Hunger and Humility

Firstly, before i get to ""hunger and humility", i want to touch base on my last blog, "let's stay together". i got a few hits/phone calls from the female gender, as some misunderstood my interpretation of "submit". now, i acknowledge that i knew that topic and that word specifically would draw a lot of conversation, but i want to make sure that i'm understood.
when i say, the woman must submit...i do not mean, as one of my good friends put it, "ironing a man's draws and cooking his food". nor do i mean, as my mom put it, "taking women back generations" by asking them to be docile, seen and not heard. No, this is not what i meant. I prefaced "women should submit" with "men must live by the word of GOD and carry out his will". what i'm saying is that, i understand that I (as a man) must be spiritually one with GOD and submit to GOD first, before I ask you to submit to me. As GOD spoke to Adam, he also gave him Eve. So of course, if i'm not doing what i need to do, i cannot expect you to. I'm not asking you to iron my draws and cook my food. i'm asking you to recognize that as we are equals, there is one head of household. there is one vision for the family. as one of my stylist put it, a man may drive you nuts and go around the block to accomplish his goals, when you thought he should have gone up the street...but as long as that man is steadfast in living a righteous life and taking the responsibility of taking care of he and his family, it is his partner's job not to display faith in his direction and support his plight. submit, as in...don't think you run shyt! submit as in, uplift him instead of opposing him all the time. submit, as in...you don't really want to change your own filters or carry that couch upstairs, so act like you got some sense.
ok, i'm done with that topic. if you dont feel me now, then we'll just agree to disagree.

now...."hunger and humility".
often i talk to people and they ask me what has lead me to the success i've had thus far in my life. they ask "when do you sleep?" "how do you have time to do so many things?" the same people who ask me about my success support my endeavors because they recognize my sincerity in the honorable projects that i undertake. two reasons why i find success...
hunger and humility.
firstly, my hunger is what continues to drive me to want to achieve more and more, despite having tasted a measure of success already. on Jay-z's Black Album, which in my opinion is one of the top 3 albums of all time...his last song " My last like my first", had a clip of B.I.G talking about how diddy schooled him to the game. B.I.G said, "like my man puff say, treat every album like its your first. he treated every project like he was an intern".
i listened to that song over and over and it became a mantra for me...treat my last like my first. that says, keep the same hunger throughout your career. often we taste success and our bellies become full. we loose the eye of the tiger like rocky balboa did when Mr. T knocked him out cold. we get comfortable in our success. we think we've made it. and as like to say, we get cute! that hunger is what gets us out of the hood. its what drives our creativity to become entrepreneurs. our hunger to upgrade our situation. this continued hunger separates good from great. it will be the reason you advance and the reason you fail. you have to remain hungry. even when things are going well for you...its ok to indulge in the fruits of your labor, but we can't lose the hunger.

the second reason is humility. humility is overlooked and underestimated. when we want people to support our endeavors, we must remain humble. it's not an option. we must first humble ourselves and recognize that without our supporters, even our greatest talents will go unseen or unheard or unnoticed. humility, sometimes more so than talent will help you develop and maintain supporters and followers. Humility is recognizing that when and if we are blessed to taste success, we share the credit to those who helped us. we continue to provide excellent services to those who were there for us as we struggled to get to where we are. in my line of business, i see a lot of people who lack humility. they forget that the same person who gave you their business, can just as easily give it to someone else. we take for granted that the once positive word of mouth, can turn negative and become a dagger in our business. humility is everything in business. it keeps you doing good business and not just trying to make a dollar. hell, i work for a man who in my opinion has no humility. in my opinion, he's forgotten what got him where he is and who supported him in his journey. i vow not to become him. yes, i do plan on growing and becoming even more successful, but i will not lose humility.


Treat your last like your first....STAY HUNGRY.

The same people you see on the way up are the same people you will see on the way down....STAY HUMBLE.