The olympics have recently finished and I’ve been following the United States men’s basketball team for the last few years. The team won the gold medal in the Olympics this year (2008) by beating Spain.  The team has done pretty well with a couple challenges in the past. Being a basketball fan, there is much interest for me in this team - they are a team of all NBA basketball players. I would like to share some things about this team that I believe are of note and may possibly be of benefit to those reading.

 

A Little History

 

Back in 1992, the Olympics began to allow NBA players to play.  This led to the U.S. easily capturing the gold medal that year.  In 1996 the same thing happened.  In 2000, the U.S. did pretty well, but had some close calls.  They only beat Lithuania by 2 points, but won the gold medal again beating France.  In 2002, the U.S. began losing basketball games in international competition.  In 2004, the U.S. won the bronze medal in the Olympics after losing to Argentina in the semi-finals (final four teams).  The U.S. team faced much scrutiny with losing in international competition and some would say that the loosely throwing a team together of ‘NBA stars’ was no longer working.

 

2006 - 2008

 

One thing I really like is that the coach of Duke University, Mike Krzyzewski, was put in place to lead the U.S. team.  If you do not know who this man is, please read about him here.  He is an amazing man and a terrific basketball coach.  Not only that, a team was put together with some NBA stars, and other players who filled specific roles like shooting specialists.  I believe in 2006, that a team chemistry began that started to propel the U.S. forward.  Even though the U.S. lost to Greece in the 2006 world championships (their only loss), I could tell that things were turning around.

 

Hard Work, Dedication, and Lessons Learned

 

You can find a series of videos entitled, ‘Road to Redemption’ about the U.S. basketball team here.  I recommend watching all of them, they are very interesting.  The things that stand out to me are the immense amount of time that the team is spending preparing for the Olympics.  And the Oympics were just a month long or so.  The players on the team all make millions of dollars and have more money than most of us could ever dream of.  It would be very easy for them to not want to participate in the Olympics.  Just by watching the videos, you can see the tremendous effort that the team, coaches, and other managers are putting in.  How many of us, if we had millions of dollars, would still be working this hard?

 

I believe the U.S. learned some valuable lessons from losing in international competition for basketball.  They realized that being complacent and not giving maximum effort will not yield the best results.  They are realizing that hard work and dedication pays off.  These are lessons that we can all learn from.  Are you frustrated that things are not happening in your life?  Start by getting dedicated and putting in hard work.  See if things don’t start turning around eventually.

 

This journey of the U.S. basketball team has influenced my life.  I truly am amazed by their hard work and dedication, and it is an example to me for what I should be doing in my life.  Though I may never meet any of the players on the U.S. team, they have inspired me and are an example that helps me in my life.

Life is full of different events, moods, and circumstances. Sometimes we’re happy, other times sad. We may even get depressed here and there. I believe that each of us goes through a variety of emotions as we live day to day, week to week, and year to year. It is this which I wish to talk about and hopefully generate some perspective on. I hope by reading that you will better be able to put into perspective your lives and further orient yourself towards happiness.

 

There is a weather map here.  As you can see on the weather map, there are ‘fronts’ displayed on the United States, Canada, and Mexico.  There are cold fronts (the blue lines with triangles) and warm fronts (the red lines with circles).  Cold fronts are masses of cooler and dryer air.  Warm fronts are masses of warmer air.  The effects of a warm front can mean warmer and nicer weather, while a cold front can bring a drop in temperature with uncomfortable effects.  Both warm and cold fronts play a large role in the weather we experience each and every day.

 

I would like to talk about each of our lives as we experience shifts in weather as it pertains to our situations, state of being, and perspective.  I believe there are many ‘fronts’ we each experience and understanding and properly interpreting them is a key for understanding and getting through life in a positive manner.

 

Warm Fronts

 

There are times in life when the weather seems perfect.  Everything is going well.  Perhaps you just got your dream job and are making lots of money.  Maybe you just won a basketball game that you worked hard for.  Or maybe you just met the man/woman of your dreams and nothing could be better.  Take a moment and really think about your life and all the good things that have happened.  I hope that this takes a while and that you’ve been blessed with many good things.  Think about how good you felt during those good things.  Now let me share with you a few things about this.

 

While wonderful things are happening, take a look at one constant thing - yourself and a perspective of yourself and others.  Even though things may be good for you, others may be in a worse off position.  How thankful are you at that time for your health, success, and happiness?  Look at what has brought on the wonderful things in your life.  Even take time to see that if some of the things that appear to be good are actually disguised or covering up something that is bad.  It’s very easy to be on ‘cloud 9′ or in a euphoric state during wonderful things.  While I am not advocating not getting excited, I recommend to you to always keep a sense of realism and understanding, no matter how good things seem to be going.  Always keep yourself in check and be happy with what you have, but never content.

 

Cold Fronts

 

Sometimes in life, the weather gets gloomy, the cold sets in, and things just seem to be off.  Take a moment and think about your life.  Think about some of the negative things that have happened.  I don’t mean for you to dwell on these things, but it is important to realize them.  Perhaps you’ve had a nasty divorce or two.  Maybe you just lost a great job.  Or you lost the basketball game you worked so hard for.  Maybe your health is suffering.  There are a slew of things that can go wrong in life.

 

Again, take a look at yourself when things are going wrong.  I have no doubt that most people can figure out how things went wrong.  Maybe you were not assertive or educated enough while at a job interview, which cost you a job.  Perhaps you have been neglecting your spouse and they have grown distant from you.  Whatever the turmoil is, there is a reason it is there.  And you can most often look at yourself to see why it is there.  Keep a level head and maintain happiness even when things are gloomy.  I myself am in a ‘cold front’ right now (as of Aug. 21 2008).  I don’t have a full time job, money is very tight, and my wife’s insurance is about up.  I am doing the best I can to rectify this situation.

 

Maintaining Perspective

 

I spent a couple years in Ireland many years ago from 1997 - 1999.  I was there on a service mission for church.  My family paid for this.  Not only that, I spent many days in the rain, getting drenched as I went around trying to help other people.  At around the age of 20, it was very hard for me to keep perspective.  Trudging around in the rain just plain sucked!  Many years later, it is now funny how I love to be in the rain for long periods of time!

 

The perspective to have here is that even things which appear awful or gloomy in life, may not be so.  I hurt my left hand in high school during basketball season.  At first I was very frustrated.  It was my left hand and I am left handed.  However, after a few weeks, I had used my right hand so much, that I gained some skill using my right hand.  Being able to use both hands in basketball is a very beneficial skill.  There is a saying that it is always darkest before the dawn.  I do believe that when challenges are hitting and things are going rough, that this is the storm that must be weathered until the calm arrives and great things start happening. I will not be surprised if the things in my life which are rough right now turn into some wonderful things happening in the months ahead.

 

The same calm and optimistic demeanor that is necessary during bad times must also be had during the good times.  I am convinced that the more we can keep the same composure when things are going good or bad, the more we will have perspective and be able to handle any situation.  Whether you have millions of dollars and a happy family, or you are struggling to make ends meet, take a look at yourself.  Be thankful - understand the good and bad.  Do what you can to correct the bad things in your life.  I know that with faith, determination, and patience, that life can be managed, endured, learned from, and ultimately prosperous.

It is indeed 1:25… now 1:26 AM in the morning.  I writhed in bed for over an hour with no sleep in sight.  I just have so much going on in my mind about drjerm.com and this blog and what I am trying to achieve as a life coach.  I’m realizing more and more that this is what I am supposed to be doing.  I can’t quite explain it, but it’s as if my stomach is trying to burst out of me.  I can feel it within me, this is what I am supposed to be doing.

 

I am not sure where all of this will take me.  I am truly genuine in wanting to help other people.  I hope I’ve been able to show that with the sheer amount of time invested in this blog and my website at drjerm.com.  I don’t think I would have spent 300 plus hours doing it all if I didn’t have a burning desire for it.  Not only that, I need the life coaching just as much as the next person, so it is helping me a great deal to!

 

I face questions and obstacles with trying to do what it is I now am feeling I was put on this earth to do.  To be a beacon of light for other people.  To help those who are in need.  I may not be superman, able to fly around and save the day, but I do believe I possess the charisma, compassion, and drive to help people make changes in their lives, both about their individual selves, and their situations.

 

Challenges

 

The first challenge obviously is getting enough money from doing life coaching that I don’t have to resort to going to find a job as a developer where most of my time will be taken.  I am lucky to be able to work at home right now.  I work my tail off and hope that can be the way I work.  But I also know that my family comes first.  If I have to, I can go find a job doing website development and programming that will provide insurance for my wonderful wife and support our family.

 

At the same time, I feel I was born to do life coaching.  I feel there are countless people out there who need to hear my voice and read what I write.  I feel that I have the ability to make people laugh, inspire people, and to in general, help people see that they can get more out of life.  Life does not have to be this constant battle where we are pinned, desperately trying to get by.

 

The second challenge is capturing people and having them know this website exists.  This is a challenge.  I am learning more as time goes on, but I really would love it if the whole world knew about my website.  I know there would be a lot of critics, ready to refute everything I have to say.  That is fine, a wonderful thing about this world is that we all can choose what we wish to do.

 

The third challenge is educating myself on how to help people in the right way.  I’ve spent the most of my life career programming websites.  Along the way, I’ve spuradically helped people with their troubles and encouraging them.  The challenge for me is to make sure I have the education and resources available so that when I am coaching someone, I am giving them the best darn coaching they could ever receive.

 

Opportunities

 

I’ve thought about ways that I can make a living doing life coaching.  So far, my blog and website are all free to use and they will continue to be so.  I’ve added my DrJerm’s recommended page to this blog and on my website at drjerm.com, I’ve got self help reviews on products I think are useful.  You can look at these and choose to buy whatever you see from Amazon.com.  That is one way I make money - by getting a small portion as an affiliate with Amazon.  I also make money from the advertisement links on my sites.  This is called Google Adsense.  I get a small portion of the click for that ad, from Google.com.  Please do not click the links unless you see something you are actually interested in.

 

The Amazon products and Google Adsense are nice, but I don’t see them providing the opportunity for me to do this full time for a while.  As such, I’ve got some other ideas that I’d like to throw around.  Some of these my site visitors have given to me.  I would appreciate feedback on them and the potential you might think they have.  They are:

 

• Individual life coaching sessions, one on one for 45 minutes.  These would be done over the phone.  Not sure the pricing on these sessions, but I would want it to be affordable.
• Seminars - this would be kind of like a group gathering where you have dinner with a large group of people at tables and a stage where I and possibly others would speak.  Tickets would be purchased for the event.  This idea actually intrigues me a lot.
• Creating books, guides, and interactive tools.  I like the idea of creating things that people can choose to purchase.  But they would have to be pretty spectacular.  I don’t like the idea of selling an ebook that took just a night to create and talking about it like it’s the new Bible.  I’ve seen people do that - I don’t like it.  I think spending a good while on a few of these things might provide an opportunity to sell something fairly cheap that had enormous value.
• Create a course that people can complete.  Outline various steps and things that need to be done to have a life that can be fulfilling and happy.  Find some way to have this course taught.  Possibly do a 10 day course or something at a resort.  At the end of 10 days, it’s like a boot camp being finished, except you feel great afterwards.
• Speaking - I love to speak publicly.  This was not always so.  I used to be terrified of it!  Now I love it because I know I am reaching out to many people when I do it.  For this, I will just have to figure out how to get lots of people at a certain place where they can all hear my voice.
• Custom Items - I could make the ‘Trident of Transcendence’ from my drjerm website or any number of things.  I like the idea of doing this so that someone can place this item on their mantle and look at it.
• Donations - There is a donate link at the top of my blog.  I never ask for donations.  However, if you feel so inclined because something I did really helped you, feel free to donate.  Every little bit helps!

 

These are just some of the ideas I have.  Obviously, I need my website to get more traffic (traffic meaning people sitting at their computers using it :)).  I believe this will continue to happen over time.  I will continue to add useful information and resources and continue to talk to people about it.  I will make a business card and talk with pride about my site to everyone I come in contact with.  I am not afraid to talk about it, that’s for sure!

 

It’s 1:53 AM now.  I think I am finally tired, which is a good thing.  I look forward to all the challenges I need to overcome to get to where I need to be.  Meeting ‘The Rock’, Dwayne Johnson is one of those challenges that I am tackling.  I also want to make 100 basketball free throws in a row.  I shot at Gold’s Gym the other day and I made 82 in a row!  I am getting closer.  I ended up shooting 99/100.  These kinds of things are mini goals to keep me sharp and focused.  Plus I love basketball.  Anyhow, I am going to sign off now, goodnight!

Hello, it’s me, Drjerm again.  I have some interesting news I wish to share with everyone.  Yesterday, the owners of the company I helped start had a meeting with many of the management and my development team.  The end result is that a lot of people are going to be let go, including the whole development team, excluding one of the guys who will assist part time to maintain things.  There will be somewhat of a part time income still available from work there, but the end result is that I have lost my day job.

 

This is kind of ironic since my last post was about what to do when you need/want to leave your job :)

 

Sometimes life throws a wrench into things, and this is one of those cases.  I have a few options of what I can do.  I could become bitter, angry, worried, stressed, and frustrated.  I could become consumed with losing my job and panic.  What will that get me?  Probably bad health, a broken family, and backwards progress.  I could feel bad for the other developers I worked with as well, especially the ones who haven’t worked there for very long.  But Instead, here’s what I plan on doing:

 

I will be taking the positives from the situation and using a glass half full mentality.  I will encourage the developers who have been let go.  Some of them have gained new and exciting skills in developing websites.  I will inspire them to get a new and better job and wish them the best of luck.  I will be understanding if some of them are very angry.

 

I will use the knowledge I gained as I’ve worked for this comany the last 10 months.  I’ve learned quite a bit about people and situations.  I understand that the owners of companies who are investing money are interested in one thing with a company - having its expenses low and revenues high.  If this means letting people go, that will happen.  I’ve learned to be very careful when having anyone approach you and say they need your help with a business venture.

 

My advice to any of you who are being approached to ‘help’ someone start a business is that you must understand that in most cases you are a means to an end.  This is not negative, this is reality.  You have a skill or ability that is needed for the business to get going.  You may get promised a high salary, a position in upper management, or any number of things.  But realize that over time you may have fulfilled your role in helping the company get started and get let go.  All I am saying, is be VERY careful when people are asking things of you and making you promises.

 

So I have a newfound knowledge of people and business.  That is a positive.  I also have an opportunity over the next three to six months to make a decision.  I will either get another job doing web development, or I will go full blast on my own business ventures :)  My inner gut tells me I need to go full blast on my business ventures.  That I need to fulfull my destiny and make this website really strong.  That I need to give an honest, hard attempt over the next three to six months at least on bringing in my own income.

 

I believe this is what I’m going to do.  If you’ve lost your job, chances are you will be getting some kind of severance pay or supplemental income.  For me, I will get some, but this will still make our income very tight.  Luckily we’ve saved up a little money to last for three to six months.  If we are careful and frugal, I believe I can make a six month attempt to really get the ball rolling with creating my legacy in the world with this website and other business ventures.  I look forward to the challenge.

 

I am not afraid of failing.  I know that I have skills in web development and that I can find a job doing it.  I’ve learned that keeping your skills up to date is important.  To never take anything for granted.  To always be ready for any kind of situation.  To be ready for change and be internally motivated.  I am excited for this challenge in my life.

 

I am a firm believer that when a big challenge occurs in life that it is a doorway to much bigger things if we will but be persistent and diligent as we seek to overcome and learn from the challenge.

 

My advice to those of you who have lost your job is to take the positives from it.  Don’t panic.  Build yourself up and understand that you are special and important.  Find confidence by reading through the resources on my website.  Realize that you can do anything you set your mind to.

 

As such, I have a few very cool things planned for drjerm.com as I will be able to devote FULL TIME work to it now!  Stay tuned for what some of these plans are!

Do you look at the success of others and in frustration and jealousy wish you had what they did?  Do you wonder if you could ever succeed like they do?  Could you ever become like ‘The Rock’, Brad Pitt, Dr. Phil, Lebron James, or any other famous person?  There is a little known secret about the success of others.  Most of them have tried and failed, and a lot of them failed many times before they found true success.  Watch this video for a glimpse into this:

 

 

So you see, successful people are the same as the rest of us, except for one difference.  What sets them apart is that they tried.  And after they tried, they tried some more.  And they kept on trying.  They did not give up.  What is your idea of success?  Is it making millions of dollars?  Is it gaining a higher position at your job?  Is it bettering relationships?  Is it making a website that is the ‘next big thing’?  Whatever the success is you seek, be prepared to spend time failing before you reach it.

 

What is Stopping You?

 

For some, they get a spark of a great idea.  They may want to make a website.  They go out and buy a domain name and work on it for a few hours in excitement.  After a few hours, they realize that there is no money coming in from the website and they give up.  Or the dreams of gaining a promotion occur and in a brief spurt of excitement, the person does a little bit more.  But after a few days gives up because it appears that nothing has happened.

 

Please, read very carefully.  If you are interested in achieving your dreams or the things you want the most, or if you are just looking to advance yourself in your career, or attain anything in life, then what I have to say is of utmost importance to you.  The following are key points that keep us from our dreams.  Learn to overcome them and you will have nothing to stop you.

 

Discouragement From Failure/Lack of Results

 

If you get nothing else from what I write here, please look at this.  This is, “well I tried it for a few days or weeks, nothing happened, so I’m done”.  Or it is the fear of failure and the hopelesness that you can’t do it.  The hardest part is not finding out what you are passionate about.  That part is easy.  You just look at what you like and are good at and put the two together.  The hard part is maintaining a persistent and dedicated effort.

 

As I write now, I realize that I could spend time over the next year working on my website, drjerm.com, and my blog here.  And it may become a barely trafficed website that nobody uses and some might consider the hundreds of hours put in a waste of time.  This is an obstacle to overcome.  Time spent pursuing your dreams and passion IS NOT A WASTE OF TIME!  I face the same attacks of discouragement as the rest of you.  I don’t know that you can get away from discouragement completely.  The good news is that you can cut it down and not let it affect you.

 

Bad Habits Preventing Productive Time

 

This is just a guess, but I believe a very accurate guess, and that is most people wake up, eat something, rush to school/work, stare at the clock all day, five o’clock (or whenever work/school ends) comes close and getting fidgety sets in.  At the stroke of five (or the end of school/work), they bolt home, get home, and plop in front of the TV.  Watching their favorite shows and recordings after all is comfort from the terrible workday.  Or they may go out to eat frequently, going to Wendy’s, McDonalds, or other restaurants because it’s too hard to cook or do dishes.  Perhaps an addiction to video games can also be thrown into the mix.

 

And so this cycle goes on for a while and becomes quite engrained in the individual.  After a while, hope of doing anything but this fades away.  How can you possibly achieve your dreams when you spend all your time in the pursuit of things that are ultimately going to leave you empty and likely depressed.  The good news is that you can overcome the habitual living of everyday life, no matter how deep into bad habits you have gotten into.

 

Low Self Esteem and Motivation

 

I used to beat myself up all the time when I was younger.  I was scared to try new things.  The thought of making videos and posting them online would not have even crossed my mind.  I would have been too worried about what people would think or that nobody would like them.  I’ve been told plenty of times that I am dumb and look goofy.  I’ve experienced all the insults and frustrations that one can go through.

 

The battle of low self esteem is a very real danger.  You may see other people fighting this battle.  They may not like the way they look, talk, or feel.  This is an obstacle for you to overcome.  My website, drjerm.com, offers resources to help you paint a better picture of yourself.

 

I Don’t Know Where to Start, I am Ignorant

 

You are not ignorant, but not knowing where to start is a common scenario.  There is always uncertainty when entering the realm of something you have not done.  So how do you start?  Well, realize you have countless resources around you, so start asking questions.  Go to Google and start searching your butt off on what you are trying to do.  Go to Amazon.com and look at books and DvD’s that might help.  Talk to those you are in contact with.  Think carefully with your brain and focus.  The main thing is you can get proactive and figure things out.  We are all intelligent.  Knowledge is gained through proactive choices.

 

I had a talk with a young gal recently and asked her what her dreams and aspirations were.  She wasn’t sure.  But I know this gal pretty well and I said to her, “You like R&B music and entertainers.  What’s stopping you from pursuing that, maybe becoming an agent or promoter of them?”.  Her reply somewhat saddened me, “I don’t know what to do or even where to begin!”.

 

Look, you have countless resources available to you.  In this day and age, information is readily available.  You have your own brain to thoroughly think with.  In the case of this young gal, she can go out and search, find people to network within the R&B industry, and start making a name for herself with a website.  She can see how the industry works by just looking at who is doing it right now via the Internet.  Get a collection of all the rappers and R&B singers.  Become an expert with all of them - she is already probably.  Be creative and make something happen.

 

I know it’s a little daunting to go through uncharted territory.  But use your senses and you will find that if you take time to think and make an honest effort, that ideas will come to you.

 

So What, Nothing is Happening, What do I Need to Do?

 

I created drjerm.com to help people gain the foundation in their life that would lead them to begin discovering their destiny so that a legacy can be created.  Please use this resource first.  Paint a new picture of yourself.  Once you do this, you can start looking at the final step of creating your legacy and pursuing your dreams and passions.  Follow these simple steps:

 

1. Find what it is you are passionate about and grab hold of it and don’t let go
2. Begin becoming an expert in your passion using all resources available to you
3. Be persistent, giving a consistent effort over a long period of time
4. Give effort for as long as it takes, months/years, decades if needed - do not expect quick results
5. If in the end, if you realize that success is not going to happen, smile - you’re in the lower 1% that truly gave an honest effort in pursuing their dream.  You will have learned much :)

 

The main thing is not giving up because after a few days/weeks/months, nothing seems to be happening.  Maybe you appear to be failing at what it is you are doing.  Do not give up.  Fight through it all.  Do not go in front of the TV, but really take the time each day to work on your dreams and passion.  Over the course of quite some time, you will likely see positive results.

 

Why Should I Care or Even Listen to You?

 

I HOPE that you are asking this question.  At the time of writing this, I know I am just one man.  I am a website developer by day looking to make a difference.  I’m not making millions of dollars.  I make a salary that supports my family.  I make next to nothing right now with my website and blog - I actually pay more than I earn.  In that sense, I am an average guy.  But I know that I am more than that.  Each day I strive to improve and leave my legacy to the world.  I wish to be remembered as someone who gave honest advice and helped thousands of people discover their destiny and leave their legacy in the world.  I want to inspire people!  I want people to know that I tried and was successful at many things.

 

Look through my site and this blog.  If you don’t get any use out of it, then by all means, you should not care or listen to me.  But if you have even an ounce of stirring or thought provoking as you look through ALL of my pages and information, I encourage you to put it to the test.  Try what I am saying.  See if you don’t see a difference.  I am a big fan of looking at results, or seeing what fruit is produced by a seed.

 

With a little effort and faith, you can make the change to have things start happening in your life.  Best of luck to you!

One morning, while getting ready for work, I just happened to flip on the TV and stopped and was watching Montell Williams (a talk show host).  This is not normally a show I watch, but for some reason I decided to watch it.  It was a rerun episode (aired a couple years ago), and the guest for the time was Yvette Cade, an amazing woman who has an amazing story.

 

Yvette Cade Story

 

At her place of employment, Yvette was doused with gasoline and set on fire by her ex-husband.  She suffered third degree burns over 60% of her body.  Her flesh is scarred and this is a terrible tragedy.  As I watched the Montell Williams show, and listened to her story, I wondered and contemplated what could drive a man, especially for someone they knew well, to set them on fire.  Stories like this do test my faith and courage, but there is more to the story!

 

Yvette has appeared on the Montell Williams show, the Nancy Grace show, and the Oprah Winfrey show.  She calmly speaks of the tragedy that occured and seeks to give warning to those women who are in an abusive relationship.  She seeks to uplift, inspire, and influence others for good.  This is the inspiring story, and the legacy that Yvette Cade is creating.

 

What Can be Learned From Yvette Cade

 

One big thing that can be learned from Yvette is that overcoming challenges and overcoming hardships can be done no matter how severe the situation.  How many of you have been set on fire and your body scarred for life?  How many of you would jump right back up and move forward with determination and passion if this happened to you?  I am learning from this amazing woman that no matter how difficult your situation, you can choose to be positive, confident, and optimistic.

 

Another lesson that can be learned from Yvette is that you can be more than just positive, confident, and optimistic.  She has a website, is proactively doing fund raising and seeking to help women in abusive relationships.  She is not just content to have survived.  She is seeking to leave a legacy in the world in which we live.  I am inspired and uplifted by Yvette.

 

Final Thoughts on the Yvette Cade Story

 

There are individuals who live on the earth today that do unspeakable acts of evil and harm.  On the flip side, there are amazing individuals with godlike qualities.  Yvette Cade is one such individual.  I’ve only seen her on the Montell Williams show for a few minutes and read over her website, but I am amazed by her story.  Someday I may meet her, but either way, she has touched and enriched my life and I give thanks to her for this.

 

I highly encourage the visiting of Yvette’s website.  Read the inspiring story of Yvette Cade.

You can overcome depression today! Read on to understand simple facts about depression, how to realize when you are depressed, and what you can do to overcome depression.

 

First off, there may be situations where physical and chemical body reactions are causing depression in a way that I currently do not comprehend.  As such, physical and medical depression, while I believe conquerable, is another topic for another day.  The focus of this page will be a different view on what general depression is and some tips for overcoming your depression.

 

I created drjerm.com for the purpose of discovering your destiny and creating your legacy.  It is a place that seeks to inform, inspire, and educate.  To this end, let’s discuss some simple facts about depression as they relate to discovering your destiny and creating your legacy, and everything that goes with that.

 

Simple Facts About Depression

 

You are depressed if you are doing anything in your life which hinders you from living your dreams.  Let me repeat this again.  You are depressed if you are doing anything in your life which hinders you from living your dreams.  Your dreams should be your passion, the deepest desires of your heart, the things you want the most, and are the best at.  Look at your life today.  Let’s take a look at the depressing things that often take away from this.

 

For me, my dream is to have this website be the number one resource for inspiring and educating people to pursue their passions as they discover their destiny and create their legacy.  I also have a dream of raising a successful family, keeping in great shape, and a number of other things.  For you, you may want to sing at Broadway, produce movies, or become a famous chef.  Here is a list of things which take away from our dreams:

 

• Hesitation when opportunities present themselves
• Not getting excited about good things happening
• Pessimistic about most things
• Getting offended easily
• Constantly worrying about what others think of you
• Focusing on the bad in situations
• Giving up when things get tough

 

Simply examine yourself.  This list is but a few of the things to be looked at.  If you find yourself doing anything related to this, please stop and look at yourself.  Depression binds us and keeps us from living to our potential.

 

A Quick Myth About Depression

 

Depression is more than just not liking yourself or not being excited about life.  In 1929, the United States began facing what was called ‘The Great Depression‘.  This was a time of immense collapse of economics and industry.  The country faced a major crisis.  There are many theories as to what the cause of depression at this time was.  Some of these were debt, gold standard collapse, over production of goods, and a breakdown in trading.

 

Without going into too much details of the causes, the depression happened because the country did not do the things to prepare itself against it.  Depression is the hindering of achieving true potential.  Anything taking away from this is depression.  In a sense, most of use living today are depressed to some degree.  Otherwise we would all be full time pursuing our dreams.  Yes, this isn’t easy as there are bills to pay and a slew of other obstacles to overcome.

 

A myth about depression is that it can’t be avoied in most cases.  I come from a family where people are depressed.  That’s just the reality of the situation.  I can see that depression runs in my family and is genetically inherited.  I have physical and chemical depression hit me, and I know when it happens.  I feel down, not excited, and unable to take action.

 

THE MOMENT THIS HAPPENS, I tighten up my armor, grab my weapons, and beat back the depression beast.  I slay the depression dragon right there and then.  All negative thoughts are purged.  Just because I have a chemical reaction, does not take away the fact that I am smart, talented, and capable.  You can do the same.  Do not let your depression determine your course of action!

 

How do I Know if I Am Depressed?

 

I’d like to present some situations that will help you know if you are depressed.  I’ve given facts about depression, but let’s look at some real world scenarios that will likely (not always, but most of the time) mean you are depressed.

 

• You come home from work/school each day, eat junk food and plop yourself in front of the TV.  You do this for several hours most days.  You stay up late, and wake up very tired in the morning.
• Someone tells you that you are doing a good job or look nice.  Inside, you shrug your shoulders and say something to the effect of ‘yeah right’
• Someone offers aid to you - particularly when you need it, but you stubbornly refuse it.  Or you do not let people know when you really need assistance (severe physical pain or other ailments)
• Whenever you seek to be proactive, your mind wanders, you surf the net, start watching tv, or get distracted in some other way
• At school, the teacher calls on you, and you immediately get frightened with a panic attack.  You are not comfortable being the center of attention
• You see a guy/girl that you like and realize there’s no way they will like you.  Or you see another guy/girl and are jealous because everyone likes them and they don’t have difficulty with relationships

 

In a way, it bothers me to say this, but excessive TV equals depression.  If you are sitting in your room, or lounging in the family room watching tv all the time you are wasting your life away.  Your view of yourself isn’t very high.  You are in a depressed state.  Forgive my bluntness in this, but I know from experience how living like this can distort reality.

 

Look at the other situations here.  None of them have proactivity or positivity.  They are just flat out depressing to read.  But all the situations can be overcome with changing the view you have of yourself.  Realize that you are smart, that you can make things happen with simple choices.  Choose to stand up and leave the tv room.  Start by just doing something else, like going for a walk outside.  Smile and be confident! 

 

Depression Can Be Overcome

 

You can overcome deperssion, I have no doubt about it.  I can tell you how I’ve overcome depression.  I talk good to myself, I know I am smart.  I produce wonderful work.  I have a terrific wife and daughter.  I know I can do whatever I set my mind to.  I love to exercise and eat right - I am at my ideal and correct weight.  I feel terrific!

 

I wasn’t always like this.  Many years ago, I beat myself up, said how dumb I was, watched tv all the time, was not proactive, was passive around everybody.  I was about fifty pounds overweight.  I complained and was depressed.  Times have since changed.  All it took was a choice!

 

With a little effort, faith, different view of yourself, and some smart choices, you can begin to slay your depression.  Don’t just read this and fall back into the depression trap.  I plead with you to just spend time on building yourself up, and taking time doing productive and worthwhile things.  I know you can do it!

There may be some of you reading this right now that don’t see any point to life and see life as a waste of time.  You may be depressed and ready to give up on life.  To this end, I seek to offer counsel and guidance for getting more out of life.  I ask that you please read with an open mind what I have to say.  I know that in life, sometimes things can get very difficult and some challenges may seem impossible to overcome.  But I know that no challenge is too difficult to overcome.  Please read on.

 

Life Isn’t Fair

 

Seeing the point in life means looking at the world in which we live.  There are billions of people living in different countries, states/provinces, and cities/towns.  Each of us represent different families, cultures, and environments.  The sum of all this is that there are many different people on this earth with different views on what existence is and what constitutes good, evil, fair, unfair, and everything else.

 

Now knowing that there are many combinations of different types of people living on the earth, we can then see that with so many people, environments, and cultues, that there is a high chance that one or more people are going to do something that is outside the realm of what one or more other people consider to be acceptable.  As such, it is no wonder that life is full of conflict both small and large scale.

 

Therefore, the notion that life is not fair needs some disecting to really understand what it is saying.  First, look at WHY you are saying life is unfair.  This may be for some of the following reasons:

 

• Getting bullied or made fun of at school
• Barely scraping by on a meager income
• Having parents who mistreat and neglect
• Dealing with people who lie
• Seeing others suffer
• My environment makes it just too hard to succeed
• Other people are just ‘lucky’

 

So to say that life isn’t fair means not just saying it.  If you really are wondering if life is fair, or why life is not fair, you MUST be specific as to why it is not fair.  Otherwise you are just sulking and feeling sorry for yourself in a mode of depression.  You can spend some time thinking and pondering on what you see as not fair in life.  This is not hard, anyone can do it!  Once you have a specific list of why you think life isn’t fair, you can then see if you can address/change any of it.

 

Change What you Can, Accept What you Can’t Change

 

Look at your list of things in life that you think are not fair.  Now look at why these things occur.  Let’s take the list from above and come up with some simple reasons.

 

For getting bullied or made fun of at school, first look at yourself.  What can you do?  You can learn self defense techniques to protect yourself.  You can make sure you stay very observant of your environment so you are not stuck in a situation where you can get bullied.  You can seek friends, teachers, or parents.  You can even go to the police if you have to.

 

For scraping by on a meager income, look at yourself.  Are you gaining in knowledge and skill to find something better?  Are you pursuing your own business ideas?  Do you waste time lounging around, watching tv, or doing anything else that does not help you?  You can be very proactive in looking to better your career.  Do not let ANYTHING hinder you.  If you see an opportunity, do not ever say, ‘well I can’t do that because there’s rules/policies/procedures that won’t let me’.  Nonsense!  Be proactive and confident and make your dreams happen.

 

For parents who mistreat and neglect, I will admint, there is not much you can do growing up.  Some parents just flat out neglect their children, from minor neglect to severe neglect where life is threatened.  My advice to you if this is happening is to hold on to live.  Seek the aid of police and other legal authorities if you have to.  If your neglect is simply minor like your parents ignore you, confront them about it.  Make sure there are no distractions, and tell them how you feel.  Maybe they just don’t know they are neglecting you.  Do what you can to turn things around.

 

Dealing with people who lie can be frustrating.  Life seems difficult when there are many who get away with constant lying and there are people who continue to believe them.  Try educating yourself on what people are saying.  Always validate for yourself what someone is saying, no matter how good it sounds.  Take the time to find things out for yourself.  Never believe what someone tells you without first validating it yourself.  This can be through research, seeking the perspective of others, or through meditation.  Then accept people for who they are and move on.  You have more important things to achieve.

 

Seeing others suffer is difficult.  With much suffering in the world, it is easy to ask what the point of life is.  But you can look at yourself and your attitude about it.  You can complain about it and let it get to you, or you can be proactive and take steps to better situations.  Accept that suffering is a part of life until you see nobody suffering for a long period of time, but the reality is, that people are going to suffer.  If you can accept this, you will find more peace within yourself.

 

My environment makes it just too hard to succeed.  You may think that your situation prevents success.  You come from a run down neighborhood, have no friends, have no money, have nothing at all.  You can mope and complain about all of this and look at where it gets you as evidence to the effectiveness of that behavior.  Or you can take extra effort and learn, make things happen, and turn your situations around.  It won’t be easy, but with a little extra effort, over time, you will realize results.

 

Other people are just ‘lucky’.  Yes, some people are lucky.  They win millions in lotteries or from gambling.  You can complain about this, or just accept that some people are lucky.  Look at what complaining about others luck does - nothing!  Try spending your time looking at ways to better yourself and your situation and you will find far better things happening.

 

The point is, there are a number of things you can do to change situations around, and they all start with YOU!  Remember, accept what you can’t change, and WORK HARD to change what you can.

 

Why Does God Let Bad Things Happen?

 

Some believe in a higher power, some do not.  If you don’t see the point in life, chances are you believe that there is nothing beyond living a mortal life on this earth.  There is nothing wrong with believing that once we die here on earth, that everything is over.  However, even with that belief, there is still a time on earth in which we are living.  There are still people and real things happening that require attention.  You can choose to complain about things, or make them better.

 

For someone asking why God lets bad things happen, I ask you to be specific.  What bad things is God letting happen?  And if you believe him responsible, then you have a belief in a higher power.

 

After some time, a list of bad things like this may be created:

 

• Wars
• Famines
• Earthquakes, Hurricanes, Tornadoes and other natural disastors
• People who lie, cheat, steal, and kill
• Corruption in government and in business
• Unfair and uneven distribution of wealth around the world

 

These are some things that people may think God is responsible for.  There are likely many others that people can come up with.  If you are not specific about what the bad things happening are, then I believe you to be just complaining because you likely saw someone starving on tv or in the news, or something like that.  Now, there are some people who witness first hand some of the devastation, destruction, and corruption that occurs in the world, and these people can get very specific.

 

The earth has been around for a while.  Scientists can date the earth back billions of years.  Humans have been on the earth for at least a few thousand years.  That’s many, many billions of people having lived, each one making choices and decisions.  The inter-twining of all these decisions creates situations and events that affect the world, both the people and the environment.  The earth itself also has things that happen on it, related to weather and the structure of the land.  I am no scientist, but I am willing to bet, that the weather, and the movement of land is all related to a pattern that the earth follows in relation to physical laws (like gravity).

 

The present day is the culmination and result of billions and billions of decisions and behavior of people living for thousands of years.  During the week, I leave my house for work.  I decide to eat.  I work on and develop websites.  God does not come down and say, ‘nope, you can’t leave today, you can’t go to work, and you can’t eat’.  There are other things happening beyond this such as wars and calamities.  As one person, I cannot say if God is intervening in any way, or if he is just allowing us the opportunity to make things better.

 

I believe each of our choices goes unhindered by God so that we can learn and grow.  I believe we are allowed to make choices and decisions and to face responsibility for them.  This means that anyone living faces that same law.  As such, with so many decisions and choices going on, there are going to be some bad and some good ones.  Some people will start conflict, others will seek to improve and aid other people.  The reality is that the behavior of people is unhindered by God from what is visible to the average human perception.  I accept this.  I accept that situations are changed through the decisions and efforts of those living on the earth today.

 

I ask those of you asking why God lets bad things happen, that you look at the world we live in.  If you are asking this question, then you must believe in God.  If you do not believe in him, then you have no question to even ask as we’re all just living on an earth with nobody able to intervene except the people on it.  Either way, you can look to yourself and the attitude, decisions, and things you do each and every day.

 

What are You Doing to Get More Out of Life?

 

If all I did in my life was go to work/school, come home and watch tv, stuff my face with potato chips, and constantly talk to other people who didn’t see the point in life, perhaps I would start to feel that there was no point to life.  Or you may be doing any number of things where you just live day to day in a rut.  If you are doing any of these things, you are creating the no point in life for yourself.  If you live day to day without any real desire for anything, then your life will have no point by default.

 

So how do you get to seeing a point in life?  My website, drjerm.com, exists to address this issue.  Try visiting and Discovering Your Destiny and start seeing if there is more to life than what you are currently looking to achieve.  I know that with just the desire to get more out of life, that you will get on a path to experiencing better things in life.

   

Life Has Challenges… and Choices

 

One of the most interesting things I’ve found in my life as I’ve sought to get more out of it and make things happen is that life does not get easier.  More challenges present themselves to be overcome.  I wonder if the fear of having to deal with more than just a routine is what keeps people from trying new and interesting things?  Either way, whoever you are, life is going to present challenges.

 

Whatever the challenge, a choice can be made to complain, mope, and waste time.  This will keep the challenge there and maybe even increase it.  It is a natural reaction to complain whenever something does not match your ideal picture of it.  Knowing this, you can now make a choice to not complain.

 

The next time you are in a situation where you feel like complaining, instead look at your other options.  You can take the time to help the situation by assisting whoever is responsible for the situation.  At the very least, you can change your mind set and be thankful for what you have and accepting of the choices of others.  This will give you an iron will and inner peace that will provide immense benefit as you continue on in life.

 

Examples of People Getting More Out of Life

 

I’ve compiled a list of people that are worth investigation that are getting much out of life.  These people have challenges they face for sure in their lives.  Please read carefully their stories.  I know that in life, we get out of it what we choose to.  It is that simple.  With a little effort and faith, you can see the point in life.

• Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
• Steve Nash
• Bill Gates
• Paul Potts
• Nick Vujicic

As I’ve begun making my website and started to make some progress, I’ve noticed something very interesting.  And this is storms, adversity, challenges, whatever you want to call it.  And as this has entered my life, the thought to keep your dream alive has run through my head.

 

Storms That Will Threaten Your Dream

 

Several storms threaten my dream of creating websites that are helpful to people, of which this website is the first.  I am married and have a daughter who will be turning a year old.  Lately she has not been feeling well and waking up four or five times at night.  This has caused me to be very tired.  Then I go into work the next day where I manage other developers and have to make sure things are running smoothly at the company.  This is the first storm, and that is work and being too tired stopping you.

 

Today I wanted to just curl up and get away from everything.  There is nothing wrong with that in a pinch.  However, for overcoming this first storm, I’ve realized that the following needs to be done:

 

• Grab the banner of optimism, glasses of reality, cap of wisdom, chest piece of health, boots of persistence, and the trident of transcendence (building yourself up).
• Realize that we all just get tired and life gets out of whack sometimes.  Even the most seasoned zen masters must deal with adversity, if not more so.  Realize adversity when it hits.
• Having recognized there is adversity, stare it in the face and say, “hello adversity, how are you today?  You are here making life hard.  That does not matter, I have a dream to accomplish.  Thank you and have a good day.”
• Then take action!  For me, this is sitting my butt at my computer and pondering, meditating, and earnestly thinking about what to write so that you all, my readers, will benefit.  For others, this may mean other things, but one thing remains the same, KEEP TAKING ACTION!
• Whether things are euphoric in life or challenging, maintain the same pace and work ethic for making your dream happen.  Life may get hard, but you can still make the choice to keep working at your dream.
• This simple step of taking action must remain at the fore front of your thought process.  Do not let discouragement, being tired, failing, fear, doubt, or any negative thought stop you.  As I write this blog entry right now, I am tired, dizzy, and exhausted.  It matters not, I have a purpose to fulfill.

 

The next storm is not seeing results making you quit.  For me, this means I have not been paid a dime for my work on this site.  After 100 hours of work now, the economics do not make sense.  Shouldn’t I be getting something for the time I put in?

 

The answer to this is simple.  If you are passionate, dedicated, determined, and diligent in your cause, you will eventually see results.  I write this now, feeling that within me.  It may be another year before I start seeing a dime for my efforts on this website.  And that is okay with me.  In the mean time, I am learning, doing my best, and being creative.  Do not let a lack of money being made right away deter you from your dream.

 

Finally, there is the storm of what if I never achieve success?  This storm is probably the main reason people do not give their all to their dreams.  The feeling that it won’t work out if I try, so why bother putting in the effort.  The feeling that there are already so many other people doing what I want to do, so why waste my time.

 

Do not let this deter you.  For me, there are plenty of successful people and websites that are making it big in the area of self improvement and becoming better.  Some of them have thousands upon thousands of articles about this that and the other.  So I could say, “well, that’s it, I can’t compete with that, I’m done.”  Instead, I say this to the storm:

 

“There is only one Jeremy N. Johnson, born in Kalamazoo Michigan who is me.  I am unique creative and smart.  Not ONE person is like me or has the insights and skills I have to offer.  There are many who do what I seek to do.  How many of them have the creativity I do?  How many of them have the passion that I do?  How many of them know as much about website programming as I do?  How many are going to take the steps to show that a regular guy, making a regular salary can make a full time living just by doing an online website?”

 

That is just the beginning of my rebutle to the doubt that I face.  There is much I have in store for this website that will inspire, uplift, and motivate you.  As you see the evidence of my success, I hope to pass this onto you so that the change will be made and the desire to go after your dream will happen!