Anything is Possible

The year was 1974, the place Zaire and the event was one the likes of which the boxing world had never seen before. Former heavyweight champion Muhammed Ali was aiming to regain the crown and once again be 'the greatest'. The man standing in his way was heavy-handed monster George Foreman, one of the most skilled and powerful boxers in history. The odds were against Ali, seeing as Foreman destroyed both Joe Frazier and Ken Norton with relaive ease, men who had defeated Ali in the past. But real champions don't play by the odds and they certainly don't let the past influence the here and now.

Faced with a daunting task before him, Ali recruited the support of the best people he could have in his corner: the African people. All of them. With his sheer presence and charisma, he made the Africans feel like he was their man, like he represented their whole nation. When the day of the fight came, Ali was the hero and Foreman was the villain. With the whole crowd chanting, "Ali bomaye!" (Ali, kill him!), Muhammed Ali changed the face of the boxing world forever and become the second champion ever since Floyd Patterson, to reclaim the heavyweight title after losing it.

Anything is possible. Visualize, strategize and take action.

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The Mindset

I truly believe that our thoughts influence the physical reality around us. One's mindset plays a key role in the outcome of one's life. Positivity will manifest as such and vice versa so keeping an optimistic outlook is important for me. My greatest inspirations, the 'heroes' of my life are men who sought to achieve what everyone thought was impossible and despite the incredible difficulty before them, they conquered their goals. Men like Muhammed Ali, Bruce Lee and Arnold Shwarchenegger. These people inspire me because they prove that anything is possible if you put your mind to it and stick to your goals with steadfast determination.

I will never quit and I will never let setbacks stop me from progressing. I realize that there is an incredible mountain of work before me and that each day is a struggle. From venue research, studying, writing and recording music, publicity, radio play and everything else that comes along with trying to be a successful musician, I love the challenge. I look forward to working on my career each day because I know it is one more step towards my ultimate goal.

In closing, I would like to recommend a book to anyone seeking to understand this mindset. The book is 'Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai' written by Yamamoto Tsunetomo in the 1800s. It is essentially an instruction manual for new Samurai and it lays out the proper mindset to become a great Samurai. This information can be applied to everyday life as well and for a long time it was my bible, I read some of the passages every day and still do now and then. It shows the incredible work ethic of the Samurai and how to attain it. 'Each day, become better than you were the day before.' That is words of wisdom to live by.

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