May 2016 – Page 5 – Life Lessons

Your Biggest Supporter is…

If you want to achieve your goals in life, don’t count on others for support. You will find yourself disappointed and disgusted. If support is what triggers your success, then you are set up to fail. You have to understand the definition of a supporter. It is one who contributes to your success by fulfilling one simple task or request. For instance, a person who buys your product or service is a supporter. A person who tells someone about your product or service is a supporter. They are generally not required to do any more than that, unless you specify otherwise.

Don’t confuse people who support you with those who actually believe in you. People who believe in you are willing to go the extra mile. Many times, they will take the initiative to do things you haven’t asked them to. Sometimes, they are your friends, but many times, they are not. Strangers or associates sometimes believe in you more than your family, friends, and so-called supporters. If you can’t fathom that, it’s because they have led you to believe otherwise. I wouldn’t say that they are wrong for feeling the way they do. It’s just that success does not look good in its infancy stage. Plus, if you have a history of failures, it just makes it that much easier for a person not to believe in you. It comes easy for strangers and associates because they do not know what your track record looks like. Thus, if you sound convincing enough, they will lend their support and believe in you, as long as they can see that you believe in yourself.

So my advice is to not become discouraged when you discover that your supporters don’t believe in you. You haven’t proven yourself yet. Celebrities did not get all the love they do, until they became famous. Before many of them reached stardom, their support system was weak. Keep believing in yourself and taking the necessary steps toward your success. And when you get there, don’t shun those who didn’t support you; teach them how to get there.

And remember…
“Make sense of what you do, and make every cent count.”

What are your thoughts? I’d love to hear them.

Submit topics suggestions using the “Contact Me” page.

Photo: Flickr. You by Nick Fullerton CC

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Spare the Negatives, Share the Positives

Have you ever seen a beat-down that didn’t go viral? That’s because people love to be entertained, even if it’s negative. Most of the time, it involves women and teenagers. While we are shaking our heads and sharing, what are we doing to promote change in our communities? It is not until one of our own loved ones get murdered behind those kind of incidents that we decide to speak up and show out. But oftentimes, it starts on social media. If you recognize any individual in those videos who seems to be antagonizing the situation, you should not encourage it; in fact, you should find a way to address the problem. A simple conversation can go a long way. Quite often, the antagonist is an adult. That is totally unacceptable! People are behaving in this manner because they think it is okay. But I am here to tell you that it is never okay to showcase or promote a beating on social media. It does not matter who started it. No one deserves this type of humiliation. These kids are feeling like champions on the Internet, yet they feel challenged when taking a standardized test. As you can see, it still takes a village to raise children.

Women, we have got to do better. No college offers a degree in twerking, and having cat fights over men is not classy. Moreover, if your rear end is your biggest asset, you will surely retire broke. Twerkers, the time it takes for you to create and upload those senseless videos of you shaking your behind, you could be pursuing a career as a choreographer. You’ve got the fundamentals. Bad girls who love to fight, take that energy to the ring and make some money. Lela Ali never has to fight again. Booty and beyond, have you considered starting your own modeling agency? You could create a new category. You should even consider starting your own clothing line for curvy women like yourself.

Take a few minutes and assess your own behavior, so that you can see where you may have fallen through the cracks. It’s okay that you are not perfect. Neither am I. Even some plants lose their perfect shape over time, especially if they lack nutrition. Feed your soul with proper nutrition, and watch how things start to change in your life. In the meantime, spare the negative media, and share the positives. You may be helping someone without realizing it.

And remember…
“Make sense of what you do, and make every cent count.”

What are your thoughts? I’d love to hear them.

Submit topics suggestions using the “Contact Me” page.

Photo: Flickr. Fighting by Discutivo CC

Something captured your interest? Don’t be selfish. Share with your friends!

Common Courtesy

Kim: “Hey Gina, you wanna catch a movie later?”

Gina: “I’d love to. That new Tyler Perry movie’s got some pretty good reviews.”

Kim: “Cool. So do you want to catch the 7:45pm showing?”

Gina: “Sounds good to me. I’ll be ready at 7pm.”

Kim: “Great. I’ll text you when I’m on my way.”

Seven o’clock rolls around, and Kim hasn’t texted or arrived. Seven ten, fifteen, and so on passes, yet Kim still hasn’t texted or come by. Gina finally decides to call Kim to find that Kim had changed her mind all of a sudden. Does this sound like you? If so, you need to establish some common courtesy because that’s just rude. It will give you a better name and possibly save your friendships. There is absolutely no excuse as to why Kim couldn’t call or text Gina, as opposed to just letting her sit around and wait. I’m sure Gina would have understood. Besides, Kim extended the invitation and then backed out simply because she changed her mind, not because of some extenuating circumstance. You never know what type of arrangements or accommodations a person has to make to satisfy your request or keep a commitment. Thus, it is your due diligence to be kind enough to communicate plan changes. How would you feel if someone did that to you? Would you just brush it off and still count on he or she? Or would you just fall back from that person out of disgust?

A breach in common courtesy is not limited to the previous scenario. It is also when a person intentionally ignores an inquiry or request. People ignore text messages, instant messages, direct messages, emails, and the like. How could you ignore someone’s inquiry or request but update your Facebook status? Nowadays, most people manage all accounts from a mobile device. Therefore, all your notifications are being managed via one device. You have no excuse as to why you can’t be courteous when you no longer have to face people. You can now hide behind a text, email, or some other digital form of communication that does not require you to speak or show your face. Some of you are better at using that method anyway. If you don’t like the person enough to reply, then block/delete or unfollow that person. That’s what those buttons are for. Make use of them. Quit carrying on a network of people you don’t even like. That’s just fake. You would be much more appreciated, if you were real and honest.

So the next time something comes up, you change your mind, or someone messages you, show some common courtesy.

And remember…
“Make sense of what you do, and make every cent count.”

What are your thoughts? I’d love to hear them.

Submit topics suggestions using the “Contact Me” page.

Photo: Flickr. Don’t Care by Deornelas4 CC

Something captured your interest? Don’t be selfish. Share with your friends!