So why does it happen?

Sometimes, you have a deadline to finish something. You feel the pressure and your creativity drowns and you produce sub-par work. Guess what? It’s noticeable. It’s like knowing someone is smiling or frowning over the phone by listening to the tone of their voice. Your audience knows whether you put your all into your writing or if you procrastinated and desperately wrote crap.

Writers block also happens because our brains are exhausted and want to go on vacation. Sometimes our brains want to take vacations for days, sometimes weeks, and on rare occasions even months and years. When your brain wants to go on vacation, it’s probably best to let it. Eventually it comes back, wanting to start working again, ready to tackle anything you throw at it. It comes back in full force and for a period of time you can’t stop writing. You write till your brain can’t take it anymore you write till your hands feel like you have arthritis. You can’t force it. You can’t tell your brain to come back to you when you feel like it. It decides on its own when to come back and start producing.

How to overcome writers block

Treat your brain like you would an hard working employee. Give it time to rest, reward it with enjoyable hobbies and try not to force creativity from it when it doesn’t want to. This blog has been void of posts for over a month because, for that time, I have been giving my brain a vacation. I seemingly lost my passion to write and share so I started to do other things beside writing. I read books I have been putting off, saw movies that I wanted to see, played video games I wanted to play, met people I wanted to see and went to places I wanted to go. I abandoned my blog for a month because It’s because my brain wanted it. It screamed to stop and smell the roses. From this vacation, I found inspiration. Before the vacation, I desperately wanted to keep my blog updated but I couldn’t find any inspiration to write and when I tried finding some, it eluded me. Only when I took a break, I found inspiration and started to write again.

Writers block is viewed as something negative. The word “block” has that vibe to it. When you block something, you are preventing it from accomplishing its purpose. Why not take this negative word and turn it into something positive? I embrace writers block because I know my brain is ready for a vacation. From this vacation, I know I will find inspiration. Sometimes, from places I am least expecting. So don’t let writers block keep you down. Embrace its reason and give your brain a rest.

Sushi has become, easily, one of the most popular foods in modern society. If you went back 20 years ago, people cringed at the thought of consuming raw fish. In modern society today, it is widely accepted and a popular dinner spot for friends to gather and have a good time. I have observed, in many sushi restaurants, that many patrons simply do not know how to eat sushi correctly.

The sushi chef usually hands you a plate with some pickled ginger and wasabi paste. Most people simply ignore the pickled ginger or they eat it with the sushi, which is a big no-no. They don’t realize that the pickled ginger is used to cleanse the palate after eating different types of sushi. For example, one would eat a piece of salmon sushi and cleanse the palate with the ginger before having a different kind of sushi like tuna, yellowtail, etc.

The biggest mistake I notice is people using way too much soy sauce on their sushi. The soy sauce is supposed to enhance the flavor of the fish not overpower it. It is also very wasteful to pour too much soy sauce on to the plate that is given to you. Some say it is disrespectful to do so. I also noticed that most people usually put wasabi in their soy sauce directly. While doing this is not frowned upon, wasabi should generally be reserved to be put on the sushi directly. Most good Sushi restaurants do this for you.

Nigiri sushi is simply a piece of raw fish over some vinegar rice. It is the staple in any Sushi restaurant. Traditionally it is usually eaten by hand and after eating sashimi, which is just raw fish and no rice. Most people do not know how to eat sushi correctly and I have compiled a short step-by-step how-to on eating it correctly.

1. Admire the fish of which you are about to consume. Notice its texture and vivid color.
2. Pick up nigiri sushi with hand or chop sticks.
3. Dip lightly into soy sauce, FISH SIDE DOWN!. Most people just dunk the rice into the soy sauce and soak up all the soy sauce. Once again, the soy sauce is there to ENHANCE the flavor not overpower it. You might as well be taking a shot of soy sauce if you put it rice side down.
4. Place sushi in mouth FISH SIDE DOWN!. Most people just stuff it into their face with the rice side down, which does nothing for the palate. The fish is the important part of the sushi, and it should put placed in your mouth to taste the flavor of the fish not the rice!
5. After eating a piece of sushi, have a slice of pickled ginger to cleanse the palate and then repeat until full. This step is unnecessary if you are having the same kind of sushi.

Most people just don’t get it and will continue to eat sushi the wrong way. If you like the way you are eating it, fine. I am just informing those that are curious. I was curious enough to look up a proper way to eat sushi and this is what I have found. I used to use too much soy sauce and dip my rice before the fish and eat the sushi rice side down. After eating it the correct way, I definitely enjoy my sushi much more. It has definitely enhanced my dining experience. I hope it can for you too. My suggestion is for you to try it and see for yourself.

It is difficult to try and make new friends. I feel like social gatherings of strangers is kind of like kindergarten dances. In which, boys and girls are on opposite sides of the dance floor, awkwardly awaiting for someone to approach. Should it really be this difficult? Why are we scared of each other? I mean, what if we were in a room full of strangers, no friends allowed. Would it be a repeat of the kindergarten dances? Or would we naturally try and connect with the random people?

Now, for the friends you made at work or school, are they someone you would have naturally become friends with if it wasn’t for the forced social interactions? When was the last time you made a friend that wasn’t at work, school or from someone you knew? When was the last time you started a conversation with a complete stranger? We miss so many opportunities to know different people by only seeking friends in the normal social structures. Perhaps, we aren’t motivated to make friends with random strangers.

How do you determine who your friends are? The normal structural way is to have things in common. When you have things in common, it makes it easier to connect. It is comfortable and familiar. When you have nothing in common, the person is usually forgotten or marked as an acquaintance. I usually determine a friend by how they treat me and other people. I usually have a good understanding of how a person is by seeing how they interact with other people. If you want to make friends, the hardest part is starting the conversation. While waiting for my plane, I talk to random people at the airport sometimes. I met some really interesting people, and these complete strangers are usually fine with divulging their personal life to you. I always found that interesting. I listen more than I talk because you can get a better understanding of people by just listening.

Friends are important because they support you, hang out with you, laugh with you, cry with you, go out with you, talk to you, etc. Theories indicate that we are who we are because of our friends, family, social upbringings, and surroundings. Friends are such an integral part of our lives and without them, life would not be exciting. If I had to choose between having no friends but all the money in the world, I would choose my friends. Because without them, life is meaningless and boring. Yes, you could buy friends with all the money in the world, but what are their motivations for being your friend?

This entry was inspired after going out with friends for a birthday dinner gathering. I feel extremely blessed to have great friends. It makes going through life so much easier. If it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t know what I would do. I appreciate everyone I am friends with. I try to show that I care by sending them a message once in a while that I love them all. Even though we know friends are going to be there for you, it is nice to say it once in a while. It feels good to hear it. So appreciate the friends you have and tell them why they are so great. I feel great when I do.

In this life everyone seems to be too busy to think. We have so much going on with our lives that we forget to sit down and collect our thoughts.I find that giving yourself some time to think and collect your thoughts is important. It does not always have to be a place that you go to. You can have a thinking place by taking a walk, while you take a shower/bath, walking your dogs, etc. It does not always have to be the same place or thing. The following are the criteria that I follow for a thinking place.

• Go to a place where it is quiet. It does not always have to be at home. Our home is where most of our distractions are. (TV, kids, wife/gf, games, etc.) My thinking place has always been the public library or a coffee shop somewhere. It can be anywhere where you feel inspired and can mentally disconnect from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Here is a small list of places to go:
  1. The Gym
  2. Your Car
  3. Library
  4. Coffee shop
  5. Going For A Walk
  6. Book store
• Set a time limit. I usually set my time limit to an hour. We lead busy lives. Our thinking place is not to hide from everything, but a place to get inspired, think about our lives, recollect on the day, or just have a small morsel of time for ourselves. We can all try and spare an hour of our week. Give up watching TV or browsing the internet and you will free up an amazing amount of time.
• Turn off all distractions. We are too tied to our cell phones, PDA’s, Blackberry’s, Iphones, etc. Turn it off and disconnect from the world for an hour. This is your time and an hour is not going to hurt anyone trying to find you. That important text from your friend who is trying to invite you to a Jonas Brother’s concert can wait. This is your time. Don’t let anyone try and distract you.
• Write things down. Have a pen and paper ready at all times. I can count numerous times where I had a great topic to write about or an idea and forget to write it down. It can be frustrating to try and remember something when it is not written on paper. When you write things down, you can free your mind up for other thoughts and ideas to flow.

Going to your thinking place is essential to gaining some new insight and think of new ideas. We all have an hour to spend each week  to give to ourselves. For those that say you don’t have time, quit making excuses. You do have time. You are just too lazy to find it. Time is finite and we can never get back the time we waste. So do something productive with it.

Have you ever gone over your texts and realized that your bill was going to be super high? Wireless phone companies these days charge a ridiculous amount of money every time you text over your allotted package. The fees according to the popular wireless services can range anywhere between .05 to .15 cents (in America, not too sure about other countries) per text received or sent! I truly wonder how much it costs them to send and receive texts and if these companies are just gouging us for every penny. Here is a simple way I negotiated my text overages and how you can too.

What Can You Do?

I was there with you. I had a text plan that cost $5 and  only allowed 250 text messages to be sent or received and .15 cents after every text over that. I checked my text usage by (if you have Verizon) pressing “#data” and press send which gives you exactly how many texts, how many pic’s you send and recieve  and when your usage resets. I went over by 500 texts and another $75 dollars out of my pocket. I looked at it in disbelief and called the company right away. These are the steps I took to get my $75 in overages and paid only $10 dollars.

• Call your company right away. A quick way to get a person immediately is by using Gethuman.com Their listings tell you exactly how to get to a person and buttons to push to get them quickly.
• Be nice and cordial and ask your customer representative how his/her day is going. Do not disrespect them. They are people too and I know it’s frustrating to get someone overseas but have patience and be extremely nice to them.
• Tell them your story and ask them what other text packages there are. Once you find something that covers your text overages, ask them if they could prorate it for you to cover the texts that you went over on. This way you are only paying the difference in text packages vs. the per text overages. Surprisingly, they usually say yes. If they keep claiming they can not do that, kindly ask for their manager and see if they can help you out. They are there to try and keep you as a customer. They want to make you happy.
• If your customer service representative helps you, thank them for doing a great job and see if you talk to a manager to explain what a wonderful experience it was to be helped. It makes the customer rep. feel good and the manager would no doubt give recognition of that fact. As small as it sounds, it really makes people’s days. After working in hospitality, positive feedback always put a smile on my face and motivated me to try even harder.

I know these companies seem to be gouging you for every penny. If you work with them, they will work with you. They want you as a customer. It may be intimidating to call to ask them to negotiate your text rates but It really works and you can save a ton of money by doing so. I found out that by only paying $10 dollars more for the next text package, I could save $65 dollars in overages.  If it came down to it and you realized you didn’t need the higher text package, then just call them back the next month and bring it back down. I am not one of those people that have unlimited texting nor do I need unlimited texting. For those of you that have it, you wouldn’t have to worry about it. For those who don’t, they can benefit from this. I hope this helps for those that were not “in the know.”

Who says business and pleasure can’t co-exist? It is quite interesting to see that business and getting laid have a lot in common. One of the most primitive needs we have as human beings is being able to reproduce and pass the seed on to future generations. In other words, survival and reproduction. The whole animal kingdom does it. We have to reproduce to survive as a race. In business we must expand and “marry” companies together, to survive in the competitive markets.

We sit at home wondering why life is not going the way we want to. We engage in self-doubt and think negatively of our situation and blame everyone else except ourselves. These are the top 7 reasons why you’re not getting laid or starting a business.

If you want to improve your dating life make sure to check out this website.

Top 7 Reasons Why You’re Not Getting Laid Or Starting A Business

1. Over-thinking. You over-think everything. You ask too many questions in your head. Here are a few examples of what goes on in your head: What will happen if I ask him/her out? He/She probably won’t like me. What does he/she think of me? I wonder if he/she has a boyfriend/girlfriend? Gahhh. Yes, “gahhh,” is part of what goes on in your head. The same goes for business. When you start a business you think about similar questions. You ask yourself the “what if” questions and it discourages you. It scatters your brain and you are afraid to do anything about it. Suck it up and just do it.
   
2. Not going out. You can’t expect a special fairy to sprinkle magical dust and bring women/men to you while you sit on your ass. It doesn’t matter where you go so long as there are some people present. It could be a bar or club, lounge, book store, grocery store, networking event, speed dating event, restaurant, friends house, the places are endless. Just get out there! This goes the same for business. Good companies don’t form themselves. The successful companies have employees and very rarely would you find a 1 man/woman operation. Getting out there and meeting professionals is essential to growing your brand and growing your business. If you have a blog/website you have to market it. You have to tell people or there will be no traffic and your blog or website will fold. Once again, it’s not just going to drop into your lap. It just doesn’t work that way. Get out there!
   • Engage in conversation with a stranger. If you are scared to talk to men/women try talking to sales people at a clothing store. They are there to talk to you. This will help you practice talking to a random person.
   • You never know who you are going to meet. By talking to random people you can never know who you will meet or who they will introduce you to. So start up a conversation! It’s fun.

3. Lack of confidence. If you lack in confidence, you lack the fundamentals of getting laid or starting a business. If you look like you don’t care about yourself, no one will care about you. Take care of yourself by showering, smelling good and dressing well everyday. It will not only make you feel better, you will look better. If you look and feel better, you will gain more confidence. You never know what situation you will be in throughout the day. By looking good at every moment, you prepare for what could happen throughout the day. Here are 3 things that you could do to boost your confidence.
   
   • Dress and smell good. Go buy yourself some new clothes. If you don’t know where to start, take a look a look at lifestyle magazines like GQ or Men’s Health and for women, Cosmo and Women’s Health. Get some fresh ideas on how you want to look and try and replicate it. Smelling good also boost confidence. If you get noticed by smelling good not only does it boost your moral, it boosts your confidence as well. Men and women equally love compliments, so give them, but not too often! (you would just sound insincere if you keep doing it)
   • Get a haircut. Try something new. Sometimes we forget that we have had the same hairstyle for so long. Look at a magazines and see what could work for you. See if your barber or a salon can replicate it.
   • Workout. Go hit the weights, run, walk your dog, etc. Even if its for a short time, take some time out of the day to take care of yourself.
4. Can’t pull the trigger. You have prepared your business plan, or your ready to ask the girl/guy of your dreams out on a date, and yet, you can’t do it. You just won’t pull the trigger. Self-doubt clouds your mind and you go back to 1st reason on why you’re not starting a business or getting laid. You over think it and say it will never happen. Stay positive and pull the trigger.
   
5. Fear of rejection. You fear the unknown and you won’t take a risk. You have to ask yourself, “what is the worst that could happen?” You have a 50/50 chance of the person saying yes or no. I like those chances. If you get rejected, move along and don’t take it too seriously. There are plenty of fish in the sea. With business, we fear rejection as well. You don’t want to go to the bank to ask for a loan application because you think you’re going to get denied. When you denied for job offers or a business loan you immediately discount yourself and say “maybe it’s never meant to be.” After you get rejected a couple of times, you will understand that it really isn’t that bad after all. My father always told me to try to get a “yes” answer from everything you do, and if you don’t get that answer, keep trying until you do.You have to fight the fear and face it. Get rejected, who cares! Move on, learn, and get over it.
   
6. You’re Lazy. When you are lazy, nothing in life will ever get accomplished. You have focus on what you want and go after it proactively. This encompasses almost all the traits of why you’re not getting laid or starting a business. You won’t take the time and effort to go through the learning processes. You won’t start because you feel like you won’t succeed. You put things off and wait till the last minute and you wonder why you aren’t succeeding.
   
7. You’re a push-over. You don’t have an opinion for yourself. You don’t say no to anyone and you are too nice. Have a voice. If you don’t agree with something, don’t say you do. If you don’t want to do something, stand ground and don’t go. Simple as that. Have a voice and people will listen. You can’t possibly make everyone happy. Do what makes you happy.

This was done for entertainment purposes. My goals were not to offend anyone, but to open their eyes. We all have a lot of learning to do. Lets all take a look at these and see how we can eliminate them. We will move forward and we will succeed. Cheers, to getting laid and starting businesses. We can do it!

10 Things To Do When Your Unemployed

1. Build a Business. This was my first priority when I was laid-off. At first I panicked and started to apply to jobs, polished my resume, started networking, and could not grasp that I was without work. I took a step back and realized that I would have never thought about starting a business if I didn’t get laid-off. I find it a true blessing in disguise. Notice how I said build a business, not start a business. Anyone can start a business, but it’s something else to build one.
2. Travel. I have never been to the Western part of the United States until I moved out to Las Vegas. Sad, I know. I have never seen the oceans of California, the deserts of Arizona, the Grand Canyon, or the winery’s in Napa Valley. I was sheltered and was never given the opportunity to go traveling. After being laid-off, I finally found the time to explore these wonderful sights. I was talking to one of my friends and we were discussing traveling overseas. He told me he never had a passport before. It is quite a daunting statistic that most American’s don’t have their passports. I am lucky enough to have one. According to the Travel.State.Gov website, the amount of passports issued in 2008 was 16,208,003. That is down more than 10% from the previous year which issued 18,382,798 passports. That is a huge drop in passports! What happened? I mean even after the year 9/11 occurred there was only a slight decrease in passport issuance! This recession has hit people hard! If you want to take a look at the statistics it is here.
3. Have more sex. Yes, what excuse do you have now? You don’t have time? You have to go to work? Nope, just do it, have as much as you can. Once you start working or start a business, you won’t have time to do this. So have fun, and keep it safe.
4. Exercise. I know, it’s easier said than done. I understand that. It takes a lot of effort to get yourself motivated to go to the gym. I found out why I did not go as frequently until I got laid-off. I found out that I only had 1 single pair of gym shorts and 2 pairs of socks. This gave me two trips to the gym without doing laundry. I found out that I was only going two days out of the week and waiting for laundry day before I would even think about going again. I fixed this problem by just buying more socks and a couple of more pairs of gym shorts. I now go at least 3-4 times a week and feel energized and ready to take on the day!
5. Spend More Time With Family Or Friends. I have taken this principle to the fullest. While living in Vegas is great and all, I am 3000 miles away from NYC where my family resides. Most of my friends got laid-off at the same time I did, so we have been spending quality time with each other. We have game nights and go out and have dinner or drinks. We have grown closer and being laid-off brought us together more than ever. If you have family spend more time with them. If you have kids try and give your full attention to them because they are the future. Your babysitter, daycare, or school has seen them more than you while you were working. Isn’t it time to give that time your job took away, and give it back to your children?
6. Eat Healthy. It has been an arduous process but I am slowly adapting to eating healthier. I have no more excuses. I try to leave a large bowl of fruit in the kitchen so I can grab a quick snack without rummaging through the pantry or refrigerator. I used to put my fruit in the refrigerator but realized they would go rotten because I did not want to go into the refrigerator to get fruit.
7. Cook At Home. This is extremely fun. I love to cook and make food from anything I can find. I find it very satisfying to make something for yourself. Try and have a dinner party with your friends and have them bring over something they cooked. This brings people together and it’s not that expensive.
8. Read More. I find that I do that more than ever. All it takes is a library card and you can read about anything you are interested in. I gravitated more towards the business section but there are books, movies, cds, and magazines about everything at the library. It has been my new love since I was laid-off
9. Try A New Hobby. You never know how this can help you. I started to do photography and I never knew how much I enjoyed it until I bought a D-SLR camera. Pictures are something you can keep forever, and if you have a good eye for lighting and can be creative you can even make a living at it. Wedding photographers can charge up to $3000 (not to say that is the limit, I have seen much higher prices) for one wedding. Hobbies can be very fulfilling and you can learn something new.
10. Relax. Yes, relax. Take some time to do things you want to do. You deserve it. Working 9-5, 40+ hours can take a toll on you and your relationships. Take this time to give it back to yourself.

These are things I try and do for myself. I try and work hard in everything I put my mind to. You should as well. Turn off that TV and find other things to do with your time. We spend so much time with TV that we don’t see our time just fly us by. We can never get that time back so why not put it to good use?

After searching high and low on how I could start a blog that generates revenue, I found this little gem. This is completely the best advice I have ever read on how to create a blog, optimizing, monetizing and marketing it. Anyone who wants to start a blog must read the techniques he gives in this e-book.

Why I Like Blogging To The Bank 3

I know it may seem like one of those sites that are there to scam money off of you. It is definitely a website that has truly dedicated itself to helping people create successful and profitable blogs. I, like any other consumer, did my research before I even thought about buying the e-book. I found a lot of positive feedback on his previous e-books. I decided to take the plunge and spent the $37 dollars and I was definitely not disappointed. I am hugely skeptical to buy things especially things that promise making $40,000+ dollars a month that is fully automated.  I knew I would have spent a ton of time looking for the information I needed to create, promote, and start a successful blog. I spent the $37 and it was worth its weight in gold. I went from being non-existent in the Google search engine to having being ranked in the top 10 in less than 24 hours for my keyword. If you don’t believe me do a search for “millennial minds” in Google and I ranked in the top 10. Not bad for someone who just started blogging.

• It’s simple. That has to be single reason why so many people buy it. He has step by step instructions on how to build a blog from scratch and how to host it, monetize it, and market it effectively.
• It works. Yes it worked for me and it might work for you to. If you need a step by step instruction this e-book is definitely the way to go. I am just starting out as a beginner blogger and this helped me understand how the internet works and how marketing and promoting your blog is extremely important.
• It saves time. Trying to understand the blogging world can be difficult, and this cut the learning curve significantly. I can’t say enough how much this e-book saved me a lot of time.
• Common sense. The information he gives almost feels like common sense as you read them. I had many “ah ha!” moments while I was reading and implementing his strategies

Why I Don’t Like Blogging To The Bank 3

I know, after all that praise is there really anything bad I want to say? There are some little quirks about the website that bothered me. I didn’t think they needed to do the over top sales pitch. I understand the creator is there to make money but I felt it was way over the top for me. Regardless of that, I looked at it objectively and bought the product anyway. It was relatively cheap and they have a money back guarantee. The product alone sells itself and it works so I don’t see the purpose of trying to push it so hard.

Points Blogging To The Bank 3 Hits On

• Creating a website. The e-book goes through step by step on how to create a website or blog in matter of minutes. In the e-book he mentions using a good web-host and recommended Hostgator. Hostgator is by far the easiest web host with quick Wordpress installation and user friendly interface. They are reliable and their customer service is very helpful. You can visit Hostgator and get a website up within minutes. They even register a domain name for you. You can visit them here.
• Optimization strategies. I used the e-books methods to the letter and they worked wonders for me.
• Monetization strategies. I am still stuck on how I can really do this well. I was reading it carefully but I think I have to devote more time to creating valuable content before actually trying to monetize my blog. It did, however, give you some great common sense strategies. I hope I can implement them later on.
• Using Web 2.0 to promote your blog. We live in a new age of technology. It has been rapidly evolving and Web 2.0 is the new thing. Social media websites like Facebook, Myspace, Twitter and so on have been rapidly gaining momentum. The e-book goes over how you can use it to your advantage to draw traffic to your blog.

My Recommendations

Read the reviews and do your research. I have done my due diligence on this product. I truly believe its strategies as it has helped me significantly get through the beginners hoop of creating a blog. If you are new to the blogging world, the step by step guide will help you in ways that will cost you little to no money. I recommend you at least check out their website and see if you like the product. I have also included easy links on my sidebar. You can visit the website here.

At an early age I always wanted to learn how to make money. I wanted it now and I wanted it fast. I always thought of creative ideas to try and make an extra buck. One of my first ever ventures came to me when I was about 5-6 years old. It was a blistering, humid, and sticky summer day. The breeze was non-existent and temperatures seemed to be in the upper 90’s. I had an idea to sell some cold refreshments to people walking by my apartment building. I thought by showing them this ice cold pitcher of whatever I was serving, they would instantly buy and be refreshed.

I had to develop a plan. I was a kid after all. I had no money and my parents were no where in sight to ask for a small investment in my venture. I didn’t know how I could make a cold refreshment to serve to my customers. As I continued to look out the window, I could see that these people were in dire need of something cold to drink. As each person passed by, I knew that money was just flying out the window. I had to think fast.

After much thought, I decided to talk to one of my neighbor’s daughter. We shall call her Lisa. Lisa was a year older than I and was a bit taller. She was a tomboy and always played games and ran around with the boys of the neighborhood. I decided to take her on as my partner. She had the product and I had the business savvy to make this work, or so I thought. Our beverage of choice to serve on this blistering hot day was, lemonade.

We went to work right away. We made a huge pitcher of ice cold lemonade and made sure we had enough plastic cups. We both agreed on a price of .25 cents a cup and we would share the profits 50/50. We went downstairs and I started to walk up to complete strangers and asked them if they would like a cold cup of lemonade. After several people denied our ice cold beverage, I started to get discouraged. I thought to myself, maybe this wasn’t a good idea after all. I continued and continued to ask and not a single person wanted to buy. Being impatient and thirsty, I decided to dip into our product. Soon after, my business partner joined me and not too long after, our whole product went straight into our stomachs, netting us a negative profit. Not too long after, there were 6 adults walking around the neighborhood and they looked at our pitcher and asked if we were selling lemonade or something and if we had any more. Lisa and I looked at each other and just shook our heads.

The Lessons:

1. Be patient in business. Even if it may not work out in the beginning, perseverance and patience is essential in any business venture.

2. Never dip into your own supply. Like every drug dealer will tell you, “never dip into your own supply!” Once you start you just won’t stop and you will go bankrupt, or in our case, lose money.

3. Don’t give up. Try not give up when things get tough. Try and re-work your marketing strategy or boost up advertising to bring in new customers. There are always ways to increase business. You just have to look harder at times.

4. Be careful of partnerships. You never know what kind of hidden motivation a partner may have. Make sure you trust them and make sure they bring enough to the table where there will be no argument as to who is contributing more. Be careful of partnerships, but also embrace them. Sometimes partnerships flourish and great companies are formed because of them. Take Google for example.

5. Learn from past mistakes. Try not to make the same mistakes twice. I know it is easier said than done but it is crucial to get ahead and move along. If you keep making the same mistake, ask for help, never be ashamed of someone helping you as long as you can learn from it.

Seize every opportunity and learn from each and every experience. No matter how big or small, you can always find  lessons in everyday life.

My name is Joshua. Most people call me Josh for short and I am a Millennial.  I was born and raised in New York City and I am a 25 year old Korean American. You could say I was a rebellious child. I was the one to always go against my parents and do things they told me not to do. So trying to listen to someone was not something I enjoyed. Don’t get me wrong, I can take direction. I can’t, however, take someone trying to tell me exactly how to do something. I like to find my own way and make mistakes along the way. Otherwise, how would I learn?

• You should always ask yourself what you can learn from any situation.

My parents, like most Korean’s, worked extremely hard to support the family. They immigrated from Korea in the late 70’s and worked tirelessly to start a family. They came with less than $600 dollars in their pocket and did not speak a word of English. They worked double shifts at manual labor jobs just to save enough money to eventually own their own business. They worked long hours and just barely had any time for themselves. They endured many roadblocks in their journey of prosperity and the American dream and overcame all of them, if not for themselves, for us, their children. Regardless of how much they worked,  they always had the time to make it back home for dinner and spend time together as a family. I was lucky to have such, great, hard working, and loving parents. I truly thank them for that.

• Remember to tell your parents that you love them. Even though your relationship may not be the best,  they did bring you into this world and without them you would not have existed.

I grew up most of my life as a sheltered child. I was told the world was a cruel place and staying by my parent’s side is the only way to stay safe. I learned from a early age that Asian American’s or anyone with “chinky” eyes were a target for racial discrimination. I grew up in a predominately Hispanic neighborhood in the outskirts of Manhattan. I was ridiculed and was teased as a child because I was different. Their racial slur of choice was calling me “Chino” or person of Chinese descent. This word infuriates me till this day, and every time I hear it, it makes me cringe and boil with anger. I learned that being mad and upset at the ignorant only brings you down to their level. I use this word as a motivator to succeed, as there is no better revenge than being successful.

• Regardless what people say about you, you shouldn’t let it upset you. What they say about you is matter of opinion, and only you know who you are and that is fact. I know it can be tough to hold back anger at certain situations but you have to try and let it go and learn from it. Some battles are just not worth fighting.

School was never fun for me. As a child I went to a Catholic school from grades k-5. I then entered in a specialized school that was located in Harlem, NY and went there from 6th-8th grade. I continued my education in a nearby High School and from there went on to State College and graduated with a bachelor’s degree. I hated the rigid structure of waking up at the crack of dawn to go to school to learn about things I could not care less about. I despised wearing uniforms and listening to teachers talk about their boring topics. I believe it was the beginning of social conditioning. School was preparing me to start wearing a “uniform” or a suit in later life, following a certain schedule and eating lunch at a specific time. I realize now that I did not question it because I did not know better. As I think about it now, I should have asked why I wore a uniform. Why was I being forced to learn stuff I didn’t care about? Why am I eating lunch at this hour? If I were to ask these questions now, the response would undoubtedly be; “because everyone else is doing it.” I believe school is necessary for other reasons besides learning the fundamentals of math, science, writing, reading and so forth. I like that school gives you the opportunity to meet new people. I find that friends are extremely important in my life and most of my friends I met going to school.

• You should see school as a learning opportunity and social outlet. It is a place to meet new people and network. We don’t always take what we learn from school and apply it to real life. We should always be thankful that we are able to go to school and learn and make new friends.

In college I studied hotel, restaurant, and tourism management. I chose this career path because I always loved staying in hotels. I learned quickly that working at a hotel versus staying at a hotel is very different. After college, I started with a large hotel chain in New York City and began to start working as a front desk agent in a shift many people call the “graveyard” shift. My shift started at 11pm and ended at 7am. It was the longest 8 hours I have ever experienced. At first the job was exciting, after all it was the career I wanted to be in. I learned and gained new experience and met some wonderful people but after having this job for about 4 months it began to stagnate. I started to hate going to work and working for someone else. I hated the office politics, it was very frustrating. I started looking for answers. I began reading books on personal finance and entrepreneurship and these books started to open my eyes to a world of opportunities. I slowly became addicted to these books and started reading a book or two every week. I slowly understood that having a job is not the only solution to earning a living. I learned there were other methods that people were using to create wealth. I only wanted one thing. I wanted to become like these people.

• I just want everyone to understand that I don’t hate people who want to get a job and work hard after college. I am merely stating that there are other methods to make money. If you want get a job, by all means please do. I am not saying entrepreneurship is for everyone, but that it is another method to earn a living.

I am not here to tell you what you should be doing. I am here as guidance. I am not an expert, nor am I a professional in this field. If I offend you, I am sorry, but I am not here to make anyone happy. I learned a long time ago that you can’t possibly make everyone happy. You can try but there will always be a person to disagree and oppose your beliefs.

I started The Millennial Mind to connect all other millennial minds and other generations to share ideas and experiences. I am a voice of a Millennial, frustrated with the rigid structure of society and the “normal” life. I am here to break free, through writing, and gaining wisdom from those who read and comment on my site. I am ready to embark on my journey and move ahead in life. I hope to one day be an entrepreneur and own my corporate ladder instead of climb it.  I hope to find myself and hopefully help others find themselves as well. I will share my stories and life lessons with you. If you disagree with what I write, I am not offended, but thankful for your feedback. This is a site dedicated to those Millennial’s who want to break free and grow as people. I hope we can all share our stories and gain experience from each other. Thank you again for reading a brief bio of myself and where I am coming from. I look forward to writing more entries and sharing my thoughts and stories with you all.