Never Stop!
Faith ~ Think and Grow Rich (Bossing Up #27) by Della Mbaacha
Burning Desire ~ Think and Grow Rich (Bossing Up #26) by Della Mbaacha
Thoughts are Things ~ Think and Grow Rich (Bossing Up #25) by Della Mbaacha
Cover Your Basis (Bossing Up #24) by Della Mbaacha
Write Out My Creative Process. (Bossing Up #22) by Della Mbaacha
You're an Athlete. (Bossing Up #21) by Della Mbaacha
Manumission (Bossing Up #20) by Della Mbaacha
Bossing Up Formula. (Bossing Up #19) by Della Mbaacha
The Law Of Averages. (Bossing Up #18) by Della Mbaacha
Reward Myself At The End Of The Day. (Bossing Up #17) by Della Mbaacha
Meet My Basic Needs. (Bossing Up #16) by Della Mbaacha
Take A Day Off Every 50 Days. (Bossing Up #15) by Della Mbaacha
Critique My Work. (Bossing Up #14) by Della Mbaacha
visual: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqvzEwtuMDw&t=37s
Cultivate A Love For People. (Bossing Up #12) by Della Mbaacha
Create a Bucket List. (Bossing Up #11) by Della Mbaacha
visual: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eau4byco6T4&feature=youtu.be
Teamwork Makes The Dreamwork. (Bossing Up #9) by Della Mbaacha
Visualize It. (Bossing Up #8) by Della Mbaacha
Count The Days Until. (Bossing Up #7) by Della Mbaacha
Build Up Slowly. (Bossing Up #6) by Della Mbaacha
song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pw90OreHb-8
Artwork by Zeren Badar. Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aWkhuAu8go From reading a book I just bought I stumbled across this Theory on human behavior brought about by Sigmuead Freud. The idea is states that there is a driving force in all humans that seeks for pleasure and avoids pain. When I stumbled across this idea I knew it had me peg. There is a side of me that I have to constantly fight so that I can go about my life and get projects finished and make progress in life. There is a part of me that does not want to accept the harsh reality of life. This side wants to willing stay in the dark because ignorance is bliss. Finding out about this idea makes me more relaxed. It relieves anxiety because I now that I know that this is just an aspect of human nature I don’t have to guilt trip myself when my productivity stifles. Learning about this idea makes me understand more why things like goal setting and delaying gratification are effective. There is a force with us that seeks for pleasure and avoids pain. It’s good to seek pleasure and its wise to avoid pain. Though a lot of times rewards are on the other side of pain. A lot of times one has to embrace experiencing pain to accept the reality of matter.
Today I learned the benefits of reinterpreting other people’s style. I was watching this video on auction houses selling paintings that honestly look like chicken scratch for millions of dollars and I found out that a painting that Picasso made in one day sold for $106 million dollars. At first I wouldn’t let myself believe this. It’s still hard to believe this because it makes me question what am I doing in college? If a guy can make a painting in a day and years later even after that guy passes away that very same painting he made sells for $106 million dollars then why am I not investing my time into doing something like that? I was befuddled when I learn this and I even stopped what I was doing and went to take a walk. After a few little while I realized that the value of my college education transcends monetary value. I still wanted to learn more about Picasso so I watched a documentary on him over the span of a couple days and learned that he would habitually reinterpret the styles of other artist's paintings. I learned from this documentary and a bit extra research that Picasso would go to The Louvre repetitiously to stare at an artwork that he wanted to reinterpret. After some time he would do his on rendition of the style. This technique of adopting someone else’s idea and embodying it in their own work echos a similar programming philosophy. From what I learned so far a good practice in programming software is to build on the back of someone before you's work. This enables one to be more efficient because instead of starting from scratch one can focus on improving. Why reinvent the wheel? It’s alway easier to improve someone else's idea. I first rejected this way of going about one’s work because it seemed to diminish creativity. There is something about creating something from scratch that just seems cooler. But after a bit I realized that almost everything is built from other things. Nothing just comes out of nowhere. One idea leads to the next idea. Many things like the iPhone, Uber, and even Ice Cream Sandwiches are composites of different ideas. Learning this makes me want to work with others more, it opens my eyes to the fact that the world is full of good ideas to use. One of the best things about the concept of reinterpreting other people’s ideas is that for the most part information is free so it’s almost like a free for all on ideas. So the #1 thing I learned from that documentary on Picasso is to increase my tendency of reinterpreting other people’s ideas. If I see somebody doing something in a way that I feel is pretty dope than I should do my own rendition based upon their work, if Picasso is humble enough to do that so can I. Ending Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4N83L29yGKI
Today I learned how essential it is to embrace making sacrifices. It can be easy to think that all can be done at once. It can be easy to overload oneself up with various obligations. It can be easier to put width over depth. I’ve found through that when I overload myself with various things I find myself not doing as well as I could of. Sacrificing one thing for the other requires extra thought and also a strong stomach. It’s difficult to do so I think because one is deliberately narrowing their possibilities. For creative types especially thats difficult. A lot of times sacrificing one thing for the other leads one to take it more seriously. When things are sparse it’s easier to see what is most important. Embracing sacrifices allows one to measure their desire in real time. It can be easy to say that I have a strong desire to be happy to do well in my life but until I make the sacrifices, on the daily, to actually move towards those things then I haven’t seriously committed. The desire can be measured in the sacrifice. I think this idea is really important because seeing yourself sacrifice one thing for another makes you value what you choose more and thus take better care of it.
It dawned upon that I could get my myself to operate more on a longterm basis if I give myself a reward for holding on a bit longer than I usually do. I always knew this but I never put it into practice as much as I could have. At the end of semesters when I was at community college I would get Taco Bell because it was close by, but I would get Taco Bell or McDonalds a couple times before that so it wasn’t really that special. I put this idea into practice when I was setting goals for the month of January, if I achieved all the monthly goals I would nudge myself to go see one of my favorite rappers, throughout the month I was thinking of how dope it would be to go to the concert and be in amongst that energy that a rap show has. This gave me more strength to dig deeper and accomplish the monthly goals. Rewarding Oneself for achieving one’s goals makes me more patient anymore goal oriented because the reward for behind achieving the goals is more tangible.
Today I learned I learned the importance of considering the the alternatives. This is something I Gary Vee has been a big proponent of. The idea dawned into my head one evening as I was waiting for the bus. I was upset because of how much school is demanding from me. It feels like most of my waking time is out towards school and that makes me feel uncomfortable because I fear that I’ll find myself ending up just like everybody else. As I was waiting for the bus I saw a security guard I see frequently was near where I was standing and was talking loud enough for me to here about how had plans to pursue music over the summer and how he was hopeful that things would get better. I felt a bit better seeing him so hopeful because it reminded me that I was on the right track for me. It reminded me that without a foundation one can only hope. It reminded me to concider the alternative. Doing so shows one the options on the table. There is no option of doing nothing. One has to do something eventually. I realize through considering my alternatives that I’d rather be struggling to build my foundation than start over to pursue a dream that will probably take 10 years to see a significant return.
For some reason i remembered this clip of I watched many years ago of Bruce Lee explaining how one should empty their mind be like water. In this clip he explains how water when put into anything can take any shape. If it is put into a cup water assumes the neccsary shape. If it is put into a teapot water assumes the necessary shape for that teapot. I think that way of seeing oneself is interesting. The way I see myself and the attitude I hold play a big hand in my results, I found it’s that way for others too. By emptying my mind of myself and my beliefs and seeing myself as an entity capable of taking the necessary shape to fulfill the goal I know I can do a bit better. Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJMwBwFj5nQ
Today I learned the importance of keeping the dream alive. I’ve seen what it looks like from my own personal experience when you quit and years later you still have the same ambitions. I’ve seen what it looks like when a man has unfulfilled ambition and maybe feels like his sacrifices for his family are not being appreciated. Jim Rohn says you loose automatically when you quit. It seems it’s harder to to get something off the ground. It’s takes more energy to get something off the ground than to keep it going. Just by pursuing a dream daily I’m keeping the dream still s possibility. Sacrifices have to be made to get ahead, but sacrificing the dream for the future for a more practical present will not lead me to the most fulfilling life.
This guy Christy Brown is the physical manifestation of “Never Stop.” I found out about Christy Brown from an assignment I had to do for a Psychology class at Montgomery County Community College. From then on I’ve been amazed by this man. He was born with Cerebral Palsy resulting in him only able to use his left foot. This troubled him heavily as one could only imagine. But this did not kill his spirit. He still found ways to express himself by becoming a writer. This far from reading his autobiography I’ve learned the importance of having a support system. This man’s mother, Bridget Brown, is undoubtably a world class mother. She was more than a mother. This man family supported him and loved him and I believe that made a big difference in Browns life. I’ve also learned the built in need humans have to channel their energy towards something. Brown recounts how he felt like a prisoner in his own body, it was writing that gave him the opportunity to express himself full heartedly. Lastly I’ve also learn to cherish my independence! Just being a able to get up and go where I want is a gift. It is a gift that unfortunately some are not granted. Brown was bound to his wheel chair and had to be fed and washed. Be able bodied permits independence and that is a blessing.
Today I learned that cleaning room makes me more practical. Through this semester I’ve realized how I got ahead of myself. I realized how I forgot how easy it is to discard the fundamentals of what push me further than I was. Right now my grades aren’t a true representation of who I am. This is because until very recently I put working on myself before completing my school work. My thinking with this was that the more I improve upon myself my grades would improve as well. So I put practicing disciplines that had nothing to do with my course material before studying and completing assignments. It’s impressive how many times I’ve made such a mistake in my life in many different ways. I always heard a voice in the back of my head that I was going about it the wrong way but it wasn’t until I saw my midterm grades that I got the kick that needed to make a dramatic change. This realization all came about as I was cleaning up my room. From doing so I saw how as time passes and action occurs small messes occur. These messes don’t make themselves apparent because they are spaced out. Though when they brought together it is obvious that they have a considerable effect on their surrounds. For me this small mess was the habit taking my school work lightly. Through cleaning up my room more I’m more rooted in reality. I see that messes are made all the time. And if they are not taken care of when they are small it will be exponentially more difficult to take care of then when they are large.
Prepping for my exam in Applied Stat & Prob.
shownotes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1r40krdfNTPwP5OrDfifw8ppwjw0SwdXmMo2eJ8NxrV8/edit?usp=sharing ted talk: https://youtu.be/bEusrD8g-dM
Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody's going to know whether you did it or not. ~ Oprah video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbUvTbD9q4A shownotes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/12r8cfGGSMMQZ-1vsqhLUPGuBq8ZKca0lbDL22VltBsc/edit?usp=sharing
There are more stars in our Universe than grains of sand on the Earth's beaches. ~ Carl Sagan Shownotes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/17ZgiBmXBNVv6EpMRnSpWgfmKRffNHaQhbpUK3gGi_Is/edit?usp=sharing
show notes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RvuJza8IvV1aoK-7M1I4x5_mUs39M9LKQ6A42Up9XwY/edit?usp=sharing
Gaius Ebande Mbaacha B.A(History) M.B.A (Finance) M.P.A (Mgmt) January 1, 1952 - May 20, 2019
show notes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jfxZzqHVvOFZkmZ2NsAYbfklQZ8cNpRf2tyucm6b14A/edit?usp=sharing
Today I learned about muting my ego. I went home on Tuesday because my uncle was in town. I’d always had great respect for my Uncle because he seemed to be a person I would want to be like. He is always calm, he is kind, and he is always so generous. I knew going home I would learn from him and that’s exactly what happened. With just the two days I spent with him I was reminded of his peaceful nature. I observed him conduct himself in a way of a man who is at peace with himself. I observed him conduct himself in a way of a man “who had nothing to prove.” He is of course human and there were times when his ego did show. But overall it was obvious that this man let go of his pride a long time ago. Observing him eventually led me to this idea today. My uncle is not only a humble, peaceful man but he is also one of the most successful people in our family, in practically all areas of life. It is now obvious that his humble manner is correlated to his success. I believe that his conscious or unconscious practice of a restrained ego has yeilded him more of a peace of mind, more focus on what is truly important in life, and made him more of a contributor to socecity. The negatives that come to mind when thinking about this idea are that it is a delicate balance, sometimes a little more ego is necessary. Sometimes you have to remind yourself who you are and what you’ve done to take on the next challenge. Another negative that comes to mind is that in putting this idea into practice people may see your humbleness as a sign of weakness and prey upon it to their advantage. Particularly in the world of business. Though, these people can only do so for such a short time. Poor behavior always exposes itself. I’ve had my struggles with ego more so than ever. With living in Baltimore I’ve adapted well to dealing with the negativity of others. I’ve come to embrace the petty intimidation games that come my way. I’ve come to find myself testing other people for fun. That is wrong. That is prideful behavior. Testing other people for fun is not a good longterm habit. It is a prideful act. I’ve observed that a common trait of people who are unsuccessful is pride. My ego is always going to be present so I’m going to always have to fight it. One way to break out of it is to cling to a purpose larger than myself.
Today I learned about organizing the week, the benefits of doing so and the negatives of doing so. By 'Organize the week’ I mean to invest time and effort into setting goals and making plans for the incoming week. It is a step by step process. The first thing I do is Rewrite the reasons why I plan the week. The second thing I do is read what I want my life to look like in the next next five years. The third thing I do is write down the things I want to accomplish by the end of the week. The fourth thing I’ll do is type up these goals into an Evernote. Then starting with Saturday I’ll make a list of goals for each day of the week derived from my original list. The sixth thing I’ll do is plan the accomplishment of these list of each day on Google Planner, starting with Saturday as well. One benefit is that upon writing down a list of goals for the week their is now a baseline for the week. I can now measure whether the week was fully utilized or not. Another benefit is that one is more likely to capitalize on the opportunities the week will present. Sometimes opportunities pop up and luckily I’ve already got the goal on my list for the day ready to be checked off. One of the most important benefits I believe is that it gives the week direction. One keeps doing this over and over and it’s pretty obvious that the small steps one takes to get ahead pushes one further as time goes on. The negatives as far as I can tell are few. It just takes time. It just takes practice. It just takes patience. Small price to pay. Organizing the week is a good way to make sure your life is going in the direction you determine. Formula: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1c7Aoq6TOj5KvrgURPL79AjW7iRmkmL5ITG4N1ztXOw4/edit?usp=sharing
Today I learned about attracting respect. I was walking on the sidewalk and I saw someone else coming in my direction. I quickly moved to the shoulder of the sidewalk where the cars driving. I then noticed the other guy did the same. I read this as a challenge to my position but that wasn’t going to happen. So as we walked closer and closer to each other I stared him down and right before we bumped into each other he moved out of my way but gave me a shoulder bump I’m passing. He then turned around and said “Excuse you.” With a look expecting me to excuse myself. Unfortunately for him I did not. I just walked off. Something told me that he was going to follow me as I turned the corner so I braved myself for the worst. When my prediction prove correct and he met me facing towards him he tried to intimidate me by pretending he had a gun in his pocket. I looked at his pocket and saw nothing. I saw that all he wanted to do was save his ego so I called him “brother”’as a means of communicating that he was my equal. The last thing he said was “I don’t want to see you around here again.” Then he walked off. That interaction reminded me of how most of us are starving for respect. That interaction showed me that the best way to get respect was to attract it. By attracting respect I mean by conducting oneself in a way that an objective person would deem that behavior respectful. Attracting respect means that one understands that it can always be rebuilt through one’s own actions. I think this idea is beneficial because it means that you don’t have to put people down to have other people’s approval. It means you observe your behavior and be objective. You ask yourself “If somebody did what you just did would you respect them?” The downside to this idea is that it takes longer to attract people respect. No one is perfect, there are going to be times where I do things I’m not proud of. It takes constant effort to behave in a way in which the objective person who deem respectful. But it’s better than the alternative. Buying respect only works in the shortterm. Forcing respect is likely to backfire. Genuine effort and patience are things that garner the respect of the objective mind. Nelson Mandela’s father was always the last to speak when gathered with his fellow tribesman.
Today I learned about rejection therapy. I was trying to figure out how I found myself on a way to date. I was retracing my steps and realized the thing that got me on a date was just going through a lot of rejection. For about two months before the date I had made it a discipline to introduce myself to a girl who I found attractive. Anywhere I went if there was a girl I found half way cute I would finagle my way into a conversation with her. Each time I did I wrote what I could of done better, studied it frequently, and overtime I got better at courting females. It just makes sense that eventually after two months I would find a girl that wanted a sip of what I was selling. Each time I got rejected I realize how I easy and easier it got to just move on to the next person. I realized from this past two months that embracing rejection gives one the ability to be uneffected by it, it instills confidence, and it increases activity. After facing rejection so many times it was something that I did not fear anymore. In a way I welcomed it because I knew I wouldn’t let it stop me. Eating rejection for breakfast means to deliberately put yourself in a posistion to be rejected. Do something where the person is likely to say no. This makes one more resilient, more confident, and more willing to go after what they want. It’s easy to half ass this idea and give a half hearted attempt in the act of putting yourself up for rejection but doing so would be missing the point. Putting a sincere effort forth then getting a ‘No’ in return makes you stronger and more able for the next time. You’re going to figure out a way you could of went about it better and be on the lookout for the next chance. It becomes a game. People in general take rejection poorly. This causes bad behavior. Upon receiving rejection I’ve seen people do things for short term wins which eventually are the things that lead to the end of relationships altogether. James Comley the originator of this idea was paralyzed by rejection when his wife left him. He receded into himself. But it was when he realized that embracing rejection was the first step to carrying on with his life. I’m putting this idea into practice by just putting myself up for rejection with girls that I come across, I’m still in the act of courting them but if I get rejected by them I carry on. I think this is a beneficial idea because putting it into practice avoids having a stagnant love life, embracing rejection builds self esteem, and it makes one more willing to go for what they want.
Today I learned that I need to do one thing everyday. Starting out last semester I was apprehensive of about taking Calculus 2. I was warned that it a very difficult class and that many students fail on their first attempt. This made take extra caution. I had seen for myself how difficult the class would be by just the first couple of concepts discussed in the beginning lectures. I began looking for ways to increase my ability to learn. I stumbled across a video called How to Learn Anything Fast. The guy in the video talked about how to get good and anything you really just need to put in 40 minutes of focused practice time for 30 days straight. The concept seemed so simple so I put into practice with my Calculus material and the idea beared fruit. I earned a B in my first exam. With doing calculus problems daily for at least 40 minutes I noticed the positives one reaps when they have a daily discipline. For one I noticed it was so much easier to do other coursework and other disciplines when I got my daily discipline out the way. I noticed it was so much easier to be consistent in the long term longterm with other things because I was deliberately consistent in the longterm with one thing. I also found an increased ability to force myself to do what is necessary when the time called for it. One thing that is absolutely required for this idea is a serious commitment. Without a serious commitment to one discipline then there is no way one can reap the benefits of it. Something i didn’t expect to happen when putting ithis dea into practice was how much more order my days seem to have when there was something I would do everyday no matter what. I think this idea is very important because it makes one more action oriented, it develops ones skill to a ever increasing degree, and it also makes one more likely to stay on track in the longterm. video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtJy69cEOtQ
Today I learned that Everybody wins when Everybody’s honest. I was waiting for the train to come back home from visiting my mom, sister, and brother and felt somebody staring at me. I turned to my right and there was a very attractive girl gradually coming close to me on the escalator where I was standing near. I thought about what to do and I decided to distance myself from the girl. So I stepped away and created some distance from where she would likely stand when she got off the escalator. I turned and looked at her and she looked at her phone but had her body position towards me. I thought about going towards her to say yellow but I decided not too. Eventually the train came and as I walked in her direction to board the train she walked in the opposite of mine to reciprocate the rejection I had served her. I thought about why I had rejected her so immediately. It was simply because I had been rejected not an hour ago from another girl so I wasn’t so willing to try again so soon. Later on that train ride I her the girl I rejected in a casual conversation with the person across from her. From what I heard the conversation ended aprubtly and on bad terms. I had a feeling that the negative energy I delivered to the girl had influence that conversation she had with the person sitting across from her. Later that day I realized that had I been honest with myself and admited that the real reason why I didn’t want to engage with the girl who started off smiling at me was because I feared being rejected twice. Instead of being skeptical as to why she was so inviting to me. That moment taught me that Everybody wins when Everybody is honest. Meaning that being honest with oneself not only benefits you but also the people around you. Pushing yourself to reveal the truth in your own mind makes it easier for others to do the same. Lies easily take root and they grow fast. By practicing honesty for ones sake and the sake of others lies in your vicinity are less stronger because you don’t partake in them. With practicing honesty you see people pickup lies that you know they know are wrong. You see them aim down with amusement. This caused me to loose hope for these particular people. This caused me to be temporarily against particular types of people. But to loose hope in another person would mean to one day eventually loose hope in myself. It seems that since ‘Everybody wins when Everybody is honest’ this means ‘Everybody looses when Everybody is dishonest’. Widespread dishonesty breaks up all types of human relationships. Dishonesty breaks up family’s. Dishonesty breaks up friendships. Dishonesty can even ruin the most productive working environment. This is the case because dishonesty tends to steer things in the negative. And it usually does this fast.
© 2020-2025 Ivy Podcast Discovery LLC
