@web smith

Fast. There’s only one speed but always bring your friends with you. 

No matter what the risk, some visions / people / pursuits / ideas are worth the chance. 

Go for it. It’s what the normally tentative Jeremy Lin said right before he became a serious threat in the NBA. It’s what the guys who founded Pinterest said before embarking on a tech start up mission that (formerly) only appealed to middle-aged, mid-western women. At the root of every successful start or resurgence is the ability to set aside your fear of failure.

Off The Wall. This portrait can be interpreted to mean three things: a) A weekend or two in Southern California OR Austin can’t come soon enough b) Vans will always be my go-to for dope shoes c) My daughter might be missing some water colors.

Never outnumbered, never overwhelmed. Recently, I had a conversation with a college kid that I used to mentor. He felt it was always him against the world. He said that he could “never win because it always felt like there were so many that wanted him to fail”. I grew up feeling that same way and I still have occasions where I revert back to this, “I can never win” mentality. So, I could relate to his struggle. Sad but true. The message that I relayed to him, however, was far from sad:

It’s not you against the world. No one is ever outnumbered or overwhelmed. If you can’t find someone to your left side, right side, or behind you, you’re not done looking. There’s two important directions left that people seldom seem to search out. You can look upwards and you can look within. Like I told this young man, everything that you need to overcome anything is found in these two places. 

Best advice. We hear about people that come out of nowhere all the time. By the time we know who they are, they’re on top of the world. But, like everyone else in the beginning, self-belief has to be overwhelming, positive, and lasting if you want to move past all of the doubt and obstruction that every success sees in its infancy.

Arte. Post Civil Rights Era, well-to-do African-American males hanging out in the capital city of France. 

CrossFit. This one is for you crazy friends of mine that might be designing a bedroom. This idea is genius. For the gymnastically proficient only.

This was definitely playing in the Bronco locker room before the game. Congrats to the Broncos and good luck against the Patriots. 

Stay focused.