It’s Monday again and it’s time to start the week with a good energy!
Monday Productive is a weekly interview format, featuring peak-performers from my network, who share 5 ideas on how to boost your productivity and stay at the top of your game.
Today’s guest is Dr James Williams. James is a motivational speaker, professional actor and assistant professor at the University of Tennessee. He grew up as a thug, got affiliated with a street gang and by the age of 17 was homeless with 2 kids and no direction. He slowly built himself up, joined the United States Air Force and married his beautiful wife (LaToya). Today Dr. Williams is an author of 2 bestselling books, has six degrees (two doctorates) and travels the world – teaching leadership. He is one of the speakers at Samodiva Masterminds and recently gave his first TEDx talk.
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1. Man, your life story has been such an inspiration for me. Can you share a little bit about your background, growing up? What does it take for one to make a total transformation and start living the life they want?
To sum up my life, it is similar to the first stanza of the A Road Not Taken by Robert Frost:
“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth”
I wore a mask as an unconscious person, and I did what I thought I needed to do to fit in with my peers and to be validated. I sought the recognition of women, producing two children before the age of 18, and I wanted to establish my presence in the streets, selling drugs, fighting, and affiliating with a known gang prior to attempting to shoot someone. I chose a treacherous road that led to destruction because I vibrated on a negative frequency. Then, I had a paradigm shift when I joined the military, inspiring me to remove my mask that was common among my peers in my impoverished environment. In order for me to transform, I had to change my thinking and seek to become uncommon amongst the common. I found comfort in uncomfortable situations, even though uncomfortable situations sparked a faint of fear. As my thinking shifted, I recognized that my greatest pleasures were on the opposite side of fear. However, permanent transformation occurred in me, when I began to enjoy the process and stopped dwelling on my desire. Once I state my desire to the universe, I believe and use my actions (e.g., the process) to attract that desire into my personal world.
2. You are one of the most passionate and energetic people I know. What do you do to keep your energy in such a high level? Some of it comes from genes perhaps, but I know – a lot of it is also your habits.
There are no genetic reasoning to support my passion or energy, and I wanted to start with that declaration, to eliminate any excuses for individuals reading this text. I was one negative and arrogant asshole. At that time, I sought and adored my negative vibrations because I believed a stoic and tough exterior made me more fearful or dangerous to my adversaries. My passion came after I eliminated my routines that inspired negative actions and adopted positive routines, such as watching movies that made me laugh, listening to inspirational songs (e.g., Bob Marley), and loving myself. The love for myself, led me to recognize my perfection. This generated a passion and a love for others, acknowledging that we are all one life. Then, I accepted the notion that my avatar will die or my physical body, so I chose to get busy living and to live from a more joyful perspective. Now, I start my day with gratefulness, finding three things to be grateful for. For example, I am grateful for the ability to breathe deeply. Next, I acknowledge that today could be my last day, so I choose to live it abundantly. Then, I envision the most abundant day while saying, “Check Your Life: Today is a glorious day and for 86,400 seconds, I will give my excellence and my best until I am laid to rest. I am abundantly blessed and never stressed. Check Your Life: Be Limitless!”
3. A lot of people struggle today to find their purpose. What is yours? What excites you to wake up every day and do your thing? What advice would you give for those out there, who are still searching?
My purpose is to love life. I break that down to love every encounter and to love every person I meet, just or unjust. I start from that place of love, using that positive energy to inspire people to look within and to bring the chains to their limitations (e.g., believing they are black, white, male, female, or etc.). Those beliefs limit us from embracing life from a limitless perspective. I am driven to live with the love of Jesus or any other religious seer because I believe deep in my heart that I am the chosen one to spread a unique love to the entire world. I would encourage people to focus on the beauty in life, be grateful, be humble, be silent, be peace, be kind, and be loving to everyone, even your enemies.
4. Do you ever feel down or not good enough? How do you silence the voices in your head and turn the tune to another, more productive frequency?
I know I am good enough. I am perfect, and I finally believe that with all my heart. I am the truth, and I have been set free from all the lies that society imparted in my psyche and mental well-being. I meditate, workout, read, and observe situations and people intently to silence my mind; all those actions lead me to a life of mindfulness. “Check Your Life” is utilized as my activation words to produce magic while being mindful in the moment. When I say Check Your Life, I follow it up with my desires to the universe, to produce the law of attraction in my life. For example, I state Check Your Life: I will receive a contract in two months to consult with the United States Airforce. This desire and faith raised to a high attractive frequency, and I received three individual contracts with the United States Airforce.
5. In the last 24 months – what habit or belief have you acquired, that made a big impact on your life and those around you?
I stopped needing validation from others. About two months ago, I was fasting and meditating for two days when one night, I fell into a deep sleep that brought me back to my childhood. I was about two years old, and I was missing my biological father and feeling lonely when a calm voice stated, “You do not need him or anybody, I am here, and I have always been here. I am resting deep on the inside of you, and I have been waiting for you to find me. Yet, you can only find me when you let everyone else go, stop thinking you need love and validation from anyone, but me. I am God, and I am in you; so you are a God. Be a god and stop being unconscious.” When I woke up, I felt refreshed and energized. I no longer desired alcohol and no longer needed recognition and love from other people. I became an authentic love, that detached away from a need to validated. Now, I feel more present, free, and authentic in every situation, so-called good or bad.
[BONUS] Name one to three books that helped you to become a better leader?
From Thug to Scholar: An Odyssey to Unmask my True Potential
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Happy Monday!
Stoyan
#MondayProductive #perform #positive #leadership #productivity
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