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August
Chasing Dreams
For as long as I can remember I have always dreamed
of being an entrepreneur. I remember when I was
only 8 or10 years old I said to my grandfather,
"One day I am going to be a millionaire". "How are
you going to accomplish that?" he asked. "By owning
my own company," I replied.
It is my fervent belief that every human being
has a divine purpose. I believe that intuitively we
know what this purpose is, but, because of a
society that discourages individuality and
dreamers, we simply lose site of our dreams. We
then begin to conform to society’s versions
and definitions of success and begin wondering why
our lives feel so empty and meaningless. In other
words we stop listening to our own inner wisdom, we
simply forget how to tune in to our own souls.
At the age of twenty-three I was living the
American dream. I had a very good paying job, a
beautiful wife, a nice house, three kids and every
credit card you can imagine. By societies standards
I was successful. Although externally it appeared
that I had it all together, internally there was a
deep feeling of emptiness and a longing for
something more. By the age of twenty-nine my dream
became a nightmare as I experienced divorce,
bankruptcy and foreclosure. I had gone from having
everything to having absolutely nothing in the span
of only six years.
So there I was in unfamiliar territory. I was
bankrupt and alone and had fallen into a deep state
of depression. One night during the darkest period
of my life I had an epiphany. I was thinking about
all the things that had gone wrong in my life and I
was trying to find a way to gain a sense of hope
and optimism. All of a sudden I had this thought.
Actually it was more than just a thought it was
more like a divine communication. The communication
was in the form of a question and it said, "What
would happen if you took all of the energy
you’ve invested in trying to get rich and
focus that energy in simply trying to be
happy?"
As simplistic as it sounds that question that
propelled me to begin to rediscover my dream of
being my own boss. To begin chasing my dream I had
to begin asking myself some very deep questions.
The first question I asked was "What is it that
really makes me happy?" Next I had to ask myself,
"What am I really good at?" And finally yet
importantly "How can I take what makes me happy and
combine it with what I’m good at and then make
money?
After some deep self-introspection and a few
years of participating in a series of personal
development seminars and workshops, I found the
answer to those three all-important questions.
Because of my own personal development I came to
realize that I really enjoyed teaching. I have
always had a deep love for learning new things and
I discovered that it brought me a lot of joy to
share what I learned with others. I also learned
that I am a very good communicator and have a gift
for public speaking. Although public speaking
terrifies most people I found out that I absolutely
love the intellectual challenge of being able to
relay my thoughts, ideas and beliefs to others in a
passionate intelligent and conversational style. I
am filled with excitement and energy when I speak
in front of groups. I can’t really put the
feeling into words but part of me connects with a
divine presence that always guides me in my
thoughts, words and actions. It’s as if
I’m not actually doing the speaking. It feels
as if my spirit is giving me the words. It is a
very powerful and enlightening experience to say
the least.
So now that I have answered the first two
questions, what makes me happy and at what do I
excel - all I needed to figure out now was how I
could convert this knowledge into a career that
would allow me to make an adequate amount of money
to live my dreams and be comfortable. During this
time I was experiencing extreme burnout at work. I
knew that I really needed to do something different
but I was still unsure as to which direction I
should go. A part of me was excited about trying
something new, yet another part of me was scared to
death about giving up my secure position and
career.
After months of asking myself what I wanted to
do next I decided that I wanted to write a book and
start my own publishing company. In addition, I
could become a motivational speaker that targeted
my products and services to the African American
market. I had spent years participating in
workshops and seminars dealing with human potential
and personal growth and I noticed that there were
very few African American participants. I had found
an unfilled need and I decided to fill that need
with my new company. Once I decided that I wanted
to start my company I had to face the reality that
I did not have the financial backing to get
started. In fact, I was so far in debt that
starting a company seemed like the last thing I
needed to do. However, despite being completely
broke I knew that I had to figure out a way to make
my dream come true.
The first thing I needed to do was actually
write the book. Therefore I committed myself to
completing my manuscript. Amazingly I was up late
one night watching Lifestyles of the Rich and
Famous featuring a famous romance writer. I do not
remember her name but something she said really
stuck with me. She said that every day she writes
ten pages of text. No more and no less than- ten
pages everyday. She said that sometimes it takes
her twelve hours and sometimes it takes her ten
minutes. She writes ten pages a day, no matter how
much time it takes. When she finishes she goes to
the beach or just relaxes and find other things to
keep herself busy. After listening to her, I
decided that I would attempt to write only five
pages each day. In my mind it seemed like a
realistic goal. The next day I sat down to write.
It took me over nine hours to write my five pages
but commitment resulted in it’s completion.
Although there were tons of errors in my writing it
did not matter. What was most important was that I
kept my commitment of writing five pages. I
continued my commitment and within ninety days I
actually completed my manuscript. Boy was I
relieved when I finally finished. Though
challenging it was very rewarding to finally
complete the project.
Then the issue of money (actually lack of money)
came up again. I decided to ask some of my friends
what they thought of my idea about starting my own
company and to see if they might be interested in
investing. Although most of them were supportive,
none of them was willing to invest any money into
my company. Their biggest fear was not that I did
not have the commitment, perseverance and knowledge
to start the company. Their greatest fear was that
African Americans would not buy my books.
Repeatedly, I would hear comments like, "Black
people don’t read or black people don’t
spend money on personal development programs. How
many people are going to purchase a book titled
Brothers Are You Listening? Don’t you know
that black men are the last people to purchase
these types of books? Although I must admit that I
was a little surprised by their reactions I
completely disagreed with their conclusions. I knew
there was a need for personal development books
written by and for African Americans and although
most people disagreed with me I decided to pursue
my dream any way. In fact their rejection inspired
me even more. I knew that if I could overcome all
of the obstacles ahead of me it would give me even
more credibility and ultimately help me sell more
books. It would make my story even more
inspiring.
Now that I had completed my manuscript I needed
to get it edited, copyrighted, printed and bounded.
Once that happened I would officially be a
published author. Boy, that sounded good. Michael
Taylor published author.
Since I didn’t have any money I decided to
try to get my book published by a major publisher
first. If I could get a publisher to accept my
manuscript I could get a small advance to cover
some expenses and then they could help promote my
work and me. I mailed out over a hundred query
letters to publishers all across the country. Each
one was returned with the polite rejection letter
stating that my book did not "fit" into the genre
or target group of their company. Although some
people dislike rejection it actually inspires me. I
knew that these rejections were not a reflection of
my work; it was simply the closed-minded attitudes
of people in the publishing industry. I simply
needed to stay focused and eventually I would get
my big break. After over two years I realized that
my big break was not going to come through any
publishing company. I knew that it was now up to me
to get my message out and I needed to redirect my
energy in a different direction. I began doing
research on self-publishing. I read several success
stories about people who had self-published and I
decided that was the way I needed to go. Although
it sounded easy to do, the down side was that it
was going to take a substantial amount of money to
publish my book myself.
During this time I had been listening to a
series of tapes by a person named Wayne Dyer. I had
been reading and studying his work for over ten
years and I actually consider him one of my
favorite mentors. The title of the tape series was
The Secrets to Manifesting Your Destiny. In this
series Dr. Dyer talks about the importance of
meditation and focusing your thoughts on what you
want. He talks a lot about visualizing the dreams
and goals that you have and trusting that you are
connected to an Infinite Universe that will support
you in manifesting your desires. I have learned to
trust and accept this concept so I began focusing
my attention on getting my book published somehow.
Another thing that Dr. Dyer teaches is the concept
of synchronicity. This simply means that everything
in our lives happens for a reason and if we will
simply learn to recognize the divine
synchronicities in our lives they will guide us to
our ultimate destiny. I was doing my meditation and
being aware of the synchronicities in my life when
I experienced a divine miracle. I met a woman at a
bookstore and we immediately became good friends.
We had a lot in common and shared the same beliefs
about the Universe and synchronicity. Actually, she
was a huge Wayne Dyer fan just like me. One day she
invited me to go with her to pick up some gift
cards that she was having made. When we arrived at
the printers she introduced me to the owner. He was
a very nice guy that had been doing printing for
over twenty years. After our introduction I asked
him exactly what his company did and he told me
that he handled all types of printing. I asked him
if he also printed and bounded books and he
answered yes. Wanting to know how much he would
charge to print it and bind it; I begin telling him
a little about my book. He gave me a price and I
told him that I could not afford to pay him at that
time. He asked me to tell him a little more about
my book and after our conversation he was so
impressed that he offered to pay for the printing
up front if I would be willing to pay him back in
monthly installments.
It took every ounce of strength in me to keep
from jumping through the roof. I was so excited
that I actually gave him a hug to say thank you. I
knew immediately that my meditations and prayers
had worked and the Universe was supporting me in
manifesting my dream. After approximately six weeks
I had my first printing of books delivered to my
home. I can’t even begin to express how happy
and excited I was. However, I knew that the work
was just beginning. Now I had to prove that I could
sell my books in addition to repaying him for
printing them for me.
Fortunately I have always been a salesman so I
did what I do best; I began selling my books to
anyone that looked interested. I sold books to
people on the bus, I had a few friends that owned
beauty salons who allowed me to sell in their
shops, and I even sold a book to a female police
officer that wrote me a ticket. I was a selling
machine. After a little over a year I sold my first
thousand copies. This was pretty phenomenal
considering I did it with no advertising or
marketing. This happened over ten years ago and
today I’m still selling my book. In fact I am
almost finished with my next book, which should be
available in 2007.
Although I have not reached all of my financial
goals I can say that I am now living my dream. I am
currently an entrepreneur, a writer and personal
development coach that loves to empower others to
live their dreams and create a life worth living.
As I mentioned at the beginning, every human being
has a divine purpose. The question is whether you
are willing to look deep within yourself to find
yours. If you have been inspired by this story and
would like more information about my company or me,
please visit www.creationpublishing.com The site is
designed to educate, motivate and inspire you to
reach your full potential. Check it out and let me
know what you think.
In the meantime remember that dreams really do
come true but you must be willing to put forth a
whole lot of effort to make it happen. Take
Nike’s advice. JUST DO IT!
©2009, Michael
Taylor
* * *
Michael
Taylor is a dreamer, revolutionary, an
entrepreneur, author (A New
Conversatoin with
Men), personal
development coach and motivational speaker who has
dedicated his life to empowering men (and women) to
reach their full potential. He does not consider
himself to be an expert or guru. He does consider
himself to be extremely knowledgeable in the field
of personal growth and development. The fact is, he
is an ordinary guy that made a commitment to live
an extraordinary life and he wants to challenge you
to do the same. E-Mail
or www.anewconversationwithmen.com
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