Tag: Road to Success

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Write 2 Be Magazine will be debuting on January 15^th, 2013 so please go join the magazine on twitter before it debuts on https://twitter.com/write2bemag and join the email listing for the magazine at Write2bemagazine@yahoo.com. Also please feel free to go and friend me on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310 and like my Write 2 Be Magazine fan page. Please help support my endeavor and my new journey and help me spread the word about Write 2 Be and its meaning.

Lessons to Be Learned From a Media Mogul—Steve Harvey

December 13, 2012 jcladyluv

I probably would never have put Steve Harvey on this list of people I admire as a Media Mogul about a year ago. Mostly because I hadn’t really saw him that way until I started researching just how many things he had a role in within the media industry. There was once a time where you would here the name Steve Harvey and the first word that came to mind was Comedian. Now there are so many other things that would fit in a description of him.

He fought hard to be noticed for something other than just being a Comedian and to be respected as a true change within the media industry. And he did so with some simple principles that he follows from lessons that he has learned while on his journey. I wanted to share some of those simple principles and lessons with you and hopefully they will help you in your journey as they are beginning to help me in mine.

1.) Taking Care of You Has to Take Precedence— If you don’t take care of yourself, then you won’t be around to take care of the family and people that you love. You won’t be able to accomplish the things you dream of doing. Health is a priority that far too many people take for granted and keeping yourself healthy is going to allow you to build up your endurance and stamina to work hard to get the things that you want and to hold onto the things that you want.

2.) Some Rules Are Meant to Be Broken for All the Right Reasons— Of course most rules should be adhered to in general. However, there are times when it is okay to toss the rule book out the window. Rules like “don’t put all of your eggs in one basket,” or “always have a plan B,” are rules that people will tell you to live by because it’s the practical thing to do. It makes sense for some, but for those out of the ordinary people whose dreams go way beyond the scope of anyone’s imagination, those particular rules only set you up to fail. Some rules truly were made to be broken.

3.) Just Because Other People Place You in a Box Doesn’t Mean You Have to Remain There— Just because people label you as one thing, doesn’t mean that is the label you have to accept. Everyone put Steve Harvey in the box as Comedian and that was it. Just another one trick pony. But that is not where he chose to stay. He didn’t want to just be known as a comedian. So he stepped out of that box and became an Actor who not only went and took on acting roles but who actually got his own television show, a Radio Host of a nationally syndicated radio program, an Author of a book that is now a major motion picture, and now a television game show and talk show host. See what can happen when you think outside of the box.

4.) If You Don’t Work Hard for Your Dream, No One Else is Going To— You can’t expect other people to work hard to help you get where you want to be if you aren’t willing to work ten times as hard. The goals and dreams you are working towards are yours, no one else’s. If it means you have to wake up early and go to bed late in order to make things happen, then that’s what you are going to have to do. Yes it is wonderful if you manage to surround yourself with a team of people who are on your side and are working to help you further your dreams, but they’re not going to work any harder then they see you working. You can’t really rely on anyone else to help you get to that place of success, just yourself. Your work ethic is what is going to get you there and it’s what’s going to keep you there.

5.) Everyone That is Around You is Not There to Help You— When you are younger you thrive on how big your social circle is. When you get older you start to realize that your circle of “friends” may be too big. What will hold you back from becoming successful like you are striving to be more than anything is having the wrong people around you. Some people are just simply too toxic to have in your life. They want to ride on your coat tales and if you don’t take them with you they will try effortlessly to drag you down right back to where you started. These are the people who, while they say they want to see you succeed, what they are really hoping you do is fail. These are the people that you don’t need around you, but you have to know that and realize that before it’s too late.

There are so many rules that you aren’t supposed to break. There are practicalities that everyone is supposed to take with you through life. But sometimes being practical is just another way of playing things safe. There is nothing wrong with saying that you have a plan for your future, you know what you want to do, what you want to be, and where you want to go in life, and focusing on that goal and that dream, without a back-up plan.

I heard once that sometimes back up plans are for those who are not really sure what it is that they want. Now I don’t mean people with multiple roles within life such as being a singer, an author, and an actress. That is simply a person who had a broad vision for their future. I mean those who go down one path and then prepare something to fall back on that is practical but not necessarily something that they are passionate about.

Why isn’t it okay to put all of your eggs in one basket if there is no other basket that you are interested in pursuing? There are all kinds of rules that people will try to make you adhere to and labels that people will place on you. Who says that you have to live by anyone else’s rules or labels but your own?

I have the Write 2 Be Different…What is your Write 2 Be?

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

Lessons to Be Learned From a Media Mogul—Tyler Perry

December 11, 2012 jcladyluv

In reading about Tyler Perry’s journey; both his struggles and humble beginnings, as well as his rise to success and his eventual triumph; I can always point out a lesson that he has learned along his road to success that I can apply to what I am currently going through now. Some of the things that I have learned from reading and just watching his journey are things and words that were never spoken to me growing up.

They are things that I have been struggling to comprehend for a long time now. They are things that are finally starting to sink in and I am realizing that these are things that will help propel me to where it is that I want to be, and where it is that I need to be. So I wanted to share with you a few lessons that I have learned from observing Tyler Perry that could help steer you on a more sturdy road to success.

1) Don’t Let Anybody Define You— People have hated on Tyler Perry since he became a success. They’ve tried to tear him down, say what they think he should be doing. Even some people in the industry still don’t take him seriously enough just because he started off in the comedy arena. None of that matters to him. He has never tried to be anything that other people wanted him to be. He has never tried to be anyone other than himself. And look at where you can go just defining your own identity instead of letting others define it for you.

2) Guard Your Heart—When Tyler Perry speaks of guarding your heart he isn’t talking about heartbreak (like I initially thought). He is speaking of keeping your heart in tact when others continue to try and change you. On your road to success people are going to do cruel and unforgivable things to you, things that you never thought they would do. Guarding your heart is going to keep you from allowing those cruelties and those unforgivable things to change your heart and turn you into someone that you are not.

3) Never let the word NO stop you from succeeding anyway—Tyler Perry’s first play that he wrote in 1992 and took his whole life savings to produce and put on was not well received and it placed him back into the poverty that he dealt with in his childhood. He spent months sleeping in seedy motels and eventually in his car. He never let the No’s keep him from powering through the rough times and eventually someone said Yes! The rest is history.

4) Don’t let the bad that’s in your past hold you back from receiving the good that is in your future—Tyler Perry had an abusive and poverty stricken childhood that could’ve made him shut down and give up. He took his painful and hurtful past and let it be the fuel that drove him to succeed and to make his life better. He refused to let his past hold him back from all of the blessings that he was due in his future.

5) Never question what God has in store for you—No matter what hard times he faced and no matter how bad it got, Tyler Perry didn’t just maintain a strong belief in himself and his talent, but he maintained his faith that he had in God and what God had planned for him. He maintained his desire to fulfill the purpose that God had given him in life.

I know that they say success is all in who you know, and I do believe that to an extent. However, in observing some of these powerful media moguls and seeing what lessons they have to teach along the way, that may be an over-exaggerated phrase that everyone just would like to be true. I mean it’s a good excuse to use for why you’re not where you want to be right? You don’t know anyone so that’s why you’re not where you want to be. It’s the excuse I’ve been using for quite a while now.

It’s more about knowing yourself and knowing what your purpose is and never questioning it. It’s about not letting other people’s ideals for you turn you against what you know is right for you. It doesn’t help to know all the right people, if all they’re going to do is tell you all of the wrong things and lead you down the wrong path. You are your best bet to get where it is that you desire to be.

I have the Write 2 Be Authentic…What is your Write 2 Be?

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

Write 2 Be Magazine will be debuting on January 15^th, 2013 so please go join the magazine on twitter before it debuts on https://twitter.com/write2bemag and join the email listing for the magazine at Write2bemagazine@yahoo.com. Also please feel free to go and friend me on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310 and like my Write 2 Be Magazine fan page. Please help support my endeavor and my new journey and help me spread the word about Write 2 Be and its meaning.

Even In the Midst of the Storm

September 26, 2012October 2, 2012 jcladyluv

I read an inspirational message on facebook the other day that made me stop and rethink about the things that I’ve been dealing with lately. It read:

“Don’t confuse your path with your destination. Just because it’s stormy now doesn’t mean that you aren’t headed for sunshine.”

I’ve been so frustrated with this path that I am on lately. I have been second guessing decisions I made months ago, even years ago, and wondering if my gut steered me wrong this time. I’ve been second guessing the destination that I thought my path was leading me to.

I’ve been hit with a recent storm of bad weather and agonizing over just how long this particular storm was going to last because Lord only knows it’s not my first and it probably will not be my last. When I read that post on facebook I started to realize that maybe that’s what I have been doing for the past couple of weeks during my own personal torrential downpour that I have been experiencing lately.

I have been confusing the path that I am on with the destination that I am eventually headed towards. I have been forgetting that the rocky path has absolutely nothing to do with the destination that God has already laid out for me. I’ve had a life full of days of bad weather and what seems like even less days of sunshine.

I may have to weather the storm right now, in this moment, but I have to remind myself that with every storm the sunshine does follow. And sometimes after the storm there’s even a rainbow just to show you how bright it is on the other end of that storm that you’ve just weathered.

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

Conquering Fear Doesn’t Happen Overnight

February 8, 2012 jcladyluv

It is typical for someone to give good advice to others without ever really taking that same advice themselves. I’ve written a lot about not letting fear, whether it is fear of failure or fear of success, stop you from going after your dreams. I stand by that advice but sometimes I just can’t seem to take it myself. It isn’t that I don’t want to let the fear go, it just seems that I can’t. I get moments where I feel fearless and ready to conquer the world. Then something happens to set me back and I get afraid. I find myself afraid that I won’t succeed, then afraid that I will.

I spent a lot of time last night assessing exactly what it is that I seem to be doing wrong, or rather what is wrong with me. Why it is that I keep missing opportunities simply by not going after them in the first place. I look at my best friend Ms. L and watch her hustle her ass off to climb further and further up that ladder. She’s doing what she loves to do and she is going into it all fearlessly. Now Ms. L and I are both in pursuit of the same thing, success doing what it is we love to do. We have different avenues of the media industry that we want to conquer but we are both passionate about creativity and writing and making a living at it. I just can’t seem to mirror that same fierceness she has to hustle.

I sat in my bed last night trying to figure out why. Was it that I didn’t want it as bad anymore? Is it that I just feel that I am not cut out to be my own businesswoman after all? Can it just be that I am not hungry enough for it? No, none of those things apply to me. Then I realized that I’m still afraid. I thought it had gone away. I thought I had talked myself through the phase of being too afraid but somewhere along the way it crept back in. I’m afraid of succeeding but mostly I’m afraid of failing at everything I’ve ever dreamed of.

What I also realized in my moment of self analysis last night was that if I don’t try and give it my all then my fear will come true anyway. I fail without even trying to succeed. Not trying will be failing. I wish I could say that the fear is gone now. I wish that I could say that once it passes this time that it will never creep back in. But I can say that I know that fear is not going to help me get what I want and what I’m destined to have; success. For anyone out there experiencing a serious case of fear, you are not alone. We will overcome it and climb our way up that ladder. It just might take us a little bit longer than others. Until tomorrow…Remember that Fear stands for False Evidence Appearing Real.

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

Let Providence Be Your Guide

January 23, 2012 jcladyluv

I was watching Oprah’s Master Class last night and this particular episode was about Morgan Freeman and his long journey to success. He spoke a lot of letting Providence be your guide. I know that this is going to sound funny but I had never really heard of that saying and I didn’t quite understand what it meant. I mean I realized what meaning it had by the context he was using it in throughout the telling of his life lessons but I still (being the constant researcher that I am) had to go to Google and read more about this Providence. In short, it refers to God’s extraordinary intervention in the life of people.

When Morgan Freeman continually mentioned Providence intervening at the right moments in his life he spoke of the countless times that he might have been leaning towards making wrong, or worse, desperate decisions to maintain a somewhat decent living while in search for his dream that frankly took way longer to come to fruition than he would’ve liked. He spoke about his attempt in joining the Air Force in which case he quickly realized he wasn’t cut out for that. Providence had intervened.

He talked about his attempts at being a ‘clerk typists’ and working for this company as a temp. When he tried to get the job full time the hiring manager told him that that was not what he was supposed to be doing, and that he was supposed to be an Actor. Providence had intervened again. He spoke of his collecting unemployment and having to search for a typical, clerk typist job which kept him from looking for acting jobs. He said that he had gotten frustrated enough to go to the supervisor of the employment agency and told her that by them making him look for typical work that he just wasn’t meant for, they were keeping him from being who he truly was, an actor. She approved his benefits anyway and gave him six months to get an acting job. Providence intervened again. There were countless other people in his life that ‘intervened’ with him trying to lead a mediocre existence and steered him even further towards what he was born to do.

In the beginning of the program he made a statement about things happening as they should and that you are going to have those certain times in your life where you think that you should have been doing something else, something more, but that’s not necessarily so. He said that you probably should be doing whatever it is you’re doing, just to do your best at it. I thought about that, and the fact that I always feel like I should be in a much different place, a much better place. But in listening to the life lessons of Morgan Freeman, a man who didn’t really come into his career until he was around the age of fifty (although I really hope it doesn’t take me that long), I realized that he’s right.

I mean I would like to not have gone through a lot of the things I’ve gone through in life. I’ve had opportunities pass by me that just seemed like they should have been mine but somehow didn’t pan out. Perhaps that was Providence also intervening in my life. Without all of the things that I have gone through, those things I sit and wonder ‘why me’ about, would I be the person I am right now. Would I be as strong, as determined, as persistent? Would I be this much of a fighter? I don’t know that I would be if I hadn’t had all of these tests and obstacles along my journey.

Perhaps Providence has protected me from something I might not have been ready for. Maybe the opportunities that passed me by weren’t really mine to begin with. Maybe I should just do the best at what I’m doing now and be the best writer that I can be right now, in this moment, and let Providence guide me. Maybe we all should let that spiritual force be the guide that steers us in the direction that we should be going, not necessarily in the direction we think we should be going. Until tomorrow…Take stock in what you are doing now, it most likely is right where you should be.

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

The Support Around You

January 11, 2012 jcladyluv

Ms. L wrote a blog post the other night about hustling hard for what you want out of life. I will say that she has got to be the best hustler I know. When she sets her mind to something and decides that it’s going to happen, she makes it happen, one way or another. She is a perfect example of the type of friend and person in general that you want surrounding you when you are on a mission to greatness. They say that birds of a feather flock together and when I was in high school I never understood what that really meant, nor how true that statement was.

My mother used to hear about certain people that I associated with in high school doing something they didn’t have any business doing, and she would just automatically assume that I was doing the same things (which I wasn’t). She said that if you surround yourself with certain types of people then that’s the type of person people will think you are. At the time I thought that it was her being highly judgmental and unfair. I felt that if you liked someone or at least a lot of their attributes then there shouldn’t be a problem being their friend even if the two of you were total opposites on everything. I learned as I grew into an adult that my mother (I cringe as I say this) was right.

You don’t want the people in your circle to be exactly like you (that would just be boring) but you do want them to be people who understand you and your goals and ambitions and who are as ambitious about whatever they want as you are. You want people surrounding you that are like-minded and that are going to push you when you need a push. You need people who have their own sense of direction and motivate you to find and follow yours.

A writer in particular needs a good source of support and motivation in the people that they associate with. While I have other good supportive people in my circle that motivate me in various ways (as I hopefully motivate them), none of them I admire quite as much as Ms. L. Her post the other night about hustling harder (and our conversation that came afterwards) gave me great encouragement and motivation.

I am probably not the best hustler in terms of going after everything I want with extreme vigor but because I am not, it is good to have someone in my corner, in my circle, who is. Someone who can be a model example of the kind of hustling I should be doing. Surrounding yourself with the right people, as a writer, is vitally important and should be something that you should definitely reevaluate if you haven’t before. I thank Ms. L for being the kind of friend and fellow writer that I can take a multitude of notes from and for not being stingy with your secrets along your pathway to success. I hope all of you out there have someone in your circle that pushes you to be your very best. Until tomorrow…If you haven’t already, make sure you have your support team in place!

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

No Shortcuts

December 13, 2011 jcladyluv

We all seek something meaningful out of life. We have a sense of purpose that is sometimes beyond all rationality. And when it seems like it will take forever for us to reach that destination that we are striving to get to, we all sometimes wish that we could just wake up one day and be there, right where we feel we need to be in life. Unfortunately life does not work that way. Or maybe it’s fortunate for us that it doesn’t.

I was watching my soap opera today (Young and the Restless) and something was said on there that really struck a chord with me. What good is reaching your destination without having the experience of getting there? What good is it, it means nothing, and you learn nothing? I never thought of it like that.

If I were to just wake up one day and have it all handed to me, everything that I want in this life, without having the struggle of actually getting to those proud and joyful moments, then would it mean as much? Without all of the blood, sweat, and tears put into making my dreams come true, would they mean as much and would I work just as hard to hold onto them? I can say that I would but I don’t know that.

Sometimes it is the struggle of the journey that makes the end result worth every bit of hardship that you went through. Sometimes there are no shortcuts in life, and I am discovering (though it took me a while to realize) that taking the long way to your destination can sometimes be the best thing you could ever do to satisfy your purpose. Until tomorrow…Don’t always go looking for the shorter way around things.

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

Everyone’s Path is Different

December 11, 2011 jcladyluv

Okay I know I should be typing away, working on the next chapter in my novel, or beginning to outline the next novel, or something of the creative nature. But it’s Sunday and I tend to get a little relaxed on this particular day of the week. I happened to get caught up in watching a marathon of this TV show called Life After which focuses on certain celebrities who were really popular and just seemingly fell off the map.

It was interesting because as someone who intends to be involved in every aspect of the arts (because my talents are not limited to just writing) and the media culture I like to see the people who have done it before and done it successfully and some who haven’t. I also like to discover that the perception that I’ve had of some of these actresses, actors, and singers have not been accurate. I like discovering that some of these entertainers are not the diva’s or jerks that they came off as, and to top that off, that some of them were actually really smart and successful business minded people. They do what they are good at and they have created empires out of their talent. This is something that I aspire to do as well.

I have always wondered what it would have been like if I had a mother who was supportive of all of my talents (in addition to writing, I can act and sing) and artistic endeavors. Would I have been able to become the childhood star that I sometimes daydreamed about becoming? I look at some of the stars that were those childhood entertainers and how it seemed to have hindered them more-so than help them, and wonder would that have been my fate too. Although there are those stars who were childhood stars and are still rising today. I suppose no one ever really knows what could have been.

Watching the show Life After today, whereas in the past, I might have envied them and their success at such an early age, today I was just reminded that everyone’s path is paved a certain way for many reasons. I walked the path that I was meant to walk and I will have my turn and I will have the chance to follow the lessons of those who have maintained their success as well as gain knowledge in where others may have fallen short. See television can be very inspiring in many different ways. Until tomorrow…What’s inspiring you today?

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

While I’m Planning, God is Laughing (a lot)

December 9, 2011 jcladyluv

Writers are supposed to be established by a certain age right? By the age of thirty-one you would expect them to be published, either with articles in national magazines or a book on the shelves of every bookstore. If not that then they would certainly be working in a magazine or a newspaper getting first hand experience in their craft and getting the chance to use it on a daily basis. If you’re lucky you would have some five or six figure book deal that ends up being turned into a phenomenal movie and you’ve finally made it to the bestsellers list.

Yes I always thought that at this age (31) that I would be already inNew York, working for some national magazine, or a publishing company as an editor with my own book deals in the work simultaneously. But as you all know, life (and God) often times has very different plans for you that you didn’t anticipate. You know they say when we plan, God laughs. Well he must have been having a really good laugh with me for the last few years now. I am certainly not where I would like to be within my career but perhaps I am where I need to be and wherever God has planned for me to be.

I was reading a magazine interview with Walter Mosley and what I never knew about him was that he didn’t even start writing until he was 34 years old and wasn’t first published until he was about 38 years old. Now he is 59 with 34 books published (so far). This gave me hope. There is still time for me to make the mark on the literary and media world like I want and perhaps God’s plan for me included a long lengthy journey of good old fashion struggle on my way to success (probably along with a lesson in patience—cause I really need to work on that). I am hopeful that my journey will be worth it in the end and confident that I will carry out exactly the plan that God has tailor made for me, at the precise time he plans for it to be carried out. Until tomorrow…Don’t give up hope, his plan IS your plan too!

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”