DO you believe you can?????

What's your biggest limitation? 

What's your biggest fear?

What's the biggest threat that you face?

What's the scariest thing you know?

It's not death,

pain,

loss

or tragedy. 

The most disastrous force that exist, outside of evil itself

is a subtle enemy called DOUBT. 

Whether it's doubt about God or doubt about self,

it distracts, paralyzes and kills dreams and dreamers. 

So watch out!

Do you believe you can do something?

Do you have faith that God is with you?

Are you ready to fight and pay the price for what you want?

So go ahead, dive in. 

The mountain doesn't look so big from the top. 

25,000 Youth Rescued in Brazil in ONE day!

Nearly a week ago, in one day we hit two cities back to back and spoke to about 25,000 youth. I teamed up with the "Where U Going" Team in Brazil (South America), who are better known as the "Dose Maid Forte" Team which literally means (A Stronger Dose). The idea is to raise awareness that drugs and crime are not the "strongest" or best way to solve your problems. There is a positive escape. And that is the direction that the Youth Power Group and I are aiming to share with people.

Check out some of the photos of the events below. 

Below is a picture of Rio de Janeiro Brazil where 10,000 youth gathered to receive help to break free from drugs, crime, prostitution, etc. The response was amazing. 

Below is a picture of Sao Paulo Brazil where the same event was held on the same day 5 hrs later, in a hall that fit 6,000. But the turn out was 15,000 so we had to put people in the parking area downstairs.

Here is the parking area filled with nearly 4,000 youth eager to hear the message story of my life and the message of hope.

Below is one happy youth member taking a picture after getting his book autographed. 

The events on August 25th, 2012 were a great success. I only hope that there will be many more opportunities such as these to reach out to the masses and let them know that no matter how bad your life is, no matter how many terrible decisions you've made, no matter your past. There is a "Stronger Dose" available than any other drug. There is hope and there is a way out. 

Brazil has been great...

Here is another video with some updates on how things are going over here in Brazil. To write everything out would take too long, so I decided to do a video. Check it out and leave your comments.

What I'm doing in Brazil...

Here is a short video to let you guys know what I have been up to in Brazil.

NEVER FORGET- 1992 DEREK REDMOND AND THE OLYMPIC SPIRIT (DAD HELPS HIM ACROSS THE FIN...

I firmly believe that we should never forget the good examples that we see. This is the perfect example of what love really is. You don't just say you love someone, you do everything you can to help them in their time of greatest need. This is the right spirit.

Take your own advice.

First of all... DO NOT follow the above example!

Now with that being said... I was thinking about my last post (Just Calm Down) today, and I had an opportunity to apply my own advice.

I was here preparing for a trip out of the country and suddenly I realized how many things need to get done before I go. But the catch is that I only have a day left before I travel. So I had two choices:

A) freak out and go into a frenzy trying to fix everything at once

B) Calm down and do one thing at a time

Thankfully I chose option B. I calmed down, and focused on one thing at a time. And funny enough, I got many more things done that I thought I would. Including finding time to write this blog.

So take my word on this one. You can take control of your life and your day and see great things happen. Just do it.

P.S. I know this wasn't really about taking your own advice, but I took my own, so you should get the point. What you tell others to do, make sure you do it too.

Just Calm Down

You see this picture... Look at this child for a moment... Does this baby look stressed or worried???

No way. This child looks at peace. Oh, if us bigger people could learn to have the same peace throughout our busy lives.

I have a word of advice for you today. Some days are going to be hectic and full of obligations to fulfill, deadlines to meet, school work to turn it, etc. And on those days it feels like there just isn't enough hours in the day. But in spite of the busy rat-race called life that we live in, we need to learn to calm down.

Stressing yourself out is not going to solve things any quicker.

So when there are 1,000 things to do and 5 minutes to do them (or so it seems), just take a deep breath, calm down and think... "What do I need to do first"? "What is the priority (meaning it CAN NOT go undone)"? And do that. You can not fix the whole world in one minute. So focus on what you can do.


Now this is very important... What about if you don't finish everything today?

Well.........

That's what tomorrow is for.

Take it from Bruce, he was a fighter

Legendary fighter Bruce Lee once said this about his fighting style Jeet Kune Do:


"Approach Jeet Kune Do with the idea of mastering the will. Forget about winning and losing; forget about pride and pain. Let your opponent graze your skin and you smash into his flesh; let him smash into your flesh and you fracture his bones; let him fracture your bones and you take his life! Do not be concerned with your escaping safely – lay your life before him!"




The idea is if you get hit, strike harder. So I am not promoting physical retaliation. What I am using this quote to say, is when life hits us hard or when evil hits us hard... we have to strike back even harder. We can not bend or break or cower. We must fight, strike back and believe that we will win. Do not worry about the pain you may have to suffer, pain comes with sacrifice. Pain comes with battle. Pain is a part of any war. So the war for a better life is no different. It will come with some pain. But strike back, and strike hard. 


Look at Bruce Lee in the picture above... Does he look afraid?
If he wasn't afraid to fight people, why should we be afraid to fight for our lives?

Check you, before you check me

Something I have never liked and I try to avoid doing myself, is judging others about things that I still do.

What I mean is, no one is perfect. And that is no excuse to be horrible, but we need to stop acting like we are better than people. We are not better than anyone else. You are you, and they are who they are. So don't allow a desire to help someone, turn into an opportunity to criticize or judge.

And even if you are going to tell someone they need to fix something... make sure that you have fixed it yourself or at least are in the process of fixing it.

I just honestly think people need to check themselves before checking others. That is the only way things will work out right. And even if you are doing well, then there is no need to smear it in anyones face. Just be happy that you are doing ok and move on. Keep doing good. But let us learn to treat each other with fairness and care. And never stop being willing to help another get better. Just do it the right way.

Practice makes perfect

Today I was watching some young people practice for a play that they will perform on Sunday. And as I watched I began to think, they have been doing this for one month already, every other day or so, coming to practice for this play.. and it still needs a little work.

That is interesting, because in life we normally want everything fast. We don't like to wait or work hard for anything. But we need to. To get the best out of something, it may take time. You may have to wait and go through the course of fighting for it for a while.

Any sports team will tell you that. They practice day after day, doing drill after drill, just to make sure that it comes natural to them (whatever they need to improve on).

And what about the rest of us average people? Shouldn't we practice the things that will help us better ourselves time and time again. I think so.

Push yourself More

I strongly believe you should push yourself harder than anyone else pushes you.

Harder than your teacher,

Harder than your boss,

Harder than your parents,

Harder than your spouse,

Harder than coach,

Harder than your leader,

Harder than personal trainer,

Harder than the motivational DVD,

Harder than the self help books,

Harder than the music drives you,

Harder than the voice of your persecutors.

Harder than anything or anyone can push you...

You have to push you.

Victory is within grasp, but you have to push.

YPG Mission

YPG Mission




I'm sharing this blog post because I truly believe in it. Please take a few minutes to watch. We have got to do something to promote more positivity online.

The Law of Victory- Ray Lewis

Take a few minutes and check out this video.

If this guy can take a GAME so serious, why do so many people find it so hard to take life serious. And commit to things, and sacrifice to make there dreams come true?

That is a question only you can answer.

Go it ALONE.

Don't live your life being afraid of being alone or going it alone.

There is a strength in you to fight harder when you are alone. You will not die, or break, or cave in. You will become even stronger.

I am not talking about cutting off all contact with people, but the moments when no one else can or is willing to help you. You have to help yourself. You have to make good decisions and be strong enough  to fight through the storm. The storm will end, it will pass and you will win. Just keep going.

The secret is to not bury your head in the sand and quit. Keep fighting. Go it alone if you have to. But know that a one man army is better than a team full of cowards.

Video Highlights of my France book tour

Sorry about the video quality. It had to be converted quite a few times. But you should be able to see everything.

Leave your comments.

How to be a CHAMPION... Lesson from LeBron #2

I wrote a message a week or so ago call "Get back in the Saddle". It was talking about getting back up after being knocked down.

Well, I think in this moment, with the NBA Finals victory still a bit fresh, this message is appropriate. The story of LeBron James in this years Finals victory is just that. A "get back in the saddle" type of performance.

Can you imagine leaving a team that you gave recognition (Cavaliers) that just so happen to be in your hometown and going to join two other stars, then promising success and being criticized every step of the way, but almost reaching that success, then at the end choking (meaning freezing up and not taking advantage of the moment) and being defeated in the most embarrassing way, by a team much older and supposedly far less talented than you? And having to endure  a summer full of ruthless, relentless verbal assault against you as a player and your character? Can you imagine the mental strain that puts on a person?

I can.

But how do you bounce back? You need to first off, humble yourself and recognize that some of the criticism is true, then decide to change those things and keep your mouth shut from then on and let your actions speak louder than your words. That is what LeBron did. I can not say if or if not he will win another title. But he got this one, how, by doing a gut check and deciding to bounce back.

The whole team actually had to do that. And you will have to do that in life. There will be times when the pressure seems to hard to bear, and you will need to bounce back. To check your heart and your will and resolve and go after that dream or goal. There is no failure that you can not learn from. No defeat that can not teach you. No loss that can not help you to learn how to gain.

Do this, and you too will become a CHAMPION.

A Lesson from LeBron James.

Hi Guys,

I'm not writing this blog post because I am a Miami Heat supporter (though I am). But because of something that I thought about after watching this years NBA Finals.

As I was watching the Finals, I remembered last year (when I also had a chance to watch them) and the difference in the attitudes. Last year D-Wade, Bosh and especially LeBron seemed more arrogant. As he said in his own words "I thought I had to prove something...". And when you come out and play with that attitude, you lose. Because arrogance gets you nowhere. They were like a bunch of high school jocks who wanted to impress the school.

But this time was different. If you notice, each game he had a serious look in his face, he seemed focused, not overly confident, not full of himself, not much show-boating, just pure focus. Focus on one goal, one objective, to WIN. And they got it done!

Now my point to all of you is this. Sometimes in life, we need to learn hard lessons. We need to lose, or go through disappointment in order to bounce back. It adds character to us (if we let it). Sometimes we need to be broken in order to be built up again. And that is what happened with the stars of the Miami Heat. They were broken last year, and they bounced back and rebuilt. That is what you must do it life.

Don't let a bad attitude destroy you. Don't let pride consume you. Don't let rudeness be your way. Be focused on your dream, but leave the celebration for AFTER you have achieved the ultimate goal. Until then, stay quiet. And the victory will be all the more sweet.

(I will write more on this subject on my next post)

Get back in the Saddle

Listen... It's impossible to never mess up or fail or fall off of something that you started. You will go through moments of downs. Just like there will be moments of ups. But one thing you must learn to do is always get back in the saddle as quick as possible.

Don't waste time crying or whimpering over what coulda, shoulda or woulda been. Deal with each day as it comes. If you messed something up yesterday, but you woke up this morning, then there is time to fix what was broken. You have to see that life is a series of moments. When a moment comes you need to embrace it. When a serious moment or opportunity comes, jump at it. Including the opportunity to start over.

That is the interesting thing about new days, each one is like a clean slate if you choose for it to be. No one can make you carry the past. Even if they throw your failures in your face, you choose to either listen to their words or ignore and reject them.

So when it comes to falling down and making mistakes, the most important thing is not the mistake, but how you react to it. You need to get back in the saddle and fight again. Quickly.

Different Countries, Same Personalities

In the last two weeks I had the opportunity to travel to 3 countries that I have never been to.

It wasn't a vacation, but to hold events to help the young people of those countries. The events really went great, but that is not what I want to talk about right now. What I wanna talk about is the people I met.

In most of those countries I came in contact and in some cases even ate with and stayed with people who I do not know at all. But they are apart of the same organization that I am a part of. And the funny thing is, that in every place, they were different people, different nationalities, different ages, but all showed the same love, care and friendliness. I mean, I truly met some of the friendliest, most welcoming people I have ever known.

So what is my point exactly???

The point is, what if I had gone there with a judgmental attitude like, these people don't know me, so I will not be nice to them? Or I will not speak much, because I don't know what they like. I would have missed an opportunity to gain new relationships that may last a lifetime.

So the moral is, do not judge people just because you don't know them. Or you are from a different city, state or country. Give everyone a fair chance, and you will meet some truly great people.

Why I do what I do???

For those who wonder why I do what I do? Or what is the gain or reward in it? Well, it's not money, it's not for recognition, it's not to make a name for myself.

This is why I do what I do: These are the ones that count the most.

" I can't believe that if I didn't start school on April 18 th and went to your book signing I wouldn't be thinking about changing so fast and so quick. I mean right now I would be working the streets and god knows what else. I wouldn't be trying to go into the right path. I would have been dreaming and saying it with no action or motivation."  

Anonymous- (Name intentionally withheld)

This is why this work means so much to me. If we can touch one, we have made progress. 

This is what makes my heart beat each day. The chance to touch another life. I thank God for each one of those opportunities.