On Your Mark, Get Set...

It has been a while...I must admit, I've been thinking about you.

Probably not YOU (assuming I have one or two readers) specifically because I don't know you personally, however, I have been dying to give you updates on some stuff and things.

Last you read I was preaching about maintaining regular communication (very ironic I then disappeared for almost a full month...hopefully you aren't judging me).

Today I am faced with the most amazing predicament:

Should I move past the point of "no return"?

We recently closed on a small business loan (Master Systems LLC) and one would think that signing my name on the dotted line would be the "point" in question, or perhaps when I deposited the check into my business account, but I digress. None of these created a situation where I was beyond the "point of no return".

The fact remains that I could just give all of the money back...the debt would be paid (the beauty of no pre-payment penalty terms) and I could walk away.

It wasn't until TODAY when I was ran into a little hiccup as I attempted to purchase my CRM software that it hit me.

As soon as I spend this money, there is NO going back. Thus, the "point" has revealed itself.

It is truly exciting and terrifying at the same time...

I'm not tryna preach but...

Learn from your experiences, stay in your lane, and maintain regular communication.

Completely unrelated to the previous post. The waters have settled and all is well on the seas of life...I know you were anxiously waiting for a follow up on my current state (see my previous post)

I am learning everyday.

Innately (I think that means instinctively without knowing...but I'm not gonna Google it) I have been doing the things necessary to ensure that I am successful. My pops pointed it out to me and the lightbulb went on instantly.

Learn from your experiences
Know that everything you do is something you can learn from and add to your tool bag of experience. When the time comes (believe me it will) and you need to make a choice you can refer back and make better or faster decisions.

Stay in your lane
Don't pretend to be an expert...that's how you crash and burn in life. Realize you won't always have all the answers. It's alright to trust others to lead, especially when the person you are trusting is an expert.

Maintain regular communication
Don't lose contact with your contacts. Have a "Top 10" and call them weekly....not much more to that one, just DO IT.

....Oh...those were Rules #3,4, & 5...Keep up.

High Expectations.

I hate when I screw up.









To me, there is no worse feeling in the world.

"When I started counting the number of times I 'dropped the ball', I started making fewer mistakes."

Not to say I make a lot of mistakes (I'd like to think I'm pretty regular in a few life categories), but to say, when I started paying more attention to what I was doing, I didn't screw up as much.

So now when I do experience a missed opportunity to make a better decision (you like how I said that right...I know, I know. Genius), I get really upset with myself.

I've heard the old saying, "nobody's perfect" before, many times (obviously there is some truth to it), but if we accept it, then everyone would be making crazy decisions all willy nilly. ...No regard for rules or regulations...complete anarchy. I digress.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that, I get people make mistakes, but I prefer not to. I have found that if I expect perfection, and truly hold myself accountable; I will be able to consistently perform and a very high level.

Maybe that makes me different.

- Rule #2 - 

Expect to succeed and you will.

In Time

"The 10,000 hour", to quote Malcolm Gladwell (not exactly but pretty close), "is the amount of time it takes to master a particular skill or talent."

So for instance, if it takes you 1 hour to cut a friends hair, and you had a lot of friends that wanted to have their hair cut by you...lets say 10,000 times.

I think by the time you were done with that task you would know a thing or two about cutting hair. Agree?

You become an expert.

Think about it like driving; lets say you just got a car and you drive it 60,000 miles over the next 5-6 years. You would feel very comfortable behind the wheel of that car...correct?... I think you get it...

I have hit my 10,000th hour. Have you hit yours?

Check out the book. Its a great read.

Exhale

Things have finally slowed down.

I get a little sad when that happens, but it only lasts for a short while and then I'm back at it again...I enjoy climbing, because it means I am getting closer to my GOALS.

Rest at the plateaus in life. Look around, enjoy the view. Then continue climbing.

Rule #1

Don't be afraid to look down and see how far you've come; just make sure you look up so you can see the progress left to be made.

Compelling Reasons - Part 2

Mentoring young business professionals is a great opportunity to get a different perspective on things, I highly recommend it. During a coaching session one my men-tees (spell check did that...) asked me, "What motivates you?"

Essentially what she was asking was, what are your compelling reasons.

That has been my favorite topic to ponder lately. Well, I've come to the conclusion there are a ton. Which I guess is a good and a bad thing given the amount of direst I've been under trying to figure this mystery out.  

Tony Robbins suggests that most people's compelling reasons can be separated into two (that's right 2, count'em people) categories.

1. The desire to avoid pain
2. The desire to get pleasure 

Yup, that's right...everything you do is because of one of the above. It makes logical sense (iGuess). Either way, I challenge you to think about what motivates you, your own "compelling reasons".

"By understanding what makes you keep going you can continuously push yourself through any difficult situation."

Me, I do it to avoid the pain. It's actually a medical condition:

Athazagoraphobia (n) - Fear of being forgotten, ignored, or replaced.

LEVEL UP!

I got promoted today. That is all...

"Focus on getting promoted or reaching a new level in whatever you do for financial stability at least once every 365 days."

You will achieve amazing things in a very short period of time. 

Get Fit

Taking things one day at a time. I started working out regularly (three times a week minimum) a couple months ago, and I think I finally caught the bug.

Hopefully I can get back in shape enough to play a lot of basketball this summer. I've been really dying to get back in shape so that I can dunk again...

I was never able to do it in high school and when I could in college I didn't play enough to use my new super power (I could drunk with two hands from a drop-step) and cram on someone's face!!!

Well, that's my sole purpose for working out and I am feeling more and more like an athlete everyday.

PS. - I will know at the end of the week if my company will get to host a basketball summer camp for the YMCA ...BOOO-YA!

Compelling Reasons

I do a lot of self-development, and the audio instruction I am listening to currently, discussed compelling reasons for customers and prospects to "buy" now. So to get us, the listeners, in the right mind-frame, our homework was to develop and write down the emotional reasons WHY we are going to commit to completing the audio training (All 10 Days) and follow through by practicing what we learn on a daily basis.

...

I didn't do the homework (I hate homework; ask any one of my teachers from K-12), but I did give it some serious thought. My compelling emotional reasons to be committed and follow through are simple, in fact, there is only one.

I said I was going to do it.

For the past 9-10 months my main focus on a daily basis has been to follow through on the commitments I make to myself, my wife, and everyone else. For a long time I struggled with this and it is getting better, but it only started getting better once I made a concentrated effort to follow through.

Sometimes its good to remind ourselves "why" we do the things that we do.

What are your compelling reasons?



Damn that sax...its so good, once it hits the lips...its so good.

Ok lemme see...

Lets see if I still know how to do this...

If you've read my previous posts (well, I doubt anyone will be reading as this is my newest project and the cat has yet to leave the bag) you are well aware that I am intellegent and witty beyond belief; to contiue that trend of character and charisma will be no small task....however, I assure you, I am up for the challenge.

Quick update on the happenings since we last spoke:

1. That professional development company I spoke about 2 years ago...yea, I started that. We should be fully funded by March and ready to rock and roll with a new office space.

2. I still sell cigs for the best company in the world, got the promotion we spoke about previously, and I started teaching a quarterly sales training workshop for my division.

3. The major investment I was considering came in a different form than expected but it came...got married to the woman of my dreams on December 21, 2012

If you know me, you know I'm not one to brag at all...but shit the last 2 years have been pretty sweet. That said, its time to keep pushing to the next level and this blog will be a huge part of that movement.

I am committed to giving you my experiences on a regular basis (until I can pay someone else to type this shit) in the hopes that it will enrich your life and motivate you to take action and pursue your dreams fearlessly.

Stay Tuned and Enjoy!

Progress Progress Progress

Mid year reviews are coming up...

Im pumped. I should be getting promoted.

More money...(ALWAYS a good thing)

Closer to the next promotion.

Here we go...

So since May 13 a lot has changed.

My goal has always been to make a million dollars by the age of 25.

That being said...I am very far behind...not to say im broke by any means, but a million dollars is a lot of money. So I have a ways to go...

Anyway...

I have mapped out a plan to hit this goal. It is going to take a LOT of hard work and long hours, but Im going to stick with it and see what happens.

THE PLAN:
1) Promotion - I am expecting a promotion within the next month or so which will give me a financial boost and increase my working capital.
2) Save - Living on my current budget will give me a chance to save a significant amount of money in the next 3 - 4 months
3) Continue my education - apart of building Mastermind Business has always been to aquire property being well versed in this area will serve as a significant advantage
4) Make a significant investment by December 2011 - this has already been mapped out in a private notebook, but you gets none of those details until it materializes.

What do you think???

When People Show You Who They Are Should You Believe Them?

People dont change they just figure out whats important...

CORRECTION: THE QUEST FOR "FREE" NON-BORING ACTIVITY!!!

I'm going to go to the Improv, but...

A) I'm ballin' on a budget right now (PS I hate budgets...but nows not the time)
B) How terrible is going to a comedy show alone. I can see it now...

Me: That was an awesome show, that joke about the midget was hilarious. HAHAHAHA! Oh and how about the food, oh man...
Other Pers.................SHIT(PS This blog is PG-13 for strong language and nudity)

LOL...whose getting naked?!?

My stream of consciousness is a flow of nonsense I swear...smh.

THE QUEST FOR NON-BORING ACTIVITY!!!

Sports: Yes
Dogs: Yes
Drawing/Music: Yes
Drinking: YES!

...I feel like Flo...



I digress...

hmmm...comedy: yes ...now we're cookin'
Comedy club? (I heard there was an improv...)

HMMMM...brb

Prelude...

So I was doing a quick search to find out "How to meet people in a new area" ....you can ridicule me about how lame that is later...I didnt read past the first couple sentances, but what struck me and instantly made sense is that you should look to meet people in places where you would already like to be...(first thought...bar)

Second thought (a bit more productive)....I need to find out what I really have an interest in.

HMMMMM...Lightbulb...thus here I am. Not that blogging is something that would help me meet people, but I figure why not use this opportunity to begin our journey together. I have so many ideas for this page...Ima drop a few dimes on ya right quick:

$1,000,000.00 in 365 days

Getting closer to God

The Bucket List

Rise to the Top: A tale of ambition

Anyways before I commit to more that I can handle lets focus on finding out what the hell is going to keep me entertained out here in the middle of nowhere. Thus we begin....

THE QUEST FOR NON-BORING ACTIVITY!!!!

Release

I live in Ohio...I dont have much else to do but work...I'm back.

Love, Peace, and chicken grease

So with this, my last post as the unusual suspect, I retire from this blog world.

Some people do it extremely well, shout to Yoda, Bonita, Aden and Whitney. Others...ehh not so much, shout to myself and all of the other mediocre bloggers out there...you know who you are (ooooo burn).

I have toyed with this decision for a while now and its official. The Unusual Suspect is done and over with. In place of the time that I spent surfing the net and writing here I am starting a professional development for college students project that will be the launching pad for something that I have always wanted to do...teach (bet ya never knew that huh!)

As a recruiter my job is to place the perfect candidate into the right job. It is unreal how many people I see who are 35 -40 years old who never had the opportunity to do exactly what it was that they wanted. Or the college grads that I have to pass over even though they can do the job but don't have enough "experience".

Now more than ever experience is what determines how successful you are once you graduate and as a professional developer it is my job to make sure that you are able to get in contact with the right people who can give you the experience you need to make it once you graduate.

I know a lot of you who are reading this have made those connections and I commend you, but for those who haven't its not too late and I would advise you to start now. Build beneficial relationships with people you can learn from and learn with. If you don't know where to start, start with me. I would be more that happy to share my network and information with you.

Anything from writing resumes and getting internships, to finding funding to start a business or budgeting your personal finances. I guarantee that if I don't know I can put you in contact with someone who does so that you can chase your dreams now instead of later.

You can reach me at:

cdantley@aerotek.com
412-498-2208
Ask for Calvin

PS...I might come back like Jordan wearing the 4-5, but it ain't to play games with you.

T.G.I. Friday

So I had a half day at work today...

Getting used to working full-time is a big adjustment. I was thinking about it in the car on my way to work the other day: "Calvin (yes I do refer to myself in the 3rd person), you are going to have to wake up this early everyday for the rest of the time you spend with this company...are you ready for that?"

I came to the conclusion that I was and continued the day thinking that there would be no more getting out early or coming in late without consequences. Then today happened. We had a HUGE week at the office, wont bore you with details but a few people raked in some serious coin, so our Director of Business Operations (now isn't that a hell of a title) said we can go home early. A little reward for all of our hard work...now wasn't that sweet.

YES!...I got home today at 12:30pm. And now I'm coastin' thru the rest of the day and right into the weekend. Im expecting a relaxing next three days.

Wouldn't you with a Friday like that?

And I grabbed that one too...

Fear and Loathing
Fight Club
New Jack City
Harlem Nights
Boomerang
Breakin' 1 & 2

-and now I am the proud owner of The Boondock Saints, which is a excellent flick. It has a little bit of everything...humor, action, irony, crazy ass ending/plot...its pretty dope from all aspects.



But I wont hold you anymore, I was just excited and wanted to let you know that my mission to have the sickest movie collection known to man is going well thus far.