The Great Gatsby

Fitzgerald´s The Great Gatsby will always be a lifelong favorite book for me. Mainly, due to the premise of how a man returned with so much material wealth to show the woman he loved what she wanted. But of course the twist in the plot was that she got married to a wealthy conniving man (which is the main reason she broke up with the love of her life). The entire thing ends up in tragedy because the woman gets killed and Gatsby, our hero was framed. Whether we like it or not, it reflects our past and current societies even if we try to slam dunk that with the advent of independent women who can earn and pay their expenses. Taking out that peel though, we know many women will want a woman who can amass more wealth and power than they do. I went through something like that from my former ex-fiancé and her family. The difference is that I have no desire to go back like Gatsby. But I am preparing myself for the fiancé that is coming my way.

My mission in life when it comes to the next woman who comes along and decides to choose to spend the rest of her life with me: TO AMASS SO MUCH WEALTH THAT SHE AND MY CHILDREN AND FUTURE CHILDREN WILL NOT HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT ANYTHING. Of course, I am not saying that is the ONLY thing required, she will get unconditional love from me, but I want to give her a freedom and life where we don´t have to worry about anything…and of course, crazy enough where I can retire at 40 yrs old if I want to (which may be a problem because I am such a workaholic and love the international scope of my work).

But bottom line, my desire can be in a snapshot such as this:

I sit on MY beach (yes, in my own island) with my mobile phone having a short meeting with my company board running my companies sipping Mai tais while I lovingly look and wave at my naked wife and kids playing in the water.

Very simple. Very achievable. Very reachable.

I am almost there.

All missing is my dream woman.

Steps to Happiness

I read this somewhere and it touched me:

Everybody Knows, 
You can’t be all things to all people. 
You can’t do all things at once. 
You can’t do all things equally well. 
You can’t do all things better than everyone else. 
Your humanity is showing just like everyone else’s.

So, 
You have to find out who you are, and be that. 
You have to decide what comes first, and do that. 
You have to discover your strengths, and use them. 
You have to learn not to compete with others, because no one else is in the contest of “being you”.

Then, 
You will have learned to accept your own uniqueness. 
You will have learned to set priorities and make decisions. 
You will have learned to live with your limitations. 
You will have learned to give yourself the respect that is due. 
And you’ll be a most vital mortal.

Believe, 
That you are a wonderful, unique person. 
That you are a once-in all history event. 
That it’s more than a right, it’s your duty, to be who you are. 
That life is not a problem.

Dream Versus Vision

“Nothing has meaning except for the meaning you give it.” I wholeheartedly believe that everyone possesses a rich and awesome destiny. However, whether a person is BOTH willing and able to do what is required in order to align up different elements in order to achieve their fullest potential therein contained, is an entirely different matter altogether. Consider my personal mantras: “Your programming leads to your thoughts; your thoughts lead to your feelings; your feelings lead to your action; your actions lead to your results.” “Faith is not believing God can. It is knowing that God will.” “How you do anything is how you do everything.” “Excuses are lies you tell yourself. Make an effort, not an excuse.” “Some people succeed because they are destined to, but most people succeed because they are determined to.” “A lot of getting over fear is just doing what you’re afraid of.” “Feed your dreams, starve your thoughts.” “Following the herd is a sure way to mediocrity.” “I like to think of myself like that….we are all limited to the thoughts we have about ourselves…our thoughts determine how far we go in life…have you listened to your thoughts lately?” “Change is inevitable. Growth is optional.” Here is my take at the difference between a dream and a vision is that we all dream. However, many of us keep it at a daydreaming level of what else”could be” if we opened ourselves up more to the full spectra of possibilities, worked smarter, etc. In a nutshell: A dream is more fuzzy, raw, unrefined due to it being un- or under-defined. Whereas, a vision that is something more distinct, concrete, and spelled out in great detail. Regarding destiny, which inevitably nailing you right between the eyes and piercing straight through the heart, once an individual really knows and is consistently going after what they want, I believe it can be accurately illustrated in 2 quick examples. One is simply shown through burning an ant once you take a magnifying glass and direct it’s heat to any given single point. QUESTION:” What’s the ant that you’re aiming to mercilessly scorch?” Lastly, a quote to mentally munch on, “Luke says his landing the leading role was not so much about being in the right place at the right time. ‘It’s about being in constant pursuit of your purpose,’ he said. ‘Once you are in your purpose, there is no lack. It’s bound to happen whe you are determined and going after your purpose.” -Derek Luke (opposite Denzel Washington in the movie “Antoine Fisher”). “The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on my life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company…a church… a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past…we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the string we have, and that is our attitude…I am convinced that life is ten percent what happens to me and ninety percent how I react to it. And so it is with you…we are in charge of our attitudes.” -Charles Swindoll

MJ 2.0 Unleashed!

I guess it´s time to graduate from MySpace and grow up a bit. It is nice to have a dedicated blog to where I can be much more “professional” at the same time be myself.This year, I decided to reinvent myself. I am excited of what journey 2008 has in store for me. I believe that it is my launch year in so many aspects.So for my mantra this year which will also become the company´s: THINK BIG, DO BIG and DO IT WELL! I have purged and emptied every vessel in my life since 2005 that a definite outpouring is inevitable this year. I am ready to receive life´s blessings!My company is now completing its process of reorganizing its business model and structure. Going global is harder than I had thought. It´s all different when you imagined or envision than when you actually put it on paper and into action. On the other hand, I do think I got the THINK BIG part of the mantra. DO BIG is now the next step and I know we will DO IT WELL! I have formed a great team. Great potential. So watch out! But basically, I want to reflect my own values and principles in this company to walk the talk. I believe that if we got the foundations in the right principles and values, our growth will be steady and our clients will feel at home with us because we will be sincere in all our efforts, since we live and breathe it as well.I am excited about this blog. It has so much ranting possibilities about everything.So, let´s see where this ride takes us…here we go!