Oh Hi Mark

This isn't really one of my usual empowerment or life observation blogs, but I would have to say that this is one of those entries that encourages you to find laughter and happiness in the simplest things. Watch this movie clip (viewer discretion: strong language and adult situations)...



It's from the movie "The Room" a film starring, produced, and directed by Tommy Wiseau. I have managed to find more clips from this movie on YouTube and find the film somewhere on the Internet. I have to say that it was one of the worst movies I've ever seen. It is poorly acted, poorly produced, the dialogue and story's continuity and flow is inconsistent, and you will want to punch yourself after watching it. Wiseau's English throughout the film is so broken, it sometimes reminds you of those old japanese martial arts movies (where they dub english audio). This also adds on to how bad this movie is.

But, on the other side of the coin, because it's so bad, I will recommend it only for people to have their mind blown to see an example of how NOT to make movies. I'm not a filmmaker, but I can clearly see that there are major flaws in this movie. Not to mention, if you need a good laugh, a good way to do so is to watch this movie. Even though the movie is meant to be a tragedy, and the ending is sad, you just can't help but laugh when watching this movie. 

Some info on this movie, it was so bad, that it has become so popular and became a cult favorite. It's even become it's own internet meme. (If you don't believe it, just look all over youtube).

Anyway, slightly more serious blog tomorrow. Just thought I'd lighten the mood a little bit.


D4P...PD!!!
-OBE

Much Needed Break... But I'm Back!!! (With An Upcoming Surprise)

In case you may have not noticed, I have taken a weekend break from blogging. It was mostly because I had a full weekend, getting reacquainted with my former classmates in my 10-year high school reunion with the Oxon Hill High School Class of 2000, as well as spending a little bit of time playing with my nephew and my niece.

But don't worry, I will get back to blogging all things motivation, all things insight, all things sport, all things life, all things "OBE". In fact, I want to make an announcement that I have something big planned for all my blog readers, as well as my friends in social media come labor day weekend. I will break the news exclusively here on this blog sometime during the span of the 3-day weekend.

What is it? You have to tune in to find out. But I promise you... it's gonna be rewarding, it's gonna be great, and it's gonna be ULTIMATE.

Until then... keep checking out the blog and reading the blog posts. I'll definitely continue to provide some good content.

D4P...PD!!!
-OBE

One Weird Life Goal I Have...

One goal I actually have on my "Ultimate Life List" is to have my own Wikipedia page written about me.

It's a weird goal, and I don't know why exactly I came up with this goal. I guess I always felt that you have truly made it if someone has thought enough of you to write a small well-thought-out and researched biography of you, what you have accomplished, and have several other websites that point to specific points of what you have done and your significant contribution to this world.

Hopefully, WHEN this happens, it will be under good circumstances, and my "fame" won't be because I do anything to cause a bad rep (ie: Seung-Hi Cho). I would want to be immortalized with people believing I have made some sort of positive impact.


But why Wikipedia? It's a worldly recognizable reference point in the Internet, it's easy to find, well moderated, and it's written and maintained by regular (yet educated) people. I just recently discovered (when randomly googling people via the blog entry two days ago), that my good friend Arel Moodie (whom I blogged about previously) has his own Wikipedia page. Makes me motivated to have one too.


Hopefully I will get my own complete Wikipedia page one day. I think it's great to have one, not because I want to be recognized or immortalized, but in my opinion, it's a good indication that you have done something significant to change someone's life, and change the world (somehow).


D4P...PD!!!
-OBE

When in doubt about an "opportunity", check out...

Ripoff Report

There are probably hundreds, no... thousands of "opportunities" out there claiming you can legitimately make a lot of money online, offline, or wherever. Most of all, they claim you can make it very easily by posting a link here, send an e-mail there, or some other small menial task. And in a few weeks, you'll make more money working a few hours, than you ever have working full-time in years. (After all, they have pictures of their ginormous checks, and numerous transactions in their clickbank accounts). I'm friends with a few "online marketers" in Facebook, and I've noticed that some of them are guilty in this.


The ripoff report website above gives you a good idea of what you should be careful of out there. If it's not a legit opportunity, chances are, someone filed a report and wrote about it on this site. These reports are pretty detailed, and a lot of them have comments backing it up. 


Honestly, I wish I knew about this site back when I was in college, or back when I got out of college. I'm not proud to say, that I've gotten ripped off several times from a lot of companies who aren't so "honest", and fell into a lot of scams. It would have saved me a lot of heartache.


So definitely use this Ripoff Report if you smell something fishy about a certain opportunity. I've been using this for a while now, and whenever I type up something I'm skeptical about... more often than not, I find it in this site. But, I will say, that not all opportunities are "bad", so if you find one that isn't, I urge you to pursue it. This website can help you determine just that.


D4P...PD!!!
-OBE

Have you Googled Yourself Lately?

Just for fun, I decided to "google myself" today. I used to do this quite often, but I haven't done it in a while...

After doing so, I found that just by typing my name, I'm apparently very visible in the Internet now. It might be thanks to my blogging, it might be from the YouTube videos I've done some time ago, it might be because I'm in a lot of social networks. A lot of those may have contributed to my internet visibility. I typed in my name (without the quotes), websites that features my likeness (or likenesses of what I worked on) dominated the first 5 pages. Even the session I taught in February in Atlanta was found in the first few pages. And the first mention of another "Obedoza" isn't until page 3 (remember, this is a search without quotes. I think that's pretty cool. I dominate the "Obedoza" niche in Google. haha

One surprising (and great thing) is that despite all of this "visibility", my personal information (with the exception of my PO Box, which I don't mind people knowing) isn't published publicly. This is a good thing, for obvious privacy reasons.


Just thought I'd share that. So if you're trying to find me, I shouldn't be too hard to find (in the Internet). Just goes to show a small example of how powerful Google has become.


D4P...PD!!!
-OBE

Killer Ab Workout on a Couch

Check out the following video...



I've done this ab workout for the first time in a long time the other day (only double the reps), and my gut was sore for a couple of days. But, I've also watched my diet a bit, and started seeing some results only after a few short days.

This wasn't the first time I've done this workout, but it was the first time I've done it in a while. I remembered how much it burned, so I decided to go at it again.

I recommend you try it as well, and let me know how you feel after doing this for the first time. If you don't have a 6-pack like I do, I'm sure you'll feel it. And if you get results, let me know...

D4P...PD!!!
-OBE

Congrats to the Mystics!

Many people know that I am a huge supporter of the Washington DC professional sports scene. I get very excited when I see the teams here experience tremendous success. Sadly, with the exception of the Washington Capitals (who did well last season, only to disappoint in an early 1st round exit last year), it hasn't happened too much around this area, lately. However, today is a day to celebrate!

The women's professional basketball team in this city (the WNBA's Washington Mystics), are making the playoffs. Not only are they making the playoffs, but they clinched the top seed in the Eastern Conference, meaning they increase their chances of advancing far because they will be playing most of their playoff games here in DC.

Women's basketball has never been as appealing and probably doesn't have the star power to draw like men's basketball, but women ball players are great and skillful athletes. Honestly, one of the best basketball games I ever remember seeing was a women's basketball college game (Maryland vs. Duke for the 2006 National Championship).

So, to sports fans in DC, I encourage you to support this team during their playoff run (either by going to the playoff games, or if not, watching them on your TV). This is the best shot of DC getting a professional championship in one of the "Big 4" sports since the Caps earlier this year, so they definitely can use your support. (Depending on when the games are, I am seriously thinking about showing up for a game or two).

So congrats to the Mystics basketball team, owner Shiela Johnson, Ted Leonsis, and everyone in Monumental Sports and Entertainment. They definitely faced adversities (with their star player Alana Beard being hurt all year), worked hard, and thrived throughout the year. Hopefully, they can bring a championship here to DC.

D4P...PD
-OBE

An Oxon Hill Clipper... 10 years after

I'm actually trying to write this as I'm watching the Redskins preseason game against the Ravens (while tweeting), so I will try to keep this decently short.

I just realized that in one week, my high school reunion will take place. Wow! Thinking about that makes me feel a little bit old.

As I look back to my journey during the past 10 years, I honestly can't believe the road I have taken. Despite some skepticism and some naysayers, I just have to look back and saw... WOW, I have grown a lot (as a person, but not so much in height, hehehe).

I was a top student in an "urban" high school minutes away from the DC. Graduated top 10%, in the Honors Society, and I was part of "It's Acadmic" (our school's "quiz show" club) so I liked to think I was pretty smart. Honestly, I was sort of a nerd.

And although I wrestled for 3 years in high school, and I stayed in decent shape usually by lifting after school, it was more evident I was a nerd. A shy, timid, quiet, nerd at that. (I couldn't even muster up the courage to ask the girl I wanted to ask to prom). I never hung out in any cliques, I was sort of an outcast, and my circle of friends consisted of my wrestling teammates, and the few I still see often today. But despite all this, I would say I wasn't really "teased" considering some people confused my quietness for a small sign of psychosis. I was still considered an athlete. If you ask me then what I thought I would go through in the next 10 years... I would have said I would be creating video games or designing computer programs. I never would've thought I'd be where I am now.

It blows my mind that I'm a motivational speaker now. Like I said, I couldn't even ask a girl out to prom 10 years ago. Now I'm spreading messages of good will through speeches, books, and internet videos. And by doing this, I even got to connect with some "important" people which includes best-selling authors, millionaires, award winning television personalities, and even gorgeous magazine models. (Not bad for a shy timid nerd, lol).

It has been an interesting journey in the past 10 years, filled with a roller-coaster of emotions and pivotal events to shape me to the person I am today. And the funny thing is, I still have ways to go, and even more "changes" to partake in. I have plenty of life goals that I still want to accomplish, but who knows if those goals will change in another 10 years. Like I said, I probably would have been a computer programmer (probably a portly one), if I stayed on the same goal I had 10 years ago.

I don't really say all this to brag, because I don't think I have accomplished much yet (to my standards). Honestly, what I am really interested in, is seeing how well my other classmates are turning out. I'm sure a lot of them even accomplished much more than I have, and gone much further from where they were in high school. A lot of my former classmates, are also my friends in Facebook, and a handful of them are settled with their own families... which I consider extremely huge accomplishments. I am very anxious to see where everyone has come. I am also wondering if the girl I was afraid to ask out 10 years ago will be there, lol.


It should be an interesting reunion weekend next weekend. I am really looking forward to seeing not only old friends, but everyone else. It should be a treat to see everyone after 10 years. 

D4P...PD!!!
-OBE

Rediscovering "A New Earth"

Because of the "issues" I am currently having (which I mentioned in my last blog entry), I am re-listening to Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth in audiobook. I have been quite upset about what has been said to me, and about me. I have had a few days to stew upon my current situation, but the more I thought about my situation, and what was said (especially the things that were said justifying (what I strongly feel) is the wrong... the more I it made me upset, because I can't seem to make sense out of it. I'm always all for doing the right thing, and when people are doing nothing but making excuses and trying their best to wrongly justify things that aren't right... no matter who you are or where you are in the hierarchy, it will make me upset. Therefore, to try to make sense of things, and try to find some peace, I decided to start to re-listen to one of the deepest, most insightful works, that I have ever had a chance of absorbing.


I have only re-listened to the 1st couple of CDs. I did realize some of my faults during my current situation, and probably could have approached it in a different way after listening to some parts of it. I remembered hearing one quote that really stuck out of my mind... "realizing your own insanity is when you can gain your sanity", and by hearing that quote, it did make me look at myself a little bit.


But, after listening to most of the other parts I have listened to so far, most of my other points in this conflict I'm having were further emphasized. When Tolle discussed "possessions" and how we feel our attachment to the need to "own" certain things gets in the way of our own enlightenment, I thought about that significant flaw the person I'm having a conflict with has. What I always try to convey is that we all have mortal flaws. And we have always have to recognize them first and try to do something about them, rather than live in denial. I just wish people will realize that when I try to point that out (much more... not try to justify the antithesis of that).


But like I said, I will not discuss my full unfortunate details of my "issues" I'm currently having with people around me in this blog. The Internet is never the forum to completely air out your dirty laundry. But I just thought I'd get a little bit off my chest again (without revealing too much), as it will help me better express myself in the long term. 

I also wanted to write because I am really hoping that re-listening to this awesome work (mixed with some faith in a Higher Power and some prayer) will help bring back some of the peace I lost during the past few days. I do plan on listening to one more CD before I get to bed (like I said a few blogs ago, your mind is more receptive during that time).


I'll hopefully keep you updated in some future entries.


-OBE

"Keep the Faith, Stay True to Yourself, and Keep Going."

I haven't felt all too good during the past few days due to personal conflicts I currently have going on. (Although, my readers may have not noticed because I try to stay upbeat on my posts, in my blogs, and in Facebook). I won't discuss my problems in detail here in this blog, because I don't feel that this is the appropriate forum to do so, and this isn't the setting to air some possible dirty laundry and the issues I have with the people in my life right now.

But whatever problems I might currently be having, a few things I have learned during times of trouble are to keep the faith, stay true to yourself, and keep on going. And that's why I think despite what I'm going through right now, that keeping consistent with this blog is important. Whatever problems I have in the real world, this blog is one of my outlets of momentary escape from all of that, and will always serve as a productive source of self-expression, as well as self-evaluation.

Like I said, I won't openly discuss my "issues" here, so I'll start wrapping up this blog. I just want to ask that for anybody who happens to be reading this blog to please pray for me, and pray for the people around me. The easiest things that are supposed to be apparent in life are to determine right from wrong, good from evil, truth from lie, or reality from fantasy... but apparently, these are the conflicts we struggle with everyday and will take our all our life to resolve. And believe it or not, it is even harder to convince the people around us the difference between those contrasts above (especially if they have their mind made up, and closed it because they are afraid it will conflict to their own so-called "truth").


"Keep the faith, stay true to yourself, and keep going." That's all I need to say.


-OBE

Something that makes me LOL

Just to mix it up a bit, and stray from my usual empowering deep/philosophical/motivational/advisory blog posts, I thought I'd briefly discuss (and recommend) something that makes me laugh...

I watched cartoons like Yu-Gi-Oh! and Dragon Ball Z when I was younger. (In fact, not many people know, the name "OBECorp" is actually somewhat inspired by "Kaiba Corp." in the Yu-Gi-Oh! series). These cartoons (ie: anime) were fairly interesting when they were imported from Japan and brought on TV a few years ago, but the Internet YouTube community happened to make it even more so interesting.

Enter the "Abridged Series" craze. As many may know, the overall story in many anime cartoons take way too long to tell, and the story structure has it's share of "filler" (ie: acts that doesn't advance the overall plot)ots and non-sensical pl. Therefore, a guy name Martin Bellany (aka "littlekuriboh"), decided to start the abridged craze by making his own abbreviated parody of the 1st episode of Yu-Gi-Oh!, filled with his own voiceovers, silly allusions to the original series, mixed in with pop-culture references. That got popular very fast, so he decided to make more.

A few hundred thousand views and couple of YouTube bans later, we have a craze, that's still going strong. Since then, his abridged series have inspired hundreds more in YouTube (most of which, sadly isn't nearly as good). Not to mention, his YouTube channel won Mashable's Funniest YouTube channel in 2009. 

What's even more impressive is that this dude's panel drew 1700 people in the 2010 Otakon convention... on a Sunday morning. 1700 people? For a parody panel? That is crazy! Many "celebrities" can't draw that many (in a Sunday morning, no less).

"Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series" (YGOTAS for short) started the craze, but "Dragon Ball Z Abridged" by Team Four Star (TFS), took it to another level. Dragon Ball Z was great because of it's story and action packed battle scenes, but it was also notorious for filler, slow storytelling, and bad English dubbing. Team Four Star is composed of a bunch of DBZ fans, with gifted voice talents, and told the story within the Dragon Ball Universe in an extremely hilarious and creative way.

Enough of me blogging about them though... if you're familiar with these 2 cartoons, feel free to check out the "abridged" versions yourself. Here are the YGOTAS and TFS YouTube channels. (You may still get the jokes even if you're not familiar with the cartoons). Whenever I have a bad day or I'm down on myself and need to laugh, I watch some of this stuff.

But simply put, these guys are comic geniuses and have become their own celebrity. They've also become brands upon themselves (if these guys weren't restricted by IP rules, they will probably never have to work). Like I said, if you can draw 1700 people in the middle of Baltimore on a Sunday morning, you're doing something right.


So if you need a laugh, I do recommend finding an "Abridged Series" in YouTube... mainly the YGOTAS and TFS abridged series I discussed. You can find more abridged series in YouTube, and although most are bad, some of them are pretty good. But the aforementioned are the two that I closely follow. So check em out when you can.


D4P...PD!!!
-OBE


(I guess that I take back that this isn't an "empowerment" blog, considering laughing is a form of empowerment and wellness.)

Die a Little Bit...

‎"Sometimes you have to die a little bit to truly live"

I posted that quote yesterday in Facebook, when it randomly popped up in my mind. I'm not sure exactly where the true source of this quote was, or if it was just created by my subconscious mind. But, I've been thinking about this quote the whole day, and the more I thought about it, the more I thought it was profound.

I won't elaborate too much on it on this blog (considering that when I share a quote, I believe the listener should let it sink in before any analysis takes place). But, I will say, that every time a part of you "dies", there will be somewhat of a change in you (good or bad), and that change in your being can ultimately help your life become more interesting, either for better or for worse, which will truly help you "live". 

That's what I think of the quote, so take it as is. You may have a similar, or even a different interpretation of it, but whatever you may think of it... you may agree with me that it is a rather deep quote that you can write forever about.

I will end this entry with another quote...

"That which does not kill you will make you stronger."

This quote is well-known, and paraphrased in many different forms. I think this quote is somewhat related. I do believe "dying a little bit" doesn't mean dying completely... and since "dying a little bit" won't "kill you"... it will only make you stronger so you can truly live.

Make sense? Just think about it a bit.

D4P...PD!!!
-OBE 

Why I Blog Like an Owl

If you have been reading my blog in the last couple of weeks, you might notice I do most of my blogs late at night. A lot of those posts actually come right before midnight. Well, there's actually a reason for that (and it's not because of procrastination issues, wink wink).

The reason why I actually do most of my posting late at night is because I usually go to bed shortly after I hit the publish button. And the two most consistent as well as crucial times of the day when your brain determines a good part of your being and does most of it's "programming", occurs 1) a few minutes after you wake up, and 2) just before you go to bed.


As you may know, I have read tons of self-development books and articles (and even wrote a couple of books on my own... see the Amazon widget above this entry). Many of these books will agree with this statement, and it's because the most crucial times for your brain to "absorb" things is before and/or after you slip into consciousness. 


If you think about that, it makes sense. We do the most habitual things that we do after we wake up and before we sleep (such as brush our teeth, say our prayers, read, exercise, etc). Not to mention, that's why a lot of experts out there don't recommend you falling asleep with the TV on... as it would fill your mind with impurity just before you slip into unconsciousness. (Refer to Eckhart Tolle's bestselling book "The New Earth" for more on this.)


But since I want to make blogging and openly expressing myself as a bigger part of who I am, I decided I should do this "self-expression" during the crucial time of just before going to bed. Not only will it help me get this activity to be more habitual, but by doing this, I am programming my brain and telling it that this is important to me. 


However, one downside to this is, if I decide to do a negative or angry post before going to bed. Anger and negativity is unhealthy for your being, and you should not go to bed with it. I'm sure many of you heard the quote... "do not go to bed when your angry" right? In that case, if I decide to post a more negative post (since we all can't be perfect), I might do those a little earlier during the day.


So in case you are wondering why I'm always cutting it close as in doing my blog posts, you have your answer. So, my advice is... if you want to make something a big part of not only your day, but also your life, "program" yourself to do it before/after bedtime consciousness.


Sweet dreams.


D4P...PD!!!
-OBE

READ THIS!!!...

YOU ARE AWESOME!!!

Well, so much for me taking a day off from blogging. I figured since I did it for two straight weeks, I should keep it going, right? I had a few more minutes to go before the day is officially over, so I thought I'd get one quick thought in and post a blog before it was too late!

Nothing inspirational, nothing thought-provoking, and far from extravagantly loquacious. Just a random thought I had in my head that I wanted to express what I really think of anyone who took time to read this blog.

That is all. Have a great week!

D4P...PD!
-OBE

Last Day of the "Challenge"

When July ended, I decided to post at least one blog every day for 14 days to get back into the habit of blogging and open self-expression. I truly believe that effective self-expression is a good, consistent, and effective way to know yourself better, and is an over all healthy for your own being in general. Not to mention, it's good to do for me, because doing consistent blogs helps get my name out there more, and will overall increase my internet presence. Everyday blogs, videos, and tweets are a great way to do that. (And since I'm still not completely sold and believe in twitter yet, and I haven't had much chances to do videos, I decided to choose blogs to increase my internet presence.)

But during these past 14 days, I have kept my promise, posting at least 1 blog everyday since August 1st, with a total of 15 blogs total. I know I could have done better, but I felt I've done well in holding my end of the bargain. Though my posts weren't numerous, I did feel they weren't short of content and insight, and many who did read them got a good amount out of them. 

Although this challenge is over, would I continue to blog every day? I hope so! I will probably take tomorrow off though, considering I have a full day tomorrow. I'm also spending time with my niece and nephew the whole weekend (and for those with kids, you would know it's hard enough to get things done when their needs to be met). But after that, I hope to continue my consistent blogging parade again to keep my consistency of expression goin.

But like I said, when you make a commitment or a promise (whether it be to yourself, or to someone else), you must do all you can to keep that promise. By doing that challenge, I wanted to show that I truly am one of those who really put my words into action, and not just some hypocrite who just says stuff.

So with that, I just want to thank everyone who's been reading during the past 15 days. I have gotten a good amount of feedback and it's good to know that I have some consistent readers over all. And with that, it will give me even more of a reason to keep blogging. So if you're reading this... THANK YOU! (You know who you are).

Until next time, with even more awesome blogging. But as of now, I have to get back to babysitting.

D4P...PD!!!
-OBE

Happy Friday (the 13th)

As we all know, the first day of this month started on a Sunday, which only means that it's Friday the 13th.

Personally, I don't think much of Friday the 13th and the bad luck it's supposed to bring you. I honestly don't think much of superstitions in general. I always believe that things happen to you based on the position that you put yourself in. Sure, once in a while, you do get bad luck here and there, but I hardly doubt, and probably can't be proven, that it has something to do with what day it is, how many mirrors you break, or what ritual you've done (or didn't do).

Although, I would say that if you believe in something strong enough... that it will probably come true for you. (Which explains why those who believe they are always destined for bad luck will always experience it, and why positive affirmations usually work). So only in that case, I do believe that superstitions could be true.

But I will say that I'm not totally anti-superstitious. The only time when I really get superstitious is when I cheer for my favorite sports teams. The Redskins play tonight in preseason, and you can sure bet, I will be crazily superstitious (such as thinking that me watching the game will have an impact on the team's performance).

So I just wanted to throw that out there. It's just a short blog, so think of it as it is. If you were expecting more, tune in another day. But I will say, that I actually had a more good days than bad days during Friday the 13th, with no traces of Jason Voorhees trying to whack me. 

Go Redskins.


D4P...PD!!!
-OBE

Advice For Some of My Facebook Peeps...

I know a lot of my Facebook Friends don't read my blog. And those that probably need to read this blog probably won't even read it...

Whenever I log into Facebook, it amazes some of the status updates and posts I see. I'm all for free expression (always have been), so don't get me wrong. But it's odd that people would just say anything, post anything, do anything, not thinking at all if there would be any future repercussions...

I don't want to sound like some kind of prude by saying what I'm about to say, but some people shouldn't be posting TMI posts to the precise detail to when you fart (true story). And some posts just make some people look stupider than they actually are with every other word being a curse word, or with people just plainly saying very offensive or idiotic things. I doubt people don't want to be portrayed as such.


Your online profiles are a reflection of you. I get that many of us have "warts" and imperfections... but does that mean that we should always flaunt them like some badge of honor? Some of our imperfections show others the adversity we've been through, but many show others how weak our character is and paints us in a negative light. The latter imperfections are what we should not "flaunt".


The reason why I believe this, is because Facebook and Social Media is getting so popular, that it will be here to stay for the foreseeable future. And in my opinion, sites like Facebook and LinkedIn are the future of background checks (if it isn't already). As privacy in these sites get less (which probably will happen due to the power of money and corporate sponsorship), these sites will become a more efficient way for businesses, prospective mates, or people in general, to look other people up and keep up with them. So we have to be careful with what we post in here.


So, in my opinion, just watch what you put out there. Like I said, you never know who is, or will be watching.


D4P...PD!!!
-OBE

When in Doubt, Don't...

...press "Send".

...or "Publish", or "Share", or whatever the button may say that may cause your questionable Internet post/e-mail/blog to go public for everyone to see.

I was about to make a stupid mistake. I was a little over-the-top in this particular blog entry. But after pausing and reflecting, before I pressed the orange "Publish Post" button, I had doubts and just decided to scrap the blog, with "Select All" then pressing "Delete" and starting over.

To make a long story short, I was about to post a very controversial and possibly offensive blog that will lose a lot of the respect that I have worked hard to gain. I realize that by deleting, it does kind of go against my philosophy of not being afraid to show yourself, no matter how controversial it may be, "warts and all". But at the same time, I have to respect myself enough that I wouldn't want to be taken as a joke of some sort. Posting that controversial blog would have probably done just that.

Now I know I'll probably disappoint some people by not posting that blog, as many may think of me as a prude, or may be curious what I was about to post. Let's just say, that I felt it was so crude and offensive, that if many women that I like happen to read it, I would have no chance of a date. Needless to say, I felt I made the right decision. 


So in case you have any doubts about what you'll post... just don't post it. This actually follows the advice Ted Leonsis gave in the blog I discussed a few entries ago. You have to consider yourself as a very important person, with enough respect for yourself to uphold your importance. One wrong move can destroy all that.


An upside to openly posting something controversial, is that it will ultimately get you readers and possibly popularity. But at what cost? I personally won't sell myself out to get a few minutes of fame here and there.


So those are my 2 cents for today. And in case you were wondering why my blog was a little late today, this entry should have explained it.


D4P...PD!!!
-OBE

Don't Eat That! - A Lesson in Commitment

This evening after dinner, I was offered some rum cake from the Caribbean. It looked good and it smelled even better. My mother even told me it tasted delicious, so much so that she ate half of the whole cake. However, I declined.

Why? In the beginning of 2010, I made a commitment to give up all types of kinds of alcohol for the whole year, whether it be beer, or any kind of liquor (which includes rum, an ingredient of this cake). Therefore, I didn't eat the cake simply because it contained rum.

Although, the alcohol in the cake was not nearly enough to affect anyone (.5%-1% alcohol content per serving), I made a commitment to stay away from alcohol, and I decided to stick with it. Although it was tempting, because the cake really looked very good, one must fight temptations to keep promises made to ones self. That's a universal rule in life, and we have to realize that to become stronger people. 

And no matter how insignificant the temptation may be, you still have to fight it and not take it lightly. If you make excuses just because your temptations may seem insignificant now, excuses will just give them a chance to grow, and to eventually destroy you.


Of course, this doesn't only apply to cake and alcohol, but to even bigger promises and commitments in life, like staying on an exercise program, meeting a deadline, or getting married. Sure, those examples are of a bigger scale and it takes a lot more work on your part to keep those promises, but if you work to strengthen your will power in a lot of your actions in everyday life, you can keep your commitments easily, whatever they may be. 

But as it relates to my situation, what I'm trying to say is... try to think that the insignificant 1% alcohol in the cake, to a small distraction that will keep you from doing that project, or that small infidelity that will make you unfaithful. They may be small now, but if you make excuses and give those vices a chance to grow... like I said, they can destroy you.


So in case you're having trouble keeping a promise, whether it be to someone else, or to yourself, just remember my story with the rum cake. You'll be so much stronger for staying to your commitment and keeping your promises, and you will also be a better person for it too.


D4P...PD!!!
-OBE

"The Summoned Self"

I stumbled on to the following "New York Times" article...


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/03/opinion/03brooks.html?_r=4&ref=davidbrooks


It's an Op-Ed article by David Brooks about Clayton Christensen. It totally blew my mind when I read it. It talks about two ways of how to live a meaningful life... well planned? or summoned? Which way are you living life?


I won't talk much about it, so I encourage you to read the article. I'd rather have you read it for yourself and form your own opinions.


D4P...PD!!!
-OBE

"Monumental" Advice from Ted Leonsis

In my previous blog posts, I have not been shy for my admiration for Ted Leonsis, owner of Monumental Sports and Entertainment (which controls the Washington DC pro sports hockey and basketball teams). He wrote a blog yesterday that I think everybody should read, especially if you're using social media, whether for , to connect with friends, associates, mentors, or even admirers. Check it out...

http://www.tedstake.com/2010/08/07/advice-to-sports-personalities

He addresses this to "sports personalities", but I truly believe a lot of the advice he mentions in this blog applies to everyone who uses social media. He gives obvious, but great advice to be authentic and genuine, to be transparent, and to be consistent "warts and all"... just to name a few. I went to a few business conferences and some businesses outsource their blogs to others and wonder why they aren't as trusted as Mr. Leonsis is.


But also, this article shows you how to "act as if" and how to treat your activity in social media as if you are a celebrity. This sort of continues to what I was saying in my post a few days ago... you never who may be watching or who can be looking for you. And if you do anything questionable in Facebook, then you have to re-evaluate yourself.

If you look at it, you have to act like your important, because once you do, that's how you'll be viewed. And ultimately, how you are viewed (and how you view yourself) determines how you will be respected by your peers, and by yourself. So what I'm saying is, even though you aren't under the public eye like say... Kobe Bryant, you have to watch yourself like you are. That might sound cliche, but there's a lot of truth to that if you think about it.


Before I have read this... I have been trying to apply most of what he said here in my pages. I don't set my Facebook or Twitter profiles to private, and keep them all public, because I want people to look me up and find me after seeing my work and/or seeing me talk. Therefore, I have to watch myself and carry myself in a way that is not detrimental to myself or my reputation. I can't be saying things like I desire to have sex with a certain girl, or post and argue something that make others who visit my page question my intellect.

The most notable thing that he mentioned here that I'm working on now is to be consistent and to blog and use these internet outlets everyday. As you can see during the past week, I've been working hard to do that.


So if you have the time... please read Ted's post. There are tons of social media "gurus" out there that claim to know how to use social media for business or for general use, and the information they'll give you is no where near as good as what you'll read in Ted's post, in my opinion. (Believe me, I've seen them, and I know). So, check out the post when you can. You won't be disappointed. Again, here's the link...


http://www.tedstake.com/2010/08/07/advice-to-sports-personalities/


D4P...PD!!!
-OBE

"Fat Albert" Finally Passes the Test

I'm kind of surprised I haven't dedicated a post about sports yet halfway into my 14 day blog challenge. Had to happen sooner or later, right? Therefore, I'm going to talk about Washington Redskins Defensive Lineman Albert Haynesworth.

People have already been talking about this player for the past few months, especially around here in the DC area. And honestly, I'd be lying to you if I said I didn't have an opinion on him. (I mean in what other trade can you get paid $21 million up front and not show up for work... more on that later). I just held back my opinion until now, because I didn't want to sound like a parrot and say everything that everyone was saying when it was being said. So therefore, I'm going to give a good amount of my opinions now, simply because I want to.

Ever since training camp for the Washington Redskins started last Thursday, all eyes on this sport were focused on Albert Haynesworth, not just in the local media, but also of the national media. Everyone was focused on Albert, and how he was going to be treated by the coaching staff and by the players, because he decided not to show up to the other off-season activities such as mini-camp and working out in the gym. The coverage on this guy was so prevalent, that every time you'd turn on sports talk radio, or watch the sports talk shows in this area, he would usually be the lead story. People talked about him so much, that even the people who were talking about him try to go as long as they can and do their shows to not talk about him. It was silly.

The whole saga with Albert in camp had to do whether he can pass this conditioning test. And this conditioning test consisted of shuttles where he had to sprint back and forth for 50 yards six times for a total of 300 yards in under 70 seconds. Then if he completed that, he would have to do that same exercise in under 80 seconds after a 3 minute rest. That shouldn't be too hard for any professional athlete, or any athlete, to pass, right?

Well... apparently, it was hard for him to pass. He failed the conditioning test the first day he tried it (because he apparently had to go to the bathroom during the break), and he failed the second time he tried it because he didn't complete part 1 of the test in under 70 seconds. The days after that, he didn't even take the test because of his sore knee.

Now, I'm not one to judge, and I don't know the true extent of the damage to his knee, so I'm gonna make these next remarks, from my own experience. When I was in high school, I tore my meniscus, and sprained my ACL (which will later become slightly torn). I didn't have a slightly sore knee, I had a torn knee which needed surgery. In my first few weeks after the injury, I did stay away from practice because I could barely walk, but I still stayed with my team. Then a few weeks before the county tournament, though I still needed surgery, I can walk better and I trusted my body enough that I felt I could gut it out and compete in the County Tournament. So I did. And guess what... I even won a match... with a torn knee! I wasn't getting paid the richest contract in the history of my sport to wrestle... I was just doing it because I wanted to be part of the team, and part of the competition. Surely, if little old unathletic me could do that, someone getting paid millions of dollars should be able to gut it out a little bit?


Back to Albert, he didn't take the test again until this morning, and that's when he finally passed. Now, I do commend him for not giving up and staying with the team and learning the defense while he was "injured" and couldn't do the test. Bravo to him on that. But many would feel that if he showed up for work (though "voluntary") a few months ago, he would be way ahead of where he is now. So in that case, he didn't get maximum points from me (and probably even less from a lot of other people). It is a great thing that he has finally passed the test though, so he can finally learn the defense by being in the field (as opposed to holding a clipboard). It's always known the best way to be great at something is to be in the trenches.


But, let me tell you the reason why the Albert Haynesworth situation has everyone talking. It doesn't only relate to him, how much he got paid, and what shape he's in. What he has done during the past year and a half really hits hard on a lot of people out there, especially working and middle class America. In January 2009, he has signed a 9-figure contract, which is the largest in league history. Later that year, he has had a mediocre season, only recording 4 sacks, leave games, and even lie down on the field quite often because he was exhausted. People who follow this organization then started to question Dan Snyder's investment decision on this guy. The team finished 4-12 for the year (a record that a team with a $100 million dollar player shouldn't be getting).


Then came the off-season. The Redskins fired their coach, fired their management, and the owner even supposedly fired himself and brought in a new general manager, and a new coach. This new management changed a lot, from cutting players, trading (then signing) franchise quarterbacks, to even changing their systems and schemes, with the most notable of the defensive scheme switching from a 4-3 (4 linemen, 3 linebacker) to a 3-4 (3 linemen, 4 linebackers). You can tell everything is starting to change with this organization and things are possibly looking up.


Here's where Albert comes in... I think it was around April, when voluntary workouts started with the Redskins. The organization asked him Albert to show up, and if he takes and cashes the $21 million bonus check due to him... they are expecting him there. Lo and behold, he doesn't show up, and because he doesn't, he upsets his teammates, his coaches, the owner, and most importantly, the fanbase.


Now here's where I believe this particular situation hits a lot of people hard... for the 20 months he has been with the Redskins organization, he has made roughly $32 million dollars (correct me if I'm wrong). So technically, he got paid $8 million for each sack he made last year. Many people would be lucky enough to see $8 million in a lifetime. Most people in America work hard for money, and even lose a lot of money to try to make money, yet this guy doesn't show up for work. Granted this guy worked hard to get the contract he has now, but you usually have to show up for work to get paid what you're due, am I correct?


And in my opinion, you can throw out these "voluntary" excuses, and that he didn't have to do these activities because they were "voluntary". In many workplaces, there are tons of "voluntary" meetings, activities, seminars, and socials that you are not required to attend (some of which, you have to pay for out of your own pocket). However, it is highly suggested you attend them because YOU WANT TO HELP YOUR ORGANIZATION and YOU ULTIMATELY WANT TO BE A BETTER PERSON. Not to mention, like I said a few blogs ago, that you never really know who's watching, and if one of the "higher-ups" see that you are willing to work hard and invest your time in their organization, and see that you truly believe in what they're trying to do, it could eventually lead to a promotion.


So while I'm out here (like the rest of America) is trying to figure out how to make a dollar, and in some cases, even losing money to try to make that dollar, Albert Haynesworth wasn't showing up for work, and not passing conditioning tests (despite being a finely tuned professional athlete), all the while, making millions and millions of dollars. That is what hits hard with a lot of people.


Now will things get better? I'm optimistic and hoping that it will. What's done has been done, and you can't move forward by looking back. He passed his conditioning test, and learning the defense so we can put all that happened last year, and the past few months behind us and focus on the future. And because he can finally practice with the team, there's hope he can turn things around and win back many of the teammates, coaches, and fans. 


As I said in my last post, from heartbreak, failure and disappoint can come greatness. And as a Redskins fan, I'm hoping this is the case here. But only time will tell...


D4P...PD!!!
-OBE

Failing is Okay...

In my previous post, I said that I felt that I failed in my first year back to blogging. I haven't kept up with the blog as much as I liked, and I haven't gave my readers as much as they deserved. Therefore, I felt that I failed.

But, this isn't the first time I failed at something. I was dyslexic when I grew up, and I had a lot of trouble reading and even comprehending. My brothers even gave me a very hard time when I had trouble reading the word "lamp". I got low grades in school. I even got a "D" in Work Habits when I was in 4th grade because I didn't do my homework. I didn't have many friends and was always picked on, and I was very mediocre in sports. When I was enrolled in Tae-Kwon-Do, it took me forever to get promoted to Yellow Belt. When I wrestled in high school, I was lazy and never worked hard as my brother. But all that was just from my early days.

In my later years, I failed a lot in my first few years in college, and ended up dropping a lot of classes, which ultimately slowed my graduation. I was rejected, let down, and heartbroken in the few female relationships that I've had. There were times when nobody would hire me for a job. I lost tons of money due to lousy investments, carelessness, or theft. And as someone who had learning disabilities, I wasn't good at speaking and expressing myself. That was especially tough, considering I wanted to be a motivational speaker. There were times that I felt I let a lot of people down and no one believed in me. There were even times when I felt like killing myself.

However, it's because I've experienced all of these failures, these heartbreaks, that I can come out and inspire people and be a motivational speaker. I know how it's like to keep getting knocked down, to disappoint people, and keep getting disappointed... yet still get back up and keep going.


Since those rough years, I've inspired many people of all kinds with my motivational messages. I've written books and CDs, and gave people new found hope and put smiles in the faces to those who've experienced them. And the main reason why, is because I've been told my messages had authenticity in them. Because I've failed so much in what I've done, and know heartbreak all too well... I can speak with my heart and whatever my message is, can be felt by those who hear it. And though I'm still not the most eloquent speaker in the world, people can feel me when I have something to say.


Therefore, I say it's okay to fail. Because your struggles, and your failures are what can help you shape the person that you are destined to be. As long you learn from your failures, work hard to correct them, and not continue to make them, then your so-called "set backs" can actually lead you to a better place.


That's why I'm writing in this blog. I realized that I failed my readers, and more importantly, myself, therefore, I'm working hard to correct it, and taking this step will not only make me more recognizable on the Internet, but will help me better express myself (even moreso), which will ultimately lead me to become a better person.


So next time you fail, don't get down on yourself. Consider it as a possible blessing, because it could lead you to a better place. 


I don't want to end this blog entry in a cliche manner, but I really want to say something that's always stuck with me. "Sometimes, you have to fall really hard to truly learn how to get up and stand tall." So think about that next time you feel a little down on yourself.


D4P...PD
-OBE

Bloggiversary

Well, it was one year ago to this date, that I launched this blog "OBE's Dose". It only seemed like yesterday when I decided that I will start blogging again.

As far as the first year goes, I am a little bit disappointed in myself that I didn't post here a lot more. I posted a lot during the first few days, and things started to slow down from there (sort of like a "honeymoon period").

My goals for this blog was for it to be an outlet for "Out-of-the-Box Empowerment". I wanted it to be a vehicle for my motivational ventures, but at the same time, I wanted to use it as an outlet for expressing myself, as well as my opinions about several topics, whether it be the ones I'm interested in, or some various topics taking place in current events. So whether I'm empowering others through motivational postings, or empowering myself through expression, that's the purpose I wanted to serve with this blog...

But so far in this first year, I felt I have failed at all that. I can promise you that I hope to do a lot better in this next year, and I can pique your interests in whatever is going on in this world, or my world.


But since today is the so called 1-year "bloggiversary" I want to do something special. I don't know if I'll go crazy and write long posts when I launched this blog last year... but I do plan to do at least one more post for the day. So, if you're reading this... tune in later today for at least another post. ;-)


-OBE

Analyze this Joseph!

I had two bizarre dreams last night... one that was weird that is kind of symbolic that you would only see out of a horror movie, and one that needed closure. Many times, I have a lot of weird dreams, but I normally don't blog about them because it's usually something I like to keep private, or I forget about 75% of my dream the moment I wake up. But, since I decided to do this blog challenge, I figured I'd share them. I woke up a few hours ago, so I better get these down before my mind completely clears them out...

In my first dream, we had a bulk trash pick-up scheduled for my house. I went out to check if I placed everything down on the curb, and when I looked down, I saw a big dead rat. It looked gross, so I just paid it no mind. Then all of a sudden, when I looked up, I saw another big dead rat nailed to a tree by the tail. I walked around my yard, and saw dead rats hanging everywhere from my trees to my garden, with either their tail nailed to a tree, or tied to a stick. Then when I went inside my house to try to call the police (because this might have been a possible hate crime), I happened to see one more rat hanging on the plastic plant beside the big screen TV in my family room. I was by then pretty freaked out... then all of a sudden, things went black and dream 1 ended.

Then off to my second dream. I was in an unfamiliar place. Apparently, I lived near the water, and I had a friend named Tony (whom I haven't met yet in real life), who apparently was a good friend of mine. There was another friend named Becca (whom I also haven't met yet) who apparently was also close to me. Looks-wise, she was quite the looker, and she had hazel eyes and a small mouth with her hair tied back, along with a nice figure in a 5'3"-5'5" frame. Ethnicity-wise, she looked like she was a cross of Italian, Indian, and Latina. In this dream, Becca and Tony were about to "hook up" and possibly start a relationship. Then all of a sudden, when Becca stepped out, Tony's family showed up and we talked on the deck outside. His family reminded me of my own family (minus my older brother with his family), with his mom being middle-aged (but still beautiful in her own right) and his younger brother being the rugged, yet witty personality (which reminded me of my brother Angelico). They even had two dogs, which kind of reminded me of my two cats. Tony's family members were nameless in my dream (either that, or I forgot their names when I woke up). 

His family was trying to talk him out of hooking up with Becca, and he agreed, saying in the back of his mind, he didn't feel it was right since he might hurt her. Then all of them turned to me, they said I should be the one who should be with Becca, since I have more of the personality that she deserves. I was surprised, but in the back of my mind, I was thinking the same thing. Then I went inside to see what Becca was up to, because she was probably waiting for Tony. She walked out to the room where I was, and asked me where Tony was, and I told her that he was talking to his family who unexpectedly showed up out of nowhere. She didn't believe me, so she looked outside, and saw Tony's family about to leave waving to her, which left a shocked look in her face. Then when Tony went inside, he told her he wasn't going to start a relationship with her, and gave an endorsement for a relationship with me, saying that I was overall the better guy for her. From reading her face, it looked shocked yet somewhat ecstatic, but when we were about to get her reaction, I wake up!

Now, I'm not sure what these dreams mean or if they even have a meaning at all. Like I said, normally, I don't share these weird dreams because they probably shouldn't be shared (well a lot of them anyway) and/or I usually forget a lot of it the moment I wake up, but I remembered enough of these particular dreams that it left me a weird feeling upon waking up, so I thought it might be good to have a record of it. Not to mention, I thought it was good to get it down here in case I have a moment in the future, and I can look back and see if it might relate to these dreams. Who knows, maybe these dreams could be another way to look at "Out-of-the-Box Empowerment". 

So if you happen to have any thoughts or want to do your biblical Joseph "dream analyzing" impersonation, please feel free to do so. If there are thoughts, I REALLY would LOVE to hear them.

D4P... PD!!!
-OBE 

Privately Public

I remembered when reporter Erin Andrews' hotel peephole/voyeur video of her changing in her hotel first went public, all sorts of controversy came out. Sports talk radio was all over it, people were trying to Google the video so they can see her nakedness for themselves, and conservatives cried foul because Erin's privacy was invaded. And though I believe she is an attractive lady, I honestly haven't seen the video until today... when I heard a sports radio personality talk about it on the radio show today and only decided to look it up today because people are still talking about it. (Don't ask)

But the point I'm trying to get to... is whether we like it or not, even though most of us try to live our lives as private as possible by watching our backs, setting our facebook privacy settings, locking our doors, or even living like hermits, whether our name is known or not, we are living under the public eye, and we just don't know who may be looking for us, or in some cases, looking at us.

Yesterday, I briefly talked about a teacher in college that I sent a thank you postcard to. Today, I'll talk about a teacher I had in 3rd grade.

The other day, I got a message from a former elementary school classmate who found me on Facebook a few months ago because of an old school picture that I uploaded and tagged. She requested to be tagged in that picture, so I added her. Her message told me that she keeps in contact with our 3rd grade teacher (who happens to be in one of those pictures), and she might be thinking of joining the 'Book. Unfortunately, there were a few negative comments about that said teacher in those pictures... therefore I was asked to take the negative comments down because it might hurt her feelings if she happened to run into them.

Normally, I'm all for free expression and people should express themselves freely. After all, we're all grown-ups, so we should know how to act with or without censorship, right? But come to think of it, deleting those negative comments were the right thing to do, because just imagine if I happened to run into pictures of me, and the negative comments were specifically about me, I wouldn't like it so much.

But to add on, when I thought about it more, some of those comments did not personally reflect well on me. Now although I thought I was under the umbrella of amongst friends (since people who aren't on your network, more often than not wouldn't, search for you), these pictures are still public enough so people can see the picture AND the comments. So just like Erin Andrews' who thought she was safe to prance around naked for around 4 minutes around her "private" hotel room, it wasn't safe for someone like me (who's known to be positive) to engage and encourage negative comments about a teacher.

And the truth was, when I think back at it, I have tons of respect for that teacher. Because of the fact that she was hard on me at times when I was doing terrible, helped toughen me up and improved my work ethic. If by any chance she saw those comments, she wouldn't have gotten that idea.


So I did the right thing and deleted the comments... and I thought to myself that no matter what I do, whether I'm in the public eye or not, someone may probably be watching. So although we continue to guard ourselves and try to be as "private" as possible, at the same time, we should always try to do things thinking we might be watched, because you never know... we might be.


To paraphrase something that my friend Arel Moodie said in his book (whom I previously mentioned in this blog months ago)... when you do something, no matter what it is, if that thing you're thinking about doing happened to be featured in a front page of a newspaper, can you or your loved ones be proud of reading it? If the answer is no, then you should have second thoughts of what you're doing.


Although we aren't celebrities, I wouldn't say we have to act as if we are, but we have to be careful and guard our lives as we are. Believe it or not, we are as important as Erin Andrews or anyone you would see on TV, and you never know when someone is watching. So you have to do your best to be in your absolute best behavior as much as humanly possible.

Something to think about when you do something...


D4P...PD!!!
-OBE

Thank You Card Tuesdays

It's just a little past 11 PM, and I have to get another blog in before this Tuesday is over to keep this 14-day blog challenge going. Therefore, I think I'll expand in on something I've been doing for a while.

As many of you might know, especially if you've been following me on Facebook or Twitter, I have been partaking on the tradition of "Thank You Card Tuesday". What that is basically is to send a thank you card to someone who has had a previous impact in your life, whether recently, or otherwise. In fact, if you do follow me on Facebook, you might remember that I wrote a detailed note about it during the beginning of the year. Feel free to read it here.

To make a long story short, I do believe it's important to continually express gratefulness, whether it be to the people you appreciate, or just in general. We have to be thankful and sometimes, we have to openly count our blessings. And the reasons why are 1) it can make someone's day if they know you appreciate them, and 2) you'll feel a lot better about yourself if you're openly and genuinely grateful to what others, as well as life, has to offer!


For Thank You card Tuesday, I sent as much as 20 cards (or in my case, the personalized postcards pictured below) in a week, to as little as one. I will admit, I'm not perfect and may have missed a few Tuesdays, or may have not sent them on a Tuesday. Regardless, as long as you express your gratefulness, by either sending cards or some other form of awesomeness, then you'll feel and be a much better person for it.

For today's "Thank You Card Tuesday", I looked up my former college Advanced Macro Economics Professor, and I sent him a Thank You Card. God knows, I probably didn't deserve the grade I got in his class when I took it almost 7 years ago (didn't realize it was so long ago), but I understood and appreciated the "dismal science" of Economics a lot more after he taught it.

So come Tuesdays, make it a habit to show gratefulness by sending Thank You cards. 

"Gratefulness equates to your own greatness."

D4P... PD!!!
-OBE

Phone Blogging

As you can see from the blog I posted yesterday, today is the 1st day out of 14 where I'll do my daily blogging. And what better way to do so by posting my 1st blog by phone.

I just got a new Droid X a few days ago, and it is so awesome. This is my first experience with a smart phone, and it's simply too hard to put down. You can do many things with this phone, from blogging, through reading with Amazon Kindle, through all sorts of free games (to kill your productivity). Not to mention, the GPS and email features. There are free apps for lots of things. This phone does everything short of manual labor.

So there ya go... my 1st phone blog post. Cool huh? Regardless, I promise I'll talk about something a bit more interesting tomorrow.

D4P...PD!!!
-OBE

Published with Blogger-droid v1.4.9

OBE's Rejuvenated Dose - Time to Start a Habit

Today must have been one of the busiest Sundays doing chores I had in a while. My whole basement was flooding this afternoon due to a broken water filter. There was a panel on a wall that was nailed in front of the shut off valve, so it took me a bit of time to shut off the water. Therefore, I, along with my family, spent the whole day cleaning and sanitizing the basement. Not cool.

After working on the whole basement today (and skipping lunch), I really didn't feel like doing anything else. But, I made a promise in yesterday's blog, and I'll be damned if I break it. I promised that due to this blog approaching it's 1 year anniversary, I would announce something on this blog that will reward my readers, and hopefully gain a few more. So, starting today, I for the next 14 days, I will post at least one blog each day, whether a short quick thought, a huge content-rich and possibly educational post, or somewhere in the middle.

I feel I have to do this because, admittedly, I have been slackin on this blog. That's unacceptable, and that's something I'm not proud of. I have to use this outlet a lot more to express myself in a way, in a more loquacious manner than a 140-420 character status update. So, I promise I'll start doing so a lot more.

But why did I choose these next 14 days? Believe it or not, there's actually a reason for that. It has been said to me several times (mostly from reading, and from seminar listening), that it takes 14 straight days for a habit to formulate. So if I post at least something during these next 14 days, I can get into a habit of posting something everyday (or if not everyday, very frequently) well past those 14 days.

The way I see it, there shouldn't be many excuses for me to not post something. Reporters and media people consider blogs (along with Twitter, Facebook, and other social pages) as part of the "new media" and many post every day. Heck, even one of my business heroes, Ted Leonsis, who owns several professional sports teams, and has tons of other businesses, finds a way to post plenty of entries each day and keep in touch with his readers. So if he can do it, I'm sure I can. Not to mention, I finally got a smart phone (a Droid X), and it has a blogger app I can use.

So there you have it... these next 14 days are hopefully gonna be the start of something great with this blog. I'm sure there will always be something to talk about, so I shouldn't have too many excuses. But for those who are reading this, please hold me accountable if I'm not posting anything. With your help, I can even do more great things with this.

So definitely stay tuned for the next couple of weeks (and perhaps longer). It should be a good ride.

D4P...PD!!!
-OBE