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The Greatest Life lessons From The Greatest

    
    

    Dedicated to the Greatest

We've all recently heard the news that Our Great Muhammad Ali has died. The news actually made me cry a little bit. Because for years my dad raved about him. Told me stories of the hope he inspired. How his family and friends used to gather around the radio, just to hear word for word what was happening in the fight. That was until they became the first family on their street with a television. Needless to say, my dad spoke about him so much that the thought of Ali triggers thoughts of my dad. The ironic thing being that I learned lessons from Mr. Muhammad that I didn't learn from my dad, and also lessons that my dad taught me that Ali lived out and reinforced. As I became a man, I became a student of the boxing art, and I began to study Ali. Not just for his apparent skill level. But I studied his qualities and character. I fell in love with the strength in him. I have posters, books, movies, and documentaries all about Ali. So after the years of absorbing information and perspectives, here are a few of the lessons I've learned.

     1. Allow Yourself to Become

     One day young Cassius Clay and his brother Rahaman went to a show. Only to come back outside to discover his bike was stolen. His family was not wealthy, so losing this bike meant more than just walking home sad. In his process of reporting it. Someone told him that there was a police officer downstairs. Its interesting to see how this divine orchestration works. Because the police officer just so happened to be in this boxing gym. Ali says as soon as he walked in, he fell in love with everything about it. He began to tell the officer what happened and how when he found the thief, he was going to beat this person up. The officer (Joe Martin) told him he needed to learn how to fight before he went around picking fights. After this encounter with destiny, the young 12 year old boy who wasn't a fighter, became a fighter.

     All of us have had this encounter in some form or another. Most people ignore it. They become numb to the nudging and deaf to the voice of destiny. Ali listened. I was told by a multimillionaire one day, "sometimes your best isn't needed. You just need to do what's required." That bit of wisdom changed my life and allowed me to focus on what is important versus over exertion. Allowing yourself to become what you need to become focuses your energy and brings a strong since of identity. It frees you to follow your purpose and build on what your were designed to be versus what you were taught to be.

     2. Believe in Yourself. 

     I AM THE GREATEST! Billions of people heard these words rise from the spirit of Muhammad Ali. He devoured Sonny Liston, went to war with Joe Frazier, and made a mockery of the man who hit so hard, he made full grown heavyweights fly across the ring. Yes, George foreman himself had to take account of Ali's genius. I don't think anyone exemplified this any better than Ali. When you've dug so deep within who you are.  You've pushed yourself to the limits and have gone past what you thought you could do. You discover things about yourself that give you supreme confidence in your ability. Some people give it a negative connotation and call it arrogance. They'll tell you to tone it down and be humble. The truth is we live in a world of timid people who are fighting and trying their best to be "normal." So your confidence offends them. But Mr Ali teaches us different. He teaches us to exalt and proclaim your greatness. Win or loss,  understand and fall in love with your greatness. Never dull yourself down to make weak people feel comfortable. It's a warriors mentality at its purest form.
     3. Stand For Something. 
     Its 1967, Muhammad Ali is in his prime. Nobody in sight could touch him. He sustained victories over Cooper, Patterson, Chuvalo, Terrell just to name a few. All of a sudden the war in Vietnam has a huge flare. Muhammad Ali had been inducted to the U.S. draft. He then does something so against the grain it did two things. It first infuriated people. In the eyes of some Americans, denying the draft meant that you were "unpatriotic." The Ali camp received huge backlash from his denial, position against the war, and his comments. The second thing it did was inspired people. Most people understood that his position was strong and rooted in good morals. Being able to stand against the ridicule and hate to maintain your righteous position was a huge sign of bravery.
     My mom always said to stand for something or fall for anything. This is a call to again, find your identity and who you are. Knowing this is the only way to know what is acceptable in your life. Knowing who you are is knowing who you are not. Ali knew this, and he taught us this in an infallible fashion. By sacrificing his time, money, passion, title, and potentially his freedom.
     4. Have Faith.
     According to biblical text, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen."-Hebrews 11:1 Lets hone in on the, "evidence of things not seen" part. We live in a day in time where skepticism is a way of life. People wouldn't believe their own hand if it weren't attached to them. There's more to life and its inner workings than our eyes can see. And far past our level of understanding. That's why science is always playing ketchup ( Haha...get it? I meant catch up, but I said ketchup...oh never mind!). But fear of the unknown is what keeps the minds of people trapped in a box. This box is called logic. But faith on the other hand is the absence of fear. It is pure and highly concentrated belief. Having this will propel you farther than the well thought out facts and statistics.
     Ali definitely had this. As a child he would tell the neighborhood children how great he was going to be. "I'm going to be the heavyweight champion of the world." Of course they all would laugh. Especially because no one in his family was anywhere close to heavyweight size. But he did what few people are persistent enough to do. And that's make good on your promises. Faith allows you to borrow strength from the vision of your future and conquer the challenges facing you today.
     5. Understand Your Purpose.
     Muhammad Ali used to record some of the conversations him and his children had so they could listen to them later as adults. Coincidentally, these recordings came the centerpiece of the "I Am Ali" documentary. He to his daughter Maryum this profound truth that I want us all to learn. He said, "Maryum everything Allah made has a purpose. the trees have a purpose- What's the purpose of a cow?...What's the purpose of the sun?...if the sun, trees, animals, and ants have a purpose. You're a human being. What's your purpose?"
     The lesson in this is obvious. Purpose is the beginning point of all success. Figuring this out is infinitely more important than any exam. What does it gain a man (or woman) to get all the degrees possible and he/she still not know their purpose. The society that has been created heightens the repetition of education. And suppresses the innate instincts we have to grow and become who we are called to be. There are trillions of dollars spent to keep your mind in the logic box, where they can teach you what to look at and what to do for their profit.
    In conclusion I find it befitting to reinforce understanding your purpose. Because it is that definiteness of purpose that allows you to become who you need to be. It is purpose that gives you faith and forces you to believe in yourself. Then with all of those together you have no choice but to have the boldness to stand for something. These are the characteristics that allowed Muhammad Ali  to start as a skinny twelve year old. Move up to heavyweight with 61 fights. Finish strong with 56 wins and 5 losses. 37 wins by knockout. Humanitarian and activist. Father and Husband. Entertainer and role model. And in my eyes forever...The Greatest

Muhammad Ali...I Love You...Thank You...Rest in Peace

With Honor

Malcolm Brown

Breaking News!!! Snake People Discovered

BREAKING NEWS!!!!

SNAKE PEOPLE HAVE BEEN DISCOVERED!

     I know its creepy, but it's no fantasy these snake people exist. Id like to call them Sneople lol. Greek mythology depicts it as Medusa. The BEAUTIFUL snake lady.
 Not only do they exist in the jungles of southeast Asia. Nor are they restricted to the caucus mountains of Europe. They live on every continent and there are millions of them. They may live next door. They may be in your inner circle. Jesus had one as his disciple. His name was judas. The story says, he was the man who betrayed him, and sent him to get beaten and killed brutally. Not by hitting him, nor by pointing him out and cursing him. But by walking up to him, and kissing him. Sending an innocent man to experience the worst brutality; with a sign of intimacy. They may be at your job posing as friendly coworkers. Some people are snake people and wont own up to it. A snake person is a poisonous person. Someone who through any possible physical, emotional, logical, or even legal avenue; injects their slow acting venom of doubt and disbelief into the new born vision you see for your life.
     How many times do you look out of the window at work and day dream? Fantasizing about an exciting life where you are truly in control. Where the burden of freedom is lighter than the neck shackles of slavery and conformity. The life where working hard for your legacy is the most satisfying. Instead of being demoralized as another person tells you when you're "allowed" to eat, take a break, and go home. You begin to see yourself enjoying the fruits of your labor as you relax under palm trees in the Bahamas. Sipping on your coconut beverages with the yellow umbrella sticking out of the top. Your mind is empty as you're watching the crystal clear waves crash against the shore.
     DING! All of a sudden your cell phone alerts you of an email. You're in no rush to check because you know what this particular, DING! means. But you decide to check anyways. When you look, you see an email alerting you of money that's been deposited into your account. You smile and put your phone back down. You sigh as you chuckle inside and fold your arms behind your head. Because in that transaction you received in a day, what you used to make every two weeks. AAAAAAaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!! The good life.
     Then out of all this built up passion and excitement you begin to tell your coworker your dreams of owning not just your own business. But finally owning your life and time. Living a free life on your terms and not just a prisoner of bills and job obligations. Plus, you really cant stand your power drunk, not so super, lack of leadership skills supervisor anyways.
     Your coworker looks at you as if you're talking about aliens and conspiracies. He begins to talk to you in this "yeah right," condescending tone. He's toying with the only thing you hold dear. And out of the simplest, thoroughly schooled(he has 34 degrees and he's proud of it), and most uninspired part of his mind he begins to articulate this very sincere and popular lie or "dogma ."
     He begins to tell you that your dreams are too big. Everything that you don't have. All the reasons you cant do it. Just relax, be logical, and keep your day job. He's just as passionate negatively as you are positively. All I'm saying is watch out, he's one of the sneople, and that's the poison.
     I have traveled and spoken with a lot of audiences and have been in my fair share of classrooms. I often ask the kids, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Funny thing is I have yet to hear a child say that they didn't want to be anything. This tells me simply that the desire for purpose and greatness is an innate character trait. On the other hand mediocracy is taught.
     Lets imagine if you will, millions of children. Even trillions since the earth has been alive. All having dreams and visions. Then all of a sudden they run into a snake person. Whether they show up in the form of a friend, cousin, teacher, aunt, uncle, stranger, and in many cases their own parents. How many dreams and inventions that could've changed the world have been killed over the centuries? My purpose for this article is to simply say. Enough is enough.
     According to Myles Munroe, the richest place on earth is not in Dubai, times square, or the oil fields across the world. But its in the graveyards and tombs that house and hold prison the unreleased potential. Our ears long for the unwritten songs. Our eyes crave to see their unexpressed dances. Our lives in one way or another are experiencing the emptiness of their uncreated inventions. You can't afford to die with it in you.
     Snakes either poison or choke their victims. So snake people will operate in one of those two ways. You must break away from them. No matter the history or emotional attachment. Obviously you cant kick someone out of your family. But there must be a season of separation. This is all done to protect your dream. Your dream is an infant that needs you to be strong. Imagine a woman and her baby. No matter the threat. She will stand up and fight. To tigers and bears even. I remember having to defend my dream against my dad. Although he was coming from a place of love and logic. Giving me the take the safe road speech. I noticed that his innate instinct to protect his son. And the advice he gave me was tainted. It was actually fear wrapped in logic. You should look at the intentions behind the advice given to you.
     How many people are swallowing advice from friends and loved ones; hook, line, and sinker. And their advice has no intention to add to you. Its sometimes envy wrapped in logic. Sometimes fear wrapped in logic. Most of the time its their hidden selfishness, wrapped up so cuddly tight and served to you as love and care. Like a freshly baked kolache, that perfectly conceals the sausage and cheese on the inside. Oooh! Or my favorite, freshly made turkey wraps. With both of these, you have to trust the preparer totally. I would hate for someone to squirt poison in my wrap or burrito. Lol or even scarier, put a thumb tack in my turkey wrap. Poisonous people do just that with their advice and comments that are rooted in the soils of malicious intent.
     So here are a few ways to tag and identify these little critters. Look at them as newly released prisoners and put a proverbial "ankle bracelet" on them. They've been in bad environments and you cant just trust them to roam freely around your dreams. Definitely not without containing them and knowing where they are at all times. So here we go.
     1.Do they Have Results? If you want to start a business. DO NOT and I REPEAT... DO NOT ask a person, friend or family member for advice, who doesn't have proven results. That's like asking a chef how to build a house. Ig they have no results and they try to advise you not to get any. THATS A SNAKE.
     2. Are they Success minded. Most of our friends and family are content being normal. Their ok with clocking in, paying bills, and going to jobs they hate. So for you to come with all your energy, zest, and new ideas. You my friend have stirred up the waters. And snakes swim in the still waters. Don't bring your high dreams around low thinking people. SSSSSSS!!!!!!
     3. Are they Going Anywhere. There's a scripture in the beloved bible that says, "How can two walk together. Unless they agree?" This means, You should be in an environment of people that are driven. Be in cahoots with people that will stand in faith with you and help you fight for your success. The people that fight against your direction of progress are SNAKES.
     To wrap it all up guys, just be cautious of who you share your dreams with. Be careful of the company you keep. You cant choose your family. But you can choose your friends. In the words of Bo Eason, "Eradicate anything in your life that is not focused on excellence." But the initial process of launching yourself attracts the defense. Be ready to fight. Be ready to protect your dreams against those tricky, loving, knowledgeable, bad intention having, sweet, close, family, friends, and frenemies that look like humans. But the are nothing more than SNAKES.

Thank You For Reading!

Malcolm Brown

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What Steph Curry can teach us about Greatness

What Steph Curry can teach us about

Greatness

As seen on Everydaypowerblog.com

 

     The sensations. The inspiration. The phenomenon known as Stephen Curry is here and its very real. The rumors of him making 70+ three pointers in a row in practice. Making Impossible shots. Even scoring with his eyes closed while being covered by two defenders. What he has produced in a few short years is nothing short of great. Since he is a walking, breathing, living legend. What can he himself teach us about greatness?

     Let’s look at his back story first. Although his father played for 16 years in the NBA. Stephs natural ability was over shadowed by his stature for years. Although he could produce. Top schools never called to recruit him because he simply didn’t fit the status quo “size” of a typical player. This leads us to the first of our Steph tips to greatness.

1.      You can defy the odds.

     The NBA was founded on June 6, 1946. The gates to enter this organization are guarded very closely. Guarded by regulations, standards, and expectations from the organization and diehard fans. Mr. Curry shows how companies and people can be prisoners to their own perspectives and biases. People constantly judge what they think you can do by how you look. They are kept from recognizing uniqueness because their trained prejudice or “expertise” won’t allow their minds to wonder outside the criteria box that the system has taught them to look from.

      What I’ve personally taken from Mr. Curry is that you are the exception to the rule. You can in a sense, defy their gravity. You are good enough. It may take some tweaking and expanding to get better. But YOU ARE meant for your calling. Give it time and you’ll fill out. Because although he was short and scrawny. In one year Steph curry exploded to 6’3”. At that point he not only looked the part. But what he did behind the scenes helped him surpass their expectations. Those shadow moments served as a platform for Mr. Curry to build himself in the dark. Steph tip number two addresses these moments.

      2.  Recreate Yourself

     Although Steph was hurt by the constant rejection. His remedy was to make his skill so outstanding that how he looked wouldn’t even matter. So he decided to tear himself down and start from scratch. In his junior year Mr. Curry still shot from his waist to gain extra strength to make his shots. But to go the next level he needed to shoot properly with his arms and elbows. This meant abandoning the shot that got him to star status amongst the high school elites. He understood this. To achieve greatness. Change is a necessity and not a luxury. He did it at a high cost. There were times he couldn’t make a shot for a while. Moments where his brother saw him outside crying because he felt so discouraged. But Steph persisted.  Let’s fast forward to now. Stephen Curry is the standard for amazing. He is undoubtedly the best sharpshooter of this generation and arguably of all time.

     Here’s the question. Are you willing to totally reconstruct yourself? To be great, cosmetics won’t work. Simple makeovers disqualify you. Stephen shows us that digging deep, tearing it all down and doing the foundation work is necessary to qualify one for that upper echelon success in your chosen craft.

     What does this mean for you? Your mentality has to be assessed and challenged. Your attitudes must be addressed. Any part of your being that is programmed against success has to be uprooted. Even if that particular thing has served you relatively well. Remember the biggest enemy of great is not bad things. But its good things.

3.      Handling Injuries.

     There’s a point in everyone’s life where weaknesses are exposed. Failures and fears creep in. The point where you are hurting and can’t do anything at all but sit and heal. We are talking about injuries, and Mr. Steph Curry has had his share. Known for his paper thin ankles. He has been on the injured list quite a bit. These kind of injuries can take a toll on your confidence and ability to perform. Imagine sitting in a chair. And every time you sat in this particular chair it broke. You would not trust it. It’s the same thing with injuries to the body in this sport. Everything is about form and position. And trust me ankles play a major part in a shooters ability to keep form, create, and make shots. Steph has had these injuries and has come back from them as if they never happened. He carries himself with such confidence as if he’s not in the least bit concerned with it happening again.

     How’s does this correlate to our lives? Well, we all get injured. Some with sicknesses, loved ones suffering, death of a loved one, broken promises and relationships, business failures, etc. Your ability to handle the injuries effectively makes the difference between you being successful and you being forgotten.

4.      Stand by what you believe in.

      In today’s society people are afraid of their own shadows. Thanks to CNN (Constant Negative News). The irony is, we live in a “free country” with “free speech.” But the price of freedom of speech is public backlash and ridicule. It seems like people study on how to negate and twist everything you say. Like who goes around looking to be offended. But since there is so many fearful people. Bold people like you, myself, and Steph Curry stand out like a pig on an alligator farm.

    Some athletes wear their lucky socks. Michael Jordan wore his college team shorts underneath his Chicago bulls uniform. Steph Curry wrote his favorite scripture (Philippians 4:13) on all of his shoes before each game. This is very bold. Considering how society does a lot to censor and shun religious beliefs. This has served Mr. Curry in a major way because now he doesn’t have to write it on his shoes anymore.

     Companies began to see his growing popularity and wanted him to market their products. So as expected the leading sports apparel companies did. Nike was a go to bring him aboard. Steph only had one request. “I want my favorite scripture on the shoes.”  Nike said no and gave him a slap in the face offer of 2.5 million per year. But when you know what you stand for there’s no compromise. Stephen walked out on the deal. Under armor offered four million and accepted his request. Nike didn’t see fit to match the offer. So he went with the company that supported his values. Now it’s rumored that under armor’s decision by 2024 is set to be worth 14 billion dollars.

     “If you stand for nothing you’ll fall for anything.” Malcolm X

     Knowing who you are and what you stand for is critical to success. Without it you will never be successful. You will never be fixed on your direction. And other people and their criteria’s will define you. Simply because you haven’t defined yourself. So as I reinforce this statement, please understand. Nature permits no holes or empty space. Whatever has no definition will be defined by you or someone else.

     In closing, Steph Curry is amazing. Not only serving as an NBA champion. But also as a real world role model. He has defied the odds. Recreates himself constantly especially after devastating injuries. To top it all off he stands for something. Leaving the blueprint as he exemplifies true success.

                                                                                                                            Thanks for reading,

Malcolm Brown

3 Things Failure Does for You

     Its said that Thomas Edison failed over 10,000 times while creating the incandescent light bulb. But the interesting thing was his perspective on his experience. He says, 'I have not failed. I've just found 10000 ways that won't work." What is your perspective on failure? For most people it's the end all be all. Their story stops and they cower into submission. But for people like us it's a totally different joyous experience.
     I go to the gym faithfully. About 4-6 days a week. I'm what you call a gym rat and I'm proud of it. Its an interesting place when you think about it. You have a building full of people that are here to experience pain and fatigue. We actually have a term when we are doing our reps. Its called going for failure. Lol its a building full of crazy people to the unmotivated. But we understand that the only way to get the results we desire is through this avenue of hard work. Tearing down the muscle gives it an opportunity to grow back stronger. We understand the first thing about failure.
1. Failure is the Building block of Success.

"Cake is made with flour. Clothes are made of cotton. Success is made of failure." Malcolm Brown

     Failure is an experience not an event. When you understand that. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING! can get you down. Ultimate failure is several wrong things being repeated over a period of time. Success is doing several things right over a period of time.
     So take that experience learn from it and go back again. Speaking of "going back again" this leads to my second point.
2. Failure Builds Character
     I once heard Les Brown say, "Persistence is being able to go from failure to failure without losing your zeal." Character is not what you say when people are watching. But how you think and what you do when the door is closed. When you meet with temporary defeat. You get this unique chance to face yourself in the mirror. To REALLY see how tough you are. Are you willing to go at it again when everything is against you. All the eyes and laughs. The border line insanity. Being so magnificently obsessed with succeeding that you will stop at absolutely nothing. When life takes the knife and starts carving on you and peeling back the layers. When the projection of who you think you are is gone. And the real you is exposed. That's your character. The real you.

"God will only bless who you are, Not who you pretend to be." Jarrod Wilkins

3. Failure Raises the Value of Achievement
      If I gave you a football and told you to go to the nearest football field. Then instruct you to simply walk across the goal line. Is that a touch down? Absolutely NOPE!
Its not a touchdown until the defense is on the field. And you overcome and outsmart your opposition to still achieve. The opposition places value on accomplishing because you remember all you had to do to get it. I wrote more on this in my The Dark Side of Success blog. In essence, if it were easy everyone would do it. And if everyone did it. There would be nothing special about it.
     In closing, You were created for success. So these things in your life are only happening to strengthen and edify the champion in you. At the end of the day we take everything that was supposed to destroy us, And use that same thing to help us win. While our enemies laugh, and some of our friends and family stand by without supporting, and the world turns its back on you. We take all that pain and get a reward from it.


Go Win Anyways!


Thanks again for reading. If this helped you in anyway. Don't just be greedy lol...Please Like and Share with your friends so we can add value together. Feel free to Visit my website and subscribe for more great upcoming content and products.

The Inspovator

Malcolm Brown

Iammalcolmbrown.com