212 Degrees

The McMurry Football team this year decided to put "212" on the front of their football helmets. When I asked one of the players what it meant, he told me about the difference between 211 and 212 degrees.

211 degree water is really hot, and will burn your hand when you touch it. Otherwise, it is really not anything except hot water.

212 degree water, however, is so hot that it BOILS, and can power steam engine boats.

The only difference between these two is ONE DEGREE!

I thought about this, and came to the conclusion that many people are just one degree from taking their lives to a totally new level of improvement. Their level of intensity only needs to improve just that little bit to get where they want in life.

While many people spend most of their day wasting time, especially when their 9-5 shift is over, what can you be doing to take it to that next level? How can you minimize wasted time during your shift in the day and raise the intensity just one more degree to get so much more done?

There is not much difference between highly successful people and people that aren't. It is usually that extra little bit that the highly successful person does that makes the difference.

I encourage you for the next week to consciously watch yourself when working and put that extra little bit of intensity into what you do.

Until Next Time,

T-JACK

Take Action To GET IT DONE!

Long Time No See.. It has been a few weeks since I have blogged because I have been too busy living! (It's a good problem to have). In the meantime, if you haven't checked out my brother's blog (leaderofthepack.wordpress.com), you are missing out!

Before I get to today's topic of Gettin It Done, I will catch you up on what's been going on in my crazy life.

First, I went to the Tyga and Shwayze concert on September 24th and had a blast. Since T-Jack-T Entertainment sponsored the show, I had All-Access VIP passes. Here is a pic of me and Tyga.

We ended up spending the night in San Angelo and partying it up! The next day was my 23rd birthday, and the party was nothing short of amazing. Here is a pic from before we left to go to the club..

Since then, I have been busy selling pumpkins with my roommate and business partner, Ross, for our company "FLO-TOWN PUMP CO." Our motto is "GET PUMPED!" We have had quite a bit of success, and I am excited to see just how many pumpkins and how much money we can make out of this whole business.

Back to the topic of gettin it done. Yesterday, I was inspired because normally Tuesday is my day to have the pumpkin trailer. Being that tons of people came in my room late last night and kept me up, I didn't get much sleep and slept til around 10 AM. Once I got up and going, there was no stopping me. The reason was because most of the time I spend alot of time thinking about what I'm doing, and taking very little action on it. I compare my thinking to action ratio something like a iceberg. What is above the water is my action, and below the water the amount that I think.


When I finally took off yesterday, I decided that I was about to flip that ratio, and start taking action. Instead of sitting out in a vacant lot and waiting for people to come to me while I thought about my future moves, I decided to keep driving around to places and making more moves than I ever had before. I began to take MASSIVE ACTION.

The results were incredible. Instead of cold calling people and sitting in a vacant spot, I drove to places, unannounced, and started selling pumpkins like CRAZY! The best place, though, was a bit of an accident. I was turning around to go drop some pumpkins off at my bank, when I saw a store called "Garden Place". I decide to roll in there, and before I can even make it inside, the entire store staff is out there with carts, picking out pumpkins left and right. The store owner, without talking to me for more than a minute, tells me that he would like us to start bringing them TRAILER LOADS of pumpkins for the rest of the season! Incredible.

So at the end of the day, because I flipped my thinking to action ratio, I made over three times my daily average!

Did I get some no's along the way.. Absolutely. But they were easy to brush off with the HUGE amount of benefit that came with the yes's that I got!

BOTTOM LINE: Most people are lazy, and don't think or take action. Some people think alot, but don't take much action. Some people take lots of action but don't think. The KEY is to be between the last two. Think, process data, and take action with what information you have at the time. It is much better to get a NO and know you went for it than to get NOTHING by being in your head and not taking action!

Try this out for one week and you will be surprised with your yes's and results!

T-JACK

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

I was in my educational psychology class the other day when a very interesting topic came up. The topic was self-fulfilling prophecies.

A self-fulfilling prophecy in education is when a teacher stereotypes a student as say "bad at math." Because the student realizes the teacher thinks he will be bad at math, and has low expectations of him, he fulfills these expectations by struggling to low grades in math. On the opposite end of the spectrum, had that same teacher had high expectations of the student, the student would have worked much harder to meet those standards and expectations set out for him.

If you are an entrepreneur, it is difficult to have clear set expectations for yourself because you don't have a supervisor to tell you what they expect of you. So it is VERY important to set GOALS and RULES for yourself in order to set high expectations for yourself!

If you are very successful, you probably have HATERS. The problem with not setting goals and rules is that you will eventually fall into the expectations of the haters! This is never going to help you succeed!

Bottom Line: SET HIGH EXPECTATIONS FOR YOURSELF AND RULES TO GET THERE! Do not become a SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECY of failure!

On another note, I am very excited about the concert going down tonight in San Angelo. Tyga and Shwayze are doing a tour, and although I am not the biggest fan of their music, MTV is putting the concert on with Big Sid of Playa's Choice, and I am one of the Official Sponsors. First Class is performing, as well as Fresh Out Da Block and Dreama Kid. It should be a good one, I will update you tomorrow!

Keep Hustlin,

T-JACK

Expect To WIN!

I have come to the realization that in a world where performance is king, EXPECTATIONS USUALLY DETERMINE PERFORMANCE.

Of course, this is not always the case, because if you aren't CONGRUENT with the outcome you are expecting, you are not going to achieve it. An example is a 130 pound guy that has never lifted a weight in his life saying he is going to go to the weight room and bench press 300 POUNDS! This is just not going to happen.

However, if that same guy worked out hard for a few years and got up to 170 pounds of pure muscle, and progressed in maxes up to that level, it is definitely a possibility that he will be able to bench press 300 pounds.

The main point of this blog is to tell you, no matter what, to SET YOUR EXPECTATIONS HIGH and expect to WIN EVERY TIME, no matter what the circumstances tell you!

Do you think David would have defeated Goliath if he didn't BELIEVE in himself 100%? Do you think you will ever get the hottie at the club if you don't BELIEVE you will? Do you think you will ever get a major deal or go platinum if you don't BELIEVE you will?

The answer to all of these is NO!
You have to set your expectations high, and no matter how much you are the UNDERDOG, or picked to LOSE, even if you do, your opponent and everyone else will have RESPECT for you because you got out there and put it on the line!

Sure, David could have gotten CRUSHED by Goliath, but he would have earned the respect of everyone else, same thing for the other two situations. You will NEVER get it if you don't EXPECT to get it.

In my high school running career, I got DESTROYED my freshman year at Regionals, finishing 129th out of 200 runners, where the top 10 advanced to state! So I wasn't even close. At the end of the season, my Dad brought me an article about the state meet, and highlighted the first place name and time. That day was the day I decided I WOULD WIN STATE. Sure, it took three more years for that to happen, BUT I made HUGE jumps every year because I EXPECTED TO WIN! And eventually, I did!

Go for it, and don't let ANYONE tell you you can't do something!

Keep Hustlin,

T-JACK

There Is No Such Thing As LUCK!

Anytime someone has alot of success, you start to say things like "Man he's so lucky. If only I had his luck I would be just as successful."

What a JOKE.

There is no question that a person must have BREAKS and OPPORTUNITIES here and there that come their way in order to be successful, but the KEY is you must be PREPARED TO STRIKE AT ALL TIMES!

In sports you have guys like Tom Brady and Tony Romo that roamed the sidelines as backup quarterbacks for the first few years of their careers, coincidentally both behind Drew Bledsoe, a hot-shot veteran quarterback. They didn't whine or complain to the coach about getting an opportunity, in fact, they were almost anonymous to the general public! But in both instances, Bledsoe went down with an injury, FORCING THEM INTO ACTION. Both could have flopped and been replaced by the next guy. But Brady and Romo both took the opportunity, held on for dear life, and made the most of it! Now they are two of the top quarterbacks in the league, both Pro-Bowlers!

This is just one prime example, but I could go on and on. You have artists that grind for years in the Underground, just trying to sell a CD. They work at their production, beats, and lyrical content until it is top notch. All of a sudden, a record label executive is at a show they have and signs them on the spot. Was that just LUCK that got them that signing? Most people would probably say YES. "If it wasn't for the executive being there, it wouldn't have happened." This is TRUE. HOWEVER, if they hadn't gotten their production, beats, and lyrical content down before the show it is likely the executive would have just ignored them!

Another example that relates alot with guys is that HOT 10 that you see at the bar every weekend that MAYBE you'll get "LUCKY" with this week. The truth is, if you ask the guy that ends up bringing her home tonight (which will probably not be you if you have the above attitude), he will tell you it had NOTHING to do with LUCK, and all to do with being PREPARED (having his mind right on the inside and reflecting it on the outside with his DRESS and BEHAVIOR) to meet a HOT 10 and bring her home that night!

Do yourself a FAVOR and stop thinking of other people or your successes here and there as LUCK. Look at it as "LUCK IS WHEN PREPARATION MEETS OPPORTUNITY"- Seneca, 1st Century Roman Philosopher.

Keep On Grindin,

T-JACK

Why You Should Love HATERS

Look out below! HATERS are EVERYWHERE!

If you're a successful person at any level, you know what I'm talking about. It seems like the more success you have, the more people try to bring you down.

I see it all the time. In professional sports, you have fans that love you when you're putting up amazing stats and winning; but the second you mess up one time, they're all of a sudden booing you, hoping they pull you and put your backup in.

You have highly successful organizations like the New York Yankees and Dallas Cowboys. Sure, they both have TONS of fans and are good year in and year out. As many fans as they have, they probably have 10 times the amount of haters that cheer against them, game in and game out.

Any time I have had success in life, I have had haters. Haters come in all shapes and sizes, and come from some of the strangest places. The same guy that is your best friend at work when you're both associates becomes your worst enemy when you get promoted to manager. Your labelmates on your record label that will do anything for u when you're underground, but make diss tracks about you when you go major. The girls you consider your friends that love you when you date girls that are like them, but turn in to monsters when you date a girl that is clearly more attractive then they are.

I could go on and on. The point is, if you have haters, you should LOVE them! It means you're doing something RIGHT! Usually haters are people that are UNCOMFORTABLE with the amount of success YOU'RE having, because it makes them feel BAD about THEMSELVES, and/or THEY wish it could be THEM having the success!

One great example is the movie Envy with Jack Black and Ben Stiller. who are best friends in the movie, where Black makes an invention and suddenly gets really rich. This creates a strain in their relationship where Stiller is trying to get Black to live their former, normal lives, while Black is living the high life. Stiller is stuck as a HATER because he is ENVIOUS of Black's success and it makes him UNCOMFORTABLE!

Another example is CRABS. If you have ever had a bucket of crabs and tried to pull one out, all of the other ones latch onto it and try to PULL IT BACK DOWN! HATERS are alot like crabs, in that they would rather keep someone down at their level than see them rise above!

If you're a successful and driven person, get used to haters, they're not going anywhere! If listening to them motivates you towards your goals, great! If not, focus in on your goals and go towards what you want, not caring at all what ANYONE says that you CAN'T DO !

I will close with two quotes, both probably overused, but they never get old to me!

"Just do it!" Nike

"If they hate then let em hate and watch the money pile up!" Kanye West

Keep Rockin,

T-JACK-T

Dealing With Failure

Every once in a while, all of us have failures and disappointments of sorts. When you expect things to be a certain way, and the circumstances don't pan out to be what you imagined. You release a new CD and expect phenomenal sales, and it flops. You ask a hot chick in class on a date and she turns you down. You plan a huge event that you expect people to flock to, and hardly anyone shows up.

I can relate to the last one very well. Last night, my partners and I in the West Texas Party Patrol had our first party. We wanted to start with the high school crowd because we felt that in Abilene, the high school crowd has the least amount of entertainment. We passed out over 4,000 flyers, made a Myspace and added all of the under 18 year olds in the surrounding Big Country, wrote a newspaper article, and even got on the #1 Radio Station in town, Power 103, and gave away tickets! I set my sights high. I wanted a SELL OUT!



The buildup looked amazing. With all of the area high schools, we were thinking we would easily hit our bottom line, break-even point of 350 students in the civic center that can easily hold 1,000!

Seven o'clock comes, we have everything set up. The stage, the dance floor, the DJ, the lights, security, VIP section.. EVERYTHING!

There are probably 20-30 kids waiting to get in. Great. So we get our start, get the music bumpin, and more kids trickle in.

8 o'clock. Kids still trickling in. 9 o'clock. Slowing down. 10 o'clock. Artists arrive ready to perform. Kids start to leave! 11 o'clock. Yungsta rocks the crowd of 20 KIDS that is remaining! 11:30 PARTY IS DEAD.

My partners and I COULD NOT BELIEVE how disappointing the turnout was. Lets just say, I lost a few dollars. Am I disappointed? Yes. Now that I am a little down, am I going tuck my tail between my legs and QUIT or GIVE UP?

HELL NO.

ANYBODY can deal with success. It's gravy when you're on top and EVERYTHING seems to be going your way. But it is the TRUE CHAMPIONS that deal with failure appropriately and end up back on top. What do these guys do?

1. REFLECT on what happened, and how to correct it. Do you think I'm going to do the same thing this time that I did last? NO! I'm going to break down each step of what I did, what I could have done better, and analyze them.

2. Put the failure BEHIND you, and MOVE FORWARD. After my analysis is done, it's time to move onto the next project, not letting my success or lack of success have any bearing on what I am doing now.

3. Work SMARTER. Correct the mistakes made last time and do things DIFFERENTLY this time! For the longest time, I used to think the answer was always to WORK HARDER. To some people that are lazy and have no work ethic, sure, an increase in workload will dramatically improve your success. But as hard as I work at what I do, the answer is work smarter.

I've seen guys that go out to meet women at the club, and every week, they think their "FORTUNE" is going to change. "This is going to be my lucky day," they say to themselves. They do the same thing week in and week out, and get the SAME RESULTS! This is the definition of INSANITY. You MUST work SMARTER and LEARN from your MISTAKES if you want to improve upon failures and disappointments.



I gotta go back to Kanye for this one.. His song, "Stronger," has a GREAT chorus. "That that don't kill me, can ONLY MAKE ME STRONGER." He calls out his HATERS and anyone doubting him, and lets them know, if they don't kill him, he will be BACK, STRONGER THAN EVER.

So that's what I'm doing. Last night was a MAJOR disappointment. But did I wake up this morning? Yes. I am still alive, and BEST BELIEVE I'm coming back with my next event BIGGER AND BETTER THAN EVER!

You have to have that attitude, or you will never make it!

Keep Hustlin,

T-JACK

Self-Efficacy

Right now I am taking a class in college called "Educational Psychology". Sounds like a great class, right? Haha. Not at ALL what I was thinking when I walked in for Day One last week. Turns out, when I actually opened the book and read it, I encountered a large amount of topics on how people learn things as children that translate to how they relate to the world and behave as adults.

So I'm in class yesterday, and halfway daydreaming when my professor was talking about how she used to come in to save low-performing schools on the state mandated tests.

She then said the #1 DIFFERENCE in successful schools and unsuccessful schools was that the low schools had teachers and students with a LOW SENSE OF SELF-EFFICACY. In other words, these schools had teachers that said it was the student's fault for low performance, and students that said it was the teacher's fault for low performance. EVERYONE WAS BLAMING EVERYONE ELSE BUT THEMSELVES!

How does this relate to you? Self-Efficacy is when a person believes they are competent enough in an area to complete a task. When the teachers believed it was the student's fault, they didn't take into effect that maybe they weren't doing a good job teaching! Vice verse for the students that blamed the teachers, when they weren't working hard enough to learn the material!

If you haven't already, it is TIME for you start believing that you can do what you want to do, learn what you want to learn, and be who you want to be. So many times I hear people with a low sense of self-efficacy play the victim role. "My life is hard because my boss doesn't pay me enough." "I can't be successful in life because I was brought up in poverty." "But T-Jack, I have ALREADY TRIED to lose weight!" (one of my favorites). "I can't get a date with a hottie. I am just not their type!" Stop playing the victim role and take PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY for your actions and the outcomes that arise from them.

Your boss doesn't pay you enough. Did you ask for a raise? Has your PERFORMANCE at work been DESERVING of a raise? Finally, if all of these are yes, GET A NEW JOB! Or, better yet, START YOUR OWN BUSINESS AND BE YOUR OWN BOSS!

You were raised in poverty, so now as an adult you are still living in it. What are you doing EVERY SECOND OF EVERY DAY TO GET OUT OF IT? Do you have any WASTEFUL time/spending habits that are keep you there? Are you SHOWCASING the TALENT that you do have? What does a WEALTHY person do DIFFERENTLY on a DAILY BASIS that you don't?

You have already tried to lose weight. Did you go to the gym 3-5 times a week for 6 months? Do you have a balanced, healthy diet? Did you have a PERSONAL TRAINER or workout partner to keep you accountable and working HARD at all times?

You can't get a date with a hot chick. Why AREN'T you their type? And honestly, WHY DOES THAT EVEN MATTER? You have to be the guy that is CHOOSING THEM. Are you actively GOING OUT to places where the so-called hotties GATHER? Are you CONFIDENTLY approaching them? HONESTLY, do you need a MAKEOVER or a serious change in your WARDROBE? Are you an INTERESTING guy, and are you showing them you're INTERESTED?

I have just solved all of these problems I see people living with on a daily basis. I know it is alot easier to type it than do it. People playing the victim role need to adopt the motto, "If it is to be, it's up to ME!"

STOP blaming others for whatever you're lacking in your life and GO GET IT!

Keep Hustlin,

T-Jack

Being The UNDERDOG

We've all heard of the phrase the "Underdog" that is heavily favored against in whatever endeavor they are undertaking. The classic example is David and Goliath in the Bible. David is not expected to have a chance against his powerful foe, yet he takes Goliath out with a stone to the forehead!

You have the Cinderella teams that make the BCS bowls like Boise State and beat the heavily favored team (Oklahoma), teams that make the NCAA Final Four that barely made the 64 team tournament in the first place, and finally, PEOPLE that are born as ZEROS, expected to be WORTHLESS, such as Helen Keller, and end up becoming HEROES because they have alot of the traits I mentioned in previous blogs. Most of all though, alot of these people have the UNDERDOG mentality that FUELS them to feats most people that were ever in a similar situation would consider IMPOSSIBLE because they had the DEFEATIST attitude!

My brother Trent (leaderofthepack.wordpress.com) inspired me in this blog to really think back on my personal successes. When I was serious about track in high school, I would always have the underdog mentality. My Dad would always help me out by saying things such as "What is ____ (my main rival or someone that had beat me) doing today? anytime that I would take the day off or not work very hard.

Realizing that you are not the VERY BEST in your particular endeavor, hustle, or whatever you do should motivate you to get out of bed every morning. I know it motivated me every Sunday to wake up at 6 AM all alone and run 12-15 hard miles. By my Senior year, I had won the State Championship, and the WEIRDEST thing happened.

All of a sudden, I was NO LONGER the UNDERDOG! It was the weirdest feeling. All of a sudden, EVERYONE it seemed, believed in me! I was EXPECTED to win every race or it was a DISAPPOINTMENT! It got to the point that I stressed myself out and got injured. It is unreal how hard it is to stay HUNGRY for success when you're ON TOP.

The reason why you sometimes see the people rise to the top, then sink back down is because they let me MONEY and SUCCESS get to their HEAD. They forgot how much hard work, blood, sweat and tears it took for them to get to that level!

When I finally got my head on straight, I realized what I needed to do to maintain that underdog mentality: In whatever endeavor you want to pursue, make sure you ALWAYS surround yourself with people that are BETTER than you are. If this is not POSSIBLE, (it usually will be but it is possible that it's not), surround yourself with others that are not on your level yet, but JUST AS HUNGRY for success and are BITING AT YOUR HEELS for the TITLE!

Do you think I would have lost the HUNGER if I would have had a teammate that was as good as I was? NO! I would have had to work harder just to maintain my position. Same goes for a younger teammate that wanted to take my crown. It may make you work harder, but it is a GOOD THING because it actually makes you BETTER.

Having an older brother definitely helped me with this. Trent would almost always beat me in everything we did. I was naturally small built, so whenever we played sports he had the advantage. Being around someone BETTER than me FORCED me to step my game up in order to COMPETE!

You see this in the wild all the time. There is a saying about every day in the Jungle, the Lion and the Antelope are having a race for SURVIVAL. Just because the antelope survives one day, he can't get too proud of himself and lose the UNDERDOG mentality or he will get EATEN by the lion. On the other side of the coin, the lion can't get too proud of himself for killing one antelope that he doesn't hunt the next day or he will STARVE to death!

BOTTOM LINE: No matter if you're an Platinum selling artist with a major deal, or an artist that has yet to sell a single album, you have to wake up everyday with the UNDERDOG mentality, and that today is YOUR DAY, THERE IS NO TOMORROW. If you wake up everyday with that mentality, there is no doubt you will eventually make it!

Keep Hustlin

Tre "T-Jack" Thomason

ps: Check out Trent's related posts "Adapt or Die" and "How To Beat The Hell Out Of Someone Bigger Than You" at http://www.leaderofthepack.wordpress.com/

Stop Caring What People Think!

If you read my last blog, you know EXACTLY where I'm going with this after you read the headline. If you want to be the best at what you do, want to rise to the very top, you will FIRST have to STOP CARING WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THINK ABOUT YOU.

"But wait T-Jack, I thought to get to the top you have to have the approval of others!" You might be thinking.

Well the truth is, you are only halfway correct. To get to the top, yes you will need the approval of others, in CD sales if you're an artist, or positive references for projects, and venture capitalists that are willing to invest in your cause. BUT before you can get these people to believe in you, you have to BELIEVE in yourself 100%! You have to APPROVE OF YOURSELF!

Take Kanye West for instance. He wears the most outrageous clothes, and comes across as overly cocky to some people. But when you watch his video "Good Life" (Link here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyEoaOmcSBo ) you can tell that he could CARE LESS what ANYONE ELSE thinks about him, he is living the GOOD LIFE because he BELIEVES that HE IS THE BEST !! If you don't believe you are the best, NO ONE ELSE WILL!

Do you really think that the artists that make it to the top come to promoters and label execs and say "Hey, here is my best music, hope you like it." NO. The BEST come with the attitude that their music is the best, and everyone else should think it is as well. And the weird phenomenon that occurs most of the time (unless the music is truly GARBAGE!) is that EVERYONE STARTS TO THINK IT'S THE BEST MUSIC OUT THERE!

It is as simple as that. I get a lot of demos sent to me nowadays, and sure, some of the artists have the right attitude, but the WRONG music. Others have GREAT music but don't believe in themselves and come at me with an APOLOGETIC tone, like "Sorry to disturb you, hope you like my music."

Let's be real here.. Do you REALLY think that you're going to make it to the top if you come at people like that? RESPECT is one thing, COWARDICE is another. When I push artists, CD's, and shows, I do respect the PROFESSIONAL opinions of others. But if I truly believe 100% in the artist's work and abilities, I'm gonna have the attitude of "Here is what I got. Either you like it and buy it or SOMEONE ELSE WILL!"

BOTTOM LINE: Do all the research you can, make your music (or whatever your hustle is) the best it can be, and BELIEVE THAT YOU ARE THE BEST at every Performance, Interview, Recording.. Basically everything you do.

The ONLY caveat you should be wary of is coming across as OVERLY COCKY. No one likes an artist that thinks they're the best, and has no respect for anyone else. So INTERNALIZE this as much as possible, especially the BIGGER you get in the industry. Kanye West does not come out and say "I'm The BEST", but it is downright obvious in his lyrics and mannerisms that he believes this to be the case. ALWAYS have respect for others, but do not let ANYONE talk down on you. GIVE respect, and DEMAND it back.

Keep Hustlin,

T-JACK

There is NO TOMORROW!

"There is no tomorrow!" This is one of my all time favorite quotes that comes from Apollo Creed in Rocky III. (Here is a You Tube video clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlbKn8_p3vk) Rocky has just gotten DESTROYED by Clubber Lang and is training with Apollo Creed, but he doesn't have a sense of URGENCY in his training. As Apollo is jabbing him in the face over and over, Rocky says "Tomorrow", meaning that he will work harder then, and Apollo responds with his famous quote "There is no tomorrow!" Shortly after, Rocky is seen looking in the mirror as the quote runs through his head.

All of us, at one time or another, needs to look in the mirror and have this quote running through our head. Like Tyler Durden said in the movie Fight Club, "We are all going to die."

Why then, are you not going for what you want TODAY???

THERE IS NO TOMORROW! If there is something you want in life right now, it is time to take ACTION and GO GET IT! Stop waiting until all of the circumstances are PERFECT, because the truth is THEY WILL NEVER BE!

In my own life, I have only recently starting living with a sense of urgency. I looked up and realized that I am 22 years old, and will be 23 in less than a month. I am in the PRIME of my life. What am I going to look back on when I'm 30, 40, 50 and say, "Man, I wish I would have done ____ differently!" I shortly answered my question. Live EVERY DAY like it's my last day on earth.

One way I have done this is to be slightly different than others. I began to force myself to get up early. If today is my last day, I need an early start!

Second, I began to be more friendly to others, and create bonds with people everywhere I go. If today is my last day, I want some people to remember me fondly!

Third, I started getting rid of TIME WASTING Habits, and things that are not making my life better. There is no time to waste!

Fourth, I started living with a sense of urgency! That means making decisions must faster, not putting things off. Steve Pavlina has a very good blog on decision making that helped me with this. I will post the link later! EVERY DECISION, including important ones, in 60 SECONDS!

Fifth, no more being PASSIVE. Going for what I want, when I want it! Instead of letting the cute girl at school, the club/bar, or church (those places go great together, right!) slip away, trying to make a CONNECTION with her TONIGHT! That means, no matter what, getting a phone number, going for a kiss, further if I want it to!

6th, being the LEADER of my own life! Not letting someone else tell me how to live my life unless I ask them.

Finally, and most importantly, STOP CARING WHAT ANYONE THINKS! This is the most powerful for me. More on that in my next blog post.

Doing these things has really and truly CHANGED MY LIFE! Follow these seven rules and you will have the life of your dreams! Most people live for tomorrow, and not enough today. Instead, PLAN for tomorrow, and LIVE for today. You will be much happier that way, I GUARANTEE IT!

Remember, THERE IS NO TOMORROW. Listen to Tim McGraw's "Live Like You Were Dying", and this should help bring home the point!

CARPE DIEM

Tre

Someone Has The Answer

I received a phone from my brother Trent (leaderofthepack.wordpress.com) the other day that truly struck a note in my head, and caused a major epiphany. In his message he said, "No one is ever truly the "expert", most people that are successful have such a drive to exceed that, when encountered with a problem they do not have an answer for, call or find someone that does!"

That was huge for me, because I have always been a "do-it-yourself" person. I then realized that the answer is to go for things and have 100% FAITH in your ability that either you can do whatever it takes, or YOU WILL FIND SOMEONE WHO CAN!

Do you really think Bill Gates, Albert Einstein, Henry Ford or Thomas Edison were know all geniuses that got to the top alone? NO!

The truth is, they all were 100% CONFIDENT in their own abilities, and had 100% BELIEF and FAITH that if they couldn't do something, someone else could! Einstein himself had trouble with math. This didn't stop him from coming up with E=MC2! All these other famous men also had very large teams of SMART, HARDWORKING people that helped them achieve their goals!

I relate this alot to myself, and how I became the athlete that I did, as well as the successes I've had in the music business thus far.

When I was trying to do things on my own, it always took much longer and the work was more tedious. Once I got a coach that knew what he was doing, and had a history of success, I started making LEAPS and BOUNDS towards my goals, knocking off more than a MINUTE off my 2 mile race and 30 seconds off my mile in 1 Year!

The same thing is the case in the Music Business, except even more so. I had tried to get started with promoting for a while. It wasn't until I starting making connections that things started to happen! I then realized that it doesn't matter if you are the best promoter, or best artist or band out there. If you don't have the NETWORK and CONNECTIONS, you will NEVER MAKE IT! It is worthless in today's music scene to be a Jack-of-all-Trades. Because then you have too much to juggle, and because you are GOOD at many things, but GREAT at none, you will likely never make it to the TOP.

So you can rap, but can't dance? Hire a choreographer. Need beats? Hire a producer. Need graphics? Call a graphic designer. Don't know how to do business? Hire a manager. Want to get well known? Hire a promoter. Realize that most of the people are just as HUNGRY as you are for SUCCESS, and, working as a team, you can accomplish a whole lot more in a short amount of time, AS LONG AS YOU BELIEVE!

CASE IN POINT: Soulja Boy. Let's be real here. As far as talent wise, it is too early to tell what this guy can offer as far as flows. But what got him a #1 Single on the Billboard Charts was HYPE. He put his video on YouTube, and had 100% BELIEF and FAITH that his single and dance were the shiz. He then found someone to get him in front of record and radio execs, and the rest is history. They had the ANSWERS he was looking for. Now he's a MULTI-MILLIONAIRE.

CASE IN POINT 2: Lil Wayne. Lil Wayne was a skinny little teenage kid that had 100% belief that he was THE BEST, and made sure to call Baby every single day with flows included until he got his chance. Now Lil Wayne is celebrated as the best rapper alive! He found someone with an answer and took advantage!

Until Next Time.

Tre

Desensitization

"Anyone can become desensitized to any stimulus, if exposed to it enough."

This thought echoed through my mind yesterday as I was working. Why is this relevant?

Growing up, believe it or not, I had an intense anxiety of social situations. Looking back, it was because, for many years, we lived way out in the country, where my only contact with other people was school and our antenna TV. As I grew older, I cherished my time alone, self-absorbed in front of the computer or in my room. I had friends, but never let them get too close. When I took up running, I realized this was also an escape from reality of social situations. I took out my frustrations on the track.

It wasn't until college that I made a conscious effort to get over this. I tried alcohol. This made me talk to more people, but not very well because I was a dumb drunk!

I finally did some research and used the process of systematic desensitization to help me get over this problem. Check out http://www.guidetopsychology.com/sysden.htm for more details about the process. Basically, I forced myself into uncomfortable situations until they weren't uncomfortable anymore! Instead of sitting at the house on the computer, I went to the bar/club. Instead of sitting at the bar/club not talking to anyone, I made myself start with ten conversations with women and men. I then upped this to 25, and made the majority of them with women because I found them harder to crack. I then forced myself to dance.. etc.

Now, only a few years later, I am a CONCERT and PARTY PROMOTER!!

My whole point is this: most people live their lives in a hypnotic state, in fear of change. I am living proof that if you have a fear, you must face it down and desensitize yourself to it as soon as possible. That is the only way you are ever going to get over it.

CASE IN POINT: The Olympics. Some of those people on the high dive and balance beam come within INCHES of a major injury every time they perform a flip or dive. However, they have become so desensitized to this fear of falling or hitting their head that they could do it with their eyes closed. Wake up people!

"You're going to die. This is as good as it gets" Tyler Durden
Carpe Diem

Tre