Struggling Upward

http://www.obstaclism.com/

The Whiner's thought process.

2011-03-18T12:03:00.000-07:00

I have learned that most people will whine and complain about the end results, endlessly.

“I can’t believe this happened to me.”

“Why won’t these people buy from me.”

“I can’t believe I didn’t get the job.”

Whiners, you don’t understand these things and you never will…… until now.

When you give attention to a result that already happened, you have already missed the boat. Your focus must always be two or three steps ahead of where you are at. Why don’t you be honest with yourself, were you really going at it 110%? Were you really investing ALL the time POSSIBLE to improve your skill sets? Did you REALLY do all your homework before hand?

The helpless ones will answer yes, and know they are lying. The future success’s will say no, and make the necessary changes, the current success’s were never whining in the first place.

CURRENT THOUGHTS = ACTIONS = FUTURE RESULTS.

“THE WHINER THOUGHT PROCESS”

“I CAN’T, THIS ISN’T FAIR, WHY = PITY PARTY = DOWNWARD SPIRAL

“THE SUCCESFUL THOUGHT PROCESS”

“WHERE DO I WANT TO BE, & WHAT DO I NEED TO DO” = CONGRUENT ACTIONS = STRUGGLING UPWARD = WASH, RINSE, & REPEAT.

Destry Brink

Because I have learned.......

2011-03-17T06:48:00.000-07:00

I have learned that a script should not be followed word for word because it is meant to be a guideline. Just like a mapped out road trip, a script provides you with where you are, and where to go next. There is always more than one way to reach your destination. A script has never sky-rocketed me to the top of my field, but principles have. Two words that you should incorporate into every sales talk you have, are “because”, and “learned.” Whether your sales presentation is done on the phone or in person, these two words are principles rooted in human psychology and persuasion. If you are paying attention, I have already used them once.

Because: Your parents have used this one on you since you were a child. Do you remember hearing: “because I said so!” You see they might not have known its persuasive powers but they used it instinctively. When you have built enough rapport to assume the higher status, begin using “because” to gain compliance. If you do not yet have the rapport, use body language to assume the higher status. If your selling happens over the phone you will need to build that higher status prior to using “because” effectively.

Learned: This is what linguists call a factive verb. I have learned that after using this particular word, the following thought is believed to be true without question on most occasions. Take the following example from our former President, George W. Bush’s state of the union address on Jan. 28^th 2003.

“The British Government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.”

That is just one small simple example; however that example does show you what was said to help make a decision to go to war, spend billions of dollars, take the lives of American soldiers, and in the end…… not find any weapons of mass destruction. In the end, his speech was talking about British intelligence, not American intelligence.

Destry Brink

For specific help and advice on how to incorporate these principles into the right place in your script, feel free to contact me @

Calculated movements

2011-03-15T07:40:00.000-07:00

Quote of the day: “….It is clear that fortune will let herself be won by (those) who are impetuous rather than by those who step cautiously.” -Niccolo Machiavelli

"Being cautious can have you doing the same thing your entire life."

Impetuous; moving forcefully or rapidly. An impetuous flow of water. According to Machiavelli these actions were favorable in obtaining fortune then being cautious. Being cautious can have you doing the same thing your entire life. For some that is preferable, however the world is much different now than the days of: go to college, get a degree, find an employer, and retire. With your carefully crafted career moves you must be impetuous. Seize new and better opportunities, and carve out more responsibility for yourself.

"Let them, they are being cautions spectators."

Do you want to make it? Do you want success, more pay, more responsibility and more choices? Then throw most of caution to the wind. Caution can be useful to you, only to the extent that it does not paralyze your moves. Caution should be used to investigate new opportunities. When it comes down to making decisions, be quick and forceful with an iron fist. In life you will situate yourself into responsibilities like children, spouse, financial obligations, ECT. Remember this: your primary responsibility is to yourself. Some may see your outward behavior and speak out against you. Let them, they are being cautions spectators. In the meantime you will be making calculated movements.

Word of the day: Impetuous; Characterized by sudden and forceful energy or emotion; impulsive and passionate. 2. Having or marked by violent force:

Destry Brink

Until time ends, fear nothing.

2011-03-13T13:00:00.001-07:00

Quote of the day: “…people who cannot suffer can never grow up, can never discover who they are….” -James Baldwin

Hey Stellar Fans,

Your fears are imagined and self-imposed, for the most part. Are there real fears? Of course! If you are standing at the edge of a skyscraper, willing to jump off and free-fall down with no assistance you are going to die. That fear would be real. That fear will serve you. What of the fears that are imagined and self-imposed? Some of these fears are, poverty, failure, success, rejection, and loneliness. These fears can cripple you if you let them.

“You can completely change who you are and the path of your life.”

The trick with fears is to act on it. Take it head on and conquer it. Overcoming fears has a euphoric feeling attached to it. You can completely change who you are and the path of your life.

Anthony Robbins, for years, did a fire walk during seminars. Paraphrasing him, he has written; “this was not a lesson about the benefits of walking across hot coals, but a lesson in beliefs. That the fears holding you back are only imaginary.”

“Afterwards they find themselves literally swept on to success.”

There are far too many examples in our culture of individuals that confronted, and overcame their fears. Afterwards they find themselves literally swept on to success.

Lance Armstrong nearly died of cancer; afterward he won the Tour de France a record 7 times, in a row! The fear of dying was conquered, the pain he had to endure during those races let him know that he was alive.

“….a level of confidence unmatched in thought and action.”

Be present in your suffering, soak it up and experience it for all it is. Consider your inhibitions to step out above the crowd a faceless fear, and then attack it. To conquer fear, you must have a resolve, an unquestioned belief in your eventual success, and a level of confidence unmatched in thought and action.

Word of the day: pernicious /per·ni·cious/ (per-nish´us) a. Tending to cause death or serious injury; deadly: a pernicious virus. b. Causing great harm; destructive: pernicious rumors

I came across this word while reading The 50^th Law by 50 Cent & Robert Greene. It was mentioned in the first chapter which is based on the fearful attitude and how pernicious that attitude is to your success.

Destry Brink

The love of a dog & a penguin.

2011-03-11T07:28:00.000-08:00

Hey Stellar Fans,

87MCTG67KJX2
Recently I listened to Robert Greene’s speech he gave at Yale University. I was fascinated by his current study of Machiavellian Intelligence. While listening, I learned that humans and primates are the only two species on earth that have this “large” brain that has evolved to cope with the complex social environments that both species have. It is also a brain that exceeds our capacity to use it.

This got me thinking because I love dogs. So a dog does not have the “large” brain that a human or primate has. Yet, you can train a dog to protect and obey you. Further, a dog can love you unconditionally. It has a laser like focus, and for the most part, it is focused on its owner. A dog’s sole function is to be with you, love you, and follow you. My beagle, Jake, will wait all day just to see me, and when he does see me, he runs, jumps, barks, licks, and wags his tail uncontrollably.

When a penguin finds its mate they stay together forever. A penguin main (parent) will sacrifice its own body for food, to continue the penguin offspring’s life if there is a short food supply. Yet this species also is without the “large” brain of humans and primates.

We live and will continue to live in complex social environments, our brains our going to evolve and adapt. These environments seem to only become more complex with each generation. This is however, how evolution works, it will happen no matter what.

But what if, the best way for us to evolve is to investigate and learn from a species that doesn’t have this “large” brain, because they seem to know how to love someone pretty damn well. Isn’t love the most powerful emotion in existence?

FYI, you can follow this blog to ensure you get the lastest news from Stellar Remix. Thanks and share this post, please.

Destry Brink
destry@stellarremix.com
http://www.stellarremix.com/

Lights, Camera, Action!

2011-03-09T11:52:00.001-08:00

This is the familiar phrase of a director getting ready to shoot a scene. It does provide a great correlation into self-improvement. For a scene to be filmed correctly you will need the lights to provide an environment for the scene. Poor lighting or no lighting will affect the end result. This scene is also going to need a camera. The camera is the focal point for the audience to see visually what the director is directing. Lastly, for this scene to take place there needs to be some acting.

Lights = The environment you choose to surround yourself with, must be conducive to the life you want to live. What do you need to change about your environment right now, to begin properly setting up the correct strategies and action plans?

Camera = Your focus will determine your actions. If you begin race car driving school, one lesson they teach is how to recover from spinning out of control. They do this by rigging the car to spin out. Do you know a piece of advice they give you prior to putting you in the car? Don’t look at the wall! Where you look is where you go. Where is your focus? What are the little things you are doing or failing to do day in and day out? In those little things you are doing, what do they lead to? What is their focus?

Action = The X factor. I have learned that most people have grand plans, ideas, and good intentions. It is the person that can get themselves to take action. Now just taking action is not enough, you must do it day by day.

When all is said and done, you are in the director’s chair of your own life. You set the stage, you direct the focus of the camera, and you have to inspire action.

Destry Brink

www.stellarremix.com

AMERICAN GANGSTER

2011-03-08T08:32:00.001-08:00

Hey Stellar Fans,

Have you seen the movie: American Gangster? The movie is based on the life of Frank Lucas, a drug dealer in New York, during the 60’s or 70’s. I am sure there were actual events added / omitted by the film makers. However the sum and substance is not that far off from the true story of Frank Lucas. I am not attempting to glorify a correlation between success and Frank Lucas, but there are a few things you can pick up from him.

In a bonus disc I have from the collectors’ addition, Denzel Washington (plays Frank Lucas) describes a particular conversation he had with Frank Lucas. Frank had told Denzel that there were times when he would clear everything out of a room, and confine himself to that room for months at a time. Frank said that he had only one purpose when he would do this (which was frequent). His purpose was to think about everything that happened in his life up to that point. He would analyze his past from most recent to as far back as he could remember. Frank Lucas then comes on the screen and summarizes that “there is not anything you can’t accomplish if you just think about it.”

That brings me to a close for now with a quote from a successful man that was not a criminal.

“Thinking is the hardest work there is which is the probable reason why so few engage in it”

Destry Brink

(currently holed up in an empty room thinking about my life) (with a computer).

www.stellarremix.com (recently updated)!

87MCTG67KJX2

TIME INFILTRATION

2011-03-07T09:06:00.000-08:00

Hey Stellar Fans,

Since the dawn of sales management and personal effectiveness, you have no doubt heard of managing your time to increase productivity. For me, it started with reading Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography. In it, he details a system he devised to rid himself of undesirable habits.

My spin is not to manage time, but to infiltrate it. You must tear time apart and sew it back together to fit your priorities and availability. I comprised a simple system that is not unique in any way but requires the one thing that every time system does, doing it.

1. Start off by buying a journal at the store. The ones I use are the composition notebooks that are fairly inexpensive. I choose to use the paper and pen method because it is always with me. Using a desktop or a phone presented limitations with how much I revise and scribble.

2. Go to the last page of the journal. Typically your journal should last you from a few months to a year. Write out a master list. This master list is a form of goal setting. Your objective is to write out the tasks that you know must get done and in what time frame.

3. Now go to the front of the journal. Write tomorrows date at the top of the first page. Repeat this action on the top of the next seven pages with the corresponding date following the first date you started with.

4. Plan out tomorrow. Write down everything you can think of that you must get done.

5. Prioritize the list. Whether you use numbers (1,2,3,) to prioritize or letters (a,b,c,d,) is a matter of preference. As long as you know what needs to be done and in what order.

6. Keep the journal with you throughout the day. As you complete one of your tasks, highlight it. I prefer this to checking it off. I highlight green for done, pink for moved to the next day, yellow for delegated. You can expand on this method as you see fit.

7. From here, you can plan the next day and so on. Typically you want to map out a 90 day schedule at all times. As things come up, add them to the appropriate day.

Destry Brink

Go homeless

2011-03-04T11:35:00.001-08:00

Hey Stellar fans,

In light of the latest Charlie Sheen drama, I offer this suggestion. Go homeless. Some may recognize that subconciously we tend to drag ourselves down. Nobody stands in the way of your dreams as big as yourself.

Mr. Sheen only had to keep quiet regarding the custody agreement. What did he do? Tweeted about it, smart guy. He placed his needs of belonging ahead of safety. According to Maslow, that is ass backwards (my verbal twist of course).

Maslow's theory suggested that human beings are motivated by unfullfilled needs (condensed). In the following order: physiological, safety, love/belonging, esteem, and self-actualization.

Do you constantly sabatoge yourself? Start taking away needs you already have met, you will have an immediate shift in motivation. It could be your turning point!

**I accept no responsibility for the actions of my readers, unless these actions lead to unimaginable success, fame, and fortune. Life is choices, start authoring your own.

Destry Brink
Address: unkown (currently taking my own advice).
destry@stellarremix.com
www.stellarremix.com

Blue Magic

2011-03-03T15:06:00.000-08:00

It seems as though we are all after some sort of result. An action precedes a result. The following examples show work and paycheck as my subjects.

***Disclaimer, I am just providing an example. So don’t confuse the message to mean that because you go to work, the result you are after is only a paycheck. Geez.

Example:

WORK = PAYCHECK.

What if you desire to increase said result?

Example:

WORK = PAYCHECK.

Most people suffer from this problem,

Example:

WORK = PAYCHECK

Just for fun, some guy wrote a book called the 4 hour work week. It looks like this according to my current brain waves.

Example:

Wrk = PAYCHECK.

Far too many individuals look only at the actions that produce their results. How this result is produced is predictable prior to the actual action. Let me explain. Robert Greene has written some awesome books (48 Laws of Power). In a speech given at Yale University, he describes certain successful people, sharing a mindset/attitude about life. He gave classical examples and a contemporary one (50 Cent). Here is what it looks like.

Example:

ATTITUDE = ACTIONS = RESULTS.

To obtain best results start with your mindset. Start cultivating an attitude of a positive nature. A better attitude can lead to purposeful actions, as opposed to half-hearted attempts. Better actions lead to better results. Better results lead to better attitudes. Circle of life. It's like fishing with dynamite, it's not even fair.

Example:

ATTITUDE = ACTIONS = RESULTS = ATTITUDE = ECT.

May the wind always be in your competitor’s faces?

Destry Brink

DO YOU REALY HAVE TO?

2011-03-03T11:09:00.001-08:00

Recently I find myself pleasantly disgruntled at people telling me “they have to”. I cannot work on Saturday because I have to (insert plausible reason here). I was under the impression that life is a choice. Isn’t prison a place where you have to? I’m free, living in a “free” country. What do you really have to do?

Let’s imagine that you are pointing a gun at me, and demanding my wallet. Do I have to give it to you, or am I presented with a choice? I would challenge you to start eliminating this from your communication habits. Make it a choice and you seem so much more confident, self-directed, and responsible.

“I will not be at work on Saturday because I choose to be with my children.”

Much better,

Destry Brink

Operation Mayhem

2011-03-02T16:01:00.000-08:00

Hey Stellar Fans,

I love listening to Napoleon Hill, his messages are good and I have applied his teachings so many times over the years. I will credit not so much his message, but the way he speaks. He has a fire in him, HE has IT. If you have not had the opportunity to hear Napoleon Hill speak, I suggest you use the following link to do so.

http://www.nightengale.com/

Here is my problem:

I noticed an amazing thing today while surfing the web and Facebook. The Napoleon Hill foundation has 1,698 “likes” on their Facebook page and Napoleon Hill, thanks to his Wikipedia Facebook page has 18,975 “likes”. This is a man responsible for perhaps the greatest book on self improvement that the publishing world has ever seen. He wrote this book at the request of Andrew Carnegie and used 20 years of research for its content (by the way he did this in the early 1900’s).

Now, the Mayhem character in the Allstate commercials has 202,336 “likes”. What the %#@*? Are we so addicted to drama and humor that some marketing guy in Chicago can hire an actor, put together a marketing campaign, and get over 10 times as many “likes” in a matter of years then Napoleon Hill has? Ok, ok, I know. Napoleon Hill was a different day and time. However, I argue that because his books are still there at Barnes and Noble, his message is still sound, and his message is still producing millionaires to this day!

It is all about marketing, Allstate created a brand and message that spoke to this generation, and it is very funny. Napoleon Hill is a brand, and a very recognizable one. When it comes to getting his message out, I am left to wonder if the people running the Napoleon Hill Foundation are being as effective as someone that follows his teachings would be.

Destry Brink

What's Next?

2011-03-01T19:53:00.000-08:00

Hey Stellar Fans,

Do you know what is next for you? If not, why not? Since having goals is constantly littered inside most self-help literature, I should cover it too. There is a lot about goals you can learn by reading up on the subject, and I would advise that you do.

So I will assume most of you have participated in New Years Resolutions, right? Good, that is somewhat of a start. I have learned that a lot of those resolutions consist of "give up" goals.

Examples:
"I'm gonna lose XX pounds"
"I'm gonna pay off XXX debt"
blah, blah, blah, blah

There is a part of your brain that brings to your awareness things that you consistently think about. Have you ever bought a car, or wanted a particular type of car? And then, began noticing that car everywhere you went? Those cars did not just appear. They were always there. However, in the past, your brain filtered that information out of your conscious awareness because it didn't think it was important for you to know about it. Once you put that thought in your brain though, the filtering process changed and began showing you how that car is in abundance.

So what does this have to do with the goals? Well, look at them again. POUNDS, DEBT, ECT.

1. Think about what you do want, not what you don't want. Your brain took the subject and started working on it. So you thought 4 door Chevy Cavalier, now you are seeing a bunch of cavaliers. Your start talking about debt, even though you want to get rid of it, you're still talking about debt. That is what your brain will start working on, showing you more debt.

2. Infiltrate your life with it. Thinking about it is not enough. Make a poster board of pictures that represent already having achieved the goal. Get them off the Internet or find a magazine. If you want to lose weight, you are not going to cut out pictures of fat people. Put this poster board somewhere visible to you throughout the day. Make numerous copies. Have one on the bathroom mirror, at work, in the living room, kitchen, ect. Put it as a banner on your phone! Cover the interior of your car with it. There is no extreme here, any passenger in your car should LITERALLY be questioning your sanity. (find out what happened to Guglielmo Marconi)

3. Reverse Engineer It. Start from the point of having it totally achieved and start working backwards. If I would have achieved (insert goal here), what would have happened right before? So on and so on. Keep working backwards until you arrive at where you are today (you now know what is next).

TIP: Your brain is very intelligent (actually beyond your capacity). Use this last process in helping you reach your goals:

1. Pick someone that already has, is, represents what your goal is (dead or alive, does not matter).

2. Ask them, imagine asking them, or read about them!

You will get the answers.

One final note. Making a plan, poster boards, and all that jazz will not carry you to your goals. YOU HAVE TO GET UP GET OUT AND GO GET SOMETHING! YOU HAVE TO DO SOMETHING EVERY SINGLE DAY, NO MATTER HOW SMALL, THAT LEADS YOU TOWARDS YOUR GOAL.

Now go do something about it.

Destry Brink
destry@stellarremix.com
http://www.stellarremix.com/

Keep Your Cool

2011-03-01T14:16:00.001-08:00

Hey Stellar Fans,

From time to time we all lose control of our emotions. Allowing something to take root in your mind and control you in a negative way is a disease. Avoid it at all costs.

High Emotion = Low Intelligence

Just today, I fell subject to this transgression. I am human, and as a human I tend to be a prideful creature. It seems so natural. In thinking over my experience I had earlier today I came to this realization……..

When another person speaks or acts out against you, it is because they are hurting inside. If this person sets in motion an act or deed that arouses your negative emotions just laugh it off. Just pretend, (and I literally mean pretend, DO NOT DO THIS) asking this person if their mother held them too much, or not enough? Then laugh about it. They are the ones hurting! Giving into their passive aggression only shows you’re weakness, not theirs.

Think of emotions like this:

Positive emotions of passion, desire, and love will propel you too the top. You cannot get to the top of any endeavor with out emotions that serve you.

Now….

Negative emotions do the exact opposite of positive ones. They will drag you down to the bottom just as fast as positive emotions take you up.

If you have found yourself already “reacting” to a situation with negative emotions, do the following…. and I know this may be hard, do it anyway.

Apologize and walk-away. It will be the smartest decision you could make. It may not feel right, and that’s fine. That is only your negative emotions not wanting to be shut up. Your negative emotions will act as a sickness that grips your entire body. They change how you think, act, make decisions and your overall level of biochemical functioning. Apologize and walk away, you are not giving another person power by apologizing but you are taking it away.

I inherently believe we are put here for achievement and success. So few people reach those things. I have learned, a contributing factor to failure is the inability to control your emotions.

Below is my actual reply to someone that had aroused my negative emotions today:

XXXXX,

I know this is getting to be a bit much. I just want to apologize. This is not the life I want to lead. I'm sorry if I ever slighted you, believe me it was not intentional. I harbor no ill feelings toward you and if you hate me, then that is your choice.

Destry Brink

Mad Scientist

2011-02-28T13:17:00.000-08:00

Hey Stellar Fans,

I had produced a video two years ago that gave a brief answer to: What constitutes a person having, it? My response that followed was also documented in an earlier post of this blog. So, I am not going to repeat myself. I am however going to embellish on it.

Would you consider Tiger Woods to be an experienced golfer? How about Lance Armstrong, is he an experienced cyclist? Without knowing either of those two personally, would you say they are passionate about what they do? I would have to answer in the affirmative for all of the above. How about this aspect…….. What do you think the competitions thought process was, in regards to competing against these individuals?

Begin to develop first the mindset of having competitors that fear competing against you. This shift in focus will now provide purpose and direction to your actions when nobody is watching.

Rahm Emanuel recently overcame a lot of adversity to become the Mayor of Chicago. I want to introduce some media quotes that were used by his competitors after he won:

"Running against Rahm felt like waking up every morning and running face-first into a gale-force hurricane," Ken Snyder, media strategist for Gery Chico, told the Chicago News Cooperative.

Carol Ronen, a Democratic committee member in Chicago's 48th ward and Emanuel supporter, told the Chicago Tribune that it was like Emanuel "had a nuclear bomb and everybody else had a fly swatter."

“The show of force by Emanuel -- known for his aggressive style and often profane mouth –“
You can read the full article by following this link:
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/onpolitics/post/2011/02/rahm-emanuel-chicago-mayor--1-2/1

Now that is what you want your competitors thinking when they have to face you. Taking on that mindset, how can you NOT set in motion, actions that would lead to outcomes of your goals. Declare WAR on yourself and go to battle. You have heard that we are our own worst enemies, right? Well then, wake up, smack yourself in the face, and stop wasting time.

I write to you today amidst a haze produced by dry ice and potions. My laboratory is filled with beakers and colored chemicals. I am a mad scientist and my competitors wish my early death.

Destry Brink

Ambition

2011-02-25T15:01:00.001-08:00

Hey Stellar Fans,

I am putting this information out there because I want to help you, ironic because, I need help too. I have learned to live a passionate life, I have a lot of potential, I am committed to my goals, and I am not anywhere near where I want to be. This is okay, I’m not discouraged, life is a progressive course with many highs and lows and bends in the road. There will be setbacks that can make aspirations of wanting more vanish in a second. I have learned that most people don’t even “hope” anymore. What is the use? If I put myself out there and fail, then I am a failure, right? NO!!! The most successful people in our culture have tried many times before they reached any level of success.

I have come up with a personal manifesto, if you will, on the beliefs I hold on “WHY PEOPLE FAIL.” These beliefs were not developed from a lifetime of studying success or failures. Most of these beliefs came from studying myself, and the individuals I have been fortunate enough to be in contact with. Personally, I failed far more then I have succeeded. I have seen internal pain manifest in tears, I have dealt with stories of tragedy, comedy, etcetera, and I am compelled to share with you first, why I believe I am qualified to have such a “manifesto”:

ME: I grew up in an abusive household. I last saw my Father when I was 8 or 9 as three police officers wrestled him to the ground in our living room. One of my persistent memories of my father was when two of my siblings and I were eating at the kitchen table with my father to my left. The telephone was on the kitchen table between my father and I and it rang, (I will never forget this) I tried to grab it and my Father brushed my hand away, I thought this was a fun game. It rang again and I tried to grab it, he brushed my hand away a second time. At this point, I have a big smile on my face and I feel like I'm going to win this little father/son, cat and mouse game. It rings yet again and I get the phone off the hook (even at that age I was very crafty), the caller asks for my Father, I hand him the phone, he grabs it with his right hand and his left hand appears out of the corner of my eye swinging towards me landing square on my nose.... HARD. I fall off my chair, run to the bathroom holding my nose from spewing out anymore blood, after all staining the carpet could warrant getting hit again. I'm now in the bathroom looking in the mirror at myself, my gaze drifts slightly up and to the left in the mirror to see my mother standing there, no words spoken, no actions taken, eyes locked. I love my Mom and eventually she got us out of that household, but I just can't forget seeing her standing there... and nothing.

I have read, heard, and have seen many scenarios that were much worse than how I grew up, but the truth is the truth to the individual. I love the line in the artist Fifty Cent’s Song: "death gotta be easy, cuz life is hard. It'll leave you physically, mentally, & emotionally scar'd." I have multiple knife scars on my hands (defense wounds), chest (didn't get to defend that one), two scars on my forehead: One, attacked by a Doberman Pinscher; Two, fell in the bathtub and bent the faucet. Two scars on the back of my head (visible if I cut my hair short enough), and a permanent bend in my nose (baseball bat), I think nothing of getting stitched up or taking them out. I have seen my mom and older brother violated so many times that it felt like the sun rising in the east.... just another day.

Though these are the experiences that taught me what I thought to be the facts of life, I still realized the possibility that life is beautiful and achievement is possible. I have outlined below some of the content provided in our seminars. So with no more gilding the lilly:

WHY PEOPLE FAIL:

1. Not yet disgusted with how things are.

2. Definite major purpose in life is unclear, not concise, not measurable, and not radically realistic.

3. Inability to learn from past mistakes or constantly in a state of denial.

4. Inability to project future scenarios and strategize for all possibilities good or bad.

5. Un-reasonable or no strategy to over-come obstacles (they come as a test to prove you are worthy of your desired outcome).

6. Lack of commitment and tendency to lean on crutches (excuses) to the desired outcome.

7. Insufficient support structure, ridicule from trusted sources, resentment or envy from others that infiltrates the mind.

8. Improper attitude/outlook on the reality of life.

-Destry Brink