Category: Random Thoughts

Motivation, Random Thoughts

Everything is Optional

bhillay

Morgan Freeman’s character in the movie “Lean on Me” once said “I don’t have to do nothing but stay black and die”. Nowadays you don’t even really gotta stay Black if you don’t want to. Look at… never mind.

There are times when we feel as if we have to do something, when it’s really a choice. You don’t have to go to work today, you choose to do so. You don’t have to workout today, you choose to do that also. Everything is a choice.

Once you realize that everything that you feel like you have to do on a daily basis is actually a choice, you’ll view things differently, and maybe even appreciate things more.

When you have the mindset that you are choosing to do something, your “why” can help motivate you and keep things in perspective. I don’t have to work today, I choose to work today. Why? Because I want to provide for my family, I like the purpose of my job, I like to make money. Your reason for doing something can vary, but just keep your reason for doing something in mind when you don’t feel like doing that task.

When you feel like you have to do something, it gives a negative connotation towards whatever it is you feel you have to do. When you accept it as you choosing to do something and think of all the positive benefits of whatever you’re choosing to do, things get easier.

Every obligation you feel like you have this week is optional. Make the right choices to help you get to where you’d like to be in the future, and keep your “why” in mind when it’s time to make those choices.

Motivation, Random Thoughts

Location can influence Motivation

bhillay

There might be times when you aren’t as motivated as you’d like to be. Your location could be a big factor. It’s key to be around like-minded individuals and in locations that support your motivation.

Where you live can have a big influence on how motivated you are. Certain cities might have more opportunities that fit your dreams and aspirations, or the people in a different city might have the type of energy and work ethic that you need to be motivated.

I’m more motivated to learn and study and be productive when I’m at the library. I’m more motivated to be a man of God when I attend church. Some days I don’t feel like working out, but when I get to the gym and see everyone else there working out, I get motivated to do the same.

It’s important to be conscious of who we are located near and where we are located. This has a big influence on motivation. You might need to make deliberate efforts to get in the locations that will help you flourish and progress in life. That might be a new city, a new group of friends, going to different events, anything. It can be hard to be motivated in general, so don’t make it even harder by being in locations that are counterproductive to what you want and need in life.

Choose the locations that will help your motivation.

Motivation, Random Thoughts

Clean your microwave

bhillay

How does your microwave look right now? Is it clean? Is there some old food splattered inside? Do you cover your food when you microwave it? Do you clean your microwave daily? Weekly? Yearly? I haven’t done my intensive research yet, but I think the current condition of your microwave is often simular to the current condition of your life.

When a microwave isn’t cleaned often, it can begin to cause nasty odors as well as build bad bacteria. There’s also a chance that your microwave isn’t in proper working condition if it’s too dirty. When you don’t manage things in your life, like old feelings, old bad habits, bad thoughts, etc, they can linger also, causing “bad odors” in your life. Your life might not be in proper working condition because there are some small lingering issues that need to be fixed.

How you do anything is how you do everything. Take care of the small things in your life, such as your microwave. Take pride in all the things that you own. They are a representation of you. God will not bless you with bigger and better things, if you don’t take care of what you have right now.

I’m always a little bit happier when I go to heat some food up and I open my microwave and it’s clean. It’s the same feeling I get when I come home from a long day of work and I see that my bed is neatly made.

Only worry about the things that you can control in life, like the condition of your microwave (and other small things in your life). Go clean them and maintain them.

Motivation, Random Thoughts

Which came first?

bhillay

Which came first? The chicken or the egg? It’s a question that has puzzled humanity for centuries. The idiom is often used when it’s not clear who or what caused something. Some questions are easier to answer, like “which came first? The success? Or the hard work?”

A lot of people think that they would work hard if they were to receive instant gratification. You might start a YouTube channel and post videos consistently if you knew you’d get one million views and 100K subscribers in one day. You might start that business and work hard to grow and maintain it, if you knew you’d have ample customers on the day of the business launch. Unlike the chicken or egg question, I know that the hardwork and dedication comes way before the success.

Not seeing results right away cannot be what discourages you from doing something. Once you understand that the hardwork comes before the success, things will be a lot easier for you.

We also think that we’d miraculously start working hard and do what needs to be done, if we had the money, or the large platform, a lot of support, etc. If you can’t work hard before having those things, it will never work out for you. Hard work is a trait that you have to have initially.

Sometimes it looks like something or someone was an overnight sensation, but if you really looked at their actions, you’d see that they put in a lot of work and stayed the course until the magic of the compound effect worked in their favor.

I don’t know if the chicken came before the egg, but I do know that the hard work and dedication and consistency came before the success and money. Trust the process and put in the work. It’s possible.

Motivation, Random Thoughts

Ball is Life

bhillay

If you’ve been on social media for a while, you’ve probably come across a “ball is life” person before. It represents someone who loves and live for the game (whichever sport they are passionate about). They might only wear sportswear, and everything they think or do is “ball” related. They often post pictures of themselves doing something sports related with the caption or hashtag “ball is life”. I’ve never been that extreme of an athlete, but I do think “ball is life.”

Over the years I have realized that the same traits that makes someone a great athlete, are the same traits that make them a great employee, entrepreneur, spouse, friend, and just a great person overall. I’ve come across a lot a talented athletes that didn’t pan out because they only had the physical traits to be a great athlete, and not the other traits. I’ve also come across good athletes who transitioned to be good at every other thing in life as well. To be good at sports (and life), you have be coachable, disciplined, have good time management, self-driven, a hard worker, good at teamwork, a good communicator, learn from your mistakes, have good character, etc.

I’ve noticed that the athletes that I went to college with who made it all four years as a student-athlete, are now successful in whatever field of work they chose to pursue. That’s not a surprise to me. Those same skills that made them a good athlete are still being used.

Playing Football for me was more than a sport, it had to be a way of life. Every choice I made off the field would effect me on the field. I had to have a proper diet, a good workout regimen, get good grades, stay out of trouble, get a good amount of sleep every night. Everything matters. I may have thought that what I was doing was helping me be a better player, but it really was helping me be a better person.

You can never play a sport in your life, but still have the traits of a great athlete. This will help you be great at whatever you do in life. Ball is life. Make sure you have the skills to succeed.

Motivation, Random Thoughts

I believe in you

bhillay

When was the last time you told someone you believe in them? It’s a simple four word sentence, but it carries so much weight. I’ve gained so much confidence and achieved so much over the years because I was surrounded by people who believed in me and made sure to tell me through their words and actions.

You may show others that you believe in them through your actions, but telling them is essential also. The key word in “I believe in you” is the word you. You should believe in someone as a person, not in just one aspect of their lives. Everyone needs to know that they are believed in no matter the situation.

It was easy to believe in me when it came to sports and football. I was clearly talented. Those aren’t the people that I want around me. I want people around me that believes in me as a person, and in everything that I do.

Make it an effort to tell your kids, family, friends, even strangers, that you believe in them. It might be the four words that they need to hear to keep going.

Whoever is reading this right now: I believe in you. Keep going.

Motivation, Random Thoughts

Do not cast your pearls

bhillay

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime… but if that man isn’t open to learn how to fish, don’t bother trying to teach him.

In the Bible Jesus says “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.” – Matthew 7:6. We shouldn’t offer something valuable to someone who doesn’t understand its value.

You might want to offer help or guidance to someone, but they might not be receptive to what you have to offer. That’s ok. Find someone who is . If someone doesn’t want change or grow or learn, you can’t make them. Find an audience who wants to.

You might have a good creation or idea, but do not receive the support that you’d like from your family and friends. That’s ok. It might not be for them. If you put the work out into the world, the right people will find it. You shouldn’t keep trying to force it on the same people, and you shouldn’t take it personal when people that you know aren’t as supportive as you’d like.

It’s also good to self-reflect at times and make sure that you are receptive to valuable advice or guidance and support from others. Sometimes our own non-receptiveness is what hinders us from growth, and even success. No matter who the person is, they can have something valuable that they can teach you.

Don’t waste good advice on someone who doesn’t want to listen. Find the man who wants to learn how to fish.

Motivation, Random Thoughts

Study The Greats

bhillay

The good thing about the internet is that you can use a search engine and learn about any person that you want. This can make your journey to success much easier. There are blueprints to success. You just have to follow them.

For every running back who I liked growing up, I can tell you where they are from, what college they went to, their height, weight, their 40 yard dash time, college stats, and what round they were drafted in the NFL. This gave me a good paradigm of what I needed to do to make it to the NFL. I didn’t have to reinvent the wheel, I just had to do things that were simular to the guys that have already reached the goals that I wanted to reach.

These players were like mentors to me, and I never met them a day in my life. I just had to study their actions, good and bad. I learned what to do to get to the NFL and I also learned what not to do.

It goes beyond sports though. I know the story of my favorite actors, writers, entrepreneurs, etc. This is good for me to know because if I ever want to get to where they are, I know I have to do something similar to what they did to get there. There are no shortcuts to success.

I’ve had peers who never played college football tell me that they plan to play football professionally. I never crush their dreams, but I also know it’s not that simple . You have to respect the craft and put in the appropriate work. If they studied any player who made it to the NFL, they’d know that their plan to skip a lot of steps and still make it to the NFL is illogical.

It gets deeper than just studying the moves someone made in their life. You have to also learn their mentality. How did Kobe get that “mamba mentality”? Where did he even come up with calling hisself the “Black Mamba”? The answers are out there, you just have to find them.

I like to read books that successful people recommend. Maybe I’ll get the same things out of that book that they did. If not, at least I know I am on the right path.

You can study your friends, relatives, coworkers, anybody. If someone has something that you want, or are in a profession that you’d like to be in, or are at a place in life where you’d like to be, study how they got there and make similar choices. You’re half way there if you can do that.

Motivation, Random Thoughts

Lane Ends – Merge Left

bhillay

Don’t panic, it’s not the end of the road, just the end of that lane. You can still get to your destination, you just have to merge into a more suitable lane.

Follow the signs in life to merge lanes when needed. Also understand that you might be in the lane that people are merging into. So give them room to merge. Don’t be a hater. We can all get to our destination.

It’s when you ignore the signs of the lane ending, that’s when you have a problem. Or when you ignore the sign and drive to the end of the lane and then force your way into the line of those who already merged. That’s not how things work. You should not feel so entitled.

The sign was put there for you to successfully reach your destination. Follow the laws of success.

As you gain more experience in life, you’ll be better able to anticipate the signs you may come across on the road to success. Trust them and follow through in order to reach your destination.

Random Thoughts

The medium is the message

bhillay

“The medium is the message” is a phrase coined by the communication theorist Marshall McLuhan. It pretty much means that the medium through which we choose to communicate holds as much, if not more, value than the message itself. I began to think of this quote last night after having a conversation with Jasmine, my wife.

Jasmine told me that she has been enjoying my blog posts. She described how she likes how I express my thoughts and ideas on this blog. She even said she is learning new things about me from this blog. That’s crazy because Jasmine and I talk all day everyday. If we aren’t talking face-to-face, we are on Facetime, if not Facetime, we are texting, if we are not texting, we are sending each other random things on social media and talking in each other’s DMs.

A lot of things that I write on this blog are feelings and ideas that I have already expressed with Jasmine. It is a completely new medium for us to communicate so maybe things hit differently for her via blog. That’s very understandable. It’s also something for me to keep in mind. I think we should always be more conscious of which medium we chose to communicate with somebody. It can help with misunderstandings.

A lot of times we try to communicate with others, but there is a disconnection because we are using the wrong medium. Maybe you shouldn’t text that person ” I am sorry”. A phone call or even in-person might be more efficient. A handwritten “thank you” note might be better than an Email. Sometimes a “happy birthday” via Facebook doesn’t feel as meaningful as a text message, or even a DM (or a card in the mail, if you’re old school). When I proposed to Jasmine, I asked her in person, but I also incorporated a video. Sometimes words are just not enough.

You might have feelings and ideas inside of you, but haven’t found the right medium to get them out yet. Maybe you should start a blog, or write a book, or a movie, or song. No matter what medium you chose, just get it out there.

And if you’re reading this, Jasmine. Thank you for always encouraging me to pursue my ideas. Thanks for believing in me and helping me in whatever I do. Thanks for being my first blog subscriber also. You enjoying my blogs makes me the happiest man in the world. I love you.