MONDAY MORNING JAB: "Get Focused" ...Period!"

Last week was a huge trial for me. I found myself in a court of law accused of something that I clearly was not guilty of. During the days leading up to it I found it very difficult to focus on specific projects of a critical nature. It's hard to focus when you have a 100 pound legal gorilla on your back. Thanks to Allah (God), my attorney, my family and the power of the truth and FOCUS things went well for me. I highlight the word "focus" because that is what it took to get me out of the situation. As painful as it was and as much as I did not wish to deal with it I had to put more important things out of my mind temporarily so that I could be ready to properly defend myself. Such is the power of focus. I don't know about you  but if my mind were a road it would be a Chinese expressway. It is constantly racing with thoughts, ideas and images. I'll be honest. Sometimes it's difficult to make prayer without my mind wandering.  Whenever I find my mind drifting while praying I have to force myself to restart the prayer and say it with sincerity, measuring every word to my Lord. Once I've finished that focused prayer I am absolutely energized and recharged. Just as we must me mindful to be in the right spirit and focus during prayer, we should practice the "art of focus" in everything we do. We must concentrate on one thing at a time and not allow the Chinese expressway to dominate our lives. In my opinion "multi-tasking" is sometimes overrated and can lead to poor performance. The time that you thought you saved by multi-tasking you end up squandering when you have to go back to "do it again." But multi-tasking in and of itself still requires great focus. Every great boxer learns to fight one punch at a time. Every great chess player learns to play one move at a time. It takes intense focus and concentration to to be great at anything in life. This week be careful not to get bogged down in everything and end up accomplishing nothing. Set goals for yourself, create a prioritized list of things to do and FOCUS on one thing at a time with the goal of perfection. Don't "just do it", do it right this week. Make a concerted effort to turn of Twitter, Facebook, the television and your cell phones so that you can lock into the project that is before you. I once heard a pastor say that the only difference between a lightbulb and a laser beam is one is more focused than the other.  This is my Monday Morning Jab and I hope it connects; especially with the writer.

Monday Morning Jab: "The Danger of Gambling With Your Thoughts"

By: Deric Muhammad

The mind is a powerful thing. That statement is a gross understatement. "As a man thinketh, so is he" is and always will be a mathematical statement. No matter how hard we try to hide our thoughts, they eventually manifests in what we say and ultimately what we do.
Our condition usually bears perfect witness to the way that we think. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad taught that man's brain is "infinite." This is a very powerful statement. Man's brain is so powerful that anything that he or she truly believes can be achieved. Unfortunately most human beings have been conditioned to give way to limitations that those who rule the world don't even pay attention too. We are all products of our thoughts.

Most of us go throughout the day "gambling" with thought. We allow ourselves to be destracted by destructive thoughts. What I mean by "destructive" is we allow ourselves to be programmed by information and ideas that work "against" what we desire to achieve in life. Once our conscious mind feeds these self-defeating thoughts to the subconscious mind failure is inevitable. What we must do is reverse engineer this process and program our minds to think forward and not backwards. We must stop throwing the dice with our thoughts!!!

I observe world champion boxer Floyd Mayweather during his, sometimes, televised training sessions. Mayweather is aguably the most ambitious trainer in sports. He trains nonstop, sometimes spontaneously at 3am in the morning. He leaves the nightclub parties, goes home and puts in his "miles. The proof is in his performance. Many people can't stand him, because they say that his arrogant, cocky and obnoxious. The same could be said about Muhammad Ali. But both of these great fighters professed their greatness so loud and long that they began to believe in it themselves. I think Mayweather talks so much trash in training that he convinces his conscious mind to convince his subconscious mind that that he is the best and that he is going to win. Hate him or love him; he is undefeated. It's not so much that he is playing a mind game with his opponent as it is he is playing a mind game with himself.

I am not encouraging you to be proud, arrogant or boastful. I am encouraging us to program our minds with the affirmatives of a champion. The greatest way to do this is through prayer and meditation on your desired goal; then you must get up and "work, work work" to make it a reality.

This week determine a goal that you want to accomplish. Box out all negative, lukewarm thinking and declare that "it will be so" with the help of God. Talk to yourself about it. Yes, I said talk to yourself (most of do it anyway). Turn off the football game, soap opera, 106th and Park, Twitter and all things not associated with the reaching of the goal. Instead read a book that inspires you to reach the goal, contact mentors that can guide you in the right direction and most importantly talk to God. Your mind is the most valuable resource that you possess. If you feed it productively it will draw unto you all the right things. Don't gamble with your brain cells by giving them over to negativity and non-productivity. You will ultimately be fed from the universe what you have already fed to your own brain, so why leave it to chance. This is my Monday morning jab. I pray it connects.

My Monday Morning Jab Pt. II; THE POWER OF SINCERITY

By: Brother Deric Muhammad

        Every child is born in a state of sincerity. Everytime he or she cries, smiles or throws a tantrum it is sincere. At some point in the child's development it learns how to utilize those smiles, tears and tantrums to manipulate situations and circumstances to achieve short term goals. The hope, then, becomes that we will grow out of our manipulative ways when we become adults; more spiritually mature. Unfortunately sometimes it gets worse before it gets better. Hence, the difficulty factor in finding sincere people in today's world.

     I contend that you CAN find sincere people in today's world and the first place that you should look is in the mirror. If you don't see him or her, fret not; the insincere man or woman in the mirror is the human being that you have the ability to change. In other words, the best way to inject sincerity into an insincere society is through self improvement. I'm on my way to the mirror right now.

     This week I would like for you to take a journey with me; a journey of self appraisal and sincerity. Have you ever been inspired to join a church, mosque, organization, fraternity or sorority and once you've dedicated yourself to that cause or organization you found difficulty. Sometimes disunity, disorganization, fussing and infighting, mismanagement and an overall betrayal of the general objective of the organization can disappoint you to the point where you want to leave. It is at that moment that you must meditate and collect your thoughts about why you joined the organization in the first place.

     I know people who go to law school with a sincere desire to make change. Once they graduate, pass the bar and began to practice they immediately run into a criminal justice system that vehemently resists change. Their desire to make change then turns into a desire to make dollars and they usually end up moderately wealthy, yet unfulfilled. How about the married couple that says "til death do us part" at the ceremony, but it does not last. Too often we start off with a sincere and noble motive in our endeavors, but end up frustrated and abandon the goal. What has happened? We've allowed negative forces and circumstances to tamper with our sincerity.

     Sincerity to the soul is much like the chin to a boxer. It must be protected at all costs if you are to finish the fight. My boxing trainer taught me that there are nerves found in the chin that are so sensitive that one blow can end a fight in a split second. The same goes for us all who strive for true success; especially those of us who seek to help in the cause of the resurrection of Black people and humanity in general. We must always be in the moment, remembering why we do what we do. We must never forget what brought tears to our eyes that made us want to help in this cause. We must look beyond our people's faults, see their needs and sincerely desire to help them. We must, at all costs, protect the sincere motive that God gave us when we said that we wanted to be helpers in a cause that is bigger than us all.

      This week we must reflect on the best part of self; the self with no ulterior motive. We all have it within; it's just buried under our need for money, ego-gratification, attention, recognition, high position, sex and other forms of excess. The sincere "you" wants to go to worship service this week, but the jaded "you" doesn't want to hear "that man", that may have offended you, preach. "He makes me sick", is what we say. It may be that you lost your luxury vehicle to repossession and you don't want anyone to see you get off the Metro bus. But if you are sincerely coming to worship the Lord it doesn't matter what others say or do. Do not allow yourself to be enslaved by the gossip and murmuring of others. Evidently they have forgotten why they came to the house of worship; that's why they have so much time to talk about you. I say pull up to your mosque, church or temple on a mule if you have got too; keep it real with yourself at all times and never forget why you came in the first place.

     Don't just go through the motions this week. Stay in the moment being ever cognizant of why you do what you do no matter how insignificant the task. There is a part in the lessons of the Nation of Islam where it states that each student can practice his or her labor while under study if we are "sincere." Sincerity allows us access to the power of God. Keep your hands up and your chin down this week. Pray for clarity and sincerity, work from your heart and watch God do extraordinary things through us ordinary people. This is my Monday Morning Jab. I pray it connects.