Consistency is Key

I am at a place in my life where I recognize the importance of consistency. Consistency in life is something that many young adults tend to shun because of the perceived restrictions that come with it. But I have found that consistency is one of the hallmarks of freedom. When we dont allow ourselves to take on responsibility, we limit the process on the journey toward attaining our fullest potential. Not only that, we limit that same process for those who are in our immediate sphere of influence. The reason why is because when we are not lining up with the basic laws that govern the divine order, we are a piece of the puzzle that is missing, which makes our spouses, children, friends, co-workers, employees have to over compensate or put in a counterfeit. When I speak of consistency, I am talking about the daily repetition of doing one's purpose and that is something that only the individual can define. In one season consistency may look one way, another season may call for a different sort of consistency. For me consistency has been staying in the presence of God, working a regular job, building up my marriage, strengthening my relationships,exercising, and fine tuning my entrepreneurial vision. Your path may look different, but consistency is key in the life of each person if we wish to grow and achieve greatness.

Song Lyrics to Salute!

Song Title: Salute!
Alternative Title: Locked and Loaded
Lyrics written by P. Jacobs, Music produced by S. Phillips
©2009 R.E.B.E.L. FIRM Music Division

I’m so locked and loaded/part of the Son’s rays/too hot to hold it/ R’s in the air/man I rock for soldiers/headed for the top/ how they not gone notice

This the one where my Timberland’s laced up/ born to keep kicking I refuse to stay stuck/I keep a poker face/ man I see through the great bluff/ the enemy mean mug/ I give him the same look/ now’s not the time to be scared of the current/ stand like a man/ my advantage is perfect/ the vision is the prize/ get cash to work with and feed the fam/ but the Lamb I worship/ don’t talk about swag/ man I’m out of this orbit/ I just watch the culture/ sit back and absorb it/ the light of the real is exposing the forfeit/ I been through the pain now I’m teaching the courses/ R.E.B.E.L. Ph. D/ the melody’s 8 keys/ infinity HD/ a felon on great beats/ if that aint enough/ you get the boot/ real R.E.B.E.L.s in the building I tell you to salute/

Salute to my R.E.B.E.L.s that’s on the front line/ going through the pain but still on the grind/ Salute to my soldiers that died in the field/ wouldn’t bow down and declared what’s real/ Salute to my young brothers getting they grades up/ born to be a winner/don’t care what they say huh/ Salute to my young sisters better yet queens/ heads on straight/pursuing they dreams/ Salute!

I spit like it’s my last day living/give it everything that I got remain vicious/flows stay hotter than hotter than suede britches/these rappers fruit flies/ man the game switching/dudes rock skinny jeans/tapered leg/ YG’s in the hood aint afraid of death/ I tell these young cats/man your brain’s the threat/takes more than an AK to gain respect/ the locks and the cell blocks killing us slow/ dizzy with the henny getting plenty of dough/sitting pretty in a Bentley and the philly is rolled/ chain real chilly but aint feeling the hole/ I’m getting my black Moses Isaac Hayes on/black Prada sneaks/and the Oakley shades on/ only thing different/I aint singing the same song/R’s in the air/ the salute will stay strong/

I’m on another level in a different dimension/what the king sees are the things I mention/ spirit of David/ the king aint flinching/I talk reckless/ bring your henchmen/ what up KKK neo Nazis/ hatred in your blood/but you aint gone stop me/say bye to the days where the R.E.B.E.L. was knock kneed\brain is Gretsky/mind frame is hockey/ these kids too soft/ man I’m bringing the hardcore/spit acid rain cut tracks like lawn mower/beating eardrums till they lymph nodes all sore/could do a million songs/still my crowd would want more/ crown still shining/ loving my queens light/ keep the business tight/keep feeding the team right/born to conquer/ I care less what it seems like/ a legend’s on the hook fam/we got the green light

You are Your #1 Investment! Part II

In the last blog I wrote about how important it is to recognize that your personal gifts, talents, ideas, and concepts are the number one thing you should be investing in. What lies within you has just as much potential to create wealth as the stock market or real estate, perhaps even more potential. As promised I will now discuss some of the things that I am doing to investment in my #1 investment. These are not listed in order of importance:

1. Reading- I invest in myself by reading business, personal development, and spiritual growth books. The knowledge from reading that I acquire gives me fresh ideas, more information, and motivation.

2. Physical Exercise- Physical exercise is very important because it helps me balance stress plus stay in top physical and mental condition. It keeps me competitive and that is vital to tackling goals.

3. Practicing my craft- I spend at least 10 hours a week practicing my gift, sharpening it in order to ensure it that it does not get dull. This also helps keep me motivated.

4. Setting aside money just for my vision- This is probably a no brainer, but few people actually do it. It takes money to produce a tangible vision. Plus this makes me more committed to my vision, because I'm not only physically and mentally vested, but monetarily as well.

5. Building and Cultivating Relationships- Relationships are better than currency.They take time and energy to build yet they yield profitable results for myself and the person(s) I am building with. Most of the good things that have happened to me in life or got me closer to success were because of good relationships.

There a several other ways to invest in your number 1 asset. But in my opinion, these are some of the key ones. If you have one you would like to add to the list, please share in a comment.

You are Your #1 Investment! Part I

YOU ARE YOUR GREATEST INVESTMENT! Sometime ago I was talking to my uncle about how I was interested in investing in real estate and stocks and how I was in the process of studying these wealth vehicles. He said something very profound that has stuck with me to this day and even reshaped my thinking. He said you are the one you need to be investing in. Stocks, real estate, bonds, and other assets are excellent investments to make, but concentrating on developing your number one assett is the most profitable and rewarding thing to do. So many of us focus on everything outside of us that we can become succesful with that we lose sight that our own ideas, concepts, inventions, gifts, and talents will help us create wealth probably even sooner than the alternatives. It makes sense to me because even though I'm very interested in real estate, I'm much more passionate about my music and other ideas that I have that have the potential to become viable businesses. I can spend all day writing songs, perfecting my craft, and coming up with ideas and strategies on how I want to run my business. That passion is just not matched when I'm learning about the stock market. It may just be my personality but I enjoy the challenge of creating something from nothing and watching it take on a life of its own. So for those who may be similar to me in this way, I encourage you to start valuing the ideas, gifts, and talents that you have and see them for the gems that they are. They really are worth investing in. In the next blog I will describe how I am investing in myself.

Please share your thoughts.

Calling all Go Getters!

Even though I have a 9-5 job now and am grateful for it, I know that it is only a means to an end. I think all of us are born with a desire to create our own legacy whether we admit it or not. I look foward to the day when I am able to fully fund the vision that God has given me. I am a natural entrepreneur. Even in my 9-5 I am finding creative ways to do things. I feel like this is now preparation time for when I employ myself and perhaps my friends and family. It is important for me to succeed at working for someone else so that I can excel when I am solely working for myself. The two go hand in hand in my opinion, if you have an entreprenuerial mind set.

I'm curious to know your thoughts...

50 Cent Vs. Rick Ross and the insight I have learned from this battle

Many of you know about the recent hip hop beef between 50 Cent and Rick Ross. I have been following this battle for about the past three weeks and to say the least it has been entertaining. If you have no idea what I am talking about, go to thisis50.com of hiphopdx.com to get the recap on how this whole thing started. As of now, 50 Cent has done a pretty good job of humiliating the "Boss" and doing what 50 does best, that is destroying other rappers careers. He has done this multiple ways, using music, videos, radio interviews, cartoon drawings, Rick Ross' baby mother, financial statements, and pictures. The biggest foothold 50 has stood on through this bout is that Rick Ross use to be a Correctional Facilites officer, yet claims that he was the biggest drug dealer in Miami. A lot of the information that 50 is presenting to the public is factual and has been proven to be so, which has further tarnished Ross' image and street credibility. It appears that Ross has not gotten the memo that he is losing the battle as many media sources, journalists, websites, and other rappers have endorsed 50 cent as the champ. Ross' new single "Magnificient" featuring John Legend has not been considered a successful record due to the fact that most of the attention Rick Ross is getting is tied to the beef with 50 Cent, not Ross' new album which is slated to drop in March. Everyone knows that 50 is a master at destroying careers, we have seen this in the cases of artists such as Ja Rule, Fat Joe, Cam'ron, and others. It seems that Ross has gotten in way over his head and really has had no decent comeback even though I think "Mafia Music", one of his diss songs is actually a good one. The fact is is that 50 Cent is filthy rich, connected to Dr. Dre and Eminem, intelligent, athletic, resorceful, and just plain ruthless. He is in a position of power that few rappers, if any are able to claim. Therefore it would be wise for a person like Rick Ross to realize this and stop throwing punches while he still can, this is simply a battle he cannot win. 50 is unparalleled when it comes to doing things like this. So here is my spiritual insight into this matter.

Many Christians are similar to Rick Ross. We have an image, talent, nice cars, clothes, some good things going for us that we take for granted, but with this we also have a past and hearts full of pride and arrogance. We trick ourselves into believing that we are something that we are not, or even if we are something it may not be at the level at which we think it is. This last statement leads us into trouble because we can become delusional and try to fight battles that we are not built to fight. Granted we be able to win some battles, but some foes are just out of our league, like the devil. Now I'm not trying to call 50 Cent the devil, I actually admire and like 50 Cent, but I think in this case, 50 Cents exhibits some characteristics in hip hop battles that the devil exhibts in spiritual battles. Again I am not calling 50 Cent the devil, I am simply recognizing how a believer can fall prey to the enemy due to the tactics he uses which parallels 50 Cents tactics in the battle with Rick Ross. So how does 50 Cent exhibit the qualities of the devil in this present case. Well for one the devil is tremendously wealthy, he has the whole world under his control (those not under the control of Jesus), which gives him access to vast resources. The devil controls the media, much like 50 controls his own media website which is extremely entertaining by the way. The devil is extremely intelligent, one of the wisest beings one can ever encounter. He's been around for God knows how long, and only God does know. So the devil has had some time to hone his military prowess. The devil also is not lazy, he is not a heavy sleeper, if he even sleeps at all. And lastly the devil has no conscience. The holocaust, apartheid, genocides, two year olds getting murdered in cold blood by their fathers, this is the devils idea of a picnic. He enjoys to see his foes destroyed, much like 50 does. With all of that said, you and I, still try to fight the devil in our own strength. We do this everyday that we do not earnestly pray to God, read our bibles, and put ourselves in situations that cause us to sin. Not to mention, we still have horrible pasts and things that haunt us from before we were walking with Christ. Lets face it, we are easy targets for the enemy, much like Rick Ross is for 50 Cents. We have no hope of defeating someone as powerful as the devil without the help of God. Yet day after day we try to spar with Satan using our human intellect and will, and this just does not cut it. The devil has too much dirt on us and will remind us of our past which will make us studder and stumble if someone asks us about it much like Rick Ross did when a dj asked him if he was a c/o on a Miami radio station. We just end up humiliated and looking dumb to those around us when we try to play with the enemy this way. We will get picked off every time. The only hope we have for defeating the devil daily is to rely on Jesus' power. He is the only one who actually beat the devil up besides, the acrh angel Michael. Simply put, we must rely on God to deal with the devil and we do this by earnestly seeking God's Son and asking Him to fill us with his Spirit so that we can take our stand against the evil one. In this case, The Lord is the only one who can probably help Rick Ross, but even then Rick Ross would have to surrender to God, which would be a whole other blog.

A Greater Dependence on God

It has been a minute since I last wrote. My apologies to those who read my blogs. I just recently got married and am getting settled into married life, not to mention settling back into living in California once again. At the beginning of 2009, I wrote down some goals that I would like to accomplish before the end of the year and one of them was to get to know God better. My strategy to reach this goal is to spend at least one hour a day in prayer (communication with God) and by reading some selected books of the bible that I felt would be good to have in my heart. Praying everyday has not been easy. Many days it is a challenge because my mind is filled with so many other things such as bills, things me and my wife need, business ideas, career ambitions, lunch, and more. A lot of times I have to make myself think about God and how good he has been to me in my life and put in extra effort to focus on Him. It is so easy to get caught up in the affairs of this life that I can sometimes forget who is in charge of my life and my destiny. He already has a plan mapped out for me and all I have to do is talk with Him each day to know what it is. Every obstacle or problem that I am dealing with he has a solution for. Most times, if not all times when I try to figure hard issues out myself such as an argument with my wife, which bill in the budget should be considered most important, and other complex issues, I end messing things up even worse. But when I depend on Him and am honest about not knowing all the answers, he is then able to show me how to handle these situations. I think the reason a lot of times God does not give us the answer to a tough question we have is because we already think we know the answer and just want Him to agree with what we think is the right solution. I mean would you answer someone's questions or lend a hand to help them out if they kept saying "I got it" or when you give them an answer they never use it but insist on doing what they wanted instead. I think not. I guess the purpose of this particular blog is to let someone know that relying on God is the only way to be more than a conquerer in this life. He already has the road map of our lives prepared and is anxious to let us read it. We just have to depend on him to guide us and he will. Even though I may not get the answer when I would like to have it, he shows me what to do and what to say when it is most needed. So spend a little more time with God and rely less on yourself, it will probably a take a lot of stress out of your life.