Personal Development

There’s been a new craze sweeping the walls of dreamers in the past few years. They’re inspiring, motivating and captivating.  Some call them “inspiration boards,” I like to refer to them as a “dream boards.”

Back in 2010, I was under extreme stress. So to release some tension, I began cutting out photos and quotes from old magazines; things that stuck out to my personal interests: feminine and cultural empowerment, traveling, shopping and forward thinking.

A man must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them, and strong enough to correct them. – John C. Maxwell

I would say the trait cited above is one of the cores of personal, professional, and academic success.

It’s time to start moving forward.  I know it’s been a while since you have even had the motivation to do so when it comes to some of your goals, but you can get the movement going again. Where should you start? Well, check out the tips below to get on track with making your dreams progress.

1)  Stop looking back if it’s detrimental to moving forward

From my humble upbringing in the church, I was introduced to fasting at an early age.

According to a quick Wikipedia search, “Fasting is primarily the act of willingly abstaining from some or all food, drink, or both, for a period of time. An absolute fast is normally defined as abstinence from all food and liquid for a defined period, usually a single day (24 hours), or several days. Other fasts may be only partially restrictive, limiting particular foods or substance.”

According to CNN.com, Google is ranked #4 out of America’s 100 Best Places to Work.  Why, might you ask.  Well...Google let’s it’s workers play.

Yes, I said it. Workers at Google have fun going to work.  They get free food at any of the cafeterias at Google headquarters, have access to a climbing wall, and to top it all off, are able to get laundry done for free at work.  Yes, that’s free laundry at work (every American employee’s dream).

Far in the distance, in a room full of well-suited, personable, sparkly-eyed boy geniuses, I see a figure.

Unfortunately this one is harder to make out; not quite as clear as the others.  But I notice it’s height, irregularly tall; much like a fictional giant, trampling over ordinary townsfolk.   And it’s width, unhealthily wide; carrying a weight that doctors would diagnose as bypassing obese. And it’s limbs are plenty, making it appear to be of alien decent; tentacles branching from one another, but in an oddly uniformed manner.

They are leaders.  Entertainers.  Gurus. Politicians.  Innovators. Game Changers. They’re minority faces that broke barriers in society and continue to represent a marginalized community well.

Thanks to Timothy Greenfield-Sanders and Elvis Mitchell, these individuals’ stories have been documented and Blacklisted.

In the northwest corridor of Washington, D.C. off of a busy 14th street intersection is a black and gold establishment where a legend resides. He is a 75-year-old legend, to be precise, who has impacted communities from the West Coast to the East Coast through socio-economic and political influence.  His name is Eugene Hughes, and we should all strive to follow his example of what it means to be a legend.

I’d like to consider myself a student of all things attainable.  In this life, there is so much to be explored; to be eradicated for our own personal and professional conquests.  

The limits of exploration are only confined by our imagination and the obstacles to entry are only constrained by our resources. I believe with a combination of initiative, happenstance and strategic maneuvering, we can find resources to our dreams, right at our doorsteps.  

So, I went through a phase in life where I was reading and listening to self-help books and audio books.  I was wondering how the business greats and pioneers of this country's wealth-building systems made their dreams come true.