A good friend of mine has a business that he has worked diligently on for over five years. He knows that his business has potential to increase sales tenfold. However to do so, he also knows that he has to probably break mold that got him where he is today, and create a different blueprint. While many would envy his current success, try to imagine courage it takes to step into unknown to pursue a level of growth dictated only by intention that you know it is doable. This is a committed philosophy of perseverance. Sticktoitivity!

Basketball legend Michael Jordan stated it this way in one of his shoe advertisements: “I’ve missed more than nine thousand shots in my career. I’ve lost almost three hundred games. Twenty-six times I’ve been trusted to take game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life, and that is why I succeed.” A fitting tribute to tribute to persistence. Sticktoitivity!

The one thing I can guarantee is that LIFE will test your resolve and commitment. It’s way universe works. Here are some examples of famous setbacks who demonstrated that they understood “sticktoitivity.” ·Decca Records rejected Beatles claiming they didn’t like their sound and guitar music was on way out. ·Fred Smith founder of Federal Express received a grade of C on his senior thesis outlining concept for Federal Express. The professor claimed idea was not feasible. ·When Thomas Edison was a boy his teacher told him he was too stupid to learn anything. ·F.W. Woolworth got a job in a dry goods store when he was 21, but his employer would not let him wait on customers because he "didn't have enough good sense." ·Western Union rejected telephone when Alexander Graham Bell offered them rights of manufacture and distribution. They considered technology as having too many shortcomings. ·Dr. Seuss was rejected by numerous publishers who claimed that verse and fantasy would not sell. ·A newspaper editor fired Walt Disney because he had no good ideas. ·Winston Churchill failed 6th grade. ·Steven Spielberg dropped out of high school in his sophomore year. He was persuaded to come back and placed in a learning disabled class. He lasted a month and dropped out of school forever. * Albert Einstein spoke haltingly for first nine years of his life. His grades in school were so poor that a teacher asked him to quit, saying, 'Einstein, you will never amount to anything.'"

…”Fall seven times; stand up eight.” Have you ever defined “success” or “failure” on your own terms. I highly recommend doing so. It certainly creates a sense of understanding, focus and purpose in your life. Sometimes success is learning how to fail. Sometimes success is overcoming obstacles that define failure. Sometimes all you need to succeed is sticktoitivity. The only failure is not learning anything from experience. Here’s to you standing up on eighth time!

Ralph Waldo Emerson stated….”Do not die with your music still in you.” Very appropriate advice. We all have a mission in life. A purpose which unfolds before our eyes when we manage to overcome our fear of Boogie Man and just PLAY. Our beliefs determine our reality. Be careful how you interpret world. It is EXACTLY like that.

It is horrifying to think about how Boogie Man turns possibility of a dream into a nightmare. Or how Boogie Man distorts our own ideas of success and happiness by making us believe that he can stop music in our lives! All illusions that unfortunately every great artist has embraced at some point in their careers. You are Music. You are Dance. Be careful what you agree with!

Stop and think about what life would be like without telephone, car, airplanes, electricity, internet or any other incredible creation that man has created to resolve problems related to survival. I can assure that these blessed inventions would never have seen light of day if their creators were concerned about boogie man. The boogie man is not only a concern over judgment of others. The boogie man is much more insidious, he represents everything in our life that we cannot take responsibility for. Our blame list so to speak. The boogie man is that part of us that makes us believe that problem is somewhere over there.

The late Jack Paar once said, “My life seems like one long obstacle course, with me as chief obstacle.” Sounds to me like he knew how to do battle with boogie man.

The secret to all masterpieces is that they fuel imagination with great possibilities of human spirit. They transport us from world of limitations that we regularly experience and remind us of our potential. Whenever we experience a masterpiece it reminds us that shackles we feel in our daily lives are optional. The funny thing about greatness is that it will always invite you along for journey. Masterpieces teach us to recognize joy of creation for sake of creation. They spur us on to pursue excellence as our birthright. All masterpieces are embodiments of meaning that would have never occurred had they been concerned with opinions of critics. If you feel something is holding you back look in mirror and you will discover your boogie man. All great masterpieces are reminders of what life can be like when we learn to get out of our own way. Create for sake of creating. Respond to joy of moment and dance for sake of dancing. Play for sake of playing. Laugh for sake of laughing. Everything else is a chorus of excuses and limitations.

Once asked to describe key to creativity, Thomas Alva Edison said said, “Never quit working on your subject until you get what you’re after.” Well, aren’t we ourselves a work in progress? If you plan on creating a masterpiece of your life its time to take stage, do dance in spite of critics. That is masterpiece lesson of Boogie-Woogie. Create!

Sometimes it takes death to teach us about life. Occasionally we must go through misery to understand joy. And sometimes it takes slang born in Great Depression to understand that we will always get whatever we put out attention on. You can Boogie Woogie or you can waltz with Boogie Man. The choice is always yours!

The happiest you will ever be in life is when you take responsibility for your creations and create! It is what it is. Take stage, do dance and know that only thing that can squash music is YOU! The Boogie Man has no power over those who create for simple joy they receive from act of creation. That’s bees knees, eels hips and elephants eyebrows. Got it? Therein lies Secret of All Great Masterpieces daddy-o! Your life is your Music. Do dance!

“Stix you start bangin those tubs! Chops you lay down line…it’s time to get this party happening! One…Two…Three…Four!”

Be Careful What You Agree With!