I was in my early 20’s when “NYMP” came out. I should have been a kid fresh-out-of-college ready to conquer the business world. I was indeed ready to conquer the world, but as a community college drop out, spending my time drinking, smoking weed, scheming and scamming. I was hustling- but backwards. I was trying to find my way (which is still a work-in-progress) and I struggled to make things click in my life. The physical conditions that I lived in weren’t dire. But I was struggling to pay rent in my first one-bedroom apartment with no job and no money. I was constantly thinking of “creative” ways to get money so that I could pay my bills and survive. “NYMP” struck a chord with me, particularly these lyrics, because though I wasn’t from the streets of Brooklyn, I could relate to being in a tough position, facing adversity and needing to have strength, courage and determination to overcome difficult challenges.

I’ve always liked the lyrics from “It’s Like That” (from Vol, 2 Hard Knock Life) because it’s an accurate statement of what happens too often in life. Many people live their lives on a treadmill- they’re not moving. They’re not making progress. You can’t get anywhere in life if you’re standing still. Think about how a treadmill works: you move fast but you don’t actually get anywhere. This is exactly what’s happening to many of us. We’re always doing something but what we do sadly amounts to nothing. People will talk fast and walk fast and carry themselves as if they’re living in the fast lane, but it’s all a fraud. Running on a treadmill is not the same as running a race. Some people falsely believe they’re moving forward when they’re actually not moving at all or even going backwards! It’s difficult to determine the progress you’re making if your life is on a treadmill. Living life in this way is counterproductive to your progress.

I’m sure many of you have noticed a dip in the frequency of published posts on the blog in the last month or so. The reason for this is because I’m writing a book (and working on several projects in my Internet marketing career). I won’t reveal too many details yet but it’s a self-help book inspired by the lyrics of Jay-Z. My posts will be less frequent (about once or twice a week) until I complete the book. The book will be published and on sale online by the first of the year, 2011. My last handful of posts and everything I post on the blog from now on until the publication of the book will essentially be sneak peeks inside the book.

Many of us are living our lives talking the talk but not walking the walk. We falsely believe that we can establish credibility through our words and not our actions. Respect is not earned from what we say but from what we do. Society seems to be so much about image and swagger. If a person has charisma and knows what to say and when to say it, he or she is embraced in this society. I rather embrace truth than hype. I often write on how swagger cannot replace substance. Having substance in your life comes from experience. In the act of living your life you’re going to have certain experiences that shape who you are. The experiences in your life largely define you as a person and not the words that come out of your mouth. People often use words to persuade, convince, fabricate and deceive. In other words, words are at times used to make the speaker falsely appear to be something that he or she is not.

“Streets is Watching” gives listeners an insight into the daily and nightly grind of the hustler in the drug game. The song reveals the various dangers that lurk in the shadows, dangers that hustlers face every moment of their lives. The lyrics in the song are not surprising in the context of drug dealing but what may be surprising for the average listener is realizing how much the hustler’s need to focus mirrors our own need to focus in our every day lives.

On the second verse of “Can I Live” Jay-Z rhymes about taking his game in the drug trade to “another level”. The lyric also reveals the “tedious” nature of becoming successful and sustaining your success in the criminal underworld. In whatever you do, you must “step it up another level”. Don’t settle. I think a big part of becoming successful is knowing when to take things up a notch in terms of your hustle. Some of us get comfortable with our situation and that’s not all bad but when you’re uncomfortable with the position you’re in, you’re motivated to accomplish more. You have to be willing, ready and able to push yourself to go further than you ever imagined you could go.

I truly believe that there’s a spiritual component to success. What do I mean? Success has as much to do with things you can’t control as it does with things that you do have the power to control. Speaking of power, do you believe in a higher power and the role it plays in your life? Your success and overall purpose of your life is greater than what you can conceive. You can accomplish things in your life that stretch beyond the depths of your imagination. But there are things that will happen in your life that you can’t explain and won’t understand. You do have the power to make things happen in your life but you can’t always control when, where or how it happens and you won’t always understand why it happens.

Do you take life seriously? I know people who are too nonchalant about life. There’s seriousness to life that some of us don’t want to deal with. We feel that we can laugh, eat, sleep, drink or sex our way through life without consequence. A person’s failure to take life seriously originates in their mindset. Your frame of mind has great influence on how you see life and how you live life. Life is a gamble. We take risks every day. Every day is another opportunity to succeed or fail. We should all live life with enthusiasm and seek pure enjoyment, but lest not forget that “life is real”, we have to get things done and we can’t afford to lose. The stakes are just too high.

I have experienced a great amount of stress in my life. Can you relate? I think it goes without saying that we all will go through stress throughout different periods in our lives. Stress often develops from struggle. Struggle is just as much a part of life as is success. Stress can come from things we’re going through but much of stress lingers on in our lives from the things that we have gone through in the past. Though life goes on, the things we go through have a lasting impact on our minds and even our physical condition. The despair that we feel from past struggles and mistakes can keep us from moving forward. On “Regrets” Jay-Z shares with us how to overcome a dim past in order to see a bright future.

What makes some succeed while others fail? Why is it that some people exceed expectations while others are never able to meet their full potential? I believe in destiny but I think that people have to work hard AND smart to ensure that their destiny is fulfilled. Some people have a false sense of entitlement. They truly believe that they deserve to succeed. While some feel they deserve to be successful, others are have convinced themselves (or allowed others to convince them) that they are destined to fail. Success is not guaranteed or prohibited based on your last name, the color of your skin, where you grew up, or who you know. On “Streets is Talking” Jay-Z shares with us the importance of writing the script to your life’s story.