Character. Trust. Weakness.

It's been a while folks. A lot has been going on. I've been learning a lot of things as I move through this career progression. I am pursuing my media consulting business full time. It's time that I be happy with my job on a daily basis. I encourage you all, especially if you're young, don't chase the money. If you do what you love, the money will come. So cliche and simple sounding, but it's one of the truest statements to ever be made. I never thought I would see the day when I would be able to leave the protective custody of the status quo, and be an entrepreneur - but the day has come. The three words that make up the title of this entry, have helped me get to this point. The only other word that was instrumental, and missing from the title is God. I need to say that without God, I would not be able to have or use these talents to replace my income in the way that I have, and for that I am grateful. Now, as far as Character is concerned... Character is defined as: 1. the aggregate of features and traits that form the individual nature of some person or thing. 2. one such feature or trait; characteristic. 3. moral or ethical quality: a man of fine, honorable character. 4. qualities of honesty, courage, or the like; integrity: It takes character to face up to a bully. 5. reputation: a stain on one's character. There were many times when I was unsure of my character, and thus unsure of self. I had many ideas, thoughts, and dreams about how I wanted to live my life post Wesleyan, and I had no clear vision of how I would accomplish it. I learned that there is a difference between traits and skills, and with the combination of both, I had all I needed to be successful. Success is a state of mind, not a state of being or circumstance. It's not materialism or hedonism. It is the way you view your circumstances, and learn how to direct them to achieve goals for yourself. I was afraid to uncover the character that makes up Evan Huggins, and in some ways I still am. I was afraid to put out music because I didn't know how my broad tastes would appeal to the masses, but I have decided - I don't care. I was hesitant to talk about how much I enjoy social media, as I didn't want to be known as the dude who spends all his time on Twitter - except that now it's helping me pay my bills. Never be afraid of your character. It needs to be decoded, refined, and then DEfined. You need to have an awareness of self to find success for yourself. Don't be afraid to do so. Trust is key. I am doing to digress slightly to make the following point: trust is based on comfort, not truth. I had a conversation a while ago with one of my peers. I don't remember the entire conversation, but I do know that when it was all said and done I realized that we don't trust people because they are trustworthy, we trust them because they have our comfort level at an all time high. Example, what human being do you know that has proven themselves to be completely trustworthy, truly, undoubtedly trustworthy? I don't know such a human being. With that being said, we can't go through life living by that principle, or else we would never survive. We need relationships and bonds to help us navigate situations and circumstances as they arrive. Life is a huge walk of faith. Anyone can let you down, and it is that fear that paralyzes so many of us from reach our successes. Do not let the fear of trusting other paralyze you. You all have no idea how much I'm talking to myself right now but I am. Furthermore, trust yourself! Trust your instincts. Fill yourself with positive things, surround yourself with productive people. Pray. Stay away from non-sense. Pursue things that will improve your quality of life. Don't settle for garbage. Trust that things will be alright. You have to change your way of thinking, if you ever want your circumstances to change. I hope that was coherent... Lastly, weakness. Weakness is huge. Nobody likes talking about how they suck at something. However, the longer your procrastinate on this particular issue, the more of your own time you will be wasting. Let's say you need to write a paper. You are good at writing and conveying your thoughts in a clear, concise, and coherent manner - but you suck at research. I might suggest that you spend the bulk of your time seeking assistance to improve that trait. Mastering your weaknesses will accelerate your ride to success. If there's a hole in your bucket, wouldn't you want to plug it? The alternative is letting massive amounts of water drain and the entire act of carrying water will be defeated and useless. Don't make your traits and skill-sets useless but allowing your weaknesses to kill them before they can blossom. Common areas would include: procrastination, shyness, arrogance, being critical of others, talking too much, when you should be listening, selfishness, etc. I'm sure there are many more, and as I think of more I will add them to this post. But I'm sure you get the point. Has your mother been constantly reminding you about something that you do or say that is unfriendly or unkind? Or maybe you are mature enough to examine yourself, and to see, hey I am a huge procrastinator. I'll tell you, that was my biggest problem. I was afraid of being productive. I was afraid of trying something different, of stepping outside of my comfort zone. Honestly, the greatest breakthroughs in my life in regards to my self confidence and my successes, came when I stopped allowing myself to feel sorry for myself - I became the monkey on my own back. Be the monkey on your back. Stop making excuses for yourself. Or you could continue to do so. If you are content with living a life of mediocrity and dullness, being unfulfilled and miserable, that's the recipe. If you have greatness inside of you that won't go away, but you haven't reached it yet, I bet that there is something you need to change - and it's probably you. Don't forget to ask God for his help since he put those things inside of you. That's all folks.