, they were more concerned with how good I was at my job, they were more concerned with my ability to help them and my ability to represent some sort of value to them, than they were the color of my skin or what city or neighborhood I was from. I HAVE LEARNED THAT TO BE THE BEST, ALL I HAVE TO DO IS BE MYSELF! I WOULD RATHER BE BAD AT BEING MYSELF THAN I WOULD BEING GOOD AT PLAYING SOMEONE ELSE!

I guess my point is that whatever line of work you may be in, or looking to get into, be it Real Estate, financial services or you want to be a teacher, lawyer, chef, nurse, barber, beautician, writer, actor, dancer, singer, rapper, poet, photographer, personal trainer etc. Whatever you are looking to do, if you have any doubts about yourself, if you feel like something about you just isn't good enough to become what you want to become and accomplish what you want to accomplish and achieve what you want to achieve YOU ARE WRONG! If you feel like you need to be someone other than yourself to succeed, YOU ARE WRONG! You do not have to be anything other than yourself to succeed. YOU JUST HAVE TO BE THE BEST YOU THAT YOU CAN POSSIBLY BE. YOU must learn YOUR business and study and master YOUR craft, learn how to create value. Instead of focusing on the little things that might be wrong, focus on and utilize and sharpen the hundred things that you do well.  The little thing that you are self conscious about is most likely all in your head and you are most likely making a bigger deal of it than anyone else will. Please don't let mental hurdles stop you from pursuing your dreams or accomplishing and achieving your goals. YOU ARE GOOD ENOUGH AND YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO TURN YOUR DREAMS INTO REALITY.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life.
-Steve Jobs

It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for something you are not.
-Andre Gide

We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.
-Kurt Vonnegut

I learned this, at least, by my experiment; that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.
-Henry D. Thoreau

BE YOUR(BEST)SELF! I promise you that YOU are good enough!

PEACE!

LIFETIME WARRANTY

 

I wonder if you took your brand new car which was under warranty and you drove it out into the river because you wanted to see if it would also function as a submarine, and your car sinks to the bottom of the ocean. You get a tow truck to pull it out, you try to start the car and the car no longer starts. You march right to that dealer and you tell the dealer your story and that you tried to use the car as a submarine and drove it into the river, the car wont start now and since the car is still under warranty and you need a new car or your money back now! What do you think the dealer would say? After he busts out laughing he is going to most likely say "I cant help you because the warranty applies to the car WHEN IT IS BEING USED FOR ITS PURPOSE! IF YOU WERE USING IT FOR ITS PURPOSE, THEN THE WARRANTY WOULD APPLY!

I started thinking recently that we as humans come with warranties also. I mean we have heard this stuff all of our lives. Stuff like....

When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hang on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.

-Harriet Beecher Stowe

 

Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough.
-Og Mandino

Do not wait; the time will never be 'just right.' Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along.

-George Herbert

 

I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion

-Muhammad Ali

WHATEVER THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE AND BELIEVE, THE MIND CAN ACHIEVE!" -Napoleon Hill -

I mean we hear and we read all of this stuff, and we go to our jobs and we work hard day in and day out and we sit and we wait for these wonderful and amazing things and we wait for this success stuff to happen for us in our lives, and we sit and we wait and we wait. But, after all of the waiting, we get nothing, no success, none of the promises that we are given under these warranties and we wonder why. I mean we are working and we are struggling and we start to wonder why aren't any of these great things happening for me. Well, I would imagine that just like the warranty on the car, these warranties on our lives will only apply if WE ARE USING OUR LIVES FOR THEIR PURPOSES!

If you are or aspiring to be an entrepreneur, writer, singer, dancer, rapper, poet, fashion designer, poet, athlete, doctor, lawyer, writer, motivational speaker, nurse, graphic designer, barber, beautician pastor etc and you are striving to live out what you believe to be the purpose for your life and you are striving to fulfill what you believe or KNOW to be the purpose of your life DO NOT WORRY, DO NOT FRET OR CONCERN YOURSELF OVER WHETHER YOU WILL SUCCEED OR NOT. AS LONG AS YOU ARE STRIVING TO LIVE OUT YOUR PURPOSE, AS LONG AS YOUR LIFE IS BEING USED FOR ITS PURPOSE, YOUR SUCCESS IS COVERED UNDER YOUR LIFE'S WARRANTY!

KEEP  DREAMING, KEEP BELIEVING, KEEP WORKING, KEEP A POSITIVE ATTITUDE, KEEP MOVING FORWARD AND KEEP ENCOURAGING OTHERS TO DO THE SAME, and as clearly stated in paragraph 2, Section 4.6 sub chapter 2.C of our life warranty......

IF ONE ADVANCES CONFIDENTLY IN THE DIRECTION OF HIS DREAMS, AND ENDEAVORS TO LIVE THE LIFE WHICH HE HAS IMAGINED, HE WILL MEET WITH A SUCCESS UNEXPECTED IN COMMON HOURS!
-Henry David Thoreau

LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

THAT'S AN ORDER!

PEACE!

 

WE WILL PERSIST!

One of the greatest lessons that I have ever learned from all of my years being in the Financial services industry is the concept of Unrealized and Realized gains and losses. Its a simple concept but so important and applicable to life and business. The concept is simple.

 

Let's say you buy a stock at a cost of $10 per share. a few weeks go by and the price of the stock drops to $8. A few more weeks go by and the stock goes down to $7 and then $4 per share. As long as you continue to hold on to the stock, until you sell that stock, the loss isn't real yet it is called an unrealized loss. Because as long as you are still holding on to the stock, the stock could very well jump back up to $15 $20 $50 per share the very next day and be worth double triple quadruple what it was worth when you originally bought it.

So any loss that you encounter doesn't become a real loss until you have given up or no longer believe in the stock and you sell it. When you sell the stock it is called a realized loss and at the point when you sell that stock (give up) that's when you have actually taken a real loss, because now that the stock has been sold and by selling the stock you have eliminated any possibility of the stock coming back!

I guess the whole point in me saying all of this is that stocks like life are governed by unseen forces. So we never know what wonderful and amazing things are possible and around the corner waiting in store for us if we just continue to hold on. Its been my experience that when stocks go down in value people sell them out of fear. They sell them because they have lost the faith and belief and confidence that they once had in the stock. I have found that people give up on themselves and their dreams when they are in fear of the future. When they no longer have the faith and confidence in themselves that they once had. So they give up on themselves and their dreams all together. But when you give up you have made your loss real and you have eliminated the possibility of your situation ever coming back or improving.  

 

If you have suffered any loss or setback at all, loss of a job or income, a financial loss due to a failed business, loss of a spouse due to divorce, lost your house or apartment or car etc. THE LOSS IS NOT REAL UNTIL YOU HAVE GIVEN UP. IF YOU KEEP FIGHTING AND KEEP GRINDING ANOTHER JOB IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER, A FEW TWEAKS TO YOUR BUSINESS AND IT CAN/WILL BE PROFITABLE OR A NEW BUSINESS IDEA WILL COME TO YOU! YOU WILL GET BACK ON YOUR FEET AND GET A NEW, BIGGER, BETTER HOUSE CAR OR APARTMENT ETC. YOUR MARRIAGE CAN/WILL WORK IF YOU KEEP WORKING FOR IT! ALL OF THESE THINGS ARE POSSIBLE UNTIL YOU GIVE UP. ONCE YOU GIVE UP, YOU ADMIT DEFEAT! YOU REALIZE AND SOLIDIFY YOUR LOSS AND THINGS WILL NEVER GET ANY BETTER!

 

If you are currently going through hard times with health issues, financial issues, family issues, can't find a job etc. if you are experiencing something that feels like you are losing in life. Just remember that that loss is not final, it's not a real loss, until you quit/let go/ give up. The second you decide to quit, your loss is now real and final and you have eliminated all of the possibilities of wonderful and amazing things happening for you or your situation.

IF YOU ARE GOING THROUGH SOME TOUGH OR DIFFICULT TIMES, THEY HAVE NOT COME TO STAY, THEY HAVE ONLY COME TO PASS!

 

TOUGH TIMES NEVER LAST! BUT, TOUGH PEOPLE DO!

 

We will persist until you succeed.

        

We will never consider defeat and we will remove from our vocabulary such words and phrases as quit, cannot, unable, impossible, out of the question, improbable, failure, unworkable, hopeless, and retreat; for they are the words of fools. We will avoid despair but if this disease of the mind should infect us then we will work on in despair. We will toil and we will endure. We will ignore the obstacles at our feet and keep our eyes on the goals above our head, for we know that where dry desert ends, green grass grows.         

-Og Mandino 

WE WILL PERSIST UNTIL WE SUCCEED.

KEEP YOUR DUKES UP!

THE WORLD IS OURS!

PEACE!

WALK OF LIFE!

Sometimes when  the weather is nicer and its warm outside, My wife and I will take a walk through the neighborhood or we will walk/jog around the track at the local high school. I noticed that If I have something to do or someplace that I need to be later on that night, I will tend to walk or jog a little faster and my wife will kind of lag behind. Or If she has something to do or someplace to be later on or if one of her favorite TV shows are coming on that night that she wants to make it home in time for, than she will jog/walk at a faster pace and I will lag behind.  But, since we go out walking/jogging TOGETHER we try to stay with one another and not leave each other. So depending on who feels that their agenda is more important (If I have something really really important to do or if she has something important to do or really doesn't want to miss her show), only one of two things can/will happen when we walk together. ONE OF US WILL EITHER HAVE TO SPEED UP TO MATCH THE PACE AND CATCH UP WITH THE OTHER THAT IS AHEAD, OR THE ONE OF US THAT IS AHEAD WILL HAVE TO SLOW DOWN TO MATCH THE PACE OF THE ONE WHO IS FALLING BEHIND. Whether either of us slows down or speeds is determined by our agenda and what our plans and goals are for the future. If either of us have something really important to do or someplace to be and we are really focused on what we have to do in the future, than we aren't going to slow down. The other person is going to have to speed up to catch up and keep pace.

I guess my point is if you have goals, or an agenda, or a plan for your future exercise caution when you decide who you choose to "Walk/Run" with.  Be careful of the people who you choose to spend a lot of time with. Be careful about the people who you choose to exchange and share energy with and have in your world. Be careful who you choose to take your "walk of life" with. Because if you are ambitious and focused and determined and you have a plan for your future and goals and objectives that you are looking to achieve, if the person you choose to "Walk/Run" with, has no plan or goals or agenda and they are just "walking" and you are out front making progress and making strides and making things happen for yourself. Only one of two things can happen, the person/people that you have decided to "Run/Walk" through life with will either have to step their game and their pace up in order to catch up with and maintain pace with you or you are going to have to slow your pace down and perhaps put off or delay the achievement or fulfillment of your dreams and goals and ambitions in order to keep pace with them.

When it comes to accomplishing and achieving our goals and objectives in life I think it would be advantageous to us if we ran with and in the same direction as others who are and have already been running in the same direction that we are looking to go in. I think we increase our chances of success if we ran with like minded people who will constantly encourage us to keep moving forward by constantly trying to move forward themselves and forcing us to keep. I once read that you will rise or fall to the level of your associations. Dare to hang around and spend time with people who challenge and encourage and push you to your greatness and those who you can learn from, not those who hold you back.

I encourage you to KEEP GROWING, KEEP DREAMING, KEEP WORKING, KEEP ACHIEVING, KEEP WALKING TOWARDS YOUR GOALS AND KEEP PEOPLE IN YOUR LIFE WHO WILL ENCOURAGE YOU AND THAT YOU CAN LEARN FROM.

"IF YOU ARE THE SMARTEST ONE OF YOUR FRIENDS, YOU MAY WANT TO LOOK INTO GETTING SOME NEW FRIENDS"
-Dennis Kimbro

"SHOW ME YOUR FRIENDS, AND I WILL TELL YOU YOUR FUTURE"
Unknown

"HE WHO HANGS OUT WITH WOLVES, WILL EVENTUALLY LEARN HOW TO HOWL"
-Unknown

ASSOCIATE YOURSELF WITH PEOPLE OF GOOD QUALITY, FOR IT IS BETTER TO BE ALONE THAN IN BAD COMPANY"

Booker T. Washington

 

Etc Etc Etc!

 

YOU GET THE POINT!

 

LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

 

THATS AN ORDER!

 

PEACE!

DONT "CHILL" TOO LONG!!!

There was this one time that I was hanging out with my brother at his house. Whenever I'm with my brother there is usually beer involved. So, we bought some beers and brought them up to his house. But, I left 2 in my car to bring home with me. So, we drink the beers right away. A few hours later I leave my brothers house and get home and I forget to take the beers out of my car. So I keep forgetting about them and forgetting about them a couple of weeks went by and I remember that they are in the car and I go to take them out because these are perfectly good beers and I want to enjoy them today. But, it was summertime and the beers were all hot by now. So I bring them upstairs and I put them in the freezer just to "Chill" for a little while. My intention was only to have them "chilling" for 45 minutes to an hour or so. But, life happens and I got caught up doing a million and one things and I wasn't even thinking about the beers. Life went on and I didn't even realize that the beers were still "Chilling".  A whole day went by and I finally got back to the beers that were "Just chilling" and when I opened my freezer there were shards of broken glass and chunks of frozen beer all over my freezer. Somehow, the other beer didn't explode but It "froze" Because I wasn't paying attention to how long I that I let the beer "Chill", the beer "Chilled" and "Chilled" and "Chilled" until it was completely frozen at which point it was completely useless it had become a mess. That I now had to go clean up. The other beer that didn't explode was frozen and I tried to salvage it by letting it thaw out, but by the time it thawed out it lost its taste and freshness and flavor and fizziness (I doubt if that's a word but, you get my point). The beer had to thaw out and when it did the beer lost all of its qualities that make beer good. It was watered down and eventually I threw it away and replaced it with a new beer that I bought fresh from the store.

I guess the moral of this story is that our lives can kind of be like those beers. I speak with a lot of people and I often use other peoples dreams and goals and energy as fuel to propel me to keep trying to achieve my own. But, often when I ask people what they are up to the response is often "I'm just chilling". I'll say how are your plans your dreams and goals going are you moving closer to them or farther away and they say "I'm just chilling". I guess the moral of the story is that when you are "just chilling" its easy to lose track of the time that you are "Just chilling" for. But I have learned that if you "Chill" too long you might freeze. If you "chill" too long and freeze, you are now motionless, your stuck and you cant move. You are no longer fluid or have the ability to move or make moves or crash boldly like flowing water in motion. You become motionless and stuck. Your life could explode and end up out of control and  becoming a mess that you or someone else is going to have to clean up. You may end up freezing and having to thaw out. And those good qualities and skills and talents that you had that made you, you will be all watered down and lose some of their value and you may lose some of your value in the market place you could become easily replaceable by those who have kept their skills and talents sharp and fresh.

I guess my whole point is STAY BUSY! STAY IN MOTION! ALWAYS BE WORKING! ALWAYS BE THINKING! ALWAYS BE DREAMING! KEEP GOING! KEEP ENCOURAGING OTHERS TO DO THE SAME! When you think about quitting or giving up on your dream or when you think about "Chilling", remember Newton's first law of motion. The law of inertia which states that AN OBJECT/BODY IN MOTION STAYS IN MOTION AND AN OBJECT/BODY AT REST STAYS AT REST UNLESS ACTED ON BY AN EXTERNAL FORCE!

FOR ALL OF THE BODIES AT REST ALLOW ME TO BE THAT EXTERNAL FORCE THAT GETS YOU INTO MOTION!

THE ROAD TO SUCCESS GETS ROUGH AND LONELY AND DARK AND DOUBTFUL, BUT NONE OF THAT IS OUR CONCERN! LETS KEEP OUR EYES ON THE PRIZE! AND LETS KEEP GOING!

IF YOU ARE GOING THROUGH HELL, KEEP GOING!
-Winston Churchill

STAY HUNGRY, KEEP IMPROVING, KEEP YOUR MIND AND YOUR SKILLS SHARP! AND REMEMBER....

DONT "CHILL" TOO LONG AND END UP FROZEN! I ENCOURAGE YOU TO KEEP MOVING! KEEP FLOWING! I ENCOURAGE YOU TO......

"BE WATER MY FRIEND"
-Bruce Lee

ITS OUR TIME!

THE WORLD IS OURS!

LETS GO GET IT! KEEP MOVING!

PEACE!

WHICH ONE OF US IS WITHOUT SIN?

I don't know if every one reads or even believes in the Bible or what your feelings are about the Bible. I have read the it Old Testament and New a couple of times and I am working on the Qur'an now. I don't read these books from a religious standpoint but more so for the amazing stories and parables with meanings and morals that are applicable to life. One of my favorite stories in the Bible is in John 8:1-11. In the story it says that Jesus went to the Mt. Of Olives and the next morning he went into the temple to teach. When he started teaching the people came to Jesus with this woman and they said Jesus Jesus we have this lady who was caught committing adultery. I mean she was literally caught in the act. We caught her red handed. The people said to Jesus according to the "Book" Moses in the law commanded that a person caught in the act of committing adultery is in violation of GOD'S law and she should be stoned. The people said "Well, what do you want to do Jesus? Lets go ahead and get this stoning going". Jesus stooped down and started writing on the ground and pretending not to hear the crowd wanting to stone the woman. The crowd again said " What's up Jesus, what do you want to do. The law says we are supposed to stone her, for she has committed sin". So Jesus, stands up from writing on the ground and says "Y'all, want to kill this woman right? Let me get this straight. Y'all want to stone this woman to death because she committed sin? Am I hearing this right?"  The people said you heard right. The book and the law that Moses passed on says that she should be stoned for committing such sins. Jesus said "Ok stone her then, but do me a small favor first Jesus said LET HE AMONGST YOU WHO IS WITHOUT SIN, CAST THE FIRST STONE!" Seriously, y'all are right! Stone this woman because she has sinned! I want everybody to pick up your stones, and all I ask is that the person who has never committed sin throw their stone at her first. The crowd all looked around at each other and there was not one, who had not committed sin. One by one from the oldest to the youngest, they all dropped their stones and turned around and walked away. Jesus was eventually left alone with the young lady said to the young lady where are your accusers now? Has anyone condemned you? The woman said no. Jesus said, neither do I. Now go, and sin no more.

Jesus could've called her names or gossiped about her and told her how bad she was. Jesus could've said "now you know you have no business sleeping with all these men. You should be ashamed of yourself" Jesus could have called her all kinds of names and stuff but he didn't. He could've called his friends and was been like "Such and such was sleeping with such and such". He could've gossiped about her but he didn't. He told her to go and sin no more.

Growing up my father was into politics and helping the community and helping to get people Jobs and helping people get back on their feet. So growing up, I was surrounded by Drug addicts, ex convicts, parolees, Judges, Mayors, County Legislators, Attorneys, musicians, pastors, reverends etc. My father told me that some people may do bad things. But that doesn't make them bad people. We all make mistakes and we all commit sins. But none of us are perfect or without sin, therefore NONE OF US ARE IN POSITION TO SIT AND JUDGE ANY ONE OF US. Though we may all be STRIVING for perfection NOT ONE OF US HAS REACHED IT YET.WE ARE ALL IN THIS LIFE TOGETHER WE ARE ALL A PART OF THE WHOLE, AND WE WOULD ALL BE BETTER OFF LEARNING FROM AND HELPING ONE ANOTHER THAN WE WOULD JUDGING OR CRITICIZING EACH OTHER. My pops told me that MOST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD ARE GOOD PEOPLE AND TO TREAT ALL PEOPLE GOOD!

WE ARE ALL IN THIS THING TOGETHER!

LETS CONTINUE TO LOVE, LETS CONTINUE TO DREAM, AND FOLLOW OUR DREAMS AND LETS CONTINUE TO ENCOURAGE EACH OTHER TO DO THE SAME!

THE WORLD IS OURS!

LETS HELP EACH OTHER GO GET IT!

PEACE!

 

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU SHARPENED YOUR AXE?

I read this story the other day about this guy who was trying to land a job as a wood cutter. So he goes to this lumber company and approaches the foreman and said "I'm here for the job, I want to be a wood cutter". The foreman said OK cool, show me what you got. The foreman told the guy let me see you cut down this tree. Because the job had great pay and benefits and working conditions the man wanted to be sure to do a great job and impress the foreman to insure his position. So The man whipped out his axe and within minutes had successfully chopped down the tree. The foreman was so impressed that he offered the man the job on the spot. He told him that he could start on Monday. Monday comes and the man goes to work. He cuts down 18 trees on his first day. the foreman was impressed. Tuesday comes and the man cuts down 13 trees. Wednesday comes and the man concerned about the decline in his productivity said to himself "I know what I will do, I will double my effort today and I will get back to cutting down 18 trees again in no time". So, Wednesday comes and the man goes to work with a new attitude determined to cut down at least 18 trees. But, despite his best efforts, Wednesday ends and the man could only cut down 10 trees. Thursday comes and the same thing happens. The man tries his hardest to double his efforts. He even says "I'm going to skip lunch, I'm not going to take any breaks at all, I'm going to work as hard as I can for as long as I can". But despite all of this, Thursday comes and the man ends the day with 8 trees. The man comes in at the end of his shift on Thursday and hangs up his hat and his equipment and all of that and the foreman says to the man, "you can pick up your check on the way out today". The man says "pick up my check? I thought we get paid on Fridays". The foreman said "yeah we normally pay on Fridays but, we gotta let you go today because according to our charts you have fallen behind. You went from 18 trees to 8 you went from first place to last and well, sorry son we gotta let you go".  The man said "I don't get it . How could this be? I'm one of the hardest workers you have, I'm always the first to arrive and always the last to leave. I work through my coffee breaks and my lunch breaks. I never stop all I do is cut wood, I never take breaks". The foreman thought about everything the man was saying and agreed that the man was the hardest worker that he had and he never took breaks, why is he falling behind the foreman thought. Sensing the mans integrity the foreman looked up and asked the man "WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU SHARPENED YOUR AXE"?  The man replied "SHARPEN MY AXE? MAN I DON'T HAVE TIME TO BE SHARPENING NO AXE! I BEEN TOO BUSY TRYING TO CUT DOWN TREES!

I guess the point of this story and the point of me telling this story is I have learned recently that in our day to day lives, we can so easily get caught up in our grinds our jobs our businesses our work. We try to go so hard day in and day out thinking that the more hours we spend doing something, the more productive we will be. A lot of times what we don't realize is that our lives are similar to the blade of an ax. If you continue to use that blade without sharpening it the blade eventually becomes dull and useless. If in your life and work if you continue to work and work and never take time to read books, go back to school, take classes or attend seminars related to your field, if you don't take the time to improve your skills or gain as much insight into you business or industry or craft as possible if you forget about the importance of mental, physical health and fitness, and don't eat right or exercise at all, if you don't take time to kiss your kids or hang out with your wife and family, if you don't take time to meditate or reflect on your life and progress, and all you do is try to work and "cut wood" and go hard work and go hard GRIND GRIND GRIND. Eventually your life will end up like that overused axe blade. THE AXE AND YOUR LIFE WILL BOTH BE DULL AND USELESS! You will have worked and worked and worked your whole life and by the time you look up you will find yourself making less and less progress.

I have recently learned that if you are busy trying to "Cut down trees" if you are trying to create and run a successful business and be an entrepreneur, if you are aspiring to be a professional rapper, singer, dancer, actor or actress, doctor, nurse, speaker, sales person, barber, graphic designer, personal trainer, beautician, or launching a clothing or jewelry line etc. Remember that what you are embarking on is BUSINESS. Its called show BUSINESS, the music BUSINESS its the beauty INDUSTRY, its the health care INDUSTRY, the fashion INDUSTRY. Business and industry are CONSTANTLY moving forward. There are always new innovations and technologies and systems being developed and rolled out and if you are not reading, or going to trade shows or networking and constantly learning then you are falling behind and your "blade" will eventually get dull.

I have learned that when it comes to "cutting down trees" it is isn't always about who could swing an ax the hardest or the fastest or about who is the strongest or who could swing the ax the most times. The fella who is going to go home with the most wood will most likely be the fella with the sharpest axe.

"Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening my axe."

-Abraham Lincoln

 

SIGN UP FOR A CLASS, GO BACK TO SCHOOL, JOIN A TRADE ORGANIZATION, INTERN, VOLUNTEER, GO TO TRADE SHOWS, RESEARCH YOUR FIELD, EXPAND YOUR PRODUCT KNOWLEDGE, FIND A MENTOR WHO IS ALREADY SUCCESSFULLY DOING WHAT YOU WANT TO DO etc. DO WHAT IT TAKES TO GET BETTER AND IMPROVE YOUR SKILLS! DO WHAT IT TAKES TO SHARPEN YOUR AXE!

 

KEEP DREAMING! KEEP BELIEVING IN THOSE DREAMS! KEEP PURSUING! KEEP LOVING! KEEP MOVING FORWARD AND LETS KEEP ENCOURAGING AND HELPING EACH OTHER TO DO THE SAME, FOR.......

 

AS IRON SHARPENS IRON, MAN SHARPENS MAN!

Proverbs 27:17

THE WORLD IS OURS!

PEACE!

 

HURT PEOPLE, HURT PEOPLE!

There was this one time when I was a little kid, I went swimming with my brother and my cousins. We were at Tibetts Brook Park in Yonkers NY. My brother and cousins were all older and bigger and taller than me so they wanted to go into the deep end but I was too short. So we got in the pool and they kept walking and walking into the deep end, and I'm trying my best to keep up with them eventually my feet were no longer touching the ground and I couldn't swim. I immediately started going under panicking. I was flapping my arms and kicking my legs all frantically. I'm flapping my arms and legs and I'm coming up above water for fractions of a second at a time. But every time I would come up above water to take a breath I would gulp down mouthfuls of pool water. This was the end for me I thought, Its over. I remember being scared to death. But, I remember vividly the pool was jam packed with people (Which is probably why no lifeguard or no one else even noticed me drowning). But, in a desperate act to save myself, I saw other people swimming around me so I pushed down on them and pushed their heads down just to push myself up. I would pull down on other peoples bathing suits in order to pull myself up so that I could survive. I wasn't doing it because I wanted anyone else to drown. I wasn't intentionally trying to hurt anyone else. Its just that I was drowning. I was going down I was scared and panicked and the only way that I could think of to save myself, the only way that I could think of pull myself up would be by pushing or pulling others around me down. The people who I had to push or pull down weren't targeted victims. It wasn't personal at all.  They just happened to be the ones near me at the time.

Remembering this incident proved to be a great lesson in my older years. It taught me how to deal with people. I have learned that angry, nasty, mean, bitter, condescending people who try to push or pull others down or degrade or demean others, is usually because they are so hurt, lost and scared and so unhappy or sad or self conscience or insecure and depressed by their own lives. Because they are down and drowning in their own misery, just like the scared little kid I was when I was drowning, they feel like the only way for them to survive and live is by trying to push or pull others around them down.  I would venture to say that the overwhelming majority of times, just like those people I had to push or pull down in the pool, Its not personal, you are not an intended victim. They are drowning and you just happen to be closest to them at the time. They don't mean any harm. Its just that RUDENESS, ANGER, BITTERNESS, CONDESCENSION IS A WEAK MANS IMITATION OF STRENGTH!

I've learned that people who are unhappy with themselves and their own lives often try to even the score by trying to make other people as miserable and unhappy as they are. Those who are unhappy with the progress and status of their own lives will try to belittle the progress and the status of others. Those who have no dreams or goals or plans for their lives will try to destroy and belittle the dreams, goals and plans of others.

I've learned that when you allow negative, mean, condescending, disrespectful, bitter, nasty people to change your mood or to drag you into their misery, than THEY HAVE WON. I have learned that when you are nasty, rude, mean, condescending back to those people THAN YOU ARE NO DIFFERENT THAN THEM!      

So the next time you encounter a negative, mean, condescending, disrespectful, bitter, nasty person at your school or your job or in the supermarket or at the DMV or in a restaurant etc. DON'T GIVE YOUR POWER AWAY! DON'T LET THEM CONTROL YOUR MOOD OR YOUR DAY! DON'T LET THEM WIN!

REMAIN POSITIVE, FAITHFUL, HOPEFUL, PEACEFUL OPTIMISTIC! SPREAD LOVE, KEEP DREAMING, KEEP WORKING, KEEP PURSUING YOUR GOALS AND YOUR DREAMS AND KEEP ENCOURAGING OTHERS TO DO THE SAME!

after all....

"THE BEST REVENGE IS MASSIVE SUCCESS!"
-Frank Sinatra

THE WORLD IS YOURS! WELL, UNLESS YOU GIVE IT AWAY OF COURSE!

ITS OUR TIME!

PEACE!

The CHOICE is YOURS!

I have this 55 gallon fish tank in my house and I walked by it the other day and I realized that it was a little dirty. There is algae growing on the glass and on the plants and stuff. There are remnants of uneaten fish food floating around. The water level is a little low etc. You see for the last few months I had been studying for some tests and working on a few other projects that have kept me pretty busy and I haven't really had the time to tend to my fish tank. Now, I don't want any problems with PETA or the ASPCA or none of that but sometimes I might go a day or two and rush out without feeding my fish. I may run out of food and it may take me a day or two or three to go to the store to go buy them more food. Cleaning the tank takes me an hour or two and its a lot of work. So the tank may get a little dirty from time to time. So I walked past it the other day and I said to my fish, I'm sorry that I have been neglecting you fellas. But then I jokingly said to them but that's what you get for depending on me for everything. You eat when I say you eat, your house gets cleaned when I clean it. Then, it dawned on me that people who CHOOSE to depend on other people are no different from my fish. Because of the fact that my fish depend on me to buy them food they have to eat what/when I say they can eat.  When I turn the lights off and on in my fish tank my fish don't have any say at all in the matter. If I'm playing my stereo or TV too loud they cant say turn that mess down I'm trying to sleep. I am the one who controls the temperature of the tank etc. Because they are dependent on me, they give up their rights.

Adult humans who CHOOSE to depend on others to take care of them are kind of like the fish in my fish tank, but with one major difference. MY FISH DON'T HAVE A CHOICE!  If you CHOOSE to live in someone's house and CHOOSE not get your own, and not contribute, you have to sleep in the room they tell you/let you sleep in and you must leave when they tell you to. If you CHOOSE to depend on somebody to pay your bills or buy your food you have to eat what/when they say you can eat. If you CHOOSE to wait or depend on someone else for YOUR or YOUR businesses success YOUR business wont be successful until either that SOMEONE ELSE CHOOSES to help you or when they can find the time. Even if it isn't with any malice, the other person who you are depending on may just not have the time or ability to continue to carry or help themselves and you.

When we CHOOSE to be dependent on others for our survival we relinquish the one thing that makes us (Humans) different from all other animals. Our ability to reason, rationalize and CHOOSE. CHOICE  is what separates us from the rest of the animal kingdom. My fish CAN'T say "Man I'm  outta here, I think I'm going to get me a bigger tank". "Geese don't/cant say "you know what I need a change of pace, I think I'm gonna fly north for the winter". Animals act on pure instinct and have built in mechanisms that MAKE them do what they do and they don't/cant question why or do anything about it. We as humans ALWAYS have a choice. So we can CHOOSE to remain dependent on others and get pushed around by others and life or we can CHOOSE to use our amazing working brains and gifts and skills and talents to make our lives become what WE CHOOSE AND WANT THEM TO BE!

I guess what I am trying to say is....

"The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently IF YOU LET IT. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and KEEP MOVING FORWARD. How much you can take and KEEP MOVING FORWARD. That's how winning is done! NOW, IF YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE WORTH THEN GO OUT AND GET WHAT YOU'RE WORTH. But ya gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain't where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody! COWARDS DO THAT AND THAT AIN'T YOU! You're better than that!
-Rocky Balboa

“Success will not wait. If you delay, she will become betrothed to another and lost to you forever. THIS IS THE TIME! THIS IS THE PLACE! YOU ARE THE MAN/WOMAN!”

TODAY IS THE DAY WE WILL GET UP, GET OUT, AND GET SOMETHING!

THE WORLD IS YOURS!

CONGRATS!

PEACE!