Work!!!
It's been a little while since I added a blog post and the title to this one says it all. As I continue to grow as a human being, someone trying their best to build a brand that helps inspire other human beings and someone who is extremely passionate about mentoring our youth, I realize that the common denominator for all is work! As a Believer and someone who daily works on growing their faith muscle, it's all starting to make a bit more sense as I continue down my path. Work is required to create, become, implement, change, develop, build upon your dream. Hard Work!
I have to credit my work ethic to my Mom. As a single parent I watched her work two and three jobs trying to take care of us. She would leave work at the Federal Reserve Bank in downtown, Birmingham, AL at 4 pm and come home to fix us something to eat and then she would head off to Rich's department store (now Macy's) in Brookwood Mall at 5:15 pm to start her second job at 6 pm. On weekends she worked with my aunt cleaning business buildings, vacuuming floors and taking out trash normally from 5 pm to 10 pm. Sometimes they were allowed to come in a little earlier and of course they took advantage of that.
As I sit here writing this blog, I have such a grand vision for Lion Heart Unlimited and what I want us to be able to accomplish. Making a big impact in the lives of our mentees, the community, & building a brand that sparks positive inspiration, encouragement & motivation to all, despite the circumstances. In sharing with my wife, Taneeka (pronounced "Ta - KNEE - ka"), I'm always telling her my vision and she's one of my biggest cheerleaders as well as the one who keeps me focused when other distractions impede my path.
Case in point, I was recently made aware that some of the folks I considered friends seemed to be speaking rather negatively about my vision/dream for LHU. Taneeka and I discussed it and her words to me were, "run your race at your pace and don't even let that distract you from your vision, their path is not your path"! I'm so thankful to God for such a wonderful wife. I said all that to say this. When you're working on your vision, dream, & goals, there will always be people who see what you're doing and will either support you, act like they're supporting you, or just flat out won't support you and in most cases hate on you, your vision, dream, or goal. Work is required in making sure you stay focused on what you know you've been called to do.
We hear it so much that it almost sounds like a cliche but I'm here to tell you as many before me have said, when you're building something WORK is required. The key is realizing that nothing worth building happens overnight and as one of my favorite motivational speakers, Inky Johnson says, focus on the process, not the results. The process for me is that as we're building LHU, I'm focusing on the person I want to become. A person who adds immense value to my family, our community, our youth, and to every person who purchases an LHU product.
I'll summarize with a quote from another one of my favorite motivational speakers, Eric Thomas (etthehiphoppreacher)....
"All roads that lead to success have to pass through hard work boulevard at some point."
Hard work is required to fulfill the potential that was given to each of us by our Creator!
God Bless!-B. Holley