Mental Health Training

Shawn Corey Carter

You may not know the name, but unless you’ve actively been avoiding all contact with the media and pop culture, you’ve doubtless heard his stage name: “Jay-Z” either from his record-breaking albums or his marriage to another influential musician, Beyoncé. Jay-Z has emerged as a hip-hop force to be reckoned with. His current net worth is slightly north of $900 million, but his origins are very much humbler and more unpretentious.

If you’ve heard the Billy Joel song “You May Be Right (I May Be Crazy),” one of the lines is “I walked through Bedford-Stuy alone,” as one of the “crazy” things he’d done. It was this neighborhood, Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn, NY, that saw the birthplace of Shawn Carter.

Life was hard from the start for the young singer. His mother raised him and his three siblings after his father walked out on them when Shawn was small. His home life was so rough that by the age of 12, Shawn claims he’d shot his brother in the shoulder for trying to steal his jewelry.

He attended school with such future luminaries as Notorious B.I.G., Busta Rhymes, and AZ.

Shawn Carter is an example of someone who started on the wrong side of the tracks and was making all the wrong choices. To help make ends meet, he sold crack on the side, likely responsible for him being shot three times. If he hadn’t had a passion for music, his story would have probably ended there, with him eventually winding up dead, like so many other kids who took the wrong path before him. 

But in the late 80s, early 90s, he was able to back up Jaz-O and Big Daddy Kane. Seeing a need to get out of the life he was in and desperate to connect with the world through his music, he recorded his CD. But he was unable to find a recording label to express any interest in him. Being in a violent neighborhood, unable to pursue his passion, Shawn took matters into his own hands, finding a solution on his own when none came to him.

He began selling CDs out of the trunk of his car. When no label wanted him, he created his own, Rock-A-Fella records. He then sought a distributor, signing with Priority. In 1996, he released his first CD Reasonable Doubt, and it flew to #23 on the Billboard top 200, eventually reaching platinum.

That success led to signing a deal with Def Jam. That next year, his upcoming album My Lifetime Vol. 1 was released. Though it sold better than his previous effort, he wrote it at what he later called “the worst time of [his] life,” during the mourning period for the loss of his childhood friend Notorious B.I.G. Contained in the lyrics, Jay-Z spelled out his early years and the difficulties he faced and overcame on his way to stardom.

Jay-Z found a passion for music and used that passion for raising himself out of a life of violence and crime. When stopped along the way, he found a way to keep going. When he hit a dead end, he created his solution.

Jay-Z is proof positive that you don't have to start with a silver spoon in your mouth to make it big. Even if you've made bad choices in the past, that doesn't mean you can't start making some right decisions now and in the future. You can succeed despite what may seem some terrible and very long odds.

Most of all, his story is a lesson in thinking outside the box. When one path turned out to lead nowhere, he forged his own, until he got where he wanted to go.

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Introduction

We all have bad days, false starts, times when we’re ready to throw in the towel and scream “It’s not worth it!”

Usually, when we reach this point, we’ve gotten to it through stress, anger, or injustice at something that has happened beyond our ability to control.  Whatever the reason, we end up feeling stressed, wondering just what’s the point in going on.

It’s times like these that we tend to look up at the celebrities, the people who walk the red carpet, who have the glamorous lives as though they are a different species as justification for why we’ve failed.

After all, they’re just someone who was destined from birth to be popular, famous, wealthy and quite untouchable. If you’re born to greatness, or maybe just incredibly lucky, then how could we possibly ever think to compete?

It’s thoughts like these that will stop us in our tracks every time.

Would it surprise you to know that some of these demi-gods went through extreme conditions before achieving success?

Sometimes even when they seem to be at the pinnacle of success, life throws things at them that they have to overcome before rising above it. People who succeed are people who try, who work hard, who don’t give up.

People like you.

So rather than looking at the rich and famous as a different species, consider that there are lessons you can learn from studying their lives.

What follows are stories which are hopefully inspiring and thought-provoking. Here you will find examples of people who have been wildly successful.

Why?

Because they never gave up.

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How was your last trip into nature? Did you learn anything about yourself? 

One of the biggest threats to our connection with nature is urbanization.

So many of us live in large cities, that nature has taken a backseat. This article takes a look at how us city-folk can maintain that connection to nature. https://lifehacker.com/how-to-fit-nature-into-everyday-life-when-you-live-in-a-1794467479

Whether you are an urban, suburban or rural denizen, there are many ways that you can invite nature into your homes.

Learn how you how you can grow and sustain nature with native plants.

One of the reasons we are losing our connection with nature, is because our childhoods are now dominated by technology and helicopter parenting.

If you want to raise a truly healthy and balanced child, then help them connect with nature 

Who wouldn't want to be happier, healthier and more creative? I am pretty sure everyone is raising their hands on this one. Well, one of the best ways to do that is to connect with nature. This book will tell you why and more importantly - how! 

One of the biggest problems with losing our connection with nature, is we stop learning everything it has to teach us. In this unique book, you will learn how to read nature's signs - just like our ancestors did for years before.

You should consider taking an inventory of your fears.

This is a great way to admit what they are. Once you do that, you will have a better chance of facing and overcoming them.

Many four-letter words are shunned from use as they are considered low-class to use them. Add the word fear into that list of shunned words so you can avoid it, too.

Not all fear is bad. In fact, it is something that can save your life in the right circumstances. What you don’t want to do is use it as an excuse not to take chances.

There is a reason people reference getting back on the horse after falling as a means of not becoming afraid to ride. It doesn’t give you time to think about the fall.

Rise above your fear and tackle the harder problems.

Your beliefs may drive your fears. If you believe you can’t do something, then you won’t be able to do it.

Therefore, it may be time to change some of those limiting beliefs.

Have you ever been told to go jump out of a plane?

It could be exactly what you need to get over your fears.

However, this is one of the most exhilarating experiences for people.

We like to think we are risk-averse.

But, then, we enter into situations that risk-averse people would never find themselves in. It’s a strange phenomenon.

When you get too comfortable, you should realize that is the moment you should be worried. It is the point when change often happens, and it blindsides people.

When something is easy, it is approached with a lack of fear. However, if everything you wanted to do was easy, everyone would be doing it.