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The Battle For Self Discipline

by Gary Swaby on May 11, 2013

These days I’m a busy person. At any given time I have at least 10 things to do. This becomes very difficult for me because I’m a person who values their personal time, in which I usually use to play video games, read books or watch rap battles. It’s not just about pleasure, it’s more about having time to fuel my creativity with the things I enjoy.

However, like any person I get addicted to the pleasure these forms of entertainment give me. Once that happens all my self discipline goes out the window. It usually takes me a few days for me to get motivated again to pick up on my targets.

I’m currently doing Web Development for a living, so of course it’s mandatory that I make time to work on that daily if I want to get paid. My other projects such as video game blogging, book writing, content production and promoting the Geek Supply brand are all tasks that I must fit into my life outside my main source of income.

I keep telling myself that if I spend at least an hour on each project a day I’ll make significant progress, but after all I’m only human. It get’s very difficult to focus on each and everyone of these side projects after completing a full day of Web Development.

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But then I hear of other entrepreneurs such as Greg Selkoe working non-stop with hardly any sleep. Fully grinding towards their dreams. This gets me inspired to do the same. In the end it all ends up being a war with the mind.

It is my personal belief that Self Discipline can solve almost anything. Got an addiction? Procrastinating on a project? Depressed about a girl? Self Discipline is the number one medicine for you. If you can control your mind then you can do anything you set your mind to.

It sounds easy right? It’s really not. It literally is a battle to become disciplined. Many people have parents who understood this and they grew their children with this in mind. Some use religion as a platform to build their self discipline, but this also comes with a strict set of rules. For somebody like me who never had a father around to teach me the values of self discipline, I have to look to other icons and role-models to preach self discipline to me.

People like Tariq Nasheed, 50 Cent, Anthony Frasier, Gerard Williams and Eric Hamilton and other successful entrepreneurs keep me focused. But I can’t always look to them to help me stay disciplined, I need to build up my own self motivation.

Thinking about the future often scares me, and usually this fear is what gives me the motivation to keep grinding.

What keeps you motivated?

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A few months back MTV put out their annual hottest MC’s list. As always, many people disagreed with the list. The main reason for this is because their list is based on who is popular and not necessarily who is the most talented.

With that in mind, what does it take to make it on the Hottest MC list? And how much does Social Media contribute to this? It would take some deep analyzing to figure out the full specifics. However, the folks over at The Phat Startup have put together a nice infographic showing who the top Social Media kings are in Hip Hop. Read more..

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Gary Swaby Becomes A Partner In Geek Supply Co

by Gary Swaby on April 30, 2013

I am excited to announce a new venture I have helped launch with my partners Jimi Olaghere and Anthony Frasier. GeekSupply Co is an outlet which offers meaningful products to solve practical problems. Products on offer at GeekSupply Co include unique mobile phone cases, office accessories, book bags, clocks, notepads, lamps and more.

Not only do we strive to deliver unique concepts and change the way consumers interact with their immediate environment, but we also want to give something back to those who have to suffer in silence.

Jimi Olaghere and I share a rare blood disorder named Sickle Cell. This disease affects thousands of people around the world, yet there are barely any resources being put forward to give support to Sickle Cell sufferers.

Since its identification in 1910 until the passage of the National Sickle Cell Control Act in 1972, only $1 million had been spent on Sickle Cell research. That equates to a little more than $16,000 per year.

We’re passionate about giving back, and we’re especially passionate about Sickle Cell. Two of three founding members suffer from this chronically debilitating disease. We’ve partnered up with key charities to bring awareness to a disease that should never have been forgotten.

For this purpose we have made it our mission to donate a portion of Geek Supply’s profits to Sickle Cell charities and research. In time we aim to make our mission more ambitious by throwing events, lectures and spreading the support base for the disease worldwide. To achieve this we have partnered up with specific organizations that will receive 10% of our monthly sales. These organizations in turn use the money to promote Sickle Cell awareness and encourage research.

Thanks to the inner-workings of Geek Supply’s business we are able to make Sickle Cell awareness our main priority. Our products are manufactured specifically for us using high quality raw materials. We’ve cut out all the middlemen so that we can increase our margins and have more money to donate in return.

I personally am extremely excited about this project as Sickle Cell awareness has been something I’ve always wanted to work towards. And now, with the help of my partners Jimi Olaghere and Anthony Frasier it has been made possible.

Please support us and subscribe to our email list over at Geek Supply Co now. You can also follow us on Twitter.

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As I was browsing Reddit today I came across an interesting quote from the book The Plot Thickens: 8 Ways to Bring Fiction to Life by Noah Lukeman (check the book out).

What constitutes a satisfying experience? Is it universal? Is it something that can be manufactured? Why can’t it suffice for us to watch merely a synopsis of a story? Why do we want to sit down with a five-hundred-page book or a two-hour film when we can get a quick summary of the facts, when we could know, up front, how it ends?

As you begin to tell your story, the first thing you’ll find is that story telling is not about giving away information but about withholding it; the information itself is never as important as the path you take in disseminating it.

This quote caused my head to nod in agreement, though I wasn’t conscious of it.

kermit head nod - storytelling

Seriously though I strongly agree with the statement myself, and I don’t mean to blow my own horn when I say that this is what I try to do with my writing. Read more..

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When people think of Hip Hop they usually associate it with negative things such as violence, drugs and womanizing. It’s a typical method of social politicking used by the media to categorize and control the various arts associated to the Hip Hop lifestyle.

Very rarely does anyone actually sit down and analyze the hustle mentality that many Hip Hop moguls have used to guarantee their success. When it comes to rags-to-riches, it’s hard to find a living example of the term without naming somebody associated with the Hip Hop lifestyle.

Diddy is somebody who isn’t exactly praised for his music efforts, but there’s no denying that this man is one of the smartest businessmen in Hip Hop period. But why?

How to grind like Diddy

This “How To Grind Like Diddy” guide has all the answers. Written by the guys over at The Phat Startup Anthony Frasier and James Lopez, the guide helps you understand why Diddy is so successful in all his ventures. Read more..

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Why I’m Going Self Employed

January 1, 2013
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Why I’m going Self Employed Summary My illness has conditioned me to be a self reliant, and introverted person. I find it hard to interact and relate to colleagues due to conflicts of interest. I want the freedom to choose my projects and areas of practice for myself. I see this as the biggest opportunity [...]

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Write In Scrivener, Edit In Word

October 18, 2012
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After self publishing my first project I learned some valuable lessons on the whole process. Originally I started writing my project in Word, that was until I discovered Scrivener. For writing novels, scripts and other lengthy projects Scrivener is a no brainer. Its features allow you to easily structure your project, while also giving you [...]

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The Humble eBook Bundle

October 16, 2012
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Being that I’m a part time video game blogger I heard about the awesome Humble Bundle through my Koalition colleagues. It was a bundle of a selection of indie games, but the magic behind the bundle was putting the buyers in control of how much they want to spend. By doing this you automatically force [...]

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Is 100 Pages Enough To Judge A Book By?

October 7, 2012
The Casual Vacancy

The Casual Vacancy released last week and was hit with mixed reviews, many of them negative. I had the book pre-ordered for months, so I already decided I was going to give this book it’s fair chance no matter what the world thought. But out of curiosity I wanted to see what people were saying [...]

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I’m Addicted To Rap Genius

August 30, 2012
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I figured I would blog about this because readers of my book I Love Hip Hop are likely to have an interest in what Rap Genius is about. Speaking of the book, I’ve just made a ton of formatting updates on the book as well as a few grammar edits. If you’ve already bought the [...]

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Five Things That Will Distract You From Following Your Dreams

August 7, 2012
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I’ve been going through a lot these past few weeks, and it’s made me realise just how much things in our modern life distract you from achieving your goals. Most people have dreams but never manage to translate them into achievable goals. And many of us who do manage to set achievable goals for ourselves [...]

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