Keep on Pushing

In case you've been, M.I.A. over the last day or so, here's the new Lebron commercial that debuted last night.  I'm not even a huge Lebron fan, but this is dope.  Proof that hard work pays off.

Monday Inspiration: "Will"

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you "Will" by Ella Wheeler Wilcox:


There is no chance, no destiny, no fate,
Can circumvent or hinder or control
The firm resolve of a determined soul.
Gifts count for nothing; will alone is great;
All things give way before it, soon or late.
What obstacle can stay the mighty force
Of the sea-seeking river in its course,
Or cause the ascending orb of day to wait?

Each well-born soul must win what it deserves.
Let the fool prate of luck. The fortunate
Is he whose earnest purpose never swerves,
Whose slightest action or inaction serves
The one great aim. Why, even Death stands still,
And waits an hour sometimes for such a will.

Well, that's good enough for me to start my day.

Cheers,

JIP

Gifted and Cursed: Confidence

Good people, it's been way too long. Check out the piece below that I wrote for The Infamous L a couple of weeks back. I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on this.

Ah, a gift and a curse. You could probably make an argument that most things in life can be looked at as either, so this was tough to narrow down. But today, I’m going to focus on my gifted curse (see what I did there?) of confidence.

From a young age, I was blessed enough to have people in my life that instilled in me a sense of self-confidence that I have carried with me and continue to develop each day. It’s actually a part of my life’s motto: live confidently, control the things that I can control, and have a good time while I’m here. Possessing self-confidence is certainly a gift. Self-confidence, however, isn’t necessarily as easy to identify as you might believe.

I find that cockiness is often mistaken for confidence, and this mistaken identity is the curse. It’s like mistaking Memphis Bleek for Jay-Z. Yeah, you’ve seen them together a lot, but it’s completely disrespectful to confuse the two. Cockiness is basically me putting myself up on a pedestal and convincing you that I should be there. You could make an argument that some level of cockiness is not a bad thing, but it’s not a substitute for confidence. The main reason is that cockiness lacks a solid foundation.

Cockiness is a “what have you done for me lately?” type of feeling. Oh, you got her number? You start feeling yourself a little bit, BOOM, that cockiness level goes up. Oh, you crushed that interview today? Double BOOM…cockiness level goes even higher. Your swag (yes, swag) is on a whole different level right now. But wait…the number she gave you is disconnected? Oh…that cockiness comes down a little bit. And about that interview, maybe you didn’t crush it like you thought you had. Let’s bring that cockiness down a little bit more.

The point I’m trying to make is that cockiness is fleeting. It starts to come out when random events are going in your favor. But life tells us all that you can’t always win. So what keeps you going during your down times? That’s where your confidence kicks in.

Being confident doesn’t mean you’re invincible. We’re humans, we all lose, we all are vulnerable, but it’s not about any of that. Being confident doesn’t exempt you from human emotions, but being confident in yourself allows you to fight through your down times, knowing that something better is out there. Confidence has the sustainability that cockiness lacks because it’s based on a foundation. Whatever that foundation is: your circle of family and friends, your spirituality, or something completely different, it exists, and it’s your source of strength. That’s why it’s a gift; it keeps you going when that’s all you got.

Be careful out here, good people. Don’t let a pretty curse convince you that it’s a gift.

Cheers,

JIP