Category: Success

It is not about where you start – It’s about what you do next! — YNOT! Sometimes I joke that I should write a book called Black Privilege, because no matter how hard I tried, there were always Black people, women, immigrants, and plenty of others who were smarter than me, more talented than me, worked harder than me, or simply beat me. And that raises a question I think America needs to talk about more honestly: How much of our future is determined by where we start — and how much is determined by what we do after … Continue readingBLACK PRIVILEGE VS. IMMIGRANT PRIVILEGE

You are not your statistics, your mistakes, or your circumstances. Success begins when you stop asking what life gave you and start asking what you can build with it. –YNOT   STOP LISTENING TO EXCUSES.   I recently read a debate about successful Black women, income statistics, college degrees, racial disparities, generational wealth, and all the reasons some people have a harder road than others. And yes, some people absolutely start life with advantages that others do not. Life is not fair. It never has been. But somewhere along the way, we started making a serious mistake. We began confusing … Continue readingYOU HAVE EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO BECOME THE BEST PERSON YOU CAN BE — AND HERE IS THE PROOF

Most fortunes begin with something small: a conversation, a kindness, or a drink somebody didn’t have to buy. — YNOT! Many years ago, I was riding a train between Washington, D.C. and New York City. I was sitting between two gentlemen. We exchanged a few polite words, the kind strangers do when they know they’ll probably never see each other again. One of them got up to get a drink. Before leaving, he asked both of us if we wanted anything. We both said no. A few minutes later, he came back carrying three drinks anyway. He sat down, handed … Continue readingThe Smart Young Man that knows how to say hello

“Never put passion in front of principle. Even if you win, you lose. Wax on, wax off. ” — Mr. Miyagi If I were a modern samurai, I wouldn’t be prowling dim alleyways with a sword tucked in my belt. I’d be standing right here, same Wi-Fi, same mortgage, same inbox full of “urgent” nonsense that never quite earns the urgency. The battles aren’t on horseback anymore—they’re inside your own skull. And let me tell you, that’s a far meaner battlefield. Steel is easy. Thoughts? Those things cut both ways. The old master Miyamoto Musashi said a warrior wins … Continue readingIf I Were a Modern Samurai, Id catch a fly with chopsticks just to…

Wealthy people work on Sundays. – YNOT! There’s a little secret floating around in the air on Sundays. Most folks can’t hear it — the TV’s too loud, the brunch line’s too long, and their minds are busy rehearsing whatever they’re already dreading about Monday. But the people who rise — the ones who build the kind of life that doesn’t wobble every time the economy sneezes — they hear it just fine. Because wealthy people work on Sundays. Not in the miserable, nose-to-the-grindstone way people imagine. No — they work like gardeners, trimming and shaping the week before … Continue readingThe Quiet Rule of Sunday: How Wealthy People Stay a Step Ahead

A man who shrugs at everything soon discovers life has shrugged right back at him. “Whatever.” One little word that says so much — and often means so little. It’s the sigh of the teenager who’s too cool to care, the shrug of the worker who’s seen too many broken promises, the anthem of a world that’s tired of trying too hard. Somewhere along the line, whatever stopped being a doorway to possibility — “whatever you want to be, you can be” — and became a wall of indifference: “whatever… I don’t care.” We raised a generation that learned … Continue reading🌀 The “Whatever” Generation

  Your Mind is the Builder of your Futures! -YNOT Read it again… Every mind has virtually unlimited capacity to understand the universe — it’s just a matter of learning how to connect ideas. Think of your brain like the internet: once you learn the right links and pathways, you can reach higher levels of thought. Don’t let small, distracting worries clog your bandwidth; clear them out and focus on how to build the connections that let insight flow   Back in my day, if a man wanted to take down his thoughts, he needed a pen, a scrap … Continue readingThe Tools That Multiply the Mind