Know Thyself

My good friend Mike is a humble person. His personal motto is “what I do doesn’t make me who I am, who I am helps in what I do.” For Mike this means the work he does isn’t a determining factor on who he is as a person. What he does at work does not mold his opinions, beliefs, or actions outside of the job. Taking it one level further, I believe that what you have, whom you know, and what you earn, does not make you who you are either. One example is Sean “Diddy” Combs. Diddy’s reputation succeeds him because of the endeavors of which he is associated. At one point, we could have said Diddy is a rapper. However, Diddy’s mentors have blessed him with a foundation to achieve success through multiple streams of income using what he understands (urban culture) as a foundation for achieving success.

ALL RIVERS LEAD TO THE SEA

Success is not a noun it is a verb. I am an avid believer that if you have your eye on the prize, you will do whatever it takes to become the person you need to be to achieve your goal. The great thing about transforming into a person that is dedicated to achieving goals is that you will inspire other people to tune in to your frequency and influence others to transform as well. One of the brothers from The Circle of CEO’s (@TheCircleofCEO’s) out in Atlanta says it best: “what you tune into, you turn into.”

No matter what you do, the goal is to never lose yourself while getting to the bag. You may work at an ice cream shop, that doesn’t make you an ice cream scooper; you make money selling ice cream. Scooping ice cream is only one stream of income that allows you to collect coins for “the bag.” The goal is to learn the business, foster relationships, gain perspective, and decipher opportunities in that environment. Combine your passion and the information you collect from making money selling ice cream (or other experiences you have) and create a niche mindset for conducting business. Every experience teaches you something and there are no coincidences in life.

My cousin Tyrone once shared with me the Egyptian proverb “the plant reveals what was in the seed.” We are the plant that grew from the seed created from the unique circumstances juxtaposed at a specific time with a specific set of conditions. You may ride motorcycles one day, hike the next day, and surf the week after that. What does that make you? Great news, you are still YOU! This life is full of excursions that make you someone who enjoys doing specific things but has no bearing on the way you behave or treat others; your core (the seed). Never lose yourself in things you do because what you do and what you enjoy can change at any moment. Who you are makes you unique and that is something that cannot be compromised.

SUFFOCATION

Sometimes we feel like we have been in an ongoing sequence of life and we attempt to interrupt the monotony by incorporating something new into our routine. We feel suffocated by the remedial actions we take on a day-to-day basis. Ever heard the saying, “if we don’t remember the past we are bound to repeat it?” Once you outgrow a situation, it is wise to teach someone else how to thrive in your outgrown position, so that you can graduate to the next opportunity. My friend Sam always says, “You haven’t mastered something unless you can teach it.” I believe this is true, I personally believe this is the cycle of life, learning and teaching. Maybe you are suffocating because you need to get it out of your system. While attending Walden University, my doctoral chair Dr. Thompson said something that really resonated with me: “You can tell how successful a person is by the amount of successful people they help create.”

PASSION AND PURPOSE

In Japanese, the word sensei means one who comes before. Although most people associate sensei’s with martial arts, the etymology of this word suggest it is a word reserved for one who teaches from age, wisdom, and experience. A sensei makes you a respected person because you were disciplined enough to go through the process, gracefully making mistakes, gracefully having successes, analyzing the data, and formulate a method that is tried and proven. Going through this process and sharing your experiences breaks generational curses not only for you and your family but also for the individuals and families of individuals who follow your example.

“Be a good ancestor. Stand for something bigger than yourself. Add value to the earth during your sojourn” – Marian Wright Edelman