A wise mentor of mine told me something very valuable.
“What are you selling? Sure, you want to sell your product or service but who cares about that?”
At that moment I realized…that didn’t make sense. How was I supposed to get any business and become successful if I’m not selling what I can do? He looked at me and instantly noticed my confusion. He gladly finished his embarking statement with a smile. “You sell yourself, allow people to like you and what you stand for or believe in.” So, with that being said I must use that bit of wisdom to tell you about my brand called… “ME”!
My brand called “ME”
“Work on yourself first. What you become, what you learn, and what you leave behind…defines the purpose of your life.”
— Darrell Washington
Looking just five years back no one would have been able to convince me of where I am today. At the time that I am writing this of course. Hopefully, I can come back and make a better bio… Anyway, if somebody would have told me that at twenty I wouldn’t be in college, I would die laughing. Then if they would have said that I would be working at a security company, I’d just walk away thinking that person was crazy. The story gets better to trust me.
I haven’t moved out yet, I drive my car all over the world chasing connections and clients. Plus, I drive a red Kia Forte with a plenty of damage from bad driving decisions on my part. The bright side to all this is that I have discovered my ultimate desire and purpose… That burning desire is to be a damn good web designer/developer and see my clients successful.
I believe that God has given me so much value and gifts that I must share them not for my personal gain but for others to also prosper from them. To fully give back I vowed to always give my services to nonprofits and churches for free.
STARTING OFF
I know what it’s like just starting off. The doubts and fears you face. The feeling you get when you realize you might not have enough to pay the bills. I understand the pain of staying on a bean and rice diet for two weeks too long. I get that most come from struggling to make ends meet and maintain sanity at the same time.
That relatedness I feel with most people who are trying to make it on their own sparked something in me. I woke up realizing I had a gift that I could put to use. I knew I could ease the process of starting a business or any venture. Let’s be honest all the hardship hits from the start more than anywhere else.
You lose relationships, money, time, and everything else you can think of that is taken away from you. You feel restless and any number of things can be added to this list. This is the price businessmen and women pay just to grow and develop the good life for ourselves. It doesn’t take reading this to realize that I am also, in the middle of these issues right now. Being young and trying to find my own way is challenging and often times scary as hell.
Well, the good news is sure to come if you just start. Yep, it’s that simple just start. Get up and get to running full sprint. I believe we should stick together in order to grow and succeed.
I believe knowledge and wisdom are power. Knowledge is earned and can be obtained at any rate. It is extremely important, it allows you to actually experience life as you so desire. You only can gain knowledge through researching, studying, and trial and error. I believe that without knowing anything you can fall for everything and stand for nothing.
My mentor also continued to give me more than that great advice above.
“Do more, be more, and learn more every time.”
To me this means instead of just building or designing a site for my clients, I also give other advice and help. Also, be more means keep growing, improving and becoming more valuable. Do all this by constantly learning.
What is the reality or truth of life to me? How should you look at your life and experiences?
In complete honesty, I think that reality is whatever my perception of it is in my mind at any given moment. I know that sounds like I didn’t give a real answer but let me explain. Think about the billions of people in this world that view life as hell and life actually seems like hell to them. Now think about a different group of people who view life as heaven on earth and life seems like every bit of that for them. No different to how the rich get richer money seems to come easily to them. It’s just one step or action or idea away.
Now, with all this being said, I believe reality is whatever you see from your mind’s eye. It’s all perception or belief. I can view the same circumstance or event as positive or negative each time I play it back in my head. What’s so fascinating is that each time I think about it my mind literally will find ways to prove that the event was positive or negative every time. The mind can see the light of every situation or the darkness. Actually, you have the control to see the light or dark.
You can see and distinguish between up and down or any other exclusive, opposites in this world. It’s all connected either way you look at it. Life is literally everything (or one) and what we decide to make it.
My name is Darrell Washington I am 20 years old (at the time I wrote this of course). I write code for a living and drive around in a small beat up Kia looking for opportunities. I love the game of basketball and the numerous relationships in my life. I stay in my head and overthink things all the time. I feel like being so analytical and practical can be a gift and a curse. I am a practitioner in love with the idea of mastery in whatever I focus on. I desire to win big in life. I am no different than all the other “Dreamers” out there.
I am “NO DIFFERENT”
I read books, I watch motivation videos, I love to play and laugh, and most importantly I take care of business. I don’t mind being alone in order to get things done. I’ve been in bad situations and worse situations. With that being said…
That’s part of my story and beliefs, what’s yours?
OUR MOTIVES
I forgot to mention earlier, I am a basketball fanatic so if you may see Lebron or James Harden and Russell every once in a while. If you are a hater just ignore it.
Anyway, I believe we (businessmen and businesswomen) all have key motives that make us. I think for most of us this is all worth more than fame and publicity. We seek accomplishments, success, and gains (of all kinds). Yes, the wealth that comes is nice and always will be embraced or accepted with open arms but for us, we require more and always will. For most, it’s a sense of influence among people. If you’re like me then more than anything else you want to do what you love and see it prosper. It’s that simple. I want to see me become a master at what I do a get paid for it. I assume you do too.
We want to leave an impact and have the world touched by the very thing that defines us. I get it but first people have to know that you and what value you have exists. We collectively have this intense desire, this hunger to just acquire (accidental rhyming). Whatever that maybe we do what we do in order to survive, thrive and acquire the thing of our heart.
Then we want to protect those things we’ve obtained through hard work and perseverance. That includes a new lifestyle that brings new companions and relationships. The hunger can even go to another place such as just the love of learning. We want to become experts and have others acknowledge that we are.
I know for a fact I crave the knowledge and development in this field for numerous reasons. All that matter is this one truth. You(the reader) and I have similar motives and will do almost anything to see our dreams come true. I love that I have that in common with you. These things I’ve listed above may very well be the reason why you are here. I want to deliver value as much as you do. I want to win big as much as you do.
That is our motives.
HIDDEN VALUE
My Articles(Why I think it’s worth your time)
I deliver information and value first. That’s very significant to me. I actually cover a broad range of topics that will ultimately benefit you. My beliefs and opinions on these subjects are very interesting and something you can learn from, trust me. I give suggestions and advice that I am sure will be of good use to you. If not I am sure it will be entertaining. I believe success and living the good life you want, comes from constant reading, studying, trial and error. You will see all this in my articles.
My mentor always said –
“Why make the same error someone has already made, especially if that someone shared that experience.”
Learn from others experiences as well as yours. My articles are mine and others experiences.