“Success isn’t a result of spontaneous combustion.  You must set yourself on fire”.

~Arnold H. Glasow

Good morning YP’s! I really like this quote because it talks about success not happening over night, as much as we would like it to. I remember a conversation that I had with a student that I tutor, and he mentioned to me that he thought he could accomplish his goals, by just doing enough to get by. I might have felt the same when I was his age, but as I see it now, success is from consistently good actions everyday, not just sometimes.

I believe that in order for success to be possible, we have to wake up every day, put our hardhat on, and grind. We might run into obstacles and things that we don’t want to do, but things have to get done regardless. So if success is 26 mile marathon, get your running shoes, and be ready to take each step. There are no bikes, or vehicles that are going to come and rescue you! No one every said success was going to be easy. With that note, make it a great day YP’s

What Is Life Really About???

          During the past couple months, I feel like I’ve learned so much about life and what really matters in it. I have spent a lot of time with my family, talking, and have never seen so clearly what life is about. During this time of reflecting I have seen what is truly important, and what really doesn’t have any substance. By no means is this the opinion of all of the other YP’s. In the same breathe, I am still learning so much about life, and have yet to master anything, I am just doing my best to move in the right direction, not just for myself, but for those that surround me.

          Building a strong foundation with my family is so important to me as I stand here today. Even though family was very near and dear to my heart before, I have gained a whole new level of love for my family. For me, they have been there through the roughest times in my life, and continue to support me, with every achievement and setback. Life is truly about family, and appreciating every moment with them. Read more »

Suze Orman is a very well respected financial advisor who happens to be a motivational speaker, host of her television show on CNBC, and author of 6 consecutive New York Times Best Sellers. She was also selected by Time magazine as one of the TIME 100, The World’s Most Influential People. So if anyone understand finances, it would be her. She has compiled a list of top 10 money tips for 2010, that I would like to share with you all. I certainly took away a thing or two from this helpful article. Enjoy!

Read more »

Good morning YP’s, and Happy Monday! It is our pleasure to introduce YPDianaMaeF, with her first of hopefully many blogs to YPBlogspot! She would like to share her insightful thoughts regarding a modern woman, healthy relationships, and diversity with YP’s everywhere. Enjoy the great read, and make it a great, productive day!

“What’s a Modern Man Without a Modern Woman?”

The very elusive saying, “Behind a good man, there’s a successful woman.” YPs, don’t you know it! In this day and age, women have certainly made milestone leaps in achievement. We’ve emerged from playing the roles of the wife, mother, and family caretaker. It’s evident this movement enables us to juggle both a successful career while maintaining a supportive family. No one said it would easy, but the modern women has certainly been keeping up to par with the opposite sex. This goes for all aspects in life: career, sports, politics, & education. The Modern Woman no longer feels that their only potential could be within the household. During this Oscar season, it’s reminiscent to say the supportive & leading roles are interchangeable in relationships. Read more »

“Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results”

- Andrew Carnegie

Good day YP’s! I like this quote because it talks about teamwork, and how you can use it to accomplish great things. Your team, can consist of your co-workers, family, or friends. In life, you can’t go about things alone, you have to be able to lean on one another when you are down, or lift others up, when they are in need of help. With teamwork, you can accomplish so much more. Granted you have to be able to make your own decisions at the end of the day, but having one another to motivate, or keep one another grounded, is definitely needed because of the hectic world that we live in today. So recognize who are a positive influence in your life, and then support one another to reach the goals you set!

Good day YP’s! I want to talk to you today about a topic that I believe is as important as any, which is your health. Health should be your number one priority, because it can greatly affect how you live your life. Also, your health doesn’t just affect you, it affects everyone around you. Granted, there are unexpected events that are out of your control, but a person can definitely take the proper precautions to take care of themselves. I didn’t realize how important health was, until I was sidelined for a month and a half due to an ankle injury. My injury, then put a strain on the rest of my family, because they had to take time off to care for me. Read more »

“Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment”

Life can turn upside down in a blink of an eye, from a close person passing away, or from other unfortunate events. I’ve learned the hard way that you cannot go back and change certain events, or take the bad things you said to someone who is no longer here. You have to let it all go, for you to be the person you want to be in the present. I’ve seen people who hold grudges for a long time, or say things like, “if I would have done this”, “if I had this it would be different”. But in reality, all you are doing is hurting, and hindering yourself.

We’ve gone through situations, where we could have done things differently, that’s what makes up human. But at the same, I have learned that you can’t hold on, but you must persevere, learn, do, and be better, because of it. All we can do is concentrate on the present moment and events, don’t get to ahead of ourselves, do the best we can in the present, and have faith that everything will take care of itself in the long run. Have a good one YP’s!

One of my favorite sites to get valuable information regarding my money is cnnmoney.com. I was looking through the site one day, and came across this quiz that grades how well you are doing with your personal finances. I took the test and received a pretty high score, but it also showed some areas that I can improve upon. These areas crossed my mind before, but this quiz was very helpful, because at the end, it actually highlighted the areas that I needed to work on.

If you have goals with your money, or just want to see how you are doing, I highly recommend this quiz. I would also recommend that you be as honest as possible, because the more honest you are, the more accurate the results. Take the test, and happy savings!

http://cgi.money.cnn.com/tools/financialhealth/index.html

“Idleness is the Dead Sea that swallows all virtues”

Good morning YP’s, and Happy Hump Day! I very much like this quote from Benjamin Franklin because it talks about idleness, and how it can impede progression. I have found that the times where I have been the most joyous in my life, were times when I was constantly active, challenging myself, trying new things, and making a difference. While having a schedule and being productive, your mind is able to stay sharper, and thus you are more appreciative of the time you do have off. We all like to rest, and have time to oneself, but an idle person does not deserve rest, because he has not earned it.

It also seems that when a person has too much time on their hands, they are more likely to engage in activities that might get a person in to trouble. So YP’s, stay active, and do things that benefit your life, so we can stay on top of our game and reach our goals!

          I always had a fascination with cars, and visualizing myself inside the nicest rides. I would think to myself, if I won the lottery, or if I were doing very well as an entrepreneur, which 3 cars would I have in my garage. I would have one sports car for myself to ride out in, a sedan to escort my family to special events, and a SUV for weather like today. I would be content with just 3 vehicles, lol.

          So I was looking through the 2010 vehicles one day, and came upon these 3 vehicles that I would choose. Some might have a different selection than I, and that is fine. Check them out, and let me know your thoughts. I definitely have a smile on my face visualizing myself in these vehicles as we speak. Now I just have to make it happen. Check out the pics, and enjoy…! Read more »

          I was flipping through the channels one night, and stopped on BET, and caught Monica’s conversation with songwriter/producer Dallas Austin. Monica was basically in a cross roads of her career, and was asking Dallas for advice. Dallas told Monica that she can’t go off of what the public want to hear from her, because they don’t know. She has to follow her heart, be brilliant, and give them her music that she creates, and this is when her fans will fully embrace her again. This conversation was very insightful, and made me think about many things throughout the night.

          I thought about my life, and different instances that stood out when people told me what I should and shouldn’t do. Of course there was good advice that helped me along the way, but there were also advice that could of held me back, or would have shot down some of the things I wanted to accomplish.  A couple of great people throughout history support my thoughts, that of Martin Luther King Jr, and Bill Gates. Even though these are great men, they are Read more »

Life Is Fine

by Langston Hughes

But it was Cold in that water! It was cold!

I took the elevator
Sixteen floors above the ground.
I thought about my baby

And thought I would jump down. Read more »

“Happy are those who dream dreams and are ready to pay the price to make them come true”

- Leon J. Suenes

Happy Monday YP’s!! It is a brand new start to a week, that is as good as we want to make it.

I like this quote because I believe all of us can relate in some form or fashion. We all have dreams and aspirations, and many things we want to accomplish in life. We all have goals, whether it is to make money, have a good job, be able to give back to our parents, become a star athlete, being a great mother, or just being the best we can possibly be. It is great to have these dreams, because we all need to start somewhere. But it does not do us any good, if we do not take proper steps to make them a reality. For example: if someone wants to open a business, they have to save, work hard, possess good credit, have faith, and then they will be in a good position to own a business. A person just can’t wake up one morning, and say, “I am going to open a business today”. It doesn’t work like that. So if we have dreams, we have to be ready to give our blood, sweat, and tears, if we want them to come true. So chase your dreams YP’s, just make sure your prepared to run the necessary miles to get to them!