Where the Hell are you going? And why did you go there?

How appropriate that I started this blog three years ago and I'm just now finishing it up.

I do that with my blogs. I wait for inspiration to strike even if it takes three years...

I have to talk about something. Right now, November 9, 2015, I am in a rush! I am SO anxious to get back home that I am risking falling into the most dangerous habit of all. Routine. It's routine that kills hopes. It's routine that kills dreams. It's routine that kills us.

Moving/running fast will not make the earth spin any faster. In fact, it may make the world seem like it's moving slower. I know many people may assume they can force the effect of time flying by when you get busy by faking busy. Unfortunately, busy doesn't work that way. If you are busy with no business, time will drag.

I'm starting to realize this constant state of being in a rush may be common. Is it outside forces or some other anxiety that makes people move so fast with no direction. So fast, indeed, that we have just become larger versions of those children we would see acting out. I've see a lot of grown up Cartmans. And how do you tell an adult aged person they need to grow up? They have children. They pay bills, mostly on time. Or as Maya Angelou said, “Most people don't grow up. Most people age. They find parking spaces, honor their credit cards, get married, have children, and call that maturity. What that is, is aging.” And that's what most people believe growing up is about.

So, we've become a country of men and women barreling towards mid-life crises. Men and women 
are making it to 40 and 50 having done a bunch of stuff without any idea about why they did all that stuff. So much so, there is a $12 billion dollar industry devoted to finding out who the hell we are, where they hell we are going, and, maybe, why we've doing all this stuff. Unfortunately, by 40-50, we've created more ungrown ups, perpetuating the cycle of adults spiraling down the road to mid-life crisis.

When we are 18 to 25, we are excited. Concrete plans or not, we know we know everything and we know how to make all our hopes and dreams come true. So we do it. We try.We fail. We try again. We try some more. We keep shooting for the moon. And then, one day, we have to get a real job. 
For the majority of the week, we are working for someone. We travel to work. We move around for a respectable amount of hours. Then we travel home. Sometimes we're tired. Sometimes we're stressed. Sometimes we bring some work home. We repeat that a few times. Then the weekend is here. We get with our friends and talk about pretending to do stuff. We discuss our great/wack/zany/weird/wacky/creepy bosses/coworkers. We compare notes. Apparently, all office bathrooms look the same. And all of a sudden the weekend is over and we forgot to go to sleep, we were having so much fun with our friends. Now we have to do this work thing again, only tired. And we are officially looking forward to the next weekend.

Before we know it, this is the cycle. We live for the weekend. Eventually, vacations come. More stuff comes. We get more money we buy more stuff. We do more stuff. Coffee/caffeine/tea/meditation is introduced at some point. We start fitting things in on the weekends, the weekends get shorter, the work weeks seem longer but they start to fly by... One day, to you get an instant message from some douche bag you haven't spoken to since High School asking you to come to the 30 year reunion and write a book report about all the stuff you been doing. 

At first, we still have our hopes and dreams. Two or three came true but a thousand more are unfulfilled.Things seem to get easier. You're now officially 'humming along.' You don't even notice you are actually humming. There's a noise about you now. That noise is the sound of being busy. Now we are officially adults. We are like everyone else. We are busy.

Doing what?

Nothing.

We've started doing stuff because that's what adults do. Stuff. Buy stuff. Sell stuff. Cook stuff. Drink stuff. Eat stuff. Give stuff away. Have stuff. Hold stuff. Drive stuff. Play stuff. Love stuff. Hate stuff. See stuff. Hear stuff. Believe stuff. Praise stuff. Talk stuff... We're doing it! Sometimes we like the stuff. Sometimes we don't. But we're doing it. and we seem to be doing more and more stuff faster and faster.

We didn't notice the change. Now we are in a rushing. We are rushing everywhere.

I live in LA with some of the most laid back, 'content' people in the country. Put them behind the wheel of a car, they are speeding! Except from 4 pm to 8 pm, they are idling along cursing (sometimes under their breath...) about not being able to speed.  They forgot all the money they spent on the car and the sounds and the GPS and the TVs and Howard Stern on XM that they can't watch/listen to because they're in a rush, speeding.

I lived in New Orleans, the Big Easy. Until they want a drink. Hollering and screaming. Ordering five at a time, for themselves (maybe that was only me...). Paying/tipping extra to be first. Because they only have all night to get drunk. It's a holiday. (It's always a holiday in New Orleans) But they forgot they went out to unwind and ended up wound up over a drink...

All over the country, we have to park in front and be in the front of the line, get it first, see it first. We want our ticket to say #1. We have to see the movie/Netflix ASAP because some asshole is going to spoil it. We don't read the articles because the headline tells us the story. We don't read the instructions because we can figure it out (yeah right!). We're always running late because 'the hasty man always works twice' and we don't have time to figure out what that means because we're late and if we move fast enough like superman we can reverse time...
We can't.
We're stuck in the routine. It rarely changes. Our hopes and dreams are deferred. It's just the cycle. Over and over. And over and over. And we keep speeding through it because maybe we can squeeze a minute of life and Love and real living into it, one day...

And then we die.

If this is you and your life, stop. Give me five minutes. I know I wrote a lot and made you read.
A lot...
Take five minutes. For yourself. Be silent. Sit still. (THATS going to be SO hard) Try to do nothing.
(Except breath. You ain't suing my ass for your ass being a dumb ass...)

At the end of five minutes of nothing, ask yourself - Where the hell am I going?

Schedule another five minutes for tomorrow (or in two years because I know you're busy. with stuff...) and focus on the answer to that.

Seriously start with five minutes a day. Make sure you're rushing in the right direction. Review your mission.If you haven't, write your mission. Write out a trust. Write out a will.

Figure out where the Hell you are going or you are ONLY going to die and nothing else.

Try something new.
Live!

RuggeD Posterity Mission

RuggeD Posterity

          Having traveled America, the importance of community, Love, family, cooperation, inspiration, abundance and Christ-like living have become so very essential. The Crenshaw community has become an example of what an urban community can be. I owe so much to this community for the foundation it provided me with. From 42^nd street elementary and the Boy Scouts to Audubon Junior High School to Crenshaw High School, even to playing basketball at 54^th street, this community has given me so much.
          Now, as I become the leader of my generation of community members, I must become aware of my responsibility and leadership. Because of my past, I have so much to give and it’s my turn. My neighborhood needs me and I plan to deliver.
          Not all of the recent changes inside and out of my community have resulted in growth. Too many have abused/abandoned what was given them and not enough have remained to give. No more!

          I determined, immediately after high school, that where many sought to abandon, I would be committed to my neighborhood. My children will grow up here. God willing, my children’s children will grow up here. Commitments of that type require work. There must be a community for them to live and grow in. That means the community must grow.

           I have become aware of many members of the community contributing their part to maintain the community from working with the children to community outreach to business building. By showing what community is in all areas, we can create community members who are more aware of the beauty they are a part of. Once they are aware, we can foster growth leading to more success, bigger businesses, vertical integration into various industries, a stronger and clearer culture as well as a larger investment into our own economies. 

        

          RuggeD Posterity is focused on preparing community members in all areas of life. By creating more well-rounded individuals. We are leading the way for building/rebuilding communities across the country. The vision is a strong community and we accomplish it by perfecting our foundation. 

RuggeD Posterity will coordinate existing frameworks in neighborhoods across America into solid communities which will contribute to the prosperity of our nation and the global economy. The mission from this day forward is to support the Powernomics principle of Vertical Integration and prosperity within the community by providing research, policy notes and economic strategies.

Spread Too Thin in Black America

I had a teacher at Crenshaw for like two weeks. She broke up with me. It was my senior year and I was trying to run every club. I was in every class (except AP Physics). Mostly I was walking the halls all day. Either way, she could tell I was doing too much. She took me to the side and encouraged me to drop AP U.S. History. The class was going to be demanding. I couldn’t give it much attention. She wanted more from me.

            I probably could have gotten a good grade but my lack of interest may have distracted the other students. So I left.

           

            After that, I was always conscious of spreading myself too thin. Doesn’t mean I don’t do it sometimes. Just means I am always aware of the delicate balance between being a brilliant multi-tasker and being depressingly overwhelmed.

With that in mind, black people are probably spread too thin. The focus is totally not there in Black America. We are seriously all over the place. We are ashamed of each other and we want to lift up everyone. We call everything racism and we can’t stand immigrants. We want more representation in media and the representation we create is unacceptable. We want to the government to help us AND leave us alone. We got to stop snitching and we want to get rid of all the crime.

            I’ve been in on a thousand arguments/discussions on a million and one topics in the Black community. No matter how passionate. No matter how loud we get. The arguments are always circular. For example, we hate “haters” and we want to make them our motivators and we want them to go away and we keep talking to them and we ignore them and we continue to respond to them. Or we have people in our lives that aren’t living right and we don’t want to judge them and they get on our nerves and we want them to get their shit together and we love to tell the stories about them messing up and we don’t want any of their mess in our lives and we Love them and will miss them if they leave our lives.

A few years ago, I had to have that conversation with my AP U.S. History teacher again. This time, however, I was alone and I played both roles. I had to stop myself and point out that I was spread way too thin. I was helping WAY too many people. I was wearing WAY too many hats. I was being WAY too many people for WAY too many people. It’s time to focus. The only way to achieve anything is to achieve SOMETHING. I had to prioritize, focus on only the most important things and put the rest to the side. Now I’m back on track.

            Part of being spread thin is that you can get distracted and end up refocusing yourself on the wrong things. I could have ended up selling cars and lying to people and not being myself. There was success there but that meant I would have put my writing completely to the side maybe forever. That wasn’t my true priority and I would have ended up lost

So, now, Black people are lost. We started with nothing and formed a vision and direction, lost it, started all over again, got lost one more time and STILL found another vision. Today, we are lost again. We are being pulled in every direction by every American trend because we think we must choose between being black and being American.

            Today everything is possible and that is the problem. We must choose something and we want everything. We want to be included in the mainstream and we want our own stuff and still don’t like sell outs. (BTW – the new sell outs are in the illuminati)

            I notice it in conversations. We support bums one day. The same bums get on our nerves the next. And, on another day, we wish all the bums would die. And in neither conversation does a true priority develop. And there lies the problem.

            We have no priorities anymore. Now that everything is possible, we have become distracted. The last time we had a vision is was this. We have achieved the ability to do all. Anyone who is into goal setting knows it is way past time to set some new goals.

            We need a new vision, a direction, for our future generations.

            With a direction and vision we used to be innovators and leaders. Today, with no direction or vision, everywhere I look we are no longer the innovators. Fashion, movies, music, sports, there’s nothing new anymore. HELLO! We’re slipping! New shit is our job. Let’s get back to work!

            We need a focus, a vision.  Maybe we should start with fashion:

This is not u and it’s not new.

Can we get something new please?

(Twice in a row. Can you tell how I feel about those stupid jeans?)

The bottom line is we need to reestablish our identity. We need a new vision. A new purpose. Even if it’s just defining our role in this new America, a change is coming and we need to make sure we are once again a major part of it.

Our new challenge is to pick a side and determine a direction and let’s achieve new heights.

Whatever we do, just remember let’s leave these behind:

Seriously! 

My Businesses: The Mission Statements

RuggeD Productions

          In 1994, my boys (The RuggeD Posse) wanted to BBQ. I was eager to help. It all began an initial investment of twenty dollars. For twenty dollars, I became a part of my first party crew. I was in love. That year was my introduction to what it really meant to be a part of something. I was a part of a community. I was experiencing true cooperation.

          In 1995, I decided to take that same message of community and cooperation nationwide, starting with LA. Since then the vehicle has changed. RuggeD Productions has shifted from high school parties to adult nightclubs to commercial and residential real estate. It has shifted from promoting to production to building. The scope has grown from one city (LA) to one country (USA) to one planet.

          Through it all the underlying message of community and cooperation has only been perfected. RuggeD Productions is about strong individuals, families, communities and nations. Through entities such as RuggeD Publishing, Sloan Enterprises LLC, RuggeD Prime, RuggeD Premium and RuggeD Properties, the mission is to strengthen individuals, families and ultimately our world.

          The message of community and cooperation has grown under God’s leadership. Just as a young man has grown from helping out his crew to aspirations of inspiring the world, God’s gift of love and abundance can be achieved through community and cooperation. The mission of RuggeD Productions looking forward is to help community institutions grow as God intended, abundantly by providing plans and long-term growth strategies for small businesses.

RuggeD Publishing

Somewhere along the line, I realized I could write. Further along the in the journey, I realized I had a message to share. My journey has delivered me to a place of strength, peace, and love under God’s guidance. The truth of my experience is beautiful and meant to be shared.

          RuggeD Publishing’s mission is to inspire the spirit of abundance and love within the individual. One person, one word at a time the truth will be told and God’s message will be shared.

          As in all RuggeD companies, the mission is to inspire the world. We write about growth, love, community and personal journeys.

          Abundance, cooperation and Christ-like living, one word at a time.

RuggeD Properties

         

          Since high school, I have been impressed with the spirit of community. In my travels, I realized just how valuable that spirit is. Since about 1998, real estate has become vital to the mission of abundance.

          The mission of RuggeD Property is to build communities and inspire cooperation one home at a time. RuggeD Property seeks to build, rebuild and maintain communities across America as part of RuggeD Production’s larger mission of abundance through community and cooperation.

          Community, cooperation, abundance, Christ-like living, one project at a time.

RuggeD Prime

          As RuggeD Prime, our family (business) seeks to establish a tradition of improvement. Whether it’s new developments or rebuilding/remodeling neighborhoods; whether commercial or residential, RuggeD Prime carries the RuggeD family’s message of community and cooperation along with it. RuggeD Prime is improving every community if works in, one project at a time.

          Tradition, community, cooperation, abundance and Christ-like living, one neighborhood at a time.

RuggeD Premium

          Investing is about building a legacy. Investing is about growth. It is a tool for abundance and giving. RuggeD Premium is the company that achieves that goal. RuggeD Premium builds tradition, A tradition of growth, abundance, cooperation and giving for our (RuggeD) family and all of our associated communities. RuggeD Premium is not just about building bright futures but also blessed eternities for the world family.

          Investing in growth, tradition, community, cooperation, abundance and Christ-like living, one dollar at a time.

My Mission Statement

Jason Sloan

          My mission is to build wherever it is God leads me. From my inner-self to my outer-self, my family, whichever other families see fit to include me, my community, my city, my state, my nation, and the world which I eventually create for myself, these all deserve my best and highest effort. I aim to be an asset to every institution I touch. I plan to replace old cycles of material/spiritual poverty and despair with new cycles of growth and abundance. Whether I build from scratch or improve on existing foundations, I intend to inspire abundance and growth every place I find myself.

          To inspire abundance, cooperation, Love and Christ-like living.