"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!