Sunday, January 30, 2011

Refill After Spill

Greetings Happy People,

At some moments in our lives, we take many spills. Some spills are small, others are big. When we encounter these spills, we have choices on how to handle them. We can either cry over it, wonder what happened, or just give up. While these are normally negative reactions for some people, we can also respond a different way to our spills.

How you ask?

For every spill we go through in life, we can do our best to refill our cups and just move on.

Why am I telling you Happy People this advice? What is the motivation behind this? It happened five years ago.

Back then, I was an Area Governor for a five Toastmasters clubs in the Las Vegas Valley. I was governor for one club that had 21 members. This club was President’s Distinguished for two years in a row. They had some amazing people and were pretty successful. I thought that I had nothing to worry about this club, until the October dues renewals happened. Within an instant, that club went from 21 members to 9 members. OUCH!! Thanks to this experience, I coined the phrase “The Speed Bump Test.”

Why the Speed Bump Test? Have you ever driven on a shopping center parking lot? Some of these parking lots have huge bumps on the road known as speed bumps. The intent of the speed bump is for cars to slow down. If one were to not notice a speed bump, one can not only damage a vehicle, but also spill the drink while driving.

The spill I had was the members in that club. Had I seen the speed bump beforehand, I would have been more vigilant and prepared. Luckily that club did not dissolve. Instead, it took them a couple of years to rebuild and they are now a pretty healthy club. After the spill, they refilled. After that spill, I refilled.

No matter what you go through in life, we do have those spills we face. It could be physically, mentally, financially, or romantically. Before we go through these spills, we must be prepared for them the best way we know how. If one is able to go through the speed bumps without any spills, one can be considered lucky. If one takes a spill after hitting a speed bump, fear not Happy People!! For whatever spills we go through, we can always refill them and just move on.

That is all I have for now. Take care and thank you for your time and attention.

Sincerely,

Jesse I-I-I

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Passing the Chopsticks

Greetings Happy People,

Webster’s Dictionary defines the word chopsticks as “two sticks used as eating utensils in some Asian countries.” I define them as learning tools to pass from one person to another. For years I had difficulties in learning how to use these two sticks. Anytime I put my hands on a pair of chopsticks, disaster was surely to follow. From putting them on the wrong fingers to food flying across the room, I had my misadventures using these two sticks.

Thankfully, my misfortunes ended many years ago when I went to lunch with some of my college classmates. After a challenging midterm, my fellow classmates and I walked across the street from the university to a nearby Chinese restaurant. We ordered different cuisines ranging from the House Fried Rice to the Chow Mein special. When the waiter brought our food to the table, I noticed that he did not bring any spoons, forks, or knives. Instead, he only brought chopsticks.

To my surprise and horror, I clumsily tried to eat my fried rice with these two sticks. Thankfully, a fellow classmate named Heidi showed me how to use the eating utensils. Within minutes, I was able to eat all of my lunch. I was even more surprised that it only took three fingers to control these two sticks. After that lunch adventure, I practiced using chopsticks until I got better at it. The more I use chopsticks, the better I am with them.

A couple years later, my family and I were having Chinese food for dinner. While my parents used forks, spoons, and knives, my little sister would try her best to use chopsticks. Seeing her frustration reminded me how I tried to use them years ago. In no time, I showed my little sister how to eat with these two sticks and she became better at using them.

When I taught my little sister how to use chopsticks, it blew my mind because I am teaching something that someone taught me. Whether it is a friend, family member, or somebody that is influential, we all learn different things from these people. In turn, we teach these things to other people. This connection is amazing because it allows people to carry the lessons from one to another. Imagine if we are not able to pass on what we know to different people. Chances are that the present lessons will become the past.

To keep certain traditions alive, it is important to keep passing on our knowledge to different people. One will never know how or when it can come in handy. It is amazing how one person can learn a lesson from these two sticks.

That is all I have for now. Take care and thank you for your time and attention.

Sincerely,

Jesse I-I-I

Monday, January 17, 2011

False Profits

Greetings Happy People!!

There are few things that get on my nerves. Some of them are not worth writing about on my blog. However, there is one major thing I will write about to you Happy People today. This one thing makes me cringe, shake my head, and roll my eyes. Sometimes at the same time!! What could this be? I can only sum it up in one word – hypocrisy.

All over the world, there are people speaking out about one thing and doing the complete opposite. At church, there are folks that have the “holier than thou” attitude on a Sunday morning and will not live the word for the next 6 days (7 if it is that bad). We have famous people that tell you to go do one thing while they are living in a way that conflicts with their message. At work, you have officials losing their credibility with their co-workers because they don’t always practice what they preach. I don’t know about you Happy People, but this really drives me up the wall.

The sad part about this is the people that get hurt by these falsehoods. Not just the hypocrites that spewed the message, but the people that believed in it. The people that listen and believe in the false messages are being set up for a mighty fall. Afterwards, these people will feel betrayed and will not be able to trust anyone for a long time. The truth may hurt, but lying will hurt even more.

If there are any readers out there that feel that they have been hurt by the words of a hypocrite – please do not fret!! For whatever hit you take can be considered a learned lesson. If you think of revenge or retaliation against the person that wronged you, please don’t because the path they make will come back to haunt them BIG TIME!! Karma is alive and it is working Happy People!! Musical legend Johnny Cash said it be when he sang the following lines “You can run on for a long time, run on for a long time, run on for a long time, sooner or later God will cut you down.”

As I put this message to an end, all I got to say is to before one person speaks any type of message to anyone, please make sure that it is the message is really genuine and not shallow. Not too many people are happy with double-tongued talker. Especially if they find out for themselves!!

That is all I have for now. Take care and thank you for your time and attention.

Sincerely,

Jesse I-I-I

Sunday, January 16, 2011

I Did Not See That Coming Happy People!!

Greetings Happy People,

Have you ever had one of those moments where you told yourself, “I did not see that coming?”

In life, there are moments that take us by surprise by coming out of nowhere and hitting us like a right cross punch. I am having one of those moments Happy People.

Two months ago today, I became a published author. I wrote a book entitled “Greetings Happy People – The Positive Words and Wisdom Through the Eyes of Mr. I-I-I.” Getting the book published was a personal goal of mine. I kept this goal for the past year, went through different options, and finally got it done.

While accomplishing this goal was fantastic, what happened afterwards went far beyond what I could have ever seen. People were amazed that I got my book published. I received congratulations, I got some impressive “Wows,” folks were asking where they can a copy, and others were asking for autographs. All of these things hit me so hard, my head was spinning. I did not see these things coming Happy People.

Another amazing thing happened when I went over to Lancaster, California for my first ever keynote presentation speech. The night before the presentation, I spent some good quality time with the local Division Governor David and his wife Leona. Throughout our time together, Leona spoke about the different stories that were in my book. Again, I was knocked out in amazement for she enjoyed the book and gave me a pretty good review. That not only made me feel good, it made me feel AWESOME!! When I got back to the hotel, I went to bed with tears of amazement. I did not see this coming Happy People.

After I did the keynote presentation, I had people tell me that I should bring copies of the book to different Toastmaster functions. After all, other Toastmasters were able to donate their books as raffle prizes. In the back of my mind, I did not think of doing that. Now, I think I will give it a trial run.

First, I will order more books and start placing one of them in the Area Contests of the Toastmaster clubs I belong to (I hope you are listening Sunnie, Angelina, Kathy, Wanda, and Michon). If that goes well, I will plant one book as a raffle prize in every Division Contest in the District (I hope you are listening David, Richard, Darrell, Tim, Jenny, Maria, Arlene, and Mary). If that goes well, I will probably get a few more for the District Conference this May. Who knows what could happen from this?

What started off as a personal goal became something more than I can imagine. I guess the actions of one can really affect many people. Nevertheless, I am still blown away by this. Whenever I decide to I write a second book, I will prepare to see what comes ahead. Man!! I still did not see any of this coming Happy People!!

That is all I have for now. Take care and thank you for your time and attention.

Sincerely,

Jesse I-I-I

Thursday, January 13, 2011

I-I-Impact Radio!!

Greetings Happy People!!

Today I did another radio interview with my good friend Charlene on IMPACT Radio. To check it out, please go to the following link below. No strawberries were harmed during the live interview :o)

Mr. I-I-I on IMPACT Radio (CLICK HERE)

Enjoy Happy People!!

Sincerely,

Jesse I-I-I

Monday, January 10, 2011

This Is Only a Test

Greetings Happy People,

Ever had one of those moments where you wake up and can’t get back to sleep because something is gnawing at your mind? I am having one of those moments right now. I am writing the following message to you because it has been on my mind for a while. I figure it is time not to keep this bottled up anymore.

There are people out there that want you to fail.

There are people out there that don’t want you to succeed.

There are people out there that want you to quit.

Throughout some of my posts, I have been known to write positive messages. The intent of these messages is to focus on the hope and possibilities. While this is good to do, there are other folks that still see things on a different scale. No matter if you are at work, at home, or anyplace else, you still have those people that want you to fail.

Believe it or not, there are people that do their best not to let other folks get ahead of them. Whether it is done by words or actions, these people will never rest until they see someone fall flat on their face. For some sick reason, they get joy in bringing others down. When mistakes happen, they add insult to injury by either shaking their head, laughing at the person, or just saying “I told you so!!” I have no idea why they do this, but they do. It is a shame and just plain sad.

People have told me negative things. People have done their best to make me fail. I have been brought down on different occasions with their words and actions. Does it get on my nerves? Yes!! Does it test me? On a daily basis!! Do I give up? The temptation is out there, but somehow I keep going. There are times when I get frustrated, fed up, disappointed, and upset. There are those moments where I want to hang my head. I don’t like to show it, but it happens. There are people that want me to quit, fail, and not succeed.

How does one go up against these destroyers? How can anyone get the upper hand on these naysayers? How can one get the advantage to overcome the nonsense? I can give you Happy People many answers, but the one I will give you can be said in two words, “keep going.”

We will have those time where we will lose, fail, and not succeed. Just because we lose in something don’t make us losers. The difference between losers and winners lies in the will to keep going. People can destroy our hopes, wishes, and dreams. But the test lies in our efforts to rebuild what is destroyed and just keep going.

Are we going to let these things bring us down? Are we going to have failure make us feel worthless? Are we going to allow these people to make us feel that we failed and rub it in our faces?

What are we going to do when something gets us down? Only we can answer that question as do our best to just keep going.

That is all I have for now. Take care and thank you for your time and attention.

Sincerely,

Jesse I-I-I

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Sharpen Your Pencil

Greetings Happy People,

If you want to write well, sharpen your pencil.

Why I am starting this post off with this sentence? In order to become better at what you do, you must “sharpen your pencil.” It does not matter if it involves dancing, singing, playing chess, or writing posts on a blog. The more you do things, the better you will become. Not too many people can get things right on the first try. It takes lots of attempts and efforts to become a pro.

I am a Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM). In Toastmasters, that means that I completed the highest levels on both Communication and Leadership tracks. Of all the millions that went through this organization, only a small percentage is able to complete this highly honored level. I have been a DTM for three and a half years, and yet I manage to keep my edge when it comes to giving presentations.

How can this happen? It happens by constantly “sharpening my pencil.” Just because I have reached the highest level in this organization does not mean that I have to stop doing whatever I have to do. If I were to rest and do nothing, my abilities will dwindle. Imagine if Kobe Bryant or Michael Jordan were to stop practicing after winning all of those basketball championships. Chances are that their skills will get weaker. These guys “sharpened their pencils.”

How do I sharpen my pencil when it comes to giving presentations? In the words of 2001 World Champion of Public Speaking Darren LaCroix, all I can do is the following six words “Stage time, stage time, stage time.” This means that when the opportunity exist, never turn down a chance for stage time. Why? Because you can only get better by each opportunity that is taken. Sometimes I hit, other times I miss. Nevertheless, I take advantage of using stage time.

For example, I just did a presentation with my 7th beginner’s manual (also known as a Competent Communication manual). From ice breaker to vocal variety, to visual aids, this manual covers the basics of public speaking. When I do more projects from this manual, I will be better at my public speaking. When I do this, I am “sharpening my pencil.”

If you have something you want to do in life, remember that it can not be done in one shot. One must learn to get better by “sharpening the pencil.” It is the best way that anyone can become a pro in whatever one does. It may take plenty of time and effort to get this done, but it will be rewarding in the long run. Just keep sharpening your pencils Happy People!! You will be a pro sooner than you think!!

That is all I have for now. Take care and thank you for your time and attention!!

Sincerely,

Jesse I-I-I

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