POST-11: “The Art Of Being Yourself”.

What’s up World, it's your boy King Arthur…😁 Listen!.. I’ve been thinking a lot lately and contemplating my life, and the loved ones in it… This idea of “Just being you”, and the power of just being you..it’s 2021, and I’ve been actively pursuing my career and my purpose for over 20 years now. So many ups and downs. So many challenges, setbacks, epiphanies, extraordinary moments (good and bad). And I thank God for Mercy, grace and faith.

From old friends to new friends, it's all been a trip!.. and overall, I’m thankful to say, a good one. 🙂 I recently made a post on Instagram about the importance, and the power of “Just Being”…and what I mean by that is that there is power in just being yourself!..so let's take a step back. For those of us who are ambitious dreamers (which I think we all are at various levels), it’s very difficult (to be quite frank). it’s very difficult to say “do this and you'll get this result”, or “be this way, and you'll achieve these things”. It’s very difficult. And to be quite honest, after 20 some odd years, I can see the silver lining in all of these statements. The quotes, the hurrah, motivational tips (that are most of which, genuinely true). But as a coach and a mentor, I can also see (by putting myself in the seat of someone who, perhaps, has not been as experienced & doesn't have as much knowledge or information), how all of these quotes and so forth can be misleading. And in the misleading, feel alienated, jaded or assume extreme disbelief because I’ve been there before too!. The message is PerseveranceAndGrowth. And growth for a reason. (Before I go any further I want to encourage you, if you’re reading this, to share this with a friend to help them understand that their dreams are possible. The goals they have for themselves are possible to obtain, but the way they go about actualising them will be far different than they probably can imagine).

It’s 2021, and the world is moving at rapid pace... A lot faster than when I started my journey why this information is so crucial and important to understand. Me, myself (like many others before me), have all shared the same dreams. The same Goals. And I’ve experienced the same walls as it relates to progress… Understanding, defining and trying to make sense of what that really means... Comparing ourselves to one another. Comparing ourselves to people who we assume are great or perfect (or whatever it is that you think is admirable)… And the truth of the matter is, you can only, really understand the process and the actualization of said goals when you have to “go through the fire” 🔥 so to speak. Meaning, you have to endure tough times. You have to face challenges. You have to Find the courage (in the midst of the fear) to be able to persevere and continue to grow. Sometimes, people ask the common question: “If you could do things over again, would you”? This is just me speaking, and to be honest, i would say yes. There are several things I wish I didn’t have to go through. Several things I wish I didn’t do, or experience in life. Setbacks. Challenges that made me who I am today. Some people say: “Well if I could go back and change anything I wouldn’t change anything at all, because that’s what made me who I am today..” and to each his own.

I think this information will probably relate to certain people in different ways because that’s what happens. I study great speakers, orators, and leaders in general. I Like to find the common thread between all of them.. Men women no matter the color, and no matter the background. i compare those things, those individuals, their experiences, and the things that they attest are the rudimentary elements of their own success. Then, I relate them to my own Life.. And I think that’s the key.

You have to be able to not compare yourself..( be your own boss, so to speak. your own person) be who you are and what God created you to be. And be the best version of yourself, Now.

While in doing so, you kind of transition into different phases of your reality (via physical, spiritual, & mental). And all of that can be quite taxing. Thankfully, because of the Internet, because of social media, we have the opportunity to connect with people from all across the world. We've never had an opportunity to do so, and that's extremely powerful. In fact it makes your pursuit of your own goals, and your own growth much more easier. But now you have to be strategic.

One of the things I’ve learned along the way is that when studying great thinkers, great leaders, and great successes, is that comparison is the root of all evil. And even when they succeed at accomplishing a goal (Let's say financially getting into the six figure bracket or promotion at their jobs or reaching certain heights within their profession) they always say one thing in common. That is: “having the material things that I longed for were only benchmarks because it was the process that I actually appreciated, and will Only appreciate, and will ever be, the most important gift, 🎁 in the end. So let's talk about the process. The process is painful at times and depending on the strategies you use, the practices that you implement on a daily basis become systematic, and hopefully are adopted into your behaviors, and your patterns, so that you BECOME the thing, or the person who is most likely to achieve the goals that you have for yourself. now that new person will look similar to those people that you aspire to be. However, they will never be exactly like that person or that process or those things or what have you. Why?.. because it's YOU!.. it is you who created them. There’s another phrase that says: “Don’t reinvent the wheel”… that's also a very true statement, and can also be very annoying. I’m speaking from experience.

But the shift is a mental one. a spiritual shift that happens within yourself, that puts you in alignment with understanding so that when you're going through this process, and evolving (which is essentially what it is), you can now recognize from your own research & your own study, that that shift…that one degree shift… that tiny bit, compounded over several days, weeks, months and years evolves your thinking in a way that allows you to look forward. To embracing the process for what it is.

So maybe it starts off at 90 and 10%. You persevere and grow. Now, you're shifting into 85 and 15…80 and 20, and so on and so forth. That shift, that is once again adopted over time (because it doesn't happen overnight) is extremely important when looking at the process. For example, there’s 24 hours in a day, and let’s say that I exhaust 12 of them being awake and actively doing things in pursuit of my goals. In year 1 of my pursuit of those goals, I spend about 90% of the time dreading it, and 10% of the time enjoying those sweet, little moments of success. But by adopting new philosophies, new ideas, comparing them to your own, grounding yourself (which is extremely important in the process) and seeing how those things relate into your world. By growing in your faith, you start to evolve year by year. 2Yrs, 3yrs, 4yrs, and so on.. you become a new person. That percentage changes. You’re able to enjoy some of the “mundane activities” and elements of your process… Your, unique process. and you begin to “Manifest” (another buzzword) the success that you've dreamed of!... Another issue I run into working with mentees, and people that I coach, is that they struggle with the process and they struggle with embracing where they are HERE, today, 2021 because again, we’re living in a very accelerated world.

Going back to my previous statement about reinventing the wheel…certain things don't need to be reinvented because many people before you (who've lived 234 times your lifetime) have endured those same things. Had the same thoughts, the same actions, the same goals (and maybe they didn't achieve exactly what they wanted to achieve) that were similar to your own. But in that process, they took from it and received from it what they needed to be successful for them. It’s only your job, to appreciate that… thank the universe. thank the people. Thank the world. Thank God. Thank whoever around you that they made the pathway a little bit more clear. They spent the time, the effort, the energy, the prayers, the hoping and the wishing, into moving in a direction towards a dream or a goal that was similar to yours. PerseveranceAndGrowth ❤️. we can't get hung up on what they did wrong or maybe what they did right or maybe even if those individuals that are jaded about their own results, because guess what?.. that's going to be a part of Your process as well. they faced it too.. people before them tried to downplay their dreams, their hopes, their goals and said it couldn't be done either… said they were crazy (so on and so forth)!.. you're going to experience that too (sad to say) but if you don’t focus on all of those things outside of you, and focus on what’s happening within you, you can learn to make that shift…you can make the shift that moves you progressively towards your own path. And set your own way in this world..

I love the fact that things come back “full-circle”…when you plant a seed, and do/give from a sincere place with good intentions… good things happen…the reciprocity of it all. It does come back, whether that happens on your timeline?.. is a different story, and that's where the frustration is as well…Common themes and quotes about “patience, forgiveness, love, understanding, (small words that have heavyweight)..manifesting, etc” they're extremely powerful!..The Bible talks about “having a mustard seed of faith”. I gave a speech on this once before & I chuckle at it because many times throughout my journey I’ve been frustrated with it (still to this day). I do get frustrated with what it took..to what length of time, etc.. Not as much now. and that’s only because I’ve grown in faith to have understanding, and to trust that God is going to make it right. whatever things I don’t understand.. the confusing parts of life, etc. but what I do know, is throughout all those years I had to overcome challenges where I thought there was no way out. where I thought “that was the end”, and somehow, someway things worked out (again, to each his own).

There are some speakers who talk about the fact, that when you are in a room sharing information with individuals, people will literally take from your words, from your advice, what they want!.. And not exactly what you wanted them to learn.. And you can't be mad at that.. There’s actually power in creating and “letting go”…

Let go.. People will judge you for that, as well, but this is an important part of growth.. and Success. The attachment to the end result is something that we all have as human beings. we want so badly to be in control.. one of the most challenging things I had to embrace and inoculate into my own practice is this idea of letting go. Creating and letting go… having something that you wanted so badly, and saying: “You know, what if I don’t obtain it?.. if I don’t have it.. if I don’t control it...??.. I’m going to let it go (again, to each his own)..”

Why is this important?.. well, letting go (first of all) relieves the stress in the present (which is extremely important). Secondly, letting go increases your faith because what it says is: “You know what? I want this thing so bad.. Ive prayed for this.. I’ve worked for this..and its not here yet, but I’m determined to continue forward in that direction. And if I don’t get there…and I don’t have it?..I will still be OK without it..”. Those last, six words are powerful!.. because it's one thing to say that, and it's another thing to Actually mean it (on either side, there's a little bit of a pain point you’ll experience).. If you’re at that place right now, I encourage you to sit in that place (and dare I say, master that emotion. if not master, be able to be strong in that area)…Eric Thomas, motivational speaker talks about “wanting something as bad as you want to breathe”..that’s just another way of saying what I’m saying now…The ideas all correlate.. determination, grit, perseverance… but there’s going to come times.. multiple times, throughout your Life... throughout your career…That you're going to have to learn to let go, and don't fear the loss of your gains..Or your perceived progress, because if you’re holding onto something with two hands (because we only have two), how can you possibly receive more when your hands are full?..🤔.. 😁 there's power in “Being you”, today… That same power, that same force, that same love, that same Energy… you can turn it into whatever you want it to be!.. you’re The Alchemist of your own life.

I recently saw a post from a group of pyscho therapist who talked about mental well being, and mental health… Advising, different strategies to implement when feeling anxious, worried about the future, or perhaps living in depression, or the past… (somethings I’ve been practicing, as of late).. being able to sit within those moments where the energy within you and the world around you (through your view) seems to spiral out of control.. As painful as it may be, pause… Wait for five to 10 minutes… Allow the world 🌎 around you to calm down back to your own, centredness. And just be in that moment.. This can happen when you’re far far far from your end goals (whatever they may be).. this will also, definitely happen when you’re “on top” (and that can be pretty scary, to be honest)..

But, when you're doing the inside practice of developing yourself and your spirit… and you know that in the physical world, you are working towards making whatever steps you need to take, a lifestyle?.. You can rest assured that you’re still on course 🙂👍, and you can enjoy (maybe to yourself in a silly way) a sense of pride that you have accomplished something Great!.. much greater than you can imagine!..maybe it wasn't a $100,000 career or multi $1,000,000 deal, but “The feeling”.. the feeling of that is still the Same!.. and you were able to have control over that moment!.. that bit of peace.. and that's all that really matters! 🙂.. (if you don't believe me, do your research…study those people who are great at whatever they do in whatever field they’re in, and see that this is a common belief they share).. because once they get to that “destination”..the question becomes: “what now??..” and even worse, “was it even worth it??....”.

Excitement can be at an all time high.. Today, we’re fighting off a pandemic, and an ever-changing world..The last thing we need to do is spiral out of control… so my message for you today is to “just be”… 🙂..Be yourself.

Be The silver-lining in your own process, and continue to #persevere and grow… because the fact of the matter is: if you persevere.. if you just keep moving.. if you can't run, you walk… if you can't walk, you crawl…if you can't crawl, you just- sit- still…and be… That (in and of itself) guarantees your success and your progress towards your own, personal growth. ☺️.. Have a great day.