My Weekend As A Graduate
“It is never too late.” You hear it all the time. People say it to encourage you…to make you move to the next step. Last weekend, I spent four days with some of the most phenomenal people in the United States and abroad. They were from everywhere!
We converged on Atlanta, Georgia for one reason and one reason only; to graduate from Steve Harvey’s Success Institute. Some of us spent the past 12 months in the School of Transformation sharpening our personal development skills, while others, like myself, spent our time in the School of Business Acceleration honing our business acumen. But, for one weekend, we came together to learn, to laugh, to go even higher toward our dreams of becoming who were designed to be.
Director Doreen Rainey has been the navigator and sometimes the instructor of the program. Under her direction, we studied various topics and were challenged to use the information as we learned it. Was it easy? Not really. It required self-discipline and an internal commitment to the process. Was it worth it? Absolutely! This program allow me to gain access to knowledgeable people who could explain in laymen’s terms what I was experiencing; but also, what I could expect to run into ahead. They helped me to formulate solid strategies for my business from marketing to sales to developing a 5-year stretch goal.
In March 2015, I made three goals for 2015.
- To take my message outside of Chattanooga
- To receive payment for my services
- To speak outside of the United States
By the time we met in Atlanta, I had successfully accomplished each of those goals. Oddly enough, the interview in London, England in January was the final of the three and it posted the same weekend I was in Atlanta. It was not too late! I was one of the five people selected to be on the panel representing the 2016 Graduates from the School of Business. I had done so many things, it would have taken all day for me to tell them all of it so I simply asked them to “google me.” The past 12 months have been amazing, and it is just a beginning. I am so grateful that it is not too late!
Times Free Press News Article (February 12, 2014)
http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/local/story/2014/feb/12/chattanooga-womans-book-inspires-empowerment/131485
Nationwide Interview (Posted May 5, 2016)
https://inthenation.nationwide.com/common-small-business-challenges/
Be The “YOU” You Were Created To Be (originally posted March 2, 2016)
Today I get to have my life’s story streamed live for the entire world to see. Are there people who don’t like me? Yes. Are there people who say mean things about me? Yes. Are there those who seek to harm me? Sure. But, I have chosen to live my life in a space where I can freely celebrate others and people can freely celebrate me.
A few years ago, God told me I was enough. He spoke to my heart and said I didn’t have to be like anyone else. That was tremendously freeing. I begin to live as the person He created me to be. He said I had always been enough and would always be enough, just as He designed me.
That is how this journey started. I used to go along with bad ideas just to get along with the people who were making them. I used to try to please all the people who told me how I should feel, where I should go and what I should do. I found myself highly frustrated because I was not living in my own true purpose. I was being a puppet for them.
I am telling you this so you will know, even today I am not perfect. I still make mistakes and sometimes do things without thinking them all the way through. However, my heart is to help, never intentionally to do harm. Everyone does not like me for whatever their reason and that is okay with me as well. However, I get to choose the level of impact others have on my life.
Every day I choose ME and I choose my Happy! Those who are connected are blessed and those who are disconnected stay stressed. That’s just how it works. I did not write it or make it up, but I am enjoying the favor He has placed on my life as an example and a witness for His people so that they can freely come from under the bondage of others expectations and begin living the life He created them to live…a life that seeks to please Him and only Him. Stay blessed.
Magnifying the Possibilities (originally posted April 15, 2016)
There are enough things in life that we cannot do; however, there are plenty of things we can do and do very well. What if every time we think of something we cannot do, we immediately think of three things we can do? That’s right! We reverse that negative self-defeating thinking on the spot by thinking of some positive and productive things we can achieve.
By doing this, we increase our productivity and we increase opportunities to be pleased with ourselves, which means we increase our happiness. Now, that’s worth celebrating, right? So the next time you start having that “stinking thinking” about what you are unable to do, reverse it and think of those things you can achieve! You are worth your best life!
Living Like Our Best Is Already Over?
When you look back at your greatest year, how long ago was it? Was it five, ten, twenty…thirty years ago? Although it may seem impractical to some, some of us had our best year several decades ago. In our minds, that was our peak and that is the story we try to keep alive because that is when we felt our very best. Granted, it may be well worth remembering; however, what we are missing out on is the chance to recreate that experience, or better yet, to surpass it.
As long as we continue to be open to learning there are so many more “good” years in us. Therefore, why get stuck on just one. Our peak has yet to come. Every new day, every new year brings an opportunity to experience something spectacular; something so amazing that what we did in our youthful years could not compare because now we have wisdom on our side
Our well has not ran dry because we are replenishing it with knowledge each and every day. Let’s pull from our well of knowledge and use that knowledge to create more moments of awesomeness for ourselves and for those around us. Our best is year is just ahead of us!