Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Collaboration makes money, collaborating makes sense

Collaboration(n.) - The act of working together or cooperating to achieve a common interest or goal.

ACCESS TO OPPORTUNITY

A friend mentioned that phrase to me recently, and she's dead on. This is the thing that people live for, die for, and some even plot and connive for. Just for the chance to have an opportunity. I mention this now because I have learned through ups and downs that the access to the opportunity that we seek is 10,000 times easier when we work together.

First and foremost, for any sports fan, name one championship team(NFL, NBA, MLB or otherwise). Now name one championship team that won by only having one player on the field or on the court. No matter how long you think about it, you can't name one because every winning team has reached the top because individuals were willing to collaborate for the sake of becoming a championship team.

Secondly, in 2009, Bill Gates held a super moguls secret summit in New York. Oprah was there, Warren Buffett, Michael Bloomberg, Ted Turner and many other billionaires came together to discuss common interests and work towards common goals. In 2010, Bill Gates hosted a CEO summit in Seattle which included guests like Dana White and U.S. Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner. So my question to you is if these wealthy athletes and high powered moguls know enough about the power of teamwork to collaborate, why don't you do the same?

Don't let anyone fool you, but the days of the "self-made" individual are done! The people who get ahead get there because a group or army of individuals are behind them pushing them forward. Some people would rather work on their own, others feel that working in a group is a waste of time and then there are those that would rather cut down, discriminate, or simply hate other individuals instead of working with them. Some of these people can be helped while others are doomed to keep the attitudes that will do nothing but hold them back as the rest of the world progresses.

The bottom line is that with collaboration...we all get ahead faster.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

The Beautiful Face of Evil

What do you want? What do you want that you believe in your heart of hearts that you will get if you work hard enough for it? Think about it...now that you have a mental image of what you believe in, keep reading.

Have you heard of a movie called “The Beautiful Face of Evil” yet? It's this movie that takes place in New York and it centers around 5 main characters. One of them is named William Richardson III and he's a charismatic, drug abusing, and adulterous alcoholic who's also the mayor of New York City. His wife, Allison is a loving, docile, and enabling doormat. William's mistress is named Desdemona Gutierrez and Desdemona is a shrewd, manipulative, and conniving madam. Charles Staton is William's best friend and he's a marijuana smoking news personality who loves saying things to his guests and others just to get under their skin. Evonda Troutman is Charles's girlfriend and she's also a former Playboy Playmate who's now a music video “actress”. One of the best things about this movie is that instead of preaching about how “doing bad is the wrong thing to do, so don't do it”, the main characters show just how much fun you can have while you're doing the wrong thing. On top of that, it shows just what happens when you get a chance to be bad.

If you haven't seen or heard of “The Beautiful Face of Evil” yet, don't worry...that's just because I haven't shot it yet. The reason you're still reading right now is because my belief is that this movie will be made. I also believe that you can help me make this movie. The way I see it is that at the end of every movie, a long list of names of the cast and crew scroll across the screen in the credits. I want you and everyone you know to see your name in the credits. How? For $5-$10, you can buy your own spot on the big screen. Not only can you show off your name in lights, but you can also tell everyone you know that “The Beautiful Face of Evil” was made because of you.

You can buy your credit space by going through Paypal and sending the money to TBFOE@yahoo.com. Remember that regardless of whether you pay $5 or $10, you still buy a spot for your name in the credits, but keep in mind that the more who buy a $10 space, the sooner the movie will be made. If you don't want to buy a space for any reason, I understand, and I ask one small favor of you instead. Tell everyone you know about “The Beautiful Face of Evil” and be sure to tell them that if they want it, they can buy their spot in the credits too. Think about what you believe in, and then remember that this is what I believe in. I thank you in advance for anything you do to help.

Monday, July 19, 2010

Get Out of Your Cage(Thank You Katt Williams)

I find inspiration in all places, and as funny as Katt Williams is to me(and a lot of others), he said an analogy which really hit home with me. When you watch this clip, be prepared for explicit language, but if you listen to everything he's saying, hopefully you'll truly understand the joke/analogy.

Just like you have at least one big, bold, beautiful dream that you want to accomplish, so do I. Personally, I want to produce and direct my own movies and television shows. Just like you have planned for your dream, so have I. I have scripts and screenplays, and I'm mailing letters and sending e-mails to any production company I can find. Now, just like you, I run into negatives, and people who say, "Thanks, but no thanks."

This is where the cage comes into play. We've all heard that we are destined for greatness, and the truth is that we are, but sometimes we start doubting and even denying that truth when we get bombarded by the negatives. I say we because I know that I've been guilty of that as well. I can also say that just like the people who pass by the tiger's cage at the zoo and take pictures of a captive tiger, there are people in our lives who look at us like captured tigers, except instead of throwing peanuts at us, they throw insults just to try to make us feel low.

Keep this analogy in mind when it comes to realizing your dream, because just like Katt said, all it takes is one opportunity and your dream will become reality. I also want you to keep in mind that if your dream was easy to obtain, then it wouldn't be a dream, it would just be an errand. You are a tiger, you were born free, and I just swiped the zookeeper's key so let's go!

Sunday, July 18, 2010

The top 10 songs(in no particular order) I'm going to play when I learn how to play a guitar

Is there a need for this list...absolutely not! Is there a reason for it...because I like these 10 songs well enough to want to learn how to play them.

1. "Paint It Black" The Rolling Stones
2. "Misirlou" Dick Dale and the Del Tones
3. "Authority Song" John Mellencamp
4. "Girlfriend" Matthew Sweet
5. "Times Like These(acoustic version)" The Foo Fighters
6. "Sunshine of Your Love" Cream
7. "Pride and Joy" Stevie Ray Vaughn
8. "Theme From Peter Gunn" Duane Eddy
9. "Running Down a Dream" Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
10."Nasty Letter" Otis Taylor

Friday, July 9, 2010

You can move mountains

Hopefully I won't get too wordy with this and if you take away one thing, make sure it's this:

The world will never be right, but we were never meant to conform to the world

Now I do want you to understand that this isn't a doom and gloom tirade because along with fact, I am also stating my testimony. I have learned and we all know that there are just as many people in the world that want to see you fail as there are people who want to be the ones to cause your failure. There are people who don't like you or even hate you and they don't even know you. I'm not sorry to be the one to say this, but I do pray for these intolerant ones.

On the flipside, I'm proud to say that peace and righteousness are not foreign things no matter what part of the world you live in. I know that I can say if you choose not to fall victim to an unfeeling world, not only will you accomplish greatness, but you will inspire greatness as well. Please understand that I don't necessarily mean greatness as in money or power, but greatness is always overcoming hardships, bigotry, and evil. The Little Rock Nine, Mohandas Gandhi, and Mother Teresa are all shining examples of achieving greatness in spite of circumstances, but there are so many more examples if you choose to seek them or be them.

The bottom line is that there is more than enough problems in the world to criticize, but criticism and anger does nothing. Rather than cry for change, be the change you want to see in the world. Even if you don't see yourself moving mountains, just by moving your neighbor to be that positive change as well, you have just moved humanity one step closer to achieving greatness.