I Love Process

"One man's trash is another man's treasure." MacGyver Mentality is the ability to see the opportunities in ordinary things and commit to transforming them to aid in the pursuit of your vision. In committing to this mentality the hard and precise rules begin to bend and allow more leeway and flexibility in producing outcomes. Jiddu Krishnamurti had a story that fits with this theme. "The devil and a friend were walking, when they saw a man pick up something from the ground, look at it, and put it in his pocket. The friend said to the devil, "What did that man pick up?" "He picked up a piece of Truth," said the devil. "That is a very bad business for you, then," said his friend. "Oh, not at all," the devil replied, "I am going to let him organize it."

Acres of Diamonds is revised and told once again. This classic tale from Russell Conwell gives us a vivid example of a farmer who is dazzled by the allure of millions in searching for diamonds. In this episode we bring to life this story so that we may take heed from it's wisdom. Russell Conwell founded Temple University by retelling Acres of Diamonds over 1650 times. This story is one which can be read periodically due to the potency of it's message. It gives a new meaning to "MINE YOUR BUSINESS." How many areas of our lives are going under utilized as a result of our own lack of awareness? Knowing that we overlook the obvious places can give many of us hope that we are not as far off as some would want to think they are.

Hilaire Belloc

There have been seasons in my life up to that point where I've felt completely invincible. So invincible that I shift my expectation into certainty in the blink of an eye. All the evidence in the world would not be enough when my mind is locked in during that state of invincibility stage. The catalyst for pursing this new dream stemmed from listening to a personal development weekly subscription cd. I was a member of Nightingale Conant's, Insiders Edge program. A segment of one weeks cd featured a presenter named Michael Wickett. He share a portion of his journey that had me wide open.

The Toco Wickett Christmas Dinner. Each year two gentleman would get together and write down their goals and support each other. After 4 years of this they proclaimed that they should do it around the world. Eventually they made it Salzburg, Austria. The storytelling he provided opened up my entire imagination. Each morsel he provided caused me to lean in and savor the details of the story. I connected with his emotions and passion in the story. Dude visited Motzart's home. Come on!

So for New Years of 2004-2005, all the resources of the Universe converged to open the way for me to visit Italy. For 10 days, Italy was a playground for me. From Rome to Milan to Florence (Firenze) to Sienna to Pisa and back to Rome.

I was struck by a magical lightening rod on day one of the trip. It's a rare individual who steps outside of your comfort zone that you won't be change. Initially being so far away from familiar you cease. You naturally tense when hearing a language unfamiliar to your own spoken by everyone. You recoil and a litany of rationalizations flood your mind, "I don't want to be the type American and talk to everyone in English," "I wonder if I attempt to speak, will they jump in with English." This evolves to trying and not being understood to ultimately bridging the conversation with the most fundamental of mannerisms with your hands and body to communicate.

Traveling has an inner component that is virtually impossible to share with the uninitiated. The most you can do is let your passion and enthusiasm be the proverbial passport to others imagination. Initially you want to share these peak experiences with the world and others. There is no denying that something shift inside you when you first hear that stamp pound a new entry in your passport upon entering a foreign country. That when the travel bug rears it's head and clamps down it's fangs deep into your flesh.

Who would I be without travel in my life? That's a scary question to consider. It's so interconnected to the fabric of who I've become that it almost sounds like nonsense to consider any alternative to it. I don't use it to describe who I am. At one time, I self-identified myself as a traveler. Now over the last 10 years, I've come to understand my place in the world as a global citizen. I am part of the myriad groups of people spread across this earth. It's such the blessing to be able to easily orient myself with the world. To have the curiosity to explore and be open-minded enough to listen and seek an understanding about how cultures and groups have adapted to this world of OURS.

Common sense teaches us that one size doesn't fit all. Within travel this still applied.

Travel is less about where you go, as much as it's about who you become.

I challenge you to continue to grow. Continue to cultivate those undiscovered parts of yourself that desire activation.

Resources + Curated Content: [YouTube, Articles, Books, Authors] :

Personal Development

Nightingale Conant: Nightingale.com

Michael Wickett: The Toco Wicket Christmas Audio [Dropbox] AUDIO FILE

Travel

Nomadness Travel Tribe

Air B&B

The Flight Deal http://www.theflightdeal.com

Google.com/flights

This episode is crafted around how a few choice question assisted in my ability to attack complacency. Malcolm X once said "Sitting at the table doesn't make you a dinner." Buying a pair of Jordans doesn't make you a baller.Ideas without action are worthless. To make these ideas happen we must engage now.

It was the spring of 1998. Honestly around this time of year. It was Black History Month and at that time in my life there was a strong desire to have a more understanding of my culture and heritage. It's one of those things growing up that felt life an emptyness waiting to be quenched. I would compare it to what I've heard adoped kids struggle with to know who their parents were. I had that same sense around knowing more about my racial and cultural history.

At that point in my college carear I was felling the effect of stagnation and lack of verticle growth. I was a junion in my second year of being an RA (resident assistant). I went from being a Freshman to looking over Freshman. Being around the same mentality of people stunted my growth and I was ready to grow and continue to explore the possibilities available to me.

One evening I happened to find myself in a friend room engaged in an intense conversation. It began like most conversations do with small trivial happenings of the day. One way or another the conversation shifted into more of a serious nature. It was still lighthearted but it the subject matter became personal.Sitting across from me, my friend asked me a question. "Rahim, did you have a vision for who you wanted to become by the time you finished college." This question had lit me up. If ever there was a question that could be answered with conviction I knew this was it. I approach answering it with a confidence and gravitas of Michael Jordan with the ball in his hands down one at the end of the game. This was easy because I had given it a significant amount of thought.With my chin up, chest out, eyes lock on his I stated, "Yes. Over the years, I've constructed this vision for who I wanted to be by the time I finished up here. I want to be a hybrid between two movie characters. The first one is Marcus Gram, Eddie Murphy's character from Boomerrang." A few years before college, this movie had given me the visual blueprint for what African Americans like myself could be in business. I said, "Eddies character was sharp. He knew business and carried himself like a boss." Instantly, my answer resonated with my friend. That look of agreement passed between our faces. Little did I know that this movie had inspired him as well to choose marketing as a major.

"The second person I want to be like before I graduate would be Fudge, Ice Cubes character in higher learning. Dude was about his black history."

I could tell that my answers struck a cord. In my mind, I knew that a hybrid between those two were a winning combination.

My friend nodded his head as if to say okay, then proceed to continue his line of questions.

"How much time do you have left?"

"A year and a half"

I could have realized that he had been setting me up the whole time. Pragmatically answering the question didnt give me the opportunity to really digest the implication of that question. But before my mind could grasp the enorminity of the question he let go of the one question that would literally shift the direction of my life.

"How close are you to achieving it?"

This question was like a figurative ice bath in how it shocked me into alertness.

"I am nowhere near making this vision for myself a reality."

He didn't even have to follow the question up with anything. I could feel the expanse between where I was and where I wanted to be. The canyon of sorts lay there before my feet and my commitment to becoming that vision burned brighter than ever before.

I had no idea that this innocuous meeting between us would have the profound impact on my life. The lack of achievement at that point in my life could be directly attribute to the ignorance from not understanding the paths to achievement. I called myself on the path to achieving these goals just by virtue of being on a university campus on course for a degree.

Fast-forward six months. I was not that same person who idly waited for the world to beat a path to my door. I engaged the world. I engaged my curiosity. I had myself into the current of life itself and consumed books and information around everything black history. Saying I read 50 books would have be a gross understatement.

I would stand at the ground floor of the library challenging myself to imagine what the world would be like if I knew only 1% of the information contained in the library. But the beginning of the next academic year I was part of a team of three who constructed an exhaustive exhibit chronicling the rich history of blacks in America for our University, I was lecturing on the topic, and traveling sharing my new found insights and love for the subject. In 6 months, I became an authority on the subject of black history.

Those simple questions along with the exhibit that was produced transformed my life radically. It activated me. Activated to me mean that inner torch was lit. The most powerful feeling a person can experience is invincibility. Knowing there is nothing you can't do, be or have changes you.

Looking back on thos question, I can see their power in a different light. Malcolm X once said, "Just because you're sitting at the table, that doesn't make you a dinner. Eating makes you a diner." There has to be a point that you engage. For you own growth and personal development, you have to take your life by the reigns and begin directing. You are the director.

This episode is dedicated to each of us living. I know that the season of life has it's births and deaths. Our slogan begins with, "In the middle of our game of life" Life is our process we are exploring. We've all had those seasons when we been blinded by something where the months added up and we were not engaged in life. When we reach its end will we have "LIVED?" It's a critical question. Through our dialogue we examine this question and more about bringing our best to each day.