A conversation with a media executive made me appreciate my voice and the opportunity to share it.
—
Chapter four of my new book, “Between the Dream,” is entitled ‘The New Suicide’ and the last two sentences are as follows:
“Be willing to put the maximum investment into your mental stability and your self esteem. When you do this, you will not only begin to see the difference, but easily fight off the mental distractions that cause the new suicide.”
The goal for penning pages referencing the new suicide was to inform dreamers of how we often kill our visions, yet doing no harm to the body, but still endangering our personhood.
For example, in 2013, I was recruited by Techbook Online, a news and event company headquartered in Philadelphia, to join their Board of Leaders and Doers, a cohort of thought-leaders, subject-matter experts and active citizens who produce content across disciplines and platforms.
I accepted the offer, though I wasn’t sure what to expect.
As I began writing and exploring various topics, there was always this voice in my mind saying: “This is stupid” or “no one really cares.”
It wasn’t long before those voices crippled me. I began to believe that my words, written and published in blogs, were pointless, and I should just stick to my core competency: public speaking.
I started doing the bare minimum just to stay on board with the company, not realizing the long-term value of what was being built nor the opportunities I missed to engage new readers. This feeling remained for almost a year.
It wasn’t until the spring of 2015, after an honest conversation with Techbook Online’s CEO, Mr. Christopher “Flood the Drummer®” Norris, did I understand the importance of my writing and not feeding into the discouraging thoughts of inadequacy that led me to attempt the new suicide multiple times.
The talk with Mr. Norris, who I befriended in June of 2013 while at a conference in Detroit, was the spark of life I needed; the bigger picture became very clear to me and my spirit was renewed.
There’s uniqueness in everyone’s voice and not everyone will love it, that’s what Mr. Norris taught me. I also learned that just because I feel like there’s no value in my work, doesn’t mean people aren’t watching me with high expectations.
This truth hit me like a ton of bricks last month when I was presented with the opportunity to have my written words published on fatherhood.gov.
What excited me about this opportunity wasn’t so much of who I was writing for, but the fact that my content, written while experiencing gross self-doubt, had been catching the eye of others in the social impact and social entrepreneurship space.
After “Parenting in a Violent World,” my article recapping a town hall meeting, was published, it became crystal clear that my discouraging thoughts were merely a distraction attempting to kill my dreams.
As humans, we have the tendency to feed into the negative thoughts that plague us. And after feeding those thought, we believe them wholeheartedly. And after believing it, we develop a habit of living out what we believe (so a man think, so shall he be), as I did just a short time ago.
It is important that we don’t give into our mental anguish because it can cause us to give up on the very thing that will bring healing to the rest of the world.
Today, I encourage you to give into the idea that you can and will be successful in everything that you do.
Despite how you feel at the moment that suggests otherwise, you are truly a magnet for miracles; you’re not losing in the game of life; you’re simply between the dream, so keep chasing it, keep running forward and keeping believe in your personhood, because you were created for greatness.
Thanks for reading!
—
Photo: (From L to R): Mr. Christopher Norris, CEO, Techbook Online; and Mr. Richard Taylor, Founder, Unashamed Nation. Photo Credit: TBO Stock – ©2015