3 Lessons from Kevin Durant’s Win

Y’all know I don’t even blog on a Tuesday, but that Golden State win was blog worthy for anyone who is passionate about taking a non-traditional career path. I particularly wanna talk about what I learned watching KD (Kevin Durant) for those of you who are not fluent in basketball (and don’t feel bad I only know a little basketball). 

So, here’s the back story for those who don’t know and for those who do don’t judge my sketchy details. Durant used to play for OKC the team was great, but couldn’t win a ring. He left and people accused him of chasing a ring and not being loyal…blah…blah…blah 

Since GSW are celebrating a win that means he chased that ring in the right direction and here are three things we can learn from his pursuit. 

Three lessons from KD’s win:
1️⃣ To level up sometimes means you have to leave the space and place where you’re most comfortable. You might be functioning well there, but are you fulfilled? Yes, Durant, Westbrook, and the bearded one were an awesome trio, but they couldn’t take him where he wanted to go. Many people criticized his decision, but it looks like a smart choice. Be careful when listening to critics because most often the people criticizing you can’t get you where you want to go, but will be quick to tell you how to get there. 

Kevin Durant Photo Credit: Salt Lake Tribune

2️⃣ Be appreciative enough of the gift to be humble and wise enough to know you’re gifted and conduct yourself as such. In the face one of basketball’s greats, Bron Bron KD didn’t falter or faint. There was no time for to think man he’s great I wish I was too. He played in his greatness. 

3️⃣ Because you’ve lost before doesn’t mean you can’t ever win. Stay in the game.  

Now when you’re ready to stop playing by the rules you usually play by and ready to work with a winning team to #getyourInheritance book a Publishing Pow-Wow and evaluate your marketing game, so you can bring home the championship. 

Did you learn anything from last night’s game or the series? Share your insight with me.

#MompreneurMonday Get Respect While Working From Home

R-E-S-P-E-C-T isn’t that what all small business owners want? Of course, but sometimes it can be really difficult for a mompreneur to get some respect while working from home.

Raise your hand if you know what I mean. You’ve got the kids running around, the husband making requests, and those pesky Facebook notifications can be downright disrespectful.

The only way to get respect is to demand it.

 

Not quite like this, even though that’s how you may feel.

What you have to do be firm and about your business. Just like you would at your 9 to 5 create an environment that demands every member of your household respects your mompreneur hustle. It might be a fight and difficult for them to see it and grasp it, but go for it.

Here are 3 tips to create an environment of respect for your home based business:

1. Set office hours. Sometimes your day will just run together, but realistically if you want people to respect what you do have to set the tone. Some of my early Periscope videos and live classes have traces of my children’s voices in the background. Then I finally sat them down and explained the seriousness of what I’m doing and now I have almost no background voices in my training. Put your foot down and explain it in a language that they understand. Just like your kids or husband can’t just pop up in the middle of a meeting at your office they can’t just pop up while you’re working at home.
2. Keep your working space a working space. I don’t care if you have a table top tray or full-fledged office (I’m IN between the two. I have a cubicle) keep all non-business related items out of your working space. Evict all the sippy cups, crayons, etc. Make your working space working space. As your family sees you respect your working space they will.
3. Quantify your contributions or  your potential contributions. Just like you would go before your boss for an annual review, sit down with the hubs or your partner and show them what your are earning and how those earnings have enhanced the household. If you’re just starting out–show your mate what the earning potential is and how much time you need to put to reach that point. Most men will be all for a few extra dollars coming in without you have to go out to get them.

Will it be easy? Absolutely not. You might have to struggle a little while to get into a routine that works for the family and has you feeling like the boss you are. Fight for it though. Your contribution is valuable and your dreams are worthy of respect.

Which one of these tips will you implement today? What tips to have for your fellow mompreneurs who are looking for some respect.

These 4 Things Should Be Enough

It is great to have people in your life that support you, uplift you, and motivate you, but at the end of the day you need these four things to keep you moving forward when pursuing your passion. 

1️⃣ Confidence in the Spirit of God living within you and working with you should be enough to move you forward. 
2️⃣ Your quality of life should be enough motivation to move forward. 

3️⃣ Your belief in your ability should be enough to push you forward.

4️⃣ Your passion should be enough to push you forward. 

What’s your biggest internal motivator​?

And the Winner Is…Wheatley Awards Recap

Ladies and gentleman it has been a wild weekend for me that started with the Phillis Wheatley award ceremony on Friday. 

For those of you who regularly follow The Neophyte Author, you know that I was nominated for a 2015 Phillis Wheatley Award for First Fiction for my debut novel Born at Dawn. In June I became one of three finalists and I am pleased to announce that my God is faithful and as His word says He has blessed the work of my hands. Born at Dawn took home the 2015 Wheatley Award for First Fiction. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!! 

There are not enough words to describe the level of emotions that washed over me when Omar Tyree (yes, the Omar Tyree, author of Flyy Girl) called my name. It was a wonderful night and I have some pictures of the other winners and I would like to congratulate all of the finalists and winners. 

Categories and Finalist (Winners in Bold)

YOUNG READERS

Granny’s Helper by Selma Jackson

Midnight and the Man Who Had No Tears by Tiffany Golden

Tate and His Historic Dream by Bernard C. Turner

YOUNG ADULT

Dear Diary, The Bullying Won’t Stop by Delicia B. Davis

The Madman of Piney Woods by Christopher Paul Curtis

Willow by Tonya Cherie Hegamin

FIRST NON-FICTION

Daffodil: A Mother’s Journey by Demetria Hayes

No Doubt: The Murder(s) of Oscar Grant by Thandisizwe Chimurenga

Regina Anderson, Harlem Renaissance Librarian by Ethelene Whitmire

NONFICTION

A Light Shines in Harlem: New York’s First Charter School by Mary C. Bounds

Breaking Grounds: My Life in Medicine by Dr. Louis W. Sullivan

Businessman First, Remembering Henry G. Parks, Jr… by Maurice W. Dorsey

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POETRY

Brief Evidence of Heaven: Poems from the Life of Anna Murray Douglass by M. Nzadi Keita

City of Eternal Spring by Afaa Micheal Weaver

Tears for My Ancestors by Malik Canty

FIRST FICTION

Adinkrahene: Fear of a Black Planet by Jeffrey A. Faulkerson (Check him out, please :)) 

Born at Dawn Nigeria Lockley

Shifting Allegiances: A Nigerian’s Story of Nigeria, America & Culture by Amaka Lily

FICTION

Every Day is for the Theif by Teju Cole

Glorious Sunset by Ava Bleu

Land of Love and Drowning by Tiphanie Yanique

BIG, BIG, BOOK NEWS!!

This is late breaking news and I would have gotten this to you sooner, but it’s been crazy since I came home. The news I have to share with you is so awesome that a regular ol’ blog post just wouldn’t do. 

Happy February: Goals and Vision Board Checkin

Okay I’m a day or two late, but don’t judge me I was engaged in lots of Superbowl nonsense Sunday and it was well worth it–my team won! Then I had lots of work nonsense to deal with on Monday. Thirty-three days have past since many of us declared our goals and pasted magazine cutouts onto cardboard boxes and now it’s time to check on how much progress we made. I’ll go first and you’ll share your progress in the comments.

 

Goal Progress

 

I am excited to announce that I met my first writing goal. I finished writing Tempted to Touch on January 18th. Now, ask me have I finished typing it (that’s another story, but you can find out why I started writing it longhand versus typing in my post Fighting with the First Person). Once I’m done typing which I hope is this week I’m on to working on the next book in the Grace series, Riches of Grace (tentative title–cast your vote for the title on the Home page). Just in case you’re wondering how I was able to knock out my first goal so quickly here are some things that helped me.

How to Meet a Goal

-Establish a timeline

-Work towards it everyday so that you don’t have to play catch-up

-Get two partners: an accountability partner to keep you on track and an encouragement partner to tell you’re doing a good even when you might be sucking. It will get you back on the road to your goals. If you can find a 2-in-1 praise the Lord!!

 

Vision Board Progress

 

All I can say is all glory and praise be to the most high God. My vision board is divided to address the needs and desires the innerman and outterman. I can see both visions being addressed and I can’t take the credit for it. Of course, this isn’t magic, it’s really quite simple (if you let it be). I make myself available to God and express my desires to Him they are being met just as Psalm 37:4-5 says, “Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, and He will do it.”

Innerman

To address the needs of the innerman, I’ve signed up for Bible reading plans and whenever I feel that tug from the Holy Spirit I’m learning to drop what I’m doing and pick up my Bible or pray. Despite a lot of calamity at work, I’ve been putting my best face forward, as my visionboard suggests.

Outterman

I repeat I can’t take any credit for the vision coming to pass. On my visionboard I pasted to cutouts that said “My books are great bookclub finds.” What happens? I received a review from Michelle Monkou on the USA TODAY blog, Happy Ever After, that begins with “Bookclub alert! Born at Dawn is the perfect story for a hearty discussion.” and prior to that my Born at Dawn was selected to be the book of the month for the African-American Christian Fiction Book Club on Facebook.

Just to take the mystique out of this let’s come to the common understanding that first of all, “every good and perfect gift comes the Father of lights in whom there is no variableness or shadow of turning” (in other words if He said it He will do it). The good that I’ve received is not because I’m good, but because He is. Secondly, Deuteronomy 28 says that “The LORD will open for you His good storehouse, the heavens, to give rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hand;”  Of course, that means I have to do something with my hands (so do you). I had to put my book out there for God to bless it, but once I did my part He did His part to bless my vision because my vision is aligned with His. I want to be a tool in His hand and He wants to use me and bless me.

Have you accepted that for yourself? The Lord wants to use you and He wants to bless you? With that in mind–where are you in the Vision 2015 process? Approaching a goal, on target, or way off? Share your progress or your pain and then let’s figure out how we can march on in Jesus name.

#Support The Neophyte Author

It’s time to nominate an author for the 6th Annual AAMBC Literary Awards.

I pray that you would consider nominating me for:

Breakout Author of the Year

Female Author of the Year

Christian Author of the Year

                                     Nominate Nigeria Lockley for the 6th Annual AAMBC Literary Awards

 

Thank you for your support! 

Pathways to Your #Passion: 2015 Goals and Visions

So, if you’re over 18 you’re probably already familiar with the rhetoric that surrounds the ringing in a New Year–“New Year, New Me”, “This year is going to be better than last”, etc. etc. etc.

Now, in all honesty many people abandon this motto after January or at least after the first trial or obstacle of the New Year smacks them in the face, which is why I generally don’t set resolutions. However, this year I’ve been entertaining two things: vision boards and goal setting. Neither one of them are new concepts and as an educator I’m quite familiar with goal setting, but I’ve never applied the  practice to my new writing career.

Goal Setting

I think my soul sis, Unoma Nwankwor’s posts about goal setting have rubbed off on me. In one of her recent Facebook posts she quoted the late Dr. Myles Munroe in which he stated that your goals should, “create your priorites, determine your desicions, dictate companions, and predict your choices.”  That inspired me to set some wiriting goals (I know I should probably have goals for other areas of my life–give me a break).

Vision Boards

Vision boards have been around for awhile, but I have been kind of hesitant to create one. A certain part of me felt like, one it’s kind of New Agey and two it kind of takes away from the whole notion of “have your way in my life, Jesus” if I’m drafting up my vision. I believe in Habakkuk 2:2, when it says write the vision, the word meant write the vision that the Lord had given the prophet not the vision the prophet wanted to write, but after some investigating and polling I decided it couldn’t hurt to give it a try. So, I created a vision board. My understanding is there are no rules to vision boards except making sure you have a clear objective.

I divided my vision board into two parts: the inner man and the outer man–what I want for my spirit in 2015 and what tangible things  I want. I included some scriptures that spoke to the vision I was creating and my faith. Two of those scriptures are:

“If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles. Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks. Yea the Almighty shall be thy defence, and thou shalt have plenty of silver. For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God. Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows. Thou shalt decree a thing and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways.” Job 22:23-28

“And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God: and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper.” 2 Chronicles 26:5 

These scriptures will keep me focused on my ultimate goal–to hear my Father say, “Well done thou good and faithful servant.” while at the same time they address the fact that I still long for some of the things that the Gentiles long for. I want to be a powerful Christian (decree a thing), I want to live comfortably (gold as dust), and I want to prosper (God made him to prosper). 

The second half of my vision board addresses the areas of my life that I’d like to see the manifestation of these scriptures–in my writing and in my home. A vision is only a vision until you put the leg work to it, but having one gives your legs some direction to walk in. 

What are your goals for 2015? What does your vision for 2015 look like? Please share your goals and vision boards and as I update you on my progress I look forward to hearing about how you have progressed in 2015. 

#Pathways to Your #Passion: Stay in Your Lane

There is nothing new under the sun, which means that regardless of what you’re passionate about there is someone who shares the same passion and may be making great gains in the field or industry that you are trying to break into. As you look at their resume it seems like you’re standing next to a giant and you are a dwarf. They’ve made so many gains and in such a short time–how could you possibly compete?

Don’t.

Let me say that again. Don’t.

The pathway to your (your) passion is not a competition. Nor is it a race. It’s a marathon.

You’re going to go around the track a lot of times. Some laps you’ll eat up and others will beat you down and have your legs feeling like jelly. You’ll see other runners turn the corner while you’re still holding an aching rib, but don’t fix your eyes on their race, instead with patience run the race that is set before you (Hebrews 12:1). Stay in your lane. 

 

The pathway to your passion is yours and you don’t have to replicate anyone else’s success or try to match or beat their time. What you have to do is walk or run the course that Lord has laid out specifically for you recognizing that there is no limit to what God is able to do for you, through you, and to you.

 

See you on the other side of your passion.  

Born at Dawn Launch Party Recap

I’m a wee bit late in sharing (I’m sorry), but I went from Launch Party Mode to traveling to the National Black Book Festival (recap coming soon).

Listen, God showed up and showed out. Everyone who said they’d make didn’t, but everyone who did make it supported Born at Dawn 100%. A midst traffic delays in the sprawling city everything came together, praise the good Lord! Check out some photos and video from the event below.

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We also had some scenes from the book acted out. Here’s one clip:

 

Did you enjoy this clip? If you’ve read Born at Dawn please let me know what you think of Esdras’ portrayl of Marvin? If you haven’t read Born at Dawn please get your copy today.