Articles & Quotes of H.O.P.E.™ courtesy of the "Self-Esteem Queen"™

The Self Esteem Queen's Quote of the Day - Someone needs to read this!

2010-04-29T13:06:00.000-07:00

…….if you were to stay on a pitch of excitement it would wear you out,and so many of you vacillate back and forth from positive and negative because you don’t want to be worn out.

But we say you can vacillate in your range of positive energy from ecstasy to peacefulness, from exhilaration to joy, from out of your mind outrageous orgasmic enthusiasm for life, to subtle appreciation of life.

But you never have to fall onto the negative side of the equation in order to find that balance you see. You can find perfect balance all within the positive range of things.

~Abraham-Hicks

In a World full of CHAOS I'd be remiss to not let you know to HOLD ON - POSSIBILITIES EXIST™ I love you, and there's absolutely, positively, nothin you can do about it!!!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Dawn The Self Esteem Queen™ is an internationally recognized motivational speaker, author, business coach & small business consultant, serial entrepreneur and spoken word artist. Founder of the SEQ/H.O.P.E. Movement™, Dawn uses her trials to mentor, minister, and coach people all over the World. One of today’s leading experts on teen mentoring, self-esteem enhancement, personal & professional leadership, and entrepreneur development, Dawn’s mission in life is to teach individuals how to BE BETTER Human Beings. Her goal is to raise awareness and eradicate the exploitation of teenagers all over the Globe. Her Current Projects include: SEQ Collection Clothing, H.O.P.E. Platinum Coaching™, The OFFICIAL Project Black Love Cipher™, Stop Teenage Prostitution™, What Does Cancer Look Like™, Consumer Vigilantes™,& the highly anticipated H.O.P.E. Mindset™ Program.

NOTE: You’re certainly welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as its contents remain unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to info@selfesteemqueen.com

The Self Esteem Queen's Quote of the Day

2010-04-19T05:44:00.000-07:00

"We forfeit three-quarters of ourselves in order to be like other people."
~ Arthur Schopenhauer ~

In a World full of CHAOS I'd be remiss
to not let you know to HOLD ON - POSSIBILITIES EXIST™
I love you, and there's absolutely, positively, nothin you can do about it!!!

Dawn Johnson
The Self-Esteem Queen™

© 2010 Dawn R. Johnson – “The Self-Esteem Queen”™ All rights reserved.
H.O.P.E (Hold on, Possibilities Exist) is a Registered Trademark for Dawn Johnson/SEQ Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Dawn The Self Esteem Queen™ is an internationally recognized motivational speaker, author, business coach & small business consultant, serial entrepreneur and spoken word artist. Founder of the SEQ/H.O.P.E. Movement™, Dawn uses her trials to mentor, minister, and coach people all over the World. One of today’s leading experts on teen mentoring, self-esteem enhancement, personal & professional leadership, and entrepreneur development, Dawn’s mission in life is to teach individuals how to BE BETTER Human Beings. Her goal is to raise awareness and eradicate the exploitation of teenagers all over the Globe. Her Current Projects include: SEQ Collection Clothing, H.O.P.E. Platinum Coaching™, The OFFICIAL Project Black Love Cipher™, Stop Teenage Prostitution™, What Does Cancer Look Like™, Consumer Vigilantes™,& the highly anticipated H.O.P.E. Mindset™ Program.

NOTE: You’re certainly welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as its contents remain unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to info@selfesteemqueen.com

Back by popular demand - The SEQ's Quote of The Day!

2010-04-06T06:39:00.000-07:00

On this day of your life, Dawn, I believe God wants you to know...

...that peace cannot come to this world until you are

convinced that violence will never produce it.

Hurt does not heal hurt. Violence will not bring an end

to violence. Help the world to understand this by

reacting differently, responding newly, when anger and

a need to hurt you is sent your way.

You will have such an opportunity in your life. And

probably, more than once. Do not miss the chance

to humbly send a message of love.

Love, Your Friend....

Neale Donald Walsch

In a World full of CHAOS I'd be remiss
to not let you know to HOLD ON - POSSIBILITIES EXIST™
I love you, and there's absolutely, positively, nothin you can do about it!!!

Dawn Johnson
The Self-Esteem Queen™

© 2010 Dawn R. Johnson – “The Self-Esteem Queen”™ All rights reserved.
H.O.P.E (Hold on, Possibilities Exist) is a Registered Trademark for Dawn Johnson/SEQ Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Dawn The Self Esteem Queen™ is an internationally recognized motivational speaker, author, business coach & small business consultant, serial entrepreneur and spoken word artist. Founder of the SEQ/H.O.P.E. Movement™, Dawn uses her trials to mentor, minister, and coach people all over the World. One of today’s leading experts on teen mentoring, self-esteem enhancement, personal & professional leadership, and entrepreneur development, Dawn’s mission in life is to teach individuals how to BE BETTER Human Beings. Her goal is to raise awareness and eradicate the exploitation of teenagers all over the Globe. Her Current Projects include: SEQ Collection Clothing, H.O.P.E. Platinum Coaching™, The OFFICIAL Project Black Love Cipher™, Stop Teenage Prostitution™, What Does Cancer Look Like™, Consumer Vigilantes™,& the highly anticipated H.O.P.E. Mindset™ Program.

NOTE: You’re certainly welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as its contents remain unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to info@selfesteemqueen.com

The Self Esteem Queen's Quote of the Day

2010-03-11T07:44:00.000-08:00

You can never become a great man or woman until you have overcome anxiety, worry, and fear. It is impossible for an anxious person, a worried one, or a fearful one to perceive truth; all things are distorted and thrown out of their proper relations by such mental states, and those who are in them cannot read the thoughts of God.

~ Wallace Wattles

In a World full of CHAOS I'd be remiss

to not let you know to HOLD ON - POSSIBILITIES EXIST™

I love you, and there's absolutely, positively, nothin you can do about it!!!

Dawn Johnson
The Self-Esteem Queen™

© 2010 Dawn R. Johnson – “The Self-Esteem Queen”™ All rights reserved.
H.O.P.E (Hold on, Possibilities Exist) is a Registered Trademark for Dawn Johnson/SEQ Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Dawn The Self Esteem Queen™ is an internationally recognized motivational speaker, author, business coach & small business consultant, serial entrepreneur and spoken word artist. Founder of the SEQ/H.O.P.E. Movement™, Dawn uses her trials to mentor, minister, and coach people all over the World. One of today’s leading experts on teen mentoring, self-esteem enhancement, personal & professional leadership, and entrepreneur development, Dawn’s mission in life is to teach individuals how to BE BETTER Human Beings. Her goal is to raise awareness and eradicate the exploitation of teenagers all over the Globe. Her Current Projects include: SEQ Collection Clothing, H.O.P.E. Platinum Coaching™, The OFFICIAL Project Black Love Cipher™, Stop Teenage Prostitution™, What Does Cancer Look Like™, Consumer Vigilantes™,& the highly anticipated H.O.P.E. Mindset™ Program.

NOTE: You’re certainly welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as its contents remain unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to info@selfesteemqueen.com

The Self Esteem Queen's Quote of the Day Courtesy of Abraham Hicks

2010-03-08T01:30:00.000-08:00

So as you make a decision, "Nothing is more important than that I feel good." What begins to happen to you is, you begin to guide your thought, your every word, and your action.

You guide your memory. You don't say, "This is how I grew up and therefore I have to deal with it. And dig it up every day and suffer over it." You say, "There were things in my past that were unpleasant. But there were things in my past that were pleasant. I will choose those that feel pleasant."

Or, "There are things in my Now that I have imagined into the future that are awful." Or "There are things that I imagine in the future that are wonderful. I will focus upon those that are wonderful."

But you can't jump vibrations all at once. So, stop beating up on yourself. We want you to be willing and happy to make the jumps incrementally. We want your journey to be about the improvement, about the way YOU FEEL.

There's relief everywhere you go. And, there's reward to you, everywhere you go. Do not equate how you feel about something with how anybody else feels. Because they're not in on your equation. You're not being compared to anyone.

But there is an ABSOLUTE COMPARISON BETWEEN THE VIBRATION OF WHO-YOU-REALLY- ARE AND THE VIBRATION OF YOUR MOMENT. And it's your job, and only your job to bring harmony to that.

You have to take the Emotional Journey, first. And when you decide to take the Emotional Journey on every subject that's important to you, you're going to discover BY TOMORROW how much better you can feel about things that you haven't been feeling good about. And IN THE MOMENT THAT YOU CHANGE THE WAY YOU FEEL EVEN THE SLIGHTEST BIT, EVERYTHING RELATED TO YOU, RELATED TO THAT SUBJECT WILL BEGIN TO SHIFT. AND THERE WILL BE EVIDENCE ON YOUR DOORSTEP BY THE WEEKEND.

~ Abraham - Hicks ~

In a World full of CHAOS I'd be remiss

to not let you know to HOLD ON - POSSIBILITIES EXIST™

I love you, and there's absolutely, positively, nothin you can do about it!!!

The Self Esteem Queen's Quote of the Day Courtesy of Abraham Hicks

2010-03-05T01:26:00.000-08:00

We never stop watching you. But we don't watch you where you ARE. We spend our undivided attention upon the rockets of desire that you've launched. In other words, that's where WE are. We're not looking at how you are doing. We know where you belong. And that's what has our undivided attention. That's why when you don't look where you belong but instead you look where you are, that's why you feel worry... Don't misunderstand this. We really want you to hear this. It's YOUR job to get up to speed with US, not OUR job to go look at where you are and try to bring you along.

~ Abraham-Hicks ~

Dawn Johnson
The Self-Esteem Queen™

© 2010 Dawn R. Johnson – “The Self-Esteem Queen”™ All rights reserved.
H.O.P.E (Hold on, Possibilities Exist) is a Registered Trademark for Dawn Johnson/SEQ Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Dawn The Self Esteem Queen™ is an internationally recognized motivational speaker, author, business coach & small business consultant, serial entrepreneur and spoken word artist. Founder of the SEQ/H.O.P.E. Movement™, Dawn uses her trials to mentor, minister, and coach people all over the World. One of today’s leading experts on teen mentoring, self-esteem enhancement, personal & professional leadership, and entrepreneur development, Dawn’s mission in life is to teach individuals how to BE BETTER Human Beings. Her goal is to raise awareness and eradicate the exploitation of teenagers all over the Globe. Her Current Projects include: SEQ Collection Clothing, H.O.P.E. Platinum Coaching™, The OFFICIAL Project Black Love Cipher™, Stop Teenage Prostitution™, What Does Cancer Look Like™, Consumer Vigilantes™,& the highly anticipated H.O.P.E. Mindset™ Program.

NOTE: You’re certainly welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as its contents remain unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to info@selfesteemqueen.com

The Self Esteem Queen's Quote of the Day Courtesy of Neale Donald Walsch

2010-03-03T03:44:00.000-08:00

On this day of your life, I believe God wants you to know...
.....that he who eats till he is sick must fast till he is well.

That is a Hebrew proverb, and it has to do with a lot
more than food. Look to see what behaviors you are
indulging in over and over again that are clearly not
serving you. Then, go on a "bad habit diet."

I mean it. I'm not kidding, Pick one bad habit, one
bad behavior, a day for five days. You can do this.
Stop doing the stuff you're doing that obviously
does not serve you--or others.

This friendly "nudge" came from your Self, you know...

Love, Your Friend....

Neale Donald Walsch

The Self Esteem Queen's Quote of the Day Courtesy of Robert Greene

2010-03-01T02:21:00.000-08:00

"The only way to gain self-reliance or any power is through great effort and practice. And this effort should not be seen as something ugly or dull; it is the process of gaining power over yourself that is the most satisfying of all, knowing that step-by-step you are elevating yourself above the dependent masses."

~ Robert Greene - The 50th Law ~

In a World full of CHAOS I'd be remiss to not let you know to HOLD ON - POSSIBILITIES EXIST™

I love you, and there's absolutely, positively, nothin you can do about it!!!

Dawn Johnson
The Self-Esteem Queen™

© 2010 Dawn R. Johnson – “The Self-Esteem Queen”™ All rights reserved.
H.O.P.E (Hold on, Possibilities Exist) is a Registered Trademark for Dawn Johnson/SEQ Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Dawn The Self Esteem Queen™ is an internationally recognized motivational speaker, author, business coach & small business consultant, serial entrepreneur and spoken word artist. Founder of the SEQ/H.O.P.E. Movement™, Dawn uses her trials to mentor, minister, and coach people all over the World. One of today’s leading experts on teen mentoring, self-esteem enhancement, personal & professional leadership, and entrepreneur development, Dawn’s mission in life is to teach individuals how to BE BETTER Human Beings. Her goal is to raise awareness and eradicate the exploitation of teenagers all over the Globe. Her Current Projects include: SEQ Collection Clothing, H.O.P.E. Platinum Coaching™, The OFFICIAL Project Black Love Cipher™, Stop Teenage Prostitution™, What Does Cancer Look Like™, Consumer Vigilantes™,& the highly anticipated H.O.P.E. Mindset™ Program.

NOTE: You’re certainly welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as its contents remain unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to info@selfesteemqueen.com

The Self Esteem Queen's Quote of the Day Courtesy of Abraham Hicks

2010-02-26T07:22:00.001-08:00

Back from a much needed vacation I bring to you today a great quote from Abraham Hicks

Forgiveness is almost exactly the same and in fact we would say IS exactly the same as saying, "I'm going to deactivate this thing that hurt me." And we would say the reason it doesn't go very far, and the reason people struggle so hard with the idea of forgiveness is because they keep digging up the stuff they don't want and keeping it active in their vibration so they have a stream of people they have to forgive. They forgave their mother for what she did then kept it alive. Then they had to forgive this lover, and this lover, and this lover and this lover ? and every day it is an eternal quest to forgive. And we say, "Why not just let it go and activate something that doesn't need forgiving?

Any person is like a microcosm of the universe. They have within them things you adore and things you would rather not see. And if you are forgiving some of the stuff you don't want to see you are keeping it active so it becomes a bigger part of the personality that that person is giving to you. But if you ignore that by activating the things you appreciate ? ah, that's a whole other thing.

So we would give forgiveness a new definition. We would say the ultimate way of forgiving is really forgetting. And the ultimate way of forgetting really is by remembering something you want to remember.
~ Abraham-Hicks ~

In a World full of CHAOS I'd be remiss
to not let you know to HOLD ON - POSSIBILITIES EXIST™

I love you, and there's absolutely, positively, nothin you can do about it!!!

Dawn Johnson
The Self-Esteem Queen™

© 2010 Dawn R. Johnson – “The Self-Esteem Queen”™ All rights reserved.
H.O.P.E (Hold on, Possibilities Exist) is a Registered Trademark for Dawn Johnson/SEQ Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Dawn The Self Esteem Queen™ is an internationally recognized motivational speaker, author, business coach & small business consultant, serial entrepreneur and spoken word artist. Founder of the SEQ/H.O.P.E. Movement™, Dawn uses her trials to mentor, minister, and coach people all over the World. One of today’s leading experts on teen mentoring, self-esteem enhancement, personal & professional leadership, and entrepreneur development, Dawn’s mission in life is to teach individuals how to BE BETTER Human Beings. Her goal is to raise awareness and eradicate the exploitation of teenagers all over the Globe. Her Current Projects include: SEQ Collection Clothing, H.O.P.E. Platinum Coaching™, The OFFICIAL Project Black Love Cipher™, Stop Teenage Prostitution™, What Does Cancer Look Like™, Consumer Vigilantes™,& the highly anticipated H.O.P.E. Mindset™ Program.

NOTE: You’re certainly welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as its contents remain unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to info@selfesteemqueen.com

The SEQ's Quote of the Day - Courtesy of Abraham-Hicks

2010-02-17T00:05:00.000-08:00

We encourage you to begin envisioning your life experience as you would like it to be, and we encourage you to be sensitive to the way that you feel as you set these thoughts into motion, seeking always that positive emotion that indicates deliberate and positive creation.

The Law of Attraction will assist you, for as you think of that which you want, other thoughts will be attracted until you have completed the picture. And since your actions always follow the path of your dominant intentions, you will find yourself very busily readying yourself for the exciting time that is before you.

If you find that you are not moved to action, if you find yourself running in circles, not knowing what to do, then you have not yet formed your picture of what you want, for when your picture of what you want is clear, then the action which will enhance that always comes very easily.

But when you are not able to move yourself to action, it is because you have not clearly defined what you want, and you have not made a decision to have it.

Abraham-Hicks, A New Beginning I, page 108

In a World full of CHAOS I'd be remiss
to not let you know to HOLD ON - POSSIBILITIES EXIST™
I love you, and there's absolutely, positively, nothin you can do about it!!!

Dawn Johnson
The Self-Esteem Queen™

© 2010 Dawn R. Johnson – “The Self-Esteem Queen”™ All rights reserved.
H.O.P.E (Hold on, Possibilities Exist) is a Registered Trademark for Dawn Johnson/SEQ Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Dawn The Self Esteem Queen™ is an internationally recognized motivational speaker, author, business coach & small business consultant, serial entrepreneur and spoken word artist. Founder of the SEQ/H.O.P.E. Movement™, Dawn uses her trials to mentor, minister, and coach people all over the World. One of today’s leading experts on teen mentoring, self-esteem enhancement, personal & professional leadership, and entrepreneur development, Dawn’s mission in life is to teach individuals how to BE BETTER Human Beings. Her goal is to raise awareness and eradicate the exploitation of teenagers all over the Globe. Her Current Projects include: SEQ Collection Clothing, H.O.P.E. Platinum Coaching™, The OFFICIAL Project Black Love Cipher™, Stop Teenage Prostitution™, What Does Cancer Look Like™, Consumer Vigilantes™,& the highly anticipated H.O.P.E. Mindset™ Program.

NOTE: You’re certainly welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as its contents remain unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to info@selfesteemqueen.com

The SEQ's Quote of the Day - Courtesy of Abraham-Hicks

2010-02-15T03:53:00.000-08:00

You would all be all right with who you are if you had been making your decisions based upon how they feel to you all along. But it is because you have been trying to evaluate yourself through the eyes of others... Oh, it is really an interesting thing how whatever powers-that-be choose the way you should look. And then you compare with that and come short almost every time... Because they have AIR BRUSHES and really good lenses in their cameras...

You are so hard on yourselves when you are someplace different than where you want to be. And that is what this message is all about. You must soothe yourself into emotional comfort before your desires can become manifest. You cannot hold yourself in disrespect of self and get what you want.

~ Abraham-Hicks

The SEQ's Quote of the Day Courtesy of Abraham Hicks

2010-02-08T21:53:00.000-08:00

We encourage you to begin envisioning your life experience as you would like it to be, and we encourage you to be sensitive to the way that you feel as you set these thoughts into motion, seeking always that positive emotion that indicates deliberate and positive creation.

The Law of Attraction will assist you, for as you think of that which you want, other thoughts will be attracted until you have completed the picture. And since your actions always follow the path of your dominant intentions, you will find yourself very busily readying yourself for the exciting time that is before you.

If you find that you are not moved to action, if you find yourself running in circles, not knowing what to do, then you have not yet formed your picture of what you want, for when your picture of what you want is clear, then the action which will enhance that always comes very easily.

But when you are not able to move yourself to action, it is because you have not clearly defined what you want, and you have not made a decision to have it.

~Abraham-Hicks, A New Beginning I, page 108

In a World full of CHAOS I'd be remiss
to not let you know to HOLD ON - POSSIBILITIES EXIST™
I love you, and there's absolutely, positively, nothin you can do about it!!!

Dawn Johnson - The Self-Esteem Queen™

© 2010 Dawn R. Johnson – “The Self-Esteem Queen”™ All rights reserved.
H.O.P.E (Hold on, Possibilities Exist) is a Registered Trademark for Dawn Johnson/SEQ Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Dawn The Self Esteem Queen™ is an internationally recognized motivational speaker, author, business coach & small business consultant, serial entrepreneur and spoken word artist. Founder of the SEQ/H.O.P.E. Movement™, Dawn uses her trials to mentor, minister, and coach people all over the World. One of today’s leading experts on teen mentoring, self-esteem enhancement, personal & professional leadership, and entrepreneur development, Dawn’s mission in life is to teach individuals how to BE BETTER Human Beings. Her goal is to raise awareness and eradicate the exploitation of teenagers all over the Globe. Her Current Projects include: SEQ Collection Clothing, H.O.P.E. Platinum Coaching™, The OFFICIAL Project Black Love Cipher™, Stop Teenage Prostitution™, What Does Cancer Look Like™, Consumer Vigilantes™,& the highly anticipated H.O.P.E. Mindset™ Program.

NOTE: You’re certainly welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as its contents remain unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to info@selfesteemqueen.com

The SEQ's Quote of the Day - Courtesy of Abraham Hicks

2010-02-01T07:25:00.000-08:00

When you begin to understand Law of Attraction, and you understand that which is like unto itself is drawn, then it is easier and easier to understand that you are offering a signal, and the entire Universe responds.

And when you finally get that, and you begin to exercise some deliberate control about the signal that you offer, then it really begins to be fun, because then you recognize that nothing happens outside of your creative control.

There are no things that happen by chance or by circumstance. There is nothing that is happening because of something you vibrated a long time ago or in a past life. It is not about what you were born into. It is only about what you are, right now, in this red hot fresh moment emitting.

Abraham-Hicks

In a World full of CHAOS I'd be remiss

to not let you know to HOLD ON - POSSIBILITIES EXIST™

I love you, and there's absolutely, positively, nothin you can do about it!!!

Dawn Johnson

The Self-Esteem Queen™

NOTE: You’re certainly welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as its contents remain unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to info@selfesteemqueen.com

The SEQ's Quote of the Day Courtesy of Neale Donald Walsch

2010-01-28T16:48:00.000-08:00

"Yet, as with most of those saints, people would not understand you. And when you tried to explain your sense of peace, your joy in life, your inner ecstasy, they would listen to your words, but not hear them. They would try to repeat your words, but would add to them.

They would then wonder how you could have what they cannot find. And then they would grow jealous. Soon jealousy would turn to rage, and in their anger they would try to convince you that it is you who do not understand God.

And if they were unsuccessful at tearing you from your joy, they would seek to harm you, so enormous would be their rage. And when you told them it does not matter, that even death cannot interrupt your joy, nor change your truth, they would surely kill you."

Neale Donald Walsch - Conversations With God

In a World full of CHAOS I'd be remiss
to not let you know to HOLD ON - POSSIBILITIES EXIST™
I love you, and there's absolutely, positively, nothin you can do about it!!!

Dawn Johnson
The Self-Esteem Queen™

© 2009 Dawn R. Johnson – “The Self-Esteem Queen”™ All rights reserved.
H.O.P.E (Hold on, Possibilities Exist) is a Registered Trademark for Dawn Johnson/SEQ Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Dawn The Self Esteem Queen™ is an internationally recognized motivational speaker, author, business coach & small business consultant, serial entrepreneur and spoken word artist. Founder of the SEQ/H.O.P.E. Movement™, Dawn uses her trials to mentor, minister, and coach people all over the World. One of today’s leading experts on teen mentoring, self-esteem enhancement, personal & professional leadership, and entrepreneur development, Dawn’s mission in life is to teach individuals how to BE BETTER Human Beings. Her goal is to raise awareness and eradicate the exploitation of teenagers all over the Globe. Her Current Projects include: SEQ Collection Clothing, H.O.P.E. Platinum Coaching™, The OFFICIAL Project Black Love Cipher™, Stop Teenage Prostitution™, What Does Cancer Look Like™, Consumer Vigilantes™,& the highly anticipated H.O.P.E. Mindset™ Program.

NOTE: You’re certainly welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as its contents remain unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to info@selfesteemqueen.com

Quote of the Day Courtesy of Abraham-Hicks

2010-01-26T15:00:00.000-08:00

...everything is orchestrated by the manager called Law of Attraction. And your vibration is setting all of it into motion.

Everything affecting you is a reflection of the vibration that you are emitting. Spend more time focused upon your dream than upon the reality. The reality gives birth to the dream - but the dream is where you are wanting to put your attention.

Abraham-Hicks

In a World full of CHAOS I'd be remiss
to not let you know to HOLD ON - POSSIBILITIES EXIST™
I love you, and there's absolutely, positively, nothin you can do about it!!!

Dawn Johnson
The Self-Esteem Queen™

© 2009 Dawn R. Johnson – “The Self-Esteem Queen”™ All rights reserved.
H.O.P.E (Hold on, Possibilities Exist) is a Registered Trademark for Dawn Johnson/SEQ Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Dawn The Self Esteem Queen™ is an internationally recognized motivational speaker, author, business coach & small business consultant, serial entrepreneur and spoken word artist. Founder of the SEQ/H.O.P.E. Movement™, Dawn uses her trials to mentor, minister, and coach people all over the World. One of today’s leading experts on teen mentoring, self-esteem enhancement, personal & professional leadership, and entrepreneur development, Dawn’s mission in life is to teach individuals how to BE BETTER Human Beings. Her goal is to raise awareness and eradicate the exploitation of teenagers all over the Globe. Her Current Projects include: SEQ Collection Clothing, H.O.P.E. Platinum Coaching™, The OFFICIAL Project Black Love Cipher™, Stop Teenage Prostitution™, What Does Cancer Look Like™, Consumer Vigilantes™,& the highly anticipated H.O.P.E. Mindset™ Program.

NOTE: You’re certainly welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as its contents remain unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to info@selfesteemqueen.com

Quote of the Day Courtesy of Deepak Chopra

2010-01-21T00:35:00.000-08:00

"Ultimately people are good because of who they are; goodness is a quality of being. Once we have made this discovery, we stop measuring people by their achievements. We expect goodness as part of their essence, and of ours. When this happens, we no longer expect a reward for doing good. We no longer bestow love when people are good to us and withdraw it when they are bad. Instead love becomes a constant in our lives. It just is. People who have reached this stage are in true possession of their love stories"

~ Deepak Chopra ~

In a World full of CHAOS I'd be remiss

to not let you know to HOLD ON - POSSIBILITIES EXIST™

I love you, and there's absolutely, positively, nothin you can do about it!!!

Dawn Johnson
The Self-Esteem Queen™

© 2009 Dawn R. Johnson – “The Self-Esteem Queen”™ All rights reserved.
H.O.P.E (Hold on, Possibilities Exist) is a Registered Trademark for Dawn Johnson/SEQ Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Dawn The Self Esteem Queen™ is an internationally recognized motivational speaker, author, business coach & small business consultant, serial entrepreneur and spoken word artist. Founder of the SEQ/H.O.P.E. Movement™, Dawn uses her trials to mentor, minister, and coach people all over the World. One of today’s leading experts on teen mentoring, self-esteem enhancement, personal & professional leadership, and entrepreneur development, Dawn’s mission in life is to teach individuals how to BE BETTER Human Beings. Her goal is to raise awareness and eradicate the exploitation of teenagers all over the Globe. Her Current Projects include: SEQ Collection Clothing, H.O.P.E. Platinum Coaching™, The OFFICIAL Project Black Love Cipher™, Stop Teenage Prostitution™, What Does Cancer Look Like™, Consumer Vigilantes™,& the highly anticipated H.O.P.E. Mindset™ Program.

NOTE: You’re certainly welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as its contents remain unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to info@selfesteemqueen.com

Quote of the Day Courtesy of Neale Donald Walsch

2010-01-19T02:18:00.000-08:00

On this day of your life, I believe God wants you to know...

....that betrayal of yourself in order not to betray another

is betrayal nonetheless. It is the Highest Betrayal.

You are not avoiding betrayal by betraying yourself, you

are merely choosing whom to betray. In fact, there is no

such thing as "betrayal." There is only the truth, finally

spoken.

That is not betrayal at all. That is love. For another,

and for yourself. Can you love that much?

You know exactly why you received this message today.

Love, Your Friend....

Neale

In a World full of CHAOS I'd be remiss
to not let you know to HOLD ON - POSSIBILITIES EXIST™
I love you, and there's absolutely, positively, nothin you can do about it!!!

Dawn Johnson
The Self-Esteem Queen™

© 2009 Dawn R. Johnson – “The Self-Esteem Queen”™ All rights reserved.
H.O.P.E (Hold on, Possibilities Exist) is a Registered Trademark for Dawn Johnson/SEQ Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Dawn The Self Esteem Queen™ is an internationally recognized motivational speaker, author, business coach & small business consultant, serial entrepreneur and spoken word artist. Founder of the SEQ/H.O.P.E. Movement™, Dawn uses her trials to mentor, minister, and coach people all over the World. One of today’s leading experts on teen mentoring, self-esteem enhancement, personal & professional leadership, and entrepreneur development, Dawn’s mission in life is to teach individuals how to BE BETTER Human Beings. Her goal is to raise awareness and eradicate the exploitation of teenagers all over the Globe. Her Current Projects include: SEQ Collection Clothing, H.O.P.E. Platinum Coaching™, The OFFICIAL Project Black Love Cipher™, Stop Teenage Prostitution™, What Does Cancer Look Like™, Consumer Vigilantes™,& the highly anticipated H.O.P.E. Mindset™ Program.

NOTE: You’re certainly welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as its contents remain unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to info@selfesteemqueen.com

The Self Esteem Queen's Quote of the Day! Happy Friday all!!!

2010-01-08T01:11:00.000-08:00

"Our real blessings often appear to us in the shape of pains, losses, and disappointments."
~ Joseph Addison

In a World full of CHAOS I'd be remiss
to not let you know to HOLD ON - POSSIBILITIES EXIST™
I love you, and there's absolutely, positively, nothin you can do about it!!!

Dawn Johnson
The Self-Esteem Queen™

© 2009 Dawn R. Johnson – “The Self-Esteem Queen”™ All rights reserved.
H.O.P.E (Hold on, Possibilities Exist) is a Registered Trademark for Dawn Johnson/SEQ Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Dawn The Self Esteem Queen™ is an internationally recognized motivational speaker, author, business coach & small business consultant, serial entrepreneur and spoken word artist. Founder of the SEQ/H.O.P.E. Movement™, Dawn uses her trials to mentor, minister, and coach people all over the World. One of today’s leading experts on teen mentoring, self-esteem enhancement, personal & professional leadership, and entrepreneur development, Dawn’s mission in life is to teach individuals how to BE BETTER Human Beings. Her goal is to raise awareness and eradicate the exploitation of teenagers all over the Globe. Her Current Projects include: SEQ Collection Clothing, H.O.P.E. Platinum Coaching™, The OFFICIAL Project Black Love Cipher™, Stop Teenage Prostitution™, What Does Cancer Look Like™, Consumer Vigilantes™,& the highly anticipated H.O.P.E. Mindset™ Program.

NOTE: You’re certainly welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as its contents remain unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to info@selfesteemqueen.com

The Self Esteem Queen's Quote of the Day!

2010-01-07T01:51:00.000-08:00

"Most of us miss out on life's big prizes. The Pulitzer. the Nobel. Oscars. Tonys. Emmys. But we're all eligible for life's small pleasures. A pat on the back. A kiss behind the ear. A four-pound bass. A full moon. An empty parking space. A crackling fire. A great meal. A glorious sunset. Hot soup. Cold beer. Don't fret about copping life's grand awards. Enjoy its tiny delights. There are plenty for all of us."

~United Technologies Corporation Advertisement

In a World full of CHAOS I'd be remiss
to not let you know to HOLD ON - POSSIBILITIES EXIST™
I love you, and there's absolutely, positively, nothin you can do about it!!!

Dawn Johnson
The Self-Esteem Queen™

© 2009 Dawn R. Johnson – “The Self-Esteem Queen”™ All rights reserved.
H.O.P.E (Hold on, Possibilities Exist) is a Registered Trademark for Dawn Johnson/SEQ Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Dawn The Self Esteem Queen™ is an internationally recognized motivational speaker, author, business coach &; small business consultant, serial entrepreneur and spoken word artist. Founder of the SEQ/H.O.P.E. Movement™, Dawn uses her trials to mentor, minister, and coach people all over the World. One of today’s leading experts on teen mentoring, self-esteem enhancement, personal & professional leadership, and entrepreneur development, Dawn’s mission in life is to teach individuals how to BE BETTER Human Beings. Her goal is to raise awareness and eradicate the exploitation of teenagers all over the Globe. Her Current Projects include: SEQ Collection Clothing, H.O.P.E. Platinum Coaching™, The OFFICIAL Project Black Love Cipher™, Stop Teenage Prostitution™, What Does Cancer Look Like™, Consumer Vigilantes™,& the highly anticipated H.O.P.E. Mindset™ Program.

NOTE: You’re certainly welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as its contents remain unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to info@selfesteemqueen.com

The Self Esteem Queen's Quote of the Day - Enjoy!

2010-01-06T01:56:00.000-08:00

"Joy is the simplest form of gratitude."
~ Karl Barth

In a World full of CHAOS I'd be remiss
to not let you know to HOLD ON - POSSIBILITIES EXIST™
I love you, and there's absolutely, positively, nothin you can do about it!!!

Dawn Johnson
The Self-Esteem Queen™

© 2009 Dawn R. Johnson – “The Self-Esteem Queen”™ All rights reserved.
H.O.P.E (Hold on, Possibilities Exist) is a Registered Trademark for Dawn Johnson/SEQ Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Dawn The Self Esteem Queen™ is an internationally recognized motivational speaker, author, business coach & small business consultant, serial entrepreneur and spoken word artist. Founder of the SEQ/H.O.P.E. Movement™, Dawn uses her trials to mentor, minister, and coach people all over the World. One of today’s leading experts on teen mentoring, self-esteem enhancement, personal & professional leadership, and entrepreneur development, Dawn’s mission in life is to teach individuals how to BE BETTER Human Beings. Her goal is to raise awareness and eradicate the exploitation of teenagers all over the Globe. Her Current Projects include: SEQ Collection Clothing, H.O.P.E. Platinum Coaching™, The OFFICIAL Project Black Love Cipher™, Stop Teenage Prostitution™, What Does Cancer Look Like™, Consumer Vigilantes™,& the highly anticipated H.O.P.E. Mindset™ Program.

NOTE: You’re certainly welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as its contents remain unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to info@selfesteemqueen.com

The Self Esteem Queen's Quote of the Day - Be Inspired.

2010-01-04T01:59:00.000-08:00

"Moderate desires constitute a character fitted to acquire all the good which the world can yield. He who has this character is prepared, in whatever situation he is, therewith to be content and has learned the science of being happy."
~ Timothy Dwight

In a World full of CHAOS I'd be remiss
to not let you know to HOLD ON - POSSIBILITIES EXIST™
I love you, and there's absolutely, positively, nothin you can do about it!!!

Dawn Johnson
The Self-Esteem Queen™

© 2009 Dawn R. Johnson – “The Self-Esteem Queen”™ All rights reserved.
H.O.P.E (Hold on, Possibilities Exist) is a Registered Trademark for Dawn Johnson/SEQ Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Dawn The Self Esteem Queen™ is an internationally recognized motivational speaker, author, business coach & small business consultant, serial entrepreneur and spoken word artist. Founder of the SEQ/H.O.P.E. Movement™, Dawn uses her trials to mentor, minister, and coach people all over the World. One of today’s leading experts on teen mentoring, self-esteem enhancement, personal & professional leadership, and entrepreneur development, Dawn’s mission in life is to teach individuals how to BE BETTER Human Beings. Her goal is to raise awareness and eradicate the exploitation of teenagers all over the Globe. Her Current Projects include: SEQ Collection Clothing, H.O.P.E. Platinum Coaching™, The OFFICIAL Project Black Love Cipher™, Stop Teenage Prostitution™, What Does Cancer Look Like™, Consumer Vigilantes™,& the highly anticipated H.O.P.E. Mindset™ Program.

NOTE: You’re certainly welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as its contents remain unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to info@selfesteemqueen.com

Quote of the Day - Courtesy of Neale Donald Walsch

2010-01-01T01:28:00.000-08:00

On this day of your life, I believe God wants you to know...
...that you will benefit enormously if you simply strive to
be a good person. Strive to live rightly.

This will not always be easy. It will require real work,
real dedication, real commitment to the Journey of Your
Soul. Yet in the end, I trust in God that it will be so very
worth it, for the reward is Self Realization.

To know the Self as Who You Really Are is the goal
and the opportunity of each lifetime. To expand your
definition of that is the invitation.

I admire and deeply respect and salute you

Love, Your Friend....

Neale

In a World full of CHAOS I'd be remiss
to not let you know to HOLD ON - POSSIBILITIES EXIST™
I love you, and there's absolutely, positively, nothin you can do about it!!!

Dawn Johnson
The Self-Esteem Queen™

© 2009 Dawn R. Johnson – “The Self-Esteem Queen”™ All rights reserved.
H.O.P.E (Hold on, Possibilities Exist) is a Registered Trademark for Dawn Johnson/SEQ Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Dawn The Self Esteem Queen™ is an internationally recognized motivational speaker, author, business coach & small business consultant, serial entrepreneur and spoken word artist. Founder of the SEQ/H.O.P.E. Movement™, Dawn uses her trials to mentor, minister, and coach people all over the World. One of today’s leading experts on teen mentoring, self-esteem enhancement, personal & professional leadership, and entrepreneur development, Dawn’s mission in life is to teach individuals how to BE BETTER Human Beings. Her goal is to raise awareness and eradicate the exploitation of teenagers all over the Globe. Her Current Projects include: SEQ Collection Clothing, H.O.P.E. Platinum Coaching™, The OFFICIAL Project Black Love Cipher™, Stop Teenage Prostitution™, What Does Cancer Look Like™, Consumer Vigilantes™,& the highly anticipated H.O.P.E. Mindset™ Program.

NOTE: You’re certainly welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as its contents remain unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to info@selfesteemqueen.com

The Self Esteem Queen's Quote of the Day: Happy Wednesday! Be INSPIRED!

2009-12-30T05:23:00.000-08:00

"Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much."

~ Oscar Wilde

In a World full of CHAOS I'd be remiss
to not let you know to HOLD ON - POSSIBILITIES EXIST™
I love you, and there's absolutely, positively, nothin you can do about it!!!

Dawn Johnson
The Self-Esteem Queen™

© 2009 Dawn R. Johnson – “The Self-Esteem Queen”™ All rights reserved.
H.O.P.E (Hold on, Possibilities Exist) is a Registered Trademark for Dawn Johnson/SEQ Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Dawn The Self Esteem Queen™ is an internationally recognized motivational speaker, author, business coach & small business consultant, serial entrepreneur and spoken word artist. Founder of the SEQ/H.O.P.E. Movement™, Dawn uses her trials to mentor, minister, and coach people all over the World. One of today’s leading experts on teen mentoring, self-esteem enhancement, personal & professional leadership, and entrepreneur development, Dawn’s mission in life is to teach individuals how to BE BETTER Human Beings. Her goal is to raise awareness and eradicate the exploitation of teenagers all over the Globe. Her Current Projects include: SEQ Collection Clothing, H.O.P.E. Platinum Coaching™, The OFFICIAL Project Black Love Cipher™, Stop Teenage Prostitution™, What Does Cancer Look Like™, Consumer Vigilantes™,& the highly anticipated H.O.P.E. Mindset™ Program.

NOTE: You’re certainly welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as its contents remain unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to info@selfesteemqueen.com

The Self Esteem Queen's Quote of the Day: Happy Monday! Be INSPIRED!

2009-12-28T00:57:00.000-08:00

"The service we render others is rent we pay for our room on Earth."

~ Wilfred Grenfell

In a World full of CHAOS I'd be remiss
to not let you know to HOLD ON - POSSIBILITIES EXIST™
I love you, and there's absolutely, positively, nothin you can do about it!!!

Dawn Johnson
The Self-Esteem Queen™

© 2009 Dawn R. Johnson – “The Self-Esteem Queen”™ All rights reserved.
H.O.P.E (Hold on, Possibilities Exist) is a Registered Trademark for Dawn Johnson/SEQ Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Dawn The Self Esteem Queen™ is an internationally recognized motivational speaker, author, business coach & small business consultant, serial entrepreneur and spoken word artist. Founder of the SEQ/H.O.P.E. Movement™, Dawn uses her trials to mentor, minister, and coach people all over the World. One of today’s leading experts on teen mentoring, self-esteem enhancement, personal & professional leadership, and entrepreneur development, Dawn’s mission in life is to teach individuals how to BE BETTER Human Beings. Her goal is to raise awareness and eradicate the exploitation of teenagers all over the Globe. Her Current Projects include: SEQ Collection Clothing, H.O.P.E. Platinum Coaching™, The OFFICIAL Project Black Love Cipher™, Stop Teenage Prostitution™, What Does Cancer Look Like™, Consumer Vigilantes™,& the highly anticipated H.O.P.E. Mindset™ Program.

NOTE: You’re certainly welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as its contents remain unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to info@selfesteemqueen.com

The Self Esteem Queen's Quote of the Day: Happy Friday! Be INSPIRED!

2009-12-25T00:53:00.000-08:00

"Jealousy is not a barometer by which the depth of love can be read. It merely records the degree of the lover's insecurity."

~ Margaret Mead

In a World full of CHAOS I'd be remiss
to not let you know to HOLD ON - POSSIBILITIES EXIST™
I love you, and there's absolutely, positively, nothin you can do about it!!!

Dawn Johnson
The Self-Esteem Queen™

© 2009 Dawn R. Johnson – “The Self-Esteem Queen”™ All rights reserved.
H.O.P.E (Hold on, Possibilities Exist) is a Registered Trademark for Dawn Johnson/SEQ Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Dawn The Self Esteem Queen™ is an internationally recognized motivational speaker, author, business coach & small business consultant, serial entrepreneur and spoken word artist. Founder of the SEQ/H.O.P.E. Movement™, Dawn uses her trials to mentor, minister, and coach people all over the World. One of today’s leading experts on teen mentoring, self-esteem enhancement, personal & professional leadership, and entrepreneur development, Dawn’s mission in life is to teach individuals how to BE BETTER Human Beings. Her goal is to raise awareness and eradicate the exploitation of teenagers all over the Globe. Her Current Projects include: SEQ Collection Clothing, H.O.P.E. Platinum Coaching™, The OFFICIAL Project Black Love Cipher™, Stop Teenage Prostitution™, What Does Cancer Look Like™, Consumer Vigilantes™,& the highly anticipated H.O.P.E. Mindset™ Program.

NOTE: You’re certainly welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as its contents remain unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to info@selfesteemqueen.com

The Self Esteem Queen's Quote of the Day: Happy Wednesday! Be INSPIRED!

2009-12-23T00:49:00.000-08:00

"If all misfortunes were laid in one common heap whence everyone must take an equal portion, most people would be contented to take their own and depart."

~ Socrates

In a World full of CHAOS I'd be remiss
to not let you know to HOLD ON - POSSIBILITIES EXIST™
I love you, and there's absolutely, positively, nothin you can do about it!!!

Dawn Johnson
The Self-Esteem Queen™

© 2009 Dawn R. Johnson – “The Self-Esteem Queen”™ All rights reserved.
H.O.P.E (Hold on, Possibilities Exist) is a Registered Trademark for Dawn Johnson/SEQ Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Dawn The Self Esteem Queen™ is an internationally recognized motivational speaker, author, business coach & small business consultant, serial entrepreneur and spoken word artist. Founder of the SEQ/H.O.P.E. Movement™, Dawn uses her trials to mentor, minister, and coach people all over the World. One of today’s leading experts on teen mentoring, self-esteem enhancement, personal & professional leadership, and entrepreneur development, Dawn’s mission in life is to teach individuals how to BE BETTER Human Beings. Her goal is to raise awareness and eradicate the exploitation of teenagers all over the Globe. Her Current Projects include: SEQ Collection Clothing, H.O.P.E. Platinum Coaching™, The OFFICIAL Project Black Love Cipher™, Stop Teenage Prostitution™, What Does Cancer Look Like™, Consumer Vigilantes™,& the highly anticipated H.O.P.E. Mindset™ Program.

NOTE: You’re certainly welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as its contents remain unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to info@selfesteemqueen.com

The Self Esteem Queen's Quote of the Day: Be INSPIRED!

2009-12-21T00:45:00.000-08:00

"We are no longer happy as soon as we wish to be happier"

~ Walter Savage Landor

In a World full of CHAOS I'd be remiss
to not let you know to HOLD ON - POSSIBILITIES EXIST™
I love you, and there's absolutely, positively, nothin you can do about it!!!

Dawn Johnson
The Self-Esteem Queen™

© 2009 Dawn R. Johnson – “The Self-Esteem Queen”™ All rights reserved.
H.O.P.E (Hold on, Possibilities Exist) is a Registered Trademark for Dawn Johnson/SEQ Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Dawn The Self Esteem Queen™ is an internationally recognized motivational speaker, author, business coach & small business consultant, serial entrepreneur and spoken word artist. Founder of the SEQ/H.O.P.E. Movement™, Dawn uses her trials to mentor, minister, and coach people all over the World. One of today’s leading experts on teen mentoring, self-esteem enhancement, personal & professional leadership, and entrepreneur development, Dawn’s mission in life is to teach individuals how to BE BETTER Human Beings. Her goal is to raise awareness and eradicate the exploitation of teenagers all over the Globe. Her Current Projects include: SEQ Collection Clothing, H.O.P.E. Platinum Coaching™, The OFFICIAL Project Black Love Cipher™, Stop Teenage Prostitution™, What Does Cancer Look Like™, Consumer Vigilantes™,& the highly anticipated H.O.P.E. Mindset™ Program.

NOTE: You’re certainly welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as its contents remain unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to info@selfesteemqueen.com

ARE YOU AN ENTREPRENEUR OR FOLLOWPRENEUR? A Co-Authored Blog

2009-11-30T03:51:00.000-08:00

ARE YOU AN ENTREPRENEUR OR FOLLOWPRENEUR?

A Co-Authored Blog

Dawn…

As an entrepreneur, I have found that in the past few years it’s sometimes very difficult for me to meet other entrepreneurs without feeling a sense of compassion for those who have gotten into this field by default; they were laid off or reassigned, they made a decision that they wanted to work for themselves without realizing all the work and dedication being self-employed entails, or they have always had a dream of being a perceived expert in something.

Lisa…

I too have observed a trend of what I call “haphazard entrepreneurs” and “followpreneurs”…these are people who lack a passion for business and all it entails. They leap into entrepreneurship as an escape from some unpleasant reality in their previous work or for the pipe dream of endless money, homes, cars, fame, and more under the title “entrepreneur”…and yet these same people often fail to realize the incredible amount of work and dedication that goes into being an entrepreneur in the true sense of the word – a creator, an initiator who assumes risk. After all, entrepreneurs help our capitalistic society thrive. Being an entrepreneur has almost become a buzz word. In spite of so many professionals, self-employed persons, and followpreneurs claiming the title, how many are maximizing their gifts? Ralph Waldo Emerson accurately asserted that “Imitation is suicide”. We are each put on this planet for a specific reason. We all have a mission to carry out during our time here. To attempt to carry out another’s mission is an insult to what our respective personal purposes.

Dawn…

Don’t get me wrong – I am all for entrepreneurship in a country that gives me all of the resources I need to be successful. I have had the opportunity to become financially wealthy by being dedicated to my craft and also by being a vessel for those in need. I have found my “niche” as an entrepreneur, and that niche doesn’t entail making others “financially rich”. I have never desired to be in competition with anyone simply because I was always taught that I have no competition however I feel like there is a growing trend of unnecessary competition in the field of entrepreneurship. I am finding that there are people who come into entrepreneurship with a sense of urgency because it’s their last ditch effort to make a living. With desperation comes deceit, and with deceit come dishonesty.

Lisa…

And with dishonesty comes a lack of service and with a lack of service comes the deterioration of entrepreneurship and the most fulfilling aspects of beginning and growing a successful enterprise. Ask yourself how often you collaborate with other entrepreneurs to create synergy and leverage? Entrepreneurs past and present who have realized exceptional levels of success are almost always in alliance with other entrepreneurs who have similar missions and visions. Competition is cancerous to your success as an entrepreneur. Yes, you will compete for your ideal customer’s attention at some point, but truthfully, there is abundance in the universe. There’s enough for everybody. There is no need to be needy or desperate in any attempt to be successful or make money. The best version of you will inevitably yield amazing levels of success in your personal and professional life.

Dawn…
I’m hoping that through writing this I can bring this issue to light for those who are new to being entrepreneurs and also those who are “veterans” in this awesome field. Only in America have I found that I can have the freedom to coach so many people from the comfort of my computer.
An entrepreneur should want to be a LEADER, not a FOLLOWER.

Blind Trust
Going into business relationships with others without doing any background checks on the person and their business. Call me anal retentive, but I apologetically like to know WHO I’m going into business with before I make a decision to do such. Often when someone in our field goes to a seminar, boot camp, or workshop we are faced with the daunting task of meeting a number of people who want to collaborate on a joint venture with us. Most of the time when you go on enough of these websites of people in the same circle, you start to see the exact same people giving testimonials to the same exact people and the ABOVE AVERAGE person should really wonder: When did it become popular to have canned testimonials and canned copy as an entrepreneur? When did this trend start to sweep across the internet? I am baffled at the number of people who follow along with this trend because even if people outside of our field never peruse the internet and see this, it is still an act of dishonesty and should be avoided. Getting canned testimonials is not only dishonest but it shows the growing trend of people who are following which leads me to pose the question: Are you an Entrepreneur or are you a Followpreneur?

Lisa…
You should not have to pay to play! Period. An investment in your education as an entrepreneur is one thing, but paying simply to get into the circle of certain people is unwise. After all, you are viewed as a customer, not a colleague, when you pay for the opportunity to be acknowledged. You are enough just as you are! There is no need to believe that one person or a few people hold the key to your success. You are responsible for your own success. Yes, you need a strong network, but you don’t need to be a follower to win. In fact, being an entrepreneur flies in the face of following the crowd by default! Own all the power and originality inherent to entrepreneurship. I don’t care how people spin it; your talent, knowledge, and expertise can and should make a way for you without you having to pay thousands of dollars to join a congregation of people who believe they’ve found the way. Too often, those who are trying to sell the dream are the same people selling philosophies on how to attain the dream. Business can be a dog eat dog world; you have to come in with your eyes open and be certain of who you are and what you will and will not accept.

The SEQ’s Philosophy on Business…
A person should come into your life “Average”. In grade school we have a grade system that ranges from ‘A’ to ‘F’ with “Average” being considered a ‘C’. I believe it should be the same when you get into a professional relationship with anyone. My opinion is that you shouldn’t take what someone says to you. A person should either work themselves up to an ‘A’ or ’B’ or work themselves down to a ‘D’ or ‘F’. Professionally, people should not be trusted unless they can prove some key things for you: Did (s)he really go to college; did (s)he really graduate and obtain a degree, are they living what they speak (lifestyle, morally, ethically) or are they “fakin’ it until they start makin’ it”? There are many folks who have become “Internet Celebrities” and it was their marketing that got them the money before they really had it. Before you dish out any more money on impulse and emotion at a boot camp, seminar, or workshop, ask yourself the following questions:
1. What type of proof do I have of this person and the things that they say on a website are true?
2. How much of an expert is the person you’re doing a joint / affiliate venture with?

The Inspiration Icon’s Philosophy on Entrepreneurship…

You are more than enough! You don’t need the stamp of approval or validation of a guru or personality to get out there and make your dreams a reality. Be deliberate about what you choose to invest in because your investments will yield things – good or bad. Much in the way a seed yields a certain kind of fruit, you will become like those you choose to follow. Decide now who you want to become and what you want your enterprise to be and then hold to that with unwavering dedication. It’s always better to be a first rate version of yourself in all of your brilliance than a second rate version of someone else. Be inspired by others but resist the temptation to become a carbon copy. Ralph Waldo Emerson said it best, “Do not go where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” Don’t follow the trail; blaze it!

The Self Esteem Queen’s Philosophy on Entrepreneurship…

Deep inside each of us is the ability to be, do and create anything that our minds can think of. The reality is that most of us never flex our brain muscle and therefore never understand that all you need to manifest your dream business is already inside of you. Instead of following someone else merely to become their clone, take time to understand that just as there is more than one way to skin a cat; there are many ways to become a successful entrepreneur without compromising your morals and ethics and becoming a carbon copy of someone else who is merely a carbon copy of their mentor or coach. Learn to be Above Average. Learn to read more and spend time DOING instead of talking. Forge a way where there was no path. Seek to be better than the ONLY competition you have: Yourself.

In a World full of CHAOS I'd be remiss
to not let you know to HOLD ON - POSSIBILITIES EXIST™
I love you, and there's absolutely, positively, nothin you can do about it!!!

Dawn The Self-Esteem Queen™

© 2009 Dawn The Self-Esteem Queen™/ Lisa Nicole Bell™ - The Inspiration Icon All rights reserved.
H.O.P.E (Hold on, Possibilities Exist) is a Registered Trademark for Dawn Johnson/SEQ Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Dawn The Self Esteem Queen™ is an internationally recognized motivational speaker, author, business coach & small business consultant, serial entrepreneur and spoken word artist. Founder of the SEQ/H.O.P.E. Movement™, Dawn uses her trials to mentor, minister, and coach people all over the World. One of today’s leading experts on teen mentoring, self-esteem enhancement, personal & professional leadership, and entrepreneur development, Dawn’s mission in life is to teach individuals how to BE BETTER Human Beings. Her goal is to raise awareness and eradicate the exploitation of teenagers all over the Globe. Her Current Projects include: SEQ Collection Clothing, H.O.P.E. Platinum Coaching™, Sessions with The SEQ™, Stop Teenage Prostitution™, What Does Cancer Look Like™, Consumer Vigilantes™,& the highly anticipated H.O.P.E. Mindset™ Program.

NOTE: You’re certainly welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as its contents remain unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to info@selfesteemqueen.com

The SEQ's Quote of the Day - You NEED THIS!

2009-10-12T06:11:00.000-07:00

We don't want you to ask for the security that comes from physical promises from physical humans. We want your security to come to you from your knowing. We want your awareness of security to be that you know the laws of the universe work, you know how to focus, you know that this positive focus that you offer will always bring you good things.

Don't try to see so far down the road. Just see what is, and look for the good things, don't demand that promises be made that give you security. This is the thing that makes the difference between someone who can stand where they are, in an attitude of belief and trust, some call it faith, but some don't like the word faith, because faith feels like be happy even though you have no evidence of being happy.

We want to acknowledge to yourself that you have much evidence that supports the power of positive thought. So just chill out.

Don't try to figure it all out at once. The mantra we want you to offer over the next few days is:

"I'll figure it out as I go"...

"Look how well I'm doing"...

"The Universe adores me"...

"The Universe is yielding to me"...

"There is not a reason for me to worry"...

"When I worry its patterns of old thought"...

"That has nothing to do with my current reality"...

You're doing extremely well!

~ Abraham-Hicks / San Diego 1-12-2008

In a World full of CHAOS I'd be remiss
to not let you know to HOLD ON - POSSIBILITIES EXIST™
I love you, and there's absolutely, positively, nothin you can do about it!!!

Dawn Johnson
The Self-Esteem Queen™

© 2009 Dawn R. Johnson – “The Self-Esteem Queen”™ All rights reserved.
H.O.P.E (Hold on, Possibilities Exist) is a Registered Trademark for Dawn Johnson/SEQ Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Dawn The Self Esteem Queen™ is an internationally recognized motivational speaker, author, business coach & small business consultant, serial entrepreneur and spoken word artist. Founder of the SEQ/H.O.P.E. Movement™, Dawn uses her trials to mentor, minister, and coach people all over the World. One of today’s leading experts on teen mentoring, self-esteem enhancement, personal & professional leadership, and entrepreneur development, Dawn’s mission in life is to teach individuals how to BE BETTER Human Beings. Her goal is to raise awareness and eradicate the exploitation of teenagers all over the Globe. Her Current Projects include: SEQ Collection Clothing, H.O.P.E. Platinum Coaching™, The OFFICIAL Project Black Love Cipher™, Stop Teenage Prostitution™, What Does Cancer Look Like™, Consumer Vigilantes™, & the highly anticipated H.O.P.E. Mindset™ Program.

NOTE: You’re certainly welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as its contents remain unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to info@selfesteemqueen.com

The Self Esteem Queen's Quote of the Day / Courtesy of Abraham Hicks

2009-09-28T00:54:00.000-07:00

You are powerful beings, and when you do not exercise your power,
you don't take it very well. When you’re not loving you don't take it
very well because you are a lover! When you don't are feeling out of
balance, you don't take it very well because you are enormously
balanced beings, and when you don't thrive you don't take it very
well, because you are meant to thrive, and at the core of your being
you are a stable basis of knowledge and well being and when you
deviate it because of the attention to one thing or another, you
don't take it well. Friends you’re not supposed to do well in the
feeling of negative emotion.

Negative emotion is your indicator that you are out of
balance. Doesn't it give you relief to know that you don't have to
modify the behavior of your wife to feel better! Doesn't it give you
relief to realize that you don’t have to change the world in order to
see the world the way you want it to be! Isn’t it reassuring to you to
understand that life is good and getting better! Negative emotion
means you've expanded and your not letting yourself go! We always put
the emphasis on the 'you've expanded part' ..Art of allowing is
letting yourself be by deliberate choice of your thoughts and words
and behavior, it’s letting yourself be a closer match to who you
really become. And when you are not doing that, you want to blame
everybody, because it just feels rotten to not be who you really
are.

In a World full of CHAOS I'd be remiss
to not let you know to HOLD ON - POSSIBILITIES EXIST™
I love you, and there's absolutely, positively, nothin you can do about it!!!

Dawn Johnson
The Self-Esteem Queen™

© 2009 Dawn R. Johnson – “The Self-Esteem Queen”™ All rights reserved.
H.O.P.E (Hold on, Possibilities Exist) is a Registered Trademark for Dawn Johnson/SEQ Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Dawn The Self Esteem Queen™ is an internationally recognized motivational speaker, author, business coach & small business consultant, serial entrepreneur and spoken word artist. Founder of the SEQ/H.O.P.E. Movement™, Dawn uses her trials to mentor, minister, and coach people all over the World. One of today’s leading experts on teen mentoring, self-esteem enhancement, personal & professional leadership, and entrepreneur development, Dawn’s mission in life is to teach individuals how to BE BETTER Human Beings. Her goal is to raise awareness and eradicate the exploitation of teenagers all over the Globe. Her Current Projects include: SEQ Collection Clothing, H.O.P.E. Platinum Coaching™, The OFFICIAL Project Black Love Cipher™, Stop Teenage Prostitution™, What Does Cancer Look Like™, Consumer Vigilantes™, & the highly anticipated H.O.P.E. Mindset™ Program.

NOTE: You’re certainly welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as its contents remain unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to info@selfesteemqueen.com

The Self Esteem Queen's Quote of the Day; Courtesy of Russel Simmons

2009-09-25T01:54:00.000-07:00

"It makes me understand how young celebrities get so depressed that they turn to drugs and other self destructive ways to dull their pain, when they read such trash talk about themselves at a time when they haven't yet learned the tools that would allow these words to slide off their backs. To them, I say first try to meditate and become good at letting things go"
~ Russell Simmons

I am fasting for Maia Campbell - I have never met her. But I don't need to KNOW her to know she needs prayer......

~ Dawn The Self Esteem Queen

In a World full of CHAOS I'd be remiss
to not let you know to HOLD ON - POSSIBILITIES EXIST™
I love you, and there's absolutely, positively, nothin you can do about it!!!

Dawn Johnson
The Self-Esteem Queen™

© 2009 Dawn R. Johnson – “The Self-Esteem Queen”™ All rights reserved.
H.O.P.E (Hold on, Possibilities Exist) is a Registered Trademark for Dawn Johnson/SEQ Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Dawn The Self Esteem Queen™ is an internationally recognized motivational speaker, author, business coach & small business consultant, serial entrepreneur and spoken word artist. Founder of the SEQ/H.O.P.E. Movement™, Dawn uses her trials to mentor, minister, and coach people all over the World. One of today’s leading experts on teen mentoring, self-esteem enhancement, personal & professional leadership, and entrepreneur development, Dawn’s mission in life is to teach individuals how to BE BETTER Human Beings. Her goal is to raise awareness and eradicate the exploitation of teenagers all over the Globe. Her Current Projects include: SEQ Collection Clothing, H.O.P.E. Platinum Coaching™, The OFFICIAL Project Black Love Cipher™, Stop Teenage Prostitution™, What Does Cancer Look Like™, Consumer Vigilantes™,& the highly anticipated H.O.P.E. Mindset™ Program.

NOTE: You’re certainly welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as its contents remain unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to info@selfesteemqueen.com

The Self Esteem Queen's Quote of the Day / Courtesy of Neale Donald Walsch

2009-09-24T03:16:00.000-07:00

On this day of your life, I believe God wants you to know...

..that when you pray for anyone, you tend to modify

your personal attitude toward them.

Norman Vincent Peale said that, and he touched on

something truly profound. If someone is vexing you

right now, say a prayer for that person. Send them all

of your best energies.

Nothing changes the environment like one person

deciding to love another, no matter what.

You know exactly why you received this message today.

Love, Your Friend....

In a World full of CHAOS I'd be remiss
to not let you know to HOLD ON - POSSIBILITIES EXIST™
I love you, and there's absolutely, positively, nothin you can do about it!!!

Dawn Johnson
The Self-Esteem Queen™

© 2009 Dawn R. Johnson – “The Self-Esteem Queen”™ All rights reserved.
H.O.P.E (Hold on, Possibilities Exist) is a Registered Trademark for Dawn Johnson/SEQ Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Dawn The Self Esteem Queen™ is an internationally recognized motivational speaker, author, business coach & small business consultant, serial entrepreneur and spoken word artist. Founder of the SEQ/H.O.P.E. Movement™, Dawn uses her trials to mentor, minister, and coach people all over the World. One of today’s leading experts on teen mentoring, self-esteem enhancement, personal & professional leadership, and entrepreneur development, Dawn’s mission in life is to teach individuals how to BE BETTER Human Beings. Her goal is to raise awareness and eradicate the exploitation of teenagers all over the Globe. Her Current Projects include: SEQ Collection Clothing, H.O.P.E. Platinum Coaching™, The OFFICIAL Project Black Love Cipher™, Stop Teenage Prostitution™, What Does Cancer Look Like™, Consumer Vigilantes™,& the highly anticipated H.O.P.E. Mindset™ Program.

NOTE: You’re certainly welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as its contents remain unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to info@selfesteemqueen.com

The Self Esteem Queen's Quote of the Day / Courtesy of Abraham Hicks

2009-09-22T00:25:00.000-07:00

And so, as a result of the overwhelming amount of attention that most of you give to your current situation (what-is) change comes very slowly or not at all. A steady stream of different people flows into your life but the essence or theme of those experiences does not change very much. In order to effect true positive change in your experience, you must disregard how things are - as well as how others are seeing you - and give more of your attention to the way you prefer things to be. With practice, you will change you point of attraction and will experience a substantial change in your life experience.

- Abraham-Hicks -

In a World full of CHAOS I'd be remiss
to not let you know to HOLD ON - POSSIBILITIES EXIST™
I love you, and there's absolutely, positively, nothin you can do about it!!!

Dawn Johnson
The Self-Esteem Queen™

© 2009 Dawn R. Johnson – “The Self-Esteem Queen”™ All rights reserved.
H.O.P.E (Hold on, Possibilities Exist) is a Registered Trademark for Dawn Johnson/SEQ Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Dawn The Self Esteem Queen™ is an internationally recognized motivational speaker, author, business coach & small business consultant, serial entrepreneur and spoken word artist. Founder of the SEQ/H.O.P.E. Movement™, Dawn uses her trials to mentor, minister, and coach people all over the World. One of today’s leading experts on teen mentoring, self-esteem enhancement, personal & professional leadership, and entrepreneur development, Dawn’s mission in life is to teach individuals how to BE BETTER Human Beings. Her goal is to raise awareness and eradicate the exploitation of teenagers all over the Globe. Her Current Projects include: SEQ Collection Clothing, H.O.P.E. Platinum Coaching™, The OFFICIAL Project Black Love Cipher™, Stop Teenage Prostitution™, What Does Cancer Look Like™, Consumer Vigilantes™,& the highly anticipated H.O.P.E. Mindset™ Program.

NOTE: You’re certainly welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as its contents remain unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to info@selfesteemqueen.com

The Self Esteem Queen's Quote of the Day / Courtesy of Abraham Hicks

2009-09-20T02:33:00.000-07:00

"So you’re so angry at your mate, or your mother, or someone... someone you work with, someone you work for. And they just seem to be ruining your life, Because they will not change their behavior. You do not seem to be important enough to them to change their behavior which hurts your feelings a great deal.

And then you discover “Wait a minute! They don’t have to change a thing in order for me to feel better. I can start looking for positive aspects. I can look for things within them that make me feel good.”... “Oh that’s impossible” you say... “there is so much that is bad and not much that’s good. In fact I haven’t seen a glimmer of anything that’s good for so very long.” And we say, there are other subjects to which you could give your attention. “Well maybe” you say reluctantly. “My dog. My dog is easy to love.. or my cat.” And we say... do whatever it takes to find something to be your object of attention. And as you give your attention to something that allows you to feel good, you’ve done something about this relationship that was bothering you. In fact, if you will make it your work to feel good, every relationship that you have will be one that pleases you.

...So that when you come together with this person or these people that what they mostly show you is that part that is most active in your vibration - did you hear that? What they mostly show you is the part that is most active in YOUR VIBRATION!.. It’s such a wonderful thing... did you hear that? What they keep showing you is the part of them that is most active in YOUR vibration. And all this time you thought it was their doing!"

Abraham 23/3/02 Phoenix

In a World full of CHAOS I'd be remiss
to not let you know to HOLD ON - POSSIBILITIES EXIST™
I love you, and there's absolutely, positively, nothin you can do about it!!!

Dawn Johnson
The Self-Esteem Queen™

© 2009 Dawn R. Johnson – “The Self-Esteem Queen”™ All rights reserved.
H.O.P.E (Hold on, Possibilities Exist) is a Registered Trademark for Dawn Johnson/SEQ Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Dawn The Self Esteem Queen™ is an internationally recognized motivational speaker, author, business coach & small business consultant, serial entrepreneur and spoken word artist. Founder of the SEQ/H.O.P.E. Movement™, Dawn uses her trials to mentor, minister, and coach people all over the World. One of today’s leading experts on teen mentoring, self-esteem enhancement, personal & professional leadership, and entrepreneur development, Dawn’s mission in life is to teach individuals how to BE BETTER Human Beings. Her goal is to raise awareness and eradicate the exploitation of teenagers all over the Globe. Her Current Projects include: SEQ Collection Clothing, H.O.P.E. Platinum Coaching™, The OFFICIAL Project Black Love Cipher™, Stop Teenage Prostitution™, What Does Cancer Look Like™, Consumer Vigilantes™, & the highly anticipated H.O.P.E. Mindset™ Program.

NOTE: You’re certainly welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as its contents remain unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to info@selfesteemqueen.com

The Self Esteem Queen's Quote of the Day / Courtesy of Neale Donald Walsch

2009-09-17T12:40:00.000-07:00

On this day of your life, I believe God wants you to know...

....that love is sometimes shown in the things you don't

say, don't keep track of, and don't notice.

The greatest kindness is often shown in letting things go.

None of us is perfect, but we can all be perfect friends

and perfect partners by allowing those that we love to

be imperfect.

Give those around you the "break" that you hope the

world will give you on your own "bad day" and you'll

never, ever regret it.

Love, Your Friend....

In a World full of CHAOS I'd be remiss
to not let you know to HOLD ON - POSSIBILITIES EXIST™
I love you, and there's absolutely, positively, nothin you can do about it!!!

Dawn Johnson
The Self-Esteem Queen™

© 2009 Dawn R. Johnson – “The Self-Esteem Queen”™ All rights reserved.
H.O.P.E (Hold on, Possibilities Exist) is a Registered Trademark for Dawn Johnson/SEQ Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Dawn The Self Esteem Queen™ is an internationally recognized motivational speaker, author, business coach & small business consultant, serial entrepreneur and spoken word artist. Founder of the SEQ/H.O.P.E. Movement™, Dawn uses her trials to mentor, minister, and coach people all over the World. One of today’s leading experts on teen mentoring, self-esteem enhancement, personal & professional leadership, and entrepreneur development, Dawn’s mission in life is to teach individuals how to BE BETTER Human Beings. Her goal is to raise awareness and eradicate the exploitation of teenagers all over the Globe. Her Current Projects include: SEQ Collection Clothing, H.O.P.E. Platinum Coaching™, The OFFICIAL Project Black Love Cipher™, Stop Teenage Prostitution™, What Does Cancer Look Like™, Consumer Vigilantes™, & the highly anticipated H.O.P.E. Mindset™ Program.

NOTE: You’re certainly welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as its contents remain unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to info@selfesteemqueen.com

The Self Esteem Queen's Quote of the Day / Courtesy of Abraham-Hicks

2009-09-16T01:32:00.000-07:00

Most of you stand in this place of defending why you need or want something better. You say, as if you were pleading to your mother --you did that when you were little: I NEED it! I REALLY NEED it! As you plead your neediest cases, that's when Congress puts the money there. That's when your mother gives up the goods. That's when people who are weary of your complaining, cave in and say, "All right TAKE the car!"

But we're wanting you to understand that even though humans may cave in to your negative demands or pleading, the Universe never, EVER gives you what you want, when you're beating the drum of what you don't want. Every time you are justifying how much you NEED something, you are vibrationally preventing yourself from having what you want. You cannot offer the frequency of NEED, and DESIRE, at the same time. You cannot be a vibrational match to what you want, and its absence, at the same time.

- Abraham-Hicks -

In a World full of CHAOS I'd be remiss
to not let you know to HOLD ON - POSSIBILITIES EXIST™
I love you, and there's absolutely, positively, nothin you can do about it!!!

Dawn Johnson
The Self-Esteem Queen™

© 2009 Dawn R. Johnson – “The Self-Esteem Queen”™ All rights reserved.
H.O.P.E (Hold on, Possibilities Exist) is a Registered Trademark for Dawn Johnson/SEQ Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Dawn The Self Esteem Queen™ is an internationally recognized motivational speaker, author, business coach & small business consultant, serial entrepreneur and spoken word artist. Founder of the SEQ/H.O.P.E. Movement™, Dawn uses her trials to mentor, minister, and coach people all over the World. One of today’s leading experts on teen mentoring, self-esteem enhancement, personal & professional leadership, and entrepreneur development, Dawn’s mission in life is to teach individuals how to BE BETTER Human Beings. Her goal is to raise awareness and eradicate the exploitation of teenagers all over the Globe. Her Current Projects include: SEQ Collection Clothing, H.O.P.E. Platinum Coaching™, The OFFICIAL Project Black Love Cipher™, Stop Teenage Prostitution™, What Does Cancer Look Like™, Consumer Vigilantes™,& the highly anticipated H.O.P.E. Mindset™ Program.

NOTE: You’re certainly welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as its contents remain unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to info@selfesteemqueen.com

The Self Esteem Queen's Quote of the Day / Courtesy of Abraham Hicks

2009-09-15T03:47:00.000-07:00

When you discover the factor of relief that is available through your downstream intention, you will discover the path to true freedom - freedom from the bondage that comes trying to control others when your only work is to control the vibration of your being.

The best part of this understanding is that no one else needs to possess or apply this knowledge. You can apply it whether anyone else does or not; and when you do, your world will become exactly as you want it to be. And that is the "control" you have been seeking. That is the secret to life that humans have been looking for.

The Astonishing Power of Emotions, page 161

In a World full of CHAOS I'd be remiss
to not let you know to HOLD ON - POSSIBILITIES EXIST™
I love you, and there's absolutely, positively, nothin you can do about it!!!

Dawn Johnson
The Self-Esteem Queen™

© 2009 Dawn R. Johnson – “The Self-Esteem Queen”™ All rights reserved.
H.O.P.E (Hold on, Possibilities Exist) is a Registered Trademark for Dawn Johnson/SEQ Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Dawn The Self Esteem Queen™ is an internationally recognized motivational speaker, author, business coach & small business consultant, serial entrepreneur and spoken word artist. Founder of the SEQ/H.O.P.E. Movement™, Dawn uses her trials to mentor, minister, and coach people all over the World. One of today’s leading experts on teen mentoring, self-esteem enhancement, personal & professional leadership, and entrepreneur development, Dawn’s mission in life is to teach individuals how to BE BETTER Human Beings. Her goal is to raise awareness and eradicate the exploitation of teenagers all over the Globe. Her Current Projects include: SEQ Collection Clothing, H.O.P.E. Platinum Coaching™, The OFFICIAL Project Black Love Cipher™, Stop Teenage Prostitution™, What Does Cancer Look Like™, Consumer Vigilantes™,& the highly anticipated H.O.P.E. Mindset™ Program.

NOTE: You’re certainly welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as its contents remain unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to info@selfesteemqueen.com

Growing up Bipolar - A Newsweek Exclusive

2008-06-01T17:51:00.000-07:00

Growing up Bipolar: A Newsweek Magazine Exclusive

By: Dawn Johnson The Self Esteem Queen™

According to the Newsweek article dated May 26, 2008 the following is true about bipolar disorder (lowercase intended):

It is an elusive disease that no parent fully understands, that some doctors do not believe exists in children, and that almost everyone stigmatizes,
bipolar disorder STILL CANNOT be identified based on brain scans,
Roughly 6.5 million Americans are affected by bipolar disorder,
At least 800,000 children in the United States have been diagnosed as bipolar, no doubt some of them wrongly,
There are many drugs, but it's unclear how they work. Often, they don't work at all, and they may interfere with normal brain growth.

The Article starts out by saying, "Max Blake was 7 the first time he tried to kill himself."

Many psychiatrists think that in the years since Max's diagnosis, doctors have erred on the side of seeing it everywhere, mislabeling kids and creating a lucrative market for drug companies.
In the space of one year, he tried eight psychoactive medications. Despite all the meds - and in part, because of them - he was and emotional wreck.
By 7 1/2, Max was on so many different drugs that.. his parents could no longer tell if they were helping or hurting him. He was suffering from tics, blinking his eyes, clearing his throat and "pulling his clothes like he wanted to get out of his skin".
At 10, he has been on 38 different psychoactive drugs.

The article goes on to speak about the struggles that Max and his parents continue to go through after seeing their son face the affects of medications that don't work and hospital stays that are sure to leave a lasting impression on Max Blake. My heart goes out to his parents because I know what it's like to have a child that most people deem "complicated". I was considered one of them.

Bipolar disorder is a subject that I hold very close to my heart.
As someone who was diagnosed with this dis-ease, I have had my share of opinions about the disorder. Because I am not a licensed medical practitioner, I feel like I can only give my opinion based upon what myself and others around me have experienced. I normally don't give "disclaimers", however I know that some of my readers are doctors and I don't want to be bombarded with scientific emails regarding this subject (I still have my psychology book from college and I STILL disagree with the diagnosis of this dis-order). You can go here to read more about how I feel on being misdiagnosed.

As a child, what we call "bipolar disorder" was referred to as "manic depression".
After meeting with a child psychologist, my sister was diagnosed with manic depression as a kid. The psychologist didn't have enough accurate information to form this diagnosis because my sister didn't disclose pertinent information that would have allowed the doctors to know she was being abused, and her depression was due to this abuse. I believe that my sister was affected by being told she has this "dis-order", and so was I.

It is sometimes difficult for me to talk about this issue without remembering being in a mental institution.
What I have learned is that I am a fighter. I've been fighting most of my life. I know that my purpose has been destined by the experiences I have overcome. Being labeled as having something such as bipolar disorder when I have been able to live free from medication is absurd. For me, and I will be very honest, I will and have gone to a mental institution in a heartbeat if I felt/feel overwhelmed. I don't see the problem in that. I do, however, see a problem with over medicating children and I have witnessed this process in my own family and can attest to the fact that medication was not the solution to my problems; learning to heal myself was.

Now I ask you - Is this the face of a
bipolar child or merely a child going
through puberty?

Why I stay away from "labels" and "disorders" placed on me by people.
One thing that irks me is when I befriend someone only to have them get angry with me at some point and call me names like "crazy" and "psycho" because I have told them about this misdiagnosis. It hurts to be called names no matter the saying, "sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt..." Being abused mentally and emotionally is horrible enough, and to have this done because a doctor didn't bother to spend the time to diagnose me correctly is a travesty.

How may children are not taught the correct mindset about life?

How many children have to be misdiagnosed in order for us to stand up and say that over medicating children is NOT the way to solve the problem?

It pays to stay informed...

I love you, and there's absolutely, positively, nothin you can do about it!!! (and I wear my label of the Self Esteem Queen™ PROUDLY, thank you very much:)~

Dawn Johnson
The Self-Esteem Queen™

© 2008 Dawn R. Johnson – “The Self-Esteem Queen”™ All rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR - A celebrated servant-leader, internationally recognized motivational speaker, author, business coach & small business consultant, serial entrepreneur and spoken word artist, Dawn Johnson, the acclaimed “Self Esteem Queen”™, is one of today’s leading experts on transformational leadership, entrepreneur personal development, and self-esteem enhancement.

To learn more about Dawn’s products and sign up to receive FREE tips on business, personal enhancement, visit her site at http://www.selfesteemqueen.com.

NOTE: You’re certainly welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as its contents remain unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to dawn@selfesteemqueen.com.

What to Do when the World Seems to Hate You...

2007-10-26T03:28:00.000-07:00

What to Do when the World Seems to Hate You

By: Dawn Johnson - The Self-Esteem Queen™

All of us have a day where it seems as if everything is against us. The car blows a tire or breaks down, you have an "issue" with one of your co-workers, you experience bad moments at home or at work; every one of us goes through these issues. Sometimes, it can feel as if the entire world hates you! It might seem like the boss is just picking on you, or the car in front of you is deliberately cutting you off, or the teller at the bank decided to go to lunch as you were arriving because they just didn’t want to serve you. It’s cruel, you’re thinking. It’s unfair, you’re inwardly screaming.

It’s narcissistic, I’m telling you.

Most of us believe that narcissism is “extreme conceit” or “extreme self-love,” and while those may be apt in some situations, narcissism would probably be better defined as “the practice of placing oneself at the center of the universe, even to the point where all of the actions and events of that day revolve around and pertain to you alone.” That may sound like a long definition, but I believe that it sums up the narcissist pretty well. The driver didn’t just cut someone off, but he cut you off, and on purpose at that! The dog didn’t just go on someone’s lawn, but on your lawn, and probably at the prompting of the owner! Again, while all of us have succumbed to this auto-centric view at one time or another, one doesn’t have to be Freud to see the psychological dangers of this world-view. If the world is against you, you become a victim, and if you become a victim, you can be faulted for nothing while the world owes you everything. Needless to say, this is not a productive outlook!

Fortunately, there is a very easy solution to curbing our narcissistic tendencies: simply, stop being a narcissist! Don’t do it anymore! It takes discipline and effort to avoid this natural tendency, but by recognizing the problem and taking it firmly in hand, it can be done!

We are often taught that life is all about us. Our independence and autonomy are pressed upon us from the time we are children and encouraged to walk without our parents. As parents, oftentimes we attempt to give our children the entire world, whether they have worked for it / deserve it or not. Advertisers and marketers tell us we can have this world our way, and when it does not go according to plan, we claim global hatred and angry conspiracies! In order for the person who is attempting to escape narcissism to combat this mind state, an easy mantra to remember could be: “it’s not all about me.”

In an era that trumpets the benefits of husbands and wives that willingly live in separate houses (while in the same city) in order to have their things their way, “it’s not all about me” goes against everything that we stand for. Yet, this is what discipline means, is it not? If one wants the six-pack and the sexy legs, then one must force oneself to work out and force oneself not to eat the fatty foods. Our natural tendency is not to work out and to eat those things that are most tasteful. However, in order to be our optimum physical selves, we forgo the most comfortable thing in order to achieve the more profitable thing. The same could be said for becoming a doctor, building a business, or learning a new language. The natural tendency is to lay back, play, or do as little as possible. The disciplined tendency is to push forward and (as Nike so often reminds us) “just do it.” Avoiding narcissism is the same way. It goes against your natural tendency, but you have to make up your mind to “just do it.”

To defeat narcissism, we must forgo our desire to put the entire world into a tiny sphere with our own wants, needs, and lusts at the center of it in order to pursue the more profitable pursuit. That pursuit is for the understanding that, indeed, it is not all about us. It is the understanding that we share this planet with at least six billion other people that also have wants, needs and desires. It is the understanding that the car that cuts us off did not have the primary goal of cutting of us off, personally speaking. It also involves the understanding that, sometimes, what may originally appear to being picked on can often be self-inflicted. The boss is not picking on you, for example, if you come back from lunch an hour late—even if other people get away with it!

Another important point to remember when reminding yourself that it is not all about you is this: the world does not hate you; the world does not care! The world does not know that you exist individually. Imagine, if you will, a house that has a family of four. Now, see the house as a house on a large city block. There may be at least twelve houses on one street—not counting those across the street. Now, take that block and move out; how many blocks in a square mile, square miles in a city, cities in a county, counties in a state, states in a nation, nations on a continent, continents in the world. How many people did you just see? In all of those people, did the driver of the car in front of you specifically seek you out to cut off? Not only is the answer to that question no, but I can guarantee you that the driver is not thinking about you nearly as much as you are about him! He stopped thinking about you five seconds after he cut you off. Why, other than the obvious answer of narcissism, are you still thinking about him? The world does not care about you in that way, so to avoid narcissism, you must understand your smallness in the scheme of things. Thinking more of yourself than you ought, obviously, leads to narcissism.

Believing that the entire world hates you is never a good way to live your life. It creates bitterness, hopelessness, and apathy, which are never good states of mind for productive people. Removing the narcissism from your life—meaning, having an understanding that it is not all about you and that the whole world does not hate you—is a giant step on the staircase to achieving personal success.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR - A celebrated servant-leader, internationally recognized motivational speaker, author, business coach & small business consultant, serial entrepreneur and spoken word artist, Dawn Johnson, the acclaimed “Self Esteem Queen”™, is one of today’s leading experts on transformational leadership, entrepreneur personal development, and self-esteem enhancement.

To learn more about Dawn’s products and sign up to receive FREE tips on business, personal enhancement, visit her site at http://www.selfesteemqueen.com.

Don’t Make Excuses, Make Adjustments.

2007-08-19T19:52:00.000-07:00

Don’t Make Excuses, Make Adjustments
From my book: Unleash Your Greatness: Hot to Outperform Yourself
© 2005 Dawn Johnson

Close your eyes and seek what you believe. ~Goapele

Picture yourself in a field. There is a wide open target with a bull’s-eye in the middle of the target. Your goal is to hit the bull’s-eye. You pick up a bow and arrow and take aim and stop. You hear this small voice say "What if you miss?" You tell yourself to focus but now the focus of succeeding is replaced with not failing. If you continue to doubt yourself, you will never hit the bull’s-eye. Your aim will continue to be on what might go wrong and your sense of failure.

I spent many years underestimating myself because my focus stayed on what was wrong with me instead of what was right with me. I pictured the girl who as a teenager made more money than most women will make in their lifetime. I pictured a young girl who grew into a mature woman and became insecure and believed that if people knew of her past, they would shun her. The reality is I was way off target. I knew I had the potential to be great, but I continued to let people around me tell me how much of a failure I was in comparison to everyone else.

I remember working in a sales position for a company that made you write yourself up every week when you didn’t hit your numbers. You were made to sit in a room with your peers and humiliate yourself by saying you failed. I remember thinking every week when I knew I wasn’t going to hit my numbers how much of a failure I must be. I saw everyone else hitting their weekly numbers, and it made me wonder how come I was so horrible. Then it came to me a few days later. This job and these people could never define my success. My focus was on everyone else’s opinion of me instead of me focusing on myself. I wondered was I doing the best according to my potential. Was I taking ownership over my mistakes and improving from them? Based on my answers, the fact was no one was in control of my desire for greatness. From that point on, I always strived to break down the barriers that people put around my dreams.

Here are some tricks I have done and continue to do to make sure that I am always aiming for and reaching for peak performance as I unleash my greatness:

1. Transfer your goals into affirmations
Your goal is a mental picture of what you want. Take the mental picture and turn it into reality by writing it down in the present tense as if it were already accomplished. People used to (and still) laugh at me because I carry around a dream book. My dream book has my debt reduction plan, my dream cars and homes, my favorite quotes, and my yearly goals. I pull this book out at least 7 times a day and flip through it. It serves as a constant reminder to press on when I feel the need to give up or complain about where I am now in my career or personal life.

2. Read your affirmation aloud.
I constantly tell myself positive things to make my dreams a reality. This works in my personal and professional life. I tell myself, “I can be in healthy relationships” or “I can change the world one person at a time”. These are my own personal mantras.
Let’s face it – we live in a jaded society. We cannot always count on someone else to motivate us. Sometimes, you have to be the best motivator you know. I still wash my car instead of taking it to a car wash because I know that I can take my time and make sure that every part is washed. In my mind, I know that I can wash my car better than anyone else can because I know where it needs special attention.

Surround yourself with people who will support your goals and aspirations. More important, surround yourself with people who will support you, hold you accountable, and give you healthy constructive criticism when it’s needed.

3. Picture the results you want.
I mean this verbatim. Get physical pictures of cars you want. Go to open houses in your dream community. Take pictures. Go test drive your dream car. Have someone take your picture behind the wheel. Then, take these pictures and put them on your bathroom mirror, your refrigerator, your bathroom door, and your front door. Seeing these on a constant basis will remind you of your goals. I have never been much of a television watcher. I’ve never had cable, and I have a sign on my TV that says, “Do not feed the idiot box”. I have small pictures of my “dream things” all around the TV, so when I sit down to watch a show I can remind myself that I can’t accomplish my goals if I don’t work hard. This may be a bit much for some, but it can be done at a different extreme to suit each person.

4. Track and measure your progress.
Someone once told me, “Do not make excuses, make adjustments”. When you find a flaw in your current plan, you must be able to adapt to a new strategy. We often get so caught up in rebelling against change in our lives. When we put our energy into adapting and not into rebelling, change will come with ease. It’s still a struggle that I work through one day at a time. There are some days when I want to stay in my comfort zone and I fear being any bigger than I am now. Write down your goals and the solutions you know will help you accomplish each goal. I started with 1 week goals. Then, as I began to accomplish these small goals I moved up to 3 week and then 3 year goals. Once you see you can accomplish small goals, you can parlay them into long term goals. Always remember: you are being counterproductive when you say that you are busy but nothing is getting done. Having a goal system will help you to be more observant of your actions while helping you to physically see what needs to be done to accomplish your goals.

5. Visualize your success
I must admit something to you all – I used to be my own worst critic. I would be too hard on myself because I expected so much out of myself and when I don’t accomplish things in my projected time frame, I would feel frustrated. I have to remind myself that I am a work in progress, and I am growing day by day. I don’t let other’s rate my greatness, but I also do not allow myself to be my worst critic. If you let someone else rate your greatness, you will not ever know how great you are. Be hard on yourself and demand nothing but the best because that’s what you know you are worthy of. You must be able to define what happiness means to you. For some, happiness is having a nice car or a nice house. For others it’s not having debt or having a nice family. Perhaps happiness is having a good spiritual foundation. Create your own definition of happiness instead of buying into what society says happiness is.

Final Thought
In life, you are either an owner or a victim. You can live your life making excuses for why you aren’t where you need to be, or you can be accountable for your actions and make a conscience decision to create each day. To successfully unleash your greatness you must hold yourself accountable for your actions. Focus on what you want to do, not on what you don't want to do. Only one target remains until you reach your goal. Pull the arrow back and let it go!

Act as if it were impossible to fail. ~Dorothea Brande

© 2005-2007 Dawn R. Johnson – “The Self-Esteem Queen”™

ABOUT THE AUTHOR - A celebrated servant-leader, internationally recognized motivational speaker, author, business coach & small business consultant, serial entrepreneur and spoken word artist, Dawn Johnson, the acclaimed “Self Esteem Queen”™, is one of today’s leading experts on transformational leadership, entrepreneur personal development, and self-esteem enhancement. To learn more about Dawn’s products and sign up to receive FREE tips on business, personal enhancement, visit her site at http://www.selfesteemqueen.com.

NOTE: You’re certainly welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as its contents remain unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to dawn@selfesteemqueen.com.

Childhood: The Echoes that Ring Forever

2007-07-25T08:51:00.000-07:00

Childhood: The Echoes that Ring Forever
By: Dawn Johnson, "The Self-Esteem Queen"™

Have you ever stopped to consider the affects of childhood?

How many things did you experience as children that have stayed with you throughout your lifetime?

How many sounds—loud sounds, for better or for worse—rang out when you were a child that continue to ring even to this day?

Oftentimes, the things that we experience as children stay with us when we become adults. I am willing to bet that the first sixteen years of one’s life easily define and shape the next sixty. It has been said that we determine the type of people we will be with based upon our observations of our parents, and if we had no parents, we are forced to formulate our own composite sketches.

We take our childhood memories with us far beyond our twenties. I have witnessed septuagenarians weeping at the memory of a father who died when they were ten years old. Whether it was child molestation, physical or mental abuse, abandonment, failure, receiving too little (or even too much) attention, or family scandals—all of these things can be devastating to a person who has yet to learn the wisdom that it he or she will need to deal with those issues.

As children and teens, we struggle to deal with these things. We blame ourselves, we lash out, and we hurt.

We become frigid or nymphomaniacs.
We become extremely extroverted or we withdraw.
We become slackers or workaholics.
We become obese or bulimic.

As youths, we find ourselves dealing with the issues in the best way we can with
what little wisdom we have. Once we are adults, however, we must convert what we know into what we feel.

While youth do not have the wisdom of application, adults must use their wisdom and knowledge to, gently, silence the echoes of childhood; at least the negative ones.

I’ll take this closer to home to prove my point. I know in my head that the family member who touched me when I was younger cannot hurt me anymore. I know in my head that my parents will not beat me anymore. I know in my head that I have made it through the darkest periods of my life and survived to tell the tale.

You too have the head knowledge of the same sort of things that pertain to your life yet, your heads have not communicated that fact to your hearts.

We need to apply our heart knowledge. We have to allow our head to tell our heart that it is o.k. to love, it’s o.k. to be loved, and it’s o.k. to be open to new things and new experiences.

And guess what? That also means that it’s o.k. to get hurt. Much of what we do when we get older stems from a fear of pain! We would often rather live boring and painless lives than exciting lives that may hurt us. We allow the echoes of childhood to ring in our ears to the point of apathy.

For example:

We saw bad marriages between our parents, and we determine that we’re not getting married.
We had a bad “romantic” relationship or experience in middle school or in high school, so we don’t love or have sex.
We had to help out around the house with younger brothers or sisters, so we don’t want to have kids.

Dearest friends, with all the kindness and compassion I SCREAM OUT TO YOU - these attitudes are wrong! Compare love, religion, and friends—things that people often refrain from having because of the poor actions of others—with seeing a millionaire who wastes his money. Does that mean that you should not be a millionaire? Should you avoid having money because of the abuses of others? Absolutely not! You should take the money given to you and do what is right, right?

In that same manner, we must take the things done to us when we were younger and apply them to doing the right things. The answer to bad actions is not to refrain from taking any actions at all, but to put forth good actions! The answer to poor marriages, poor sexual upbringings, poor religious experiences, poor parents, and poor relationships are good marriages, good sexual actions, good religion, being good parents, and developing good relationships.

You may get hurt in the process. You’re not a kid anymore!

Be an adult, and take that chance. Adults take chances, ignoring the echo of their childhood and instead decide to make a new noise. Bet on yourself. If you don’t bet, you can’t lose. That is true. But you can’t win, either, and that leads to empty, gray lives.

We must also take those things that we learned, and we must keep ourselves from becoming that which we feared and hated. In other words, we must do our diligence to keep from becoming abusers if we were abused. Do not let the alcoholism of your parents make you an alcoholic. If you were molested, then do not allow the molestation to affect someone else by you doing the same. Find outlets to deal with the pain that are different from the ones that your parents obviously had. Take up a journal and write the experiences. Share with a spouse, pastor, or friend. And always understand that the things that happened to you affected you, but you have a conscious choice over whether or not they will make you or break you. We are not what happened to us. Did it shape us? Of course it did. But it did not make us what we are. We are what we are. Now, let those things that you went through make you better, not worse. Hear the echoes of the past, and do not let them become a cacophony. Hear them for the melody of personality that they are to you, and use them to sing your heart out.

Therefore, let go of the molestation, and help the molested. Let go of the abuse, and help the abusers. Let go of the bad parents, and become the best parent ever. Let go of the rape, and enjoy sex with your partner. Let go of the greedy and evil clergy, and worship God anew. Let the echoes of your childhood become the song of your adult life, and then share that song with everyone else around you until they cannot stop singing.

Happiness in contagious and it spreads faster when everyone practices it. Take some time out to really think about that. What would happen if you spent just one week NOT ALLOWING yourself to get angry at work. 1 week. Could you do it? I bet you could. I bet you could get used to being happy. I have, and I love it!

A Full Life, Even without Television.

2007-05-13T08:01:00.000-07:00

A Full Life, even without Television.
By: Dawn R. Johnson, “The Self-Esteem Queen”™

I must be honest: I didn’t know who in the World Dave Chappelle was.
I sat in a living room with a group of colleagues watching (I learned shortly after) the best selling DVD of all time. I watched his comedy skits, famous to the world, as he spoofed the Internet, Rick James, and Samuel L. Jackson. I laughed along with my colleagues, but they were laughing with the familiar pleasure that people get when watching something that they have seen several times before.

Ironically, the fact that I had not seen the show was almost as funny to my colleagues as the show itself.
I laughed with the open hilarity of one watching something funny for the very first time which caused one of my colleagues to ask me, “What, don’t you own a television?” "No, I don’t,” I responded as courteous as I could.

My not owning a television became the topic of discussion for the rest of the evening sending Dave Chappelle’s comedic skit of a Black President Bush to the backburner. Since I now courted all attention, I explained my take on television.

As a child growing up, my parents did not put a huge emphasis on television watching.
My mother and father, both entrepreneurs, encouraged me to participate in events that had more to do with my education and less to do with television. I did not grow up watching MTV, BET, or ABC. I was not educated on life by “The Cosby Show”, “The Wonder Years”, or “A Different World” because my parents felt that my education was their responsibility. Instead of television, my parents took my siblings and I on college campus tours, to the San Francisco Symphony, the San Francisco Mint, and to historical California Spanish Missions.

I did not have a desire to watch actors on television act out fictitious renditions of life when I had a life of my own to live.
In high school, I spent my time doing extracurricular activities in church, school, and volunteer work. I equated television watching with time wasting, and spent my high school years playing basketball, wrestling, and participating in debates. When my day ended, I slept in silence. This did not seem like something strange to me; however my colleagues started to laugh and were very entranced with what they now considered to be my “very strange life”.

In college, I was accepted to a 4 year university, and I had the assistance of private scholarships.
As a student on academic scholarships, I had to work harder to ensure that I kept those scholarships. That meant more studying, which meant less television. I did not have time to party and hang out. I did not have time to sit with my roommates to watch the latest “Jerry Springer” episode. I was taught to believe that I am responsible for my future. If an area of my life experienced any sort of lack, my parents told me the first place to look would have to be myself. I spent my college years studying, working hard to achieve my goals, and setting myself up for my future.

After college I went into the corporate office, which meant late hours, which in turn meant less television.
As I listened to the conversations at my first corporate experience, I noticed that all my co-workers spent their “down time” talking about the latest “drama” on their favorite television show. I felt like an outsider each time this happened because I did not watch television and could not participate in their conversation. Was it me, or was I the only person that felt there were more important things to do than assist the rich in staying rich while I remained in a lower tax bracket?

I grew tired of the corporate world in less than a year, and I moved on to entrepreneurship.
As a child, I watched my entrepreneur parents manage two separate companies, so I knew starting my own business equaled putting extensive man hours in marketing, planning, and brand building, which again left no time for television. My disciplined schedule of working at a corporation by day while pursuing my dreams at night did not allow me time to watch television.

By this point I had a small 13 inch television that someone gave to me out of pity.
After a while, it became apparent that my TV, slowly but surely being buried beneath an ever-increasing layer of clothes or paperwork at any given time, was quite unnecessary to my life, and I finally gave the thing away to a neighbor who did not have one. My neighbor was actually very appreciative of that television and watched it more than I ever did. She even commented that the picture was “just like new”.

Aware of the plight of the homeless and outcast in Los Angeles, I began working with Skid Row drug addicts and teen prostitutes, taking some of them into my own home, while feeding and clothing others.
Each of these events took up time which meant that television was out of the picture. At this point in my life, television was a mute subject to me. I was not surrounded by people who questioned my hobbies, so no one knew that I did not own a television. I also began participating in sports that I would have shunned before, such as mountain climbing, sky-diving, and bungee jumping. I had so much fun doing these activities that by the time I was done there was only time to sleep.

“What about the news?”, one of my colleagues asked me.
“Talk radio has the latest news”, I answered, “Which I listen to in the
car.”

Radio seemed to appeal more to my brain than my heart, tended to be more honest about the facts and at least gave the appearance of being more balanced regarding opinions.

“What about your spare time”, I was then asked.

Again, between activism, building a business, traveling, studying to obtain another degree, politics, building websites, sky diving, working out, re-learning to play the clarinet and then finally getting some sleep, there was just no time left to watch twenty beautiful models compete for the attentions of that matinee idol Flavor Flav (that’s called sarcasm—extreme sarcasm).

What started off as a necessity to graduate in high school became my lifelong practice for success.

I do not begrudge those who watch television; however I know that I personally am more productive, more well-rounded, and - dare I say, happier because I have a life full of excitement and pleasure. I do not feel like I am missing out on anything important in life because I do not own a television.

I believe there is a direct link between television addiction and mediocrity.

I am not saying that every single person that watches television is addicted, but I have found that those who watch endless amounts of television don’t have the same drive as me, and they therefore don’t understand my need to stay productive. To be fair, I believe that there are a number of quality shows on television that continue to educate and enhance the lives of others. I take no issue with these shows. The fact remains that my upbringing as a child molded me to the person I am today. Not owning a television may seem like a sad thing to the average American, but if you ask anyone around me they will tell you I am very happy without one.

Having to explain to others why I don’t watch television has become a pastime I would rather pass up.

Rest assured however - once I return from Canada, complete my pilot lessons, finish writing this grant for assistance for teen mothers, start on the script for my autobiography, and complete my lecture on racism to the students at Loyola Marymount University, maybe I’ll take a couple hours, go to a neighbors house, and watch Dave Chappelle on DVD.

That Rick James bit just cracks me up.

© 2006-2007 Dawn R. Johnson – “The Self-Esteem Queen”™

ABOUT THE AUTHOR A celebrated servant-leader, internationally recognized motivational speaker, author, business coach & small business consultant, serial entrepreneur and spoken word artist, Dawn Johnson, the acclaimed “Self Esteem Queen”™, is one of today’s leading experts on transformational leadership, entrepreneur personal development, and self-esteem enhancement. To learn more about Dawn’s products and sign up to receive FREE tips on business, personal enhancement, visit her site at http://www.selfesteemqueen.com.

NOTE: You’re certainly welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as its contents remain unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to dawn@selfesteemqueen.com.

Dying, but not dead: Racism in Los Angeles.

2007-05-01T16:46:00.000-07:00

Dying, but not dead: Racism in Los Angeles.
By: Dawn R. Johnson, “The Self-Esteem Queen”™

I recently visited the Mont Blanc boutique in the Beverly Center Mall in order to buy a gift for my accountant. Older men are notoriously difficult to shop for, so I thought a nice pen would be a gesture of my consideration and thoughtfulness. However, consideration and thoughtfulness were nowhere on display in this particular Mont Blanc boutique.

I was ignored for several minutes before being approached by a salesperson. I would like to say it's because they were busy, but other (and “less melanin challenged”) customers came into the store after me and were greeted and waited upon with exuberance. When I was finally assisted, I was patronized and ridiculed with such questions as, "You do know how much these items costs?" as if I were unaware of the store that I was in.

I continued to allow my patience to be tested as the salesperson showed me the cheapest pens in the store. He then asked me a series of questions (“What kind of watch does your accountant wear”, “What color is his watch; silver?”) without giving me an explanation to how these questions were going to get me closer to that pen for my accountant.

After I had reached my point of irritation, I quietly told the salesperson “I am here to purchase a pen for my accountant. I am aware of the pricing in this store, and it doesn’t bother me. I would like to purchase a pen that is in the medium price range. That would be anywhere from $400.00 - $600.00. I want to be shown all the pens in this price range so I can make a decision based on my preference, not on pricing. By the way, I don't like the way in which you're treating me, and I really feel like you are not giving me the customer service I deserve.”

The salesperson then abruptly stopped midway through my transaction and asked someone else to help me; no explanation, no apology, no nothing. I then asked to speak to the manager, who then came out and attempted to buy off my complaint by “giving” me a perfume bottle clearly marked “demonstration tester” and a gift card to a coffee shop. I was beyond offended. I did not come into this store to get a “free gift with purchase” nor did I come to make a bargain yet, I was treated as if I were in the middle of the garment district playing “Let’s make a deal.”

Now then, for the record, I am not some Jesse Jackson acolyte who sees racism lurking behind every corner. I am not some person out of work complaining about how "the white man keeps the black man down." I recognize that there is a world of difference between a lynch mob hanging me from a tree and some jerk of a clerk looking down his nose at me because I'm young, pretty, and Black.

I am not saying that racism isn't dying, because it is--finally being smothered to death by character, higher standards, diversity and reason. To be sure, we live in a climate that now allows the consideration of a Hilary Clinton / Barack Obama administration versus a possible Rudy Giuliani / Condoleezza Rice ticket across the aisle. If that isn't progress, then I don't know what is.

What I am saying is that the attitude of this Mont Blanc salesperson and the recent tirades (and subsequent flimsy apologies) by Michael Richards, Don Imus, Vivica A. Fox, Andy Dick, and Mel Gibson reveal that the anachronism of racism is still prevalent. There are those out there who continue to hold to the ancient notions that the amount of melanin in one's skin is somehow relevant to one's wealth or character. Sadly, there are a few more persons still fighting that old, dying, race-based fight; every bit as defeated and futile as the old Japanese soldiers hiding out on islands, still fighting World War II in the '50's.

As an educated Black woman, my initial reaction to this blatant lack of regard by “Mr. Mont Blanc” was sadness, pity, and indignation. Upon reflection, my reaction as a person (regardless of my color or gender) is contempt, with a nice healthy dose of pity thrown in for good measure. I was tempted to dismiss “Mr. Mont Blanc” because of ignorance, but because ignorance is a lack of knowledge, “Mr. Mont Blanc” does not receive the luxury of that excuse.

Since I believe that he had full knowledge of his snobbery and racism, I find that this wasn't ignorance--it was a lack of wisdom. It was unwise because I surely will not be the last to expose this Neanderthal for the troglodyte he is, as well as Mont Blanc for being the paternalistic endorsers of these ideals. There is no more room in America, California, or Los Angeles for this ridiculous and shameful behavior because this very behavior keeps the dying corpse of racism on life support.

I decided to give my accountant the pen along with a copy of this letter. I do not plan to boycott Mont Blanc; I just do not plan to give my money to the boutique in the Beverly Center Mall. Perhaps what they could use now is some diversity training. If not, they stand to lose a lot more business from my fellow college educated “melanin challenged” colleagues.

© 2006-2007 Dawn R. Johnson – “The Self-Esteem Queen”™

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
A celebrated servant-leader, internationally recognized motivational speaker, author, business coach & small business consultant, serial entrepreneur and spoken word artist, Dawn Johnson, the acclaimed “Self Esteem Queen”™, is one of today’s leading experts on transformational leadership, entrepreneur personal development, and self-esteem enhancement. To learn more about Dawn’s products and sign up to receive FREE tips on business, personal enhancement, visit her site at http://www.selfesteemqueen.com.

NOTE: You’re certainly welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as its contents remain unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to dawn@selfesteemqueen.com.