Pretty Exciting College Football News for My Alma Mater

Read this...

The Maryland Terrapins, my alma mater, and the team that I am proud to root for, is playing one of the consistently great football programs over the past few years, The Texas Longhorns. They will have a home-at-home series taking place in 2017 and 2018. This team won the National Championship a few years ago, and are consistently in the conversation usually playing in primetime in early January in a BCS bowl game. They even played in the championship this past year, and was arguably, an injured quarterback away from winning it all.

I am truly excited about this. If I'm still living in this area (but maybe even if I am not), I will be in FedEx Field with bells on, when this series comes here in 2018.

This news also excites me for another reason. The fact that they are willing to test themselves by playing one of the best programs in the country says a lot, and something that I have tons of respect for. As I have been taught many times during my life, being around and competing against the best, will make you great.

Though the Maryland program could still be a lot better (and no where near Texas at the moment), I have no doubts they'll improve within the next 7 years, and possibly make this interesting. Who knows? I guess we'll have to wait.

D4P...PD!!!

-OBE

Self-Perception vs. Self-Deception

All my life, people have told me things that discredit me. Ever since I was young, cynics, peers, friends, and even family members and loved ones, have called me things like "unstable", "untalented", "worthless", and "failure". Some said those things, having my best interests at heart (after all, as I said, some of these statements came from "loved ones"). But regardless who said those things, they proved to be hurtful, and I believed them for a while (because, in all honesty, there were some truth to them).

I've learned something in my life, and it is something that has resonated with me for years. If you believe in something strong enough, your mind will assimilate to accept it as truth, regardless if it is actually true. When people have called me all those negative things, I felt extremely depressed at those times, and felt exactly what I was being called. Many times, even worse.

And it was these times, when I would read or listen to inspirational scripture, self-help books, and general motivation literature or products. When I did, I was encouraged, because I was convinced that I'm not worthless, and that I am valuable to this world, and to people I come in contact with. The right words made me believe I am talented, and have tons to contribute. And when I got away from negativity, and at times found positivity by people encouraging me, and telling me that I am awesome (even though many things around me told and showed me likewise)... I really believed it. And because I believed it, people have called me inspirational, and I felt inspirational, even at the moments when I felt I had better days.

So whatever you're feeling right now, take the negative thoughts on your head, the toxic "truth" (more accurately... "half truths") that people tell you and purge it out of your system. As much as you don't like to admit it... these things can slowly grow and hurt you. Then replace it with positive visions... visions of greatness, the greatness that you aspire to be (but haven't reached), and convince yourself that you are and will be that greatness.

Some may say that doing what I just said in that last paragraph is considered, "self deception". I don't. I believe that if you envision and focus a lot on something that you ASPIRE to be, and you do your best to become that aspiration, by thinking like it, acting like it, and owning it, you aren't lying to yourself. If it is something that your HEART truly wants... it is a HUGE part of your being. You aren't being "fake" by thinking in that way. In fact, you are more "real" by doing so for accepting your true desires and what your heart really wants, more-so than if you keep accepting your undesired "truth".


So in case you have naysayers and in case you are doubting yourself, just envision yourself truly being great. I've learned most of my life, that people like to knock you down, and once you're down, they'll try their best to keep you down, so you can be as miserable as they are. But in reality, you have done something great in your life (most people have). And because that's so, you aren't worthless, you ARE talented. Focus on that particular truth, and you shall overcome your obstacles around you (and within you).

"Perceive your true awesomeness within... and you shall achieve it."


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

Something Great to Start the Week...

To get the week off to a right start, I want to share something. The following was actually read in my church this morning, and it actually caught my attention. It's called "True Poverty" which is from a monologue called "First Person Singular". (Written by Judith I. Keefe)

I was full of hope;
The day shone bright and true-
I saw someone approaching,
And I smiled to share my joy!

I smiled to her;
I smiled at her;
I wanted to smile with her-

But she looked at me
And looked away,
And no part of a smile
Fair touched her face at all...

What wrenching, awful poverty
To be so poor
As to have
Not even a smile
To give away.

Closing thoughts... don't be that "poor" person and be part of this "True Poverty". When you go about your week, have that smile to give away and share, and you'll be adding value to those around you!!! (as well as yourself). :-)

D4P...PD!!!
John

"Out of the Box Empowerment"

One of the things that probably stick out in this blog would probably be the new logo. I'm going to spend a little bit of time talking about it now.

As you might know, "ObeCorp" is the name of my company. Believe it or not, the actual inspiration behind the name "ObeCorp" was initially from watching the old Yu-Gi-Oh! cartoon. One of the rivals of the protagonist, who is also the "anti-hero" of that series, Seto Kaiba, is a teenager who is a CEO of a multi-billion dollar company. I thought the name of his company (KaibaCorp) sounded kinda cool, and if I ever founded a company one day, I'll probably name it something similar. So, when the time came, I just incorporated my nickname that a lot of people seemed to call me "Obe" in that manner. Thus, ObeCorp Enterprises was born.

But, it wasn't until this past February, that I actually got an idea. After coming from a speakers' conference/bootcamp in Vegas, and after being around and interacting with a lot of successful speakers and business people, my creative juices started flowing. I thought that "OBE" can actually be an acronym of something. I figured that those 3 letters can stand for "Out-of-the-Box Empowerment". That's what my company was about anyway, because a lot of the empowering motivational stuff that I was already doing, and that I had already published (whether it be my books, CD, videos, etc), was different, and was doing stuff that nobody else in the world of self-help was doing. From then on, I've always held that idea of "out-of-the-box empowerment" in my head until I can figure out what I can do with it, and the best way I can run with it.

It was actually a couple of weeks ago in the APCA conference in New York City when I thought of the brilliant logo that you see in this blog. The president and director of APCA, Eric Lambert, suggested that a lot of us create a logo or a "meme" that clearly identifies our company, brand, and message just by simply looking at the logo. A perfect example of a "meme" would be the crucifix as it relates to Christianity (as it is not only a symbol, but for those who believe in the religion, you know that it's also the basis of the whole belief system behind the religion).

I already had a logo, but it seemed very generic, and it didn't really say what I was about...

This was supposed to be an "infinity-like" logo that had an "O" "C" and a (backwards) "E", which stands for "ObeCorp Enterprises. With the "infinity-like" shape, it was supposed to symbolize that you can do anything you set your mind to. Still, I felt it was still lacked a lot of identity and meaning. Besides, the more I looked at it, it didn't look like an "O, C, and E" (especially the E), and it didn't really look like an infinity sign (more like a venn-diagram). Therefore, a re-design was in order.

That's when I came up with the following logo...


Most of it is pretty self-explanatory. The main concept is a strong tan (Filipino) arm breaking out of a box, and then flexing it's muscles to symbolize "out-of-the-box empowerment". As far as the outline of the Capitol dome is concerned, with that building being a well-recognized powerful symbol of where decisions and choices are made, and with me being known as the "DC" (Destiny Choosing) motivator (as well as having roots in the Washington, DC metro area), I felt it was always an appropriate symbol to represent "ObeCorp". I also managed to creatively unite in the letters "O" "B" (both on the Capitol outline) and "E" (on the balled-up fist) strategically in the logo to raise "brand awareness" of my company, and will further separate me from anyone else. I also had the original color scheme of red and black kept in my logo, to stay loyal to my personality (as red is a color to symbolize passion and energy, and black is a color to symbolize mysterious, undiscovered, and "groundbreaking").

I hired a designer from Pakistan (via elance.com) to design the logo, and was extremely impressed with the result. I feel this is the perfect logo to use to represent everything I'm doing.

As of today, you will only find this logo in this blog. The old ObeCorp Enterprises logo is still in most of my other sites, but you should start seeing it in all of the other websites affiliated with me in the next couple of weeks or so.

But yeah, that's the story behind my new logo, and pretty much the gist of what the new acronym concept of OBECorp (Out-of-the-Box Empowerment Inc.) is all about. To further expand though, a big part of "out-of-the-box empowerment" is also empowering yourself through creativity. And I felt the creation and concept of this logo also perfectly illustrates this concept (pun intended). :-)

So don't be afraid to stand out, bust out of your box, and be empowered! That is what "OBECorp" is about. ;-)

D4P...PD!!!
John

(I know I said in the first post, that I wouldn't do a lot of long posts... but to the contrary, my first two entries in this blog are as long as it gets, LOL. I promise that my next entry won't be nearly as long.)