Thursday I spoke at Jarman Middle School, Del City High School to students about how they can make practical changes in their lives to achieve their dreams.  Afterwards, several students who heard me speak last year school approached me to tell me personal stories about how I have helped them.  A young lady told me that I saved her life. She said had been planning to ditch school the day I was scheduled to speak, but because she heard I was coming, she decided stay and see what I had to say.  The guy with whom she was supposed to ditch school was shot and killed that very day.  She just cried in my arms, and wanted to thank me.

Another young lady had been sexually molested by a parent, and had been depressed and suicidal.  After hearing me speak about her power to keep living through the tears and the pain of life, she said that she was going to use her experience to help other victims of molestation and abuse.

Then, a young man, with several tattoos decorating his arms and knuckles, with the stench of gang life on him, came to me with tears in his eyes, telling me that my story has inspired him to change his life.

I also spoke at a mental health facility to adolescents who have endured some of the most horrendous things ever visited upon a young person.  It's hard to even mention, without shedding a tear, some of the pain and heartbreak that they shared with me.  They are so strong!  I finished speaking at about 2:30, but  I didn't get out of there until after 4 P.M., because each one of those beautiful young people waited in line to speak with me, one by one, to share with me how my life and message inspires them and gives them hope.  The tears flowed, healing was taking place, and hope was being resurrected in them.

Then Friday, I spoke to about 400 teachers about their power to create a thirst for education in their students.  I also encouraged them to become students of their students, to become incarnational in the lives of young people, studying the culture, language, values, and worldviews of young people in order to make their lesson plans more relevant.  One teacher said that I was the most inspiring speaker she has ever heard in her 38 years in education. 

Then I rushed to the airport so I could get back to Chicago to be with my lovely wife, my two little men, and my little angel.  My body's tired, my voice is too.  But my heart is full because I know that I left everything on the field- I gave my all in Oklahoma- and I know that hearts were softened, eyes were opened, and lives were really changed.  

Today, Saturday, I'm sitting in a study carrell, hitting the books, writing papers, and sharpening the saw.  

Until next time! Thanks for the love and support!

  

After a long day of studying for my doctorate, and preparing to speak 6 times in the coming days, and all the fullness that is on my plate right now, I received a handwritten letter that encouraged me to keep doing what I believe I am called to do. The letter said:

"Dear Manny,

You are one amazing human being- an inspiration to all you touch and who touch you.  Your presence at Richmond Grade School, Spring Grove Elementary, Nippersink Middle School, and Richmond-Burton High School will remain.  You are alive in our souls. Our teacher souls..."

Then the letter closes with a story:

"A teacher approached her principal after the principal placed a new student in her classroom.  The principal had selected this teacher because of her ability to connect...Two days of school had gone by when the teacher made the following observation.  She said to the principal, 'This will be my Manny.' Manny, you have become a frame of mind in Richmond.  A philosophy by which to live for our staffs."

WOW!  I must admit that at times the wear and tear of traveling, speaking, studying, parenting- of life- takes its toll on me emotionally, physically, and or course, spiritually.  I wonder how much longer I'll be able to keep up this pace...and then I'll get a letter like this to re-ignite my fire, to remind me that my work is not in vain, that I'm, in my own small way, making a difference.  It inspires me to keep going.

Today, after I write two papers, I will hop on a plane to Oklahoma City, where I'll have another opportunity to change the frame of mind, and the philosophy by which people live.  

Thank you for reading, and for your continued love and support!

There is a young man with whom I have had the privilege of working, and who seemed to have every disadvantage: His father died when he was a child, his mother is an alcoholic, addicted to drugs, and he was a high school drop-out. Rather than making excuses for the cards that life dealt him, this young man returned to school to get his GED, and he recently enrolled in college.

It takes him an hour to get to school on public transportation, and an hour to get home after he leaves the library. About a month into the semester, I asked him how he was doing in school. He said that he was doing well, but that he didn’t have any books for his classes. He couldn’t afford them.

So you're asking, "how he had been keeping up with his homework assignments?"  He told me that he had been staying in the library until his homework was finished, sometimes leaving campus at nine or ten o’clock at night, then catching the bus home.

Rather than making excuses about why he couldn’t complete his homework, this young man went to the library every night to use the books in the library, and then caught the late bus home!

He took responsibility for his own success.  He didn’t blame his mother for being on drugs. He didn’t even blame society for the fact that he couldn’t afford books. Instead, he took ownership of his situation, and decided to change it.

I was so pleased to hear that because of his hard work, this young man received a full scholarship that pays for all of his college tuition and books. To take responsibility means to recognize that you have the power to choose how you will respond to whatever comes your way.

In between every action and your response to that action is a space- a gap- where you have the power to decide how you are going to respond. After the stimulus, and before your response to that stimulus, you have the power to make a choice about how you are going to handle or address the situation.

In other words, don’t blame anyone else for your results or situation.  That's not going to solve your problem.  Take action, make a decision, change your life!

From Take Matters Into Your Own Hands: Dream Now! by Manuel Scott.

Get your copy today by clicking HERE.

You probably could not tell by looking at me now that I used to play football in high school and college. In fact, throughout high school, I won a few all-state awards in football and in track. Over the years, while playing on several different teams, I have noticed that every team has at least two groups of people on it.

There are those who are on the team so they can wear the uniform, attract guys or girls, get into games for free, or some other reason. People in this group stand out because, during practices, they are the ones slacking off, they are usually at the back of the bunch, complain the most, give up the fastest, make a bunch of excuses, and ultimately end up on the bench. People in this group gossip about what is wrong with the team, but don’t do anything to make the team better. These people are mediocre at best.

The second group of people, however, is just the opposite. They are the ones who are focused during practice. They push themselves to their limit. They are the ones working during the off-season, running routes, shooting baskets, doing cheers, lifting weights, watching tape, listening to the coaches, studying their opponents, and sharpening their game. People in this second group do not want to settle for merely being on the team; they want to win. As a result, they take action to get better every day.

In life, those who are successful don’t just LOOK the part, they ARE the part.

Which type of person are you? The one who is just going through the motions or the one who is giving it your all? Be Your Best!

From Take Matters Into Your Own Hands: Dream Now! by Manuel Scott.

Get your copy today by clicking HERE.

In high school, a friend of mine was selected to run the 800-meter race in a track meet against our cross-town rival. The problem was that he had never run the race before that day. The person who was supposed to run had injured himself, and was unable to compete. So my willing and eager friend, positioned in the starting blocks, heard the gun, and burst out of the blocks like he had just stolen something. He sprinted, leaving all the other runners in the dust.

Literally, he was at least 100 meters ahead of everyone else on the track. Once he had run one lap (400 meters), he threw his hands in the air in total victory! The problem was that he had another lap to go! So we all began screaming at him, urging him to keep running. When it finally hit him that he needed to run another lap, he did his best to make it around the track one more time, but he was too tired to do so.

All the other runners flew by him!

It took him about four more minutes to make it to the finish line. While he was a fast runner, he failed to pace himself for the race that was at hand.

In your own journey to achieving your dreams, you need to pace yourself. The race to your dreams is not going to be easy.

In fact, the word for race in Greek is where we get our word for “agony.” Your race is going to be challenging. Sometimes you are going to cry, want to give up. However, when the going gets tough, remind yourself that the race to success is not a sprint; it is more like a marathon.

You may want to put this book down today with great enthusiasm and begin “sprinting” toward your goal. You’re saying in your head, “I’m going to lose 10 pounds this week; I’m going make one thousand dollars every day. The problem with trying to do too much too soon is that you will soon burn yourself out, and you will end up where you started off.

Too many people are lying on the side of the road to their dreams because they started too fast. You must condition yourself for the long haul, because the difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is the difference of their habits. Good habits are the secret of success. Therefore, form good ones, and become their slave.

If you want to lose weight, start off realistically, and walk 3 days a week. After you have developed a good consistency, then try to pick up the length of the exercise, and the intensity. The habit-the consistency- will benefit you more in the long run than a spurt here and there.

Your Race is Not a Sprint; It's a Marathon. Pace Yourself!

From Take Matters Into Your Own Hands: Dream Now! by Manuel Scott.

Get your copy today by clicking HERE.

If you want anything in life you have to work for it.  You have to "press" for it.  One of my role models often talks about, "pressing toward your goal."  Pressing involves not merely unloading any unnecessary weight, but it also involves straining forward to attain your dreams. It involves perseverance, it involves heart, and it involves tenacity. It requires that you set your eyes on the goal that is in front of you, refusing to waver until you have reached that goal.

The point that I want to make is that your goal must precede your pressing. That means that you must have your eyes on the goal before you begin pressing in that direction.

That might sound like common sense to you, but you would be surprised at how many people are busy but don’t have any clear destination or goal in sight. They are just busy pressing without any clear direction. It is important to press toward your goal on a daily basis, or else someone else will have their own goals for you to press towards.

If you are not careful, you are going to burn out. There are so many things today that are being used to wear you out. There are people pulling you on your job; clubs asking you to do something; people pulling you to do this; other people pulling you to do that. If you just pay attention to what you hear and see in the media for one day, you will see that music is telling us to do one thing, television another, and internet still another.

The tragedy is that we are getting pulled in so many directions that we end up burning ourselves out. We are so busy pressing in all kinds of different directions, that we don’t realize that we are not pressing in the direction that matters.

In life, if you are not clear about your goal, then you will be running aimlessly, shadow-boxing a fake target that will wear you out. So I ask you, in love, what are you pressing towards? You ought not run aimlessly, or like someone boxing the air, without a clear target, or a clear goal. If you don’t have the right goal in mind, then you are going to end up at the wrong destination. So, my question to you is, towards what goal are you pressing today? In what direction are you headed? Are you headed toward the goal of being what you were created to be? After you are done reading this chapter, figure out what you are going to do today to move you one step closer to your goal, and DO IT! Take massive action.

From Take Matters Into Your Own Hands: Dream Now! by Manuel Scott.

Get your copy today by clicking HERE.

I was once driving my family from Denver, Colorado to Sterling, a small, rural town in the northeast corner of the state. It was my first time driving to Sterling. Because I had ridden to Sterling as a passenger many times before the trip, I didn’t really think the drive would be all that hard to get to Sterling. We had been on the road for about an hour when everyone else in the car had fallen asleep. Since I am an adventurous person, I found myself appreciating the beauty of the scenery and the tranquility of the ride.

After a while, I was running low on gas, so I pulled over, filled up the gas tank, and went inside the mini-mart to grab some snacks. While paying for my items at the counter, I let the cashier know I was driving from Denver, and asked him how much longer I had to drive before I got to Sterling. Looking at me in disbelief, he blurted out, “Sir, you’re in Nebraska!”

I thought I could make it from Denver to Sterling on my gut feelings, so I never bothered to get a map, and didn’t stop and ask for directions. As a result, I ended up in a place that I did not intend to be.

In the same way, if you want to turn your dreams into reality, you need to know that having a dream is not enough. You need a “roadmap”- a plan- to get you from where you are to where you want to be, so that you can maximize the use of your time, energy and resources. Most people have a dream; few people have a map to get there. In fact, most people never take their dreams out of their minds and hearts, and break it down into practical, realistic, written goals. That’s called a plan, and that’s what you need. Your plan is your map that will get you to your desired destination.

Plan your Work and Work you Plan!

From Take Matters Into Your Own Hands: Dream Now! by Manuel Scott.

Get your copy today by clicking HERE.