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basicsofislam · 4 years

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ISLAM 101: Muslim Culture and Character: Morals And Manners: Studying and Learning (Part 1)

The basis of acquiring knowledge is reading and studying. The first revelation of God’s Word to Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), the first command of his Prophethood, began with the command, “Read!” This announced a fundamental principle. Let us revisit these verses in Sura Alaq, the first verses of the Qur’an to be revealed:

(1) Read in and with the Name of your Lord, Who has created–

(2) created man from a clot clinging (to the wall of the womb)!

(3) Read, and your Lord is the All-Munificent,

(4) Who has taught (man) by the pen–

(5) taught man what he did not know! (96:1–5)

The first revelation begins with the command to read the miracle of creation through faith in God and knowledge of Him. Then it refers to the creation of human beings, encouraging con- templation on this miraculous occurrence in the second verse. It continues with another directive to “read,” and refers to “the pen,” “teaching/learning” (between God and people), “knowing” and “knowledge.” It is one of God’s great blessings that man, at first an insignificant being, was given knowledge that elevated hu- mankind to the highest level over all other creatures. Being taught not only knowledge, but also the use of the pen, humankind has thus been entrusted with the duty of spreading this knowledge far and wide, using it for development and progress, and preserving it for future generations. If it were not for the revelation of God and the blessings of abilities that are represented by “the pen” and “the book,” humanity could not have accomplished all the achieve- ments that have been constructed on the accumulated wisdom of centuries.

The basic state of humanity was unenlightened until God blessed us, allowing us to grow in knowledge. At every stage knowledge was given as a blessing and the doors of learning were opened by God. That which people thought they themselves had developed, in truth was given to them by their Creator without their realizing it. For this reason, everyone who has some knowl- edge should recognize the true Source of such blessings, praising and turning to the One Who granted them, and employing them in a manner that is pleasing to God. This will ensure that knowl- edge will never separate a person from God or cause them to for- get Him.

Any “knowledge” that distances a person from their Creator is divorced from its basic purpose. It can never be of benefit to peo- ple or make them happy, for it can produce only evil, depression, or destruction. As such knowledge has deviated from the Source of knowledge it has lost its direction and no longer leads to the Path of God. Therefore, it is crucial that someone who attains knowledge not forget, even for a moment, that the power and au- thority the knowledge has brought can be used for right or for wrong, and all persons will be responsible to the Originator of that knowledge for the way it is used.

“Knowledge is power,” or as the Qur’an says, “…whoever is granted the Wisdom has indeed been granted much good” (Baqara 2:269). In this verse, the word al-hikma—often translated as “the Wisdom”—means “beneficial knowledge.” Knowledge that is bene-ficial to people will also elevate the status of the person who knows. The Qur’an also says that those who know God cannot be on the same level with those who do not: “Is he who worships God devoutly in the watches of the night prostrating and standing, who fears the Hereafter and hopesfor the mercy of his Lord (to be likened to that other)? Say: ‘Are they ever equal, those who know and those who do not know?’ Only the people ofdiscernment will reflect on (the distinction between knowledge and ignorance, and obedience to God and disobedience,) and be mindful” (Zumar 39:9). This last verse makes it clear that knowledge must be used together with the ability to reason, drawing particular at- tention to the fact that any knowledge based on knowledge of God is true knowledge and beneficial to those who possess it. In fact, knowledge has a potentially destructive power in the hands of those who do not use their reason, merely acting in sheer ignorance of God. Beyond this basic adab of knowledge, let us now examine the further sayings of Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be up- on him, on this topic.

At every opportunity, the Prophet drew attention to the im- portance of knowledge. One day he said to Abu Dharr, “O Abu Dharr, if you leave your home in the morning to go out to learn a verse of the Qur’an, this holds more blessings for you than per- forming a hundred rakats of supererogatory prayer. And if you leave your home in the morning to go out to acquire knowledge, this holds more benefit for you than performing a thousandrakats of supererogatory prayer.”1 In another hadith God’s Messenger said, “When God wills blessings for someone, He makes them knowledgeable in religion.”2

Moreover, keeping knowledge from people, unless one is forced to by circumstances, is not a desirable act. This was made clear by the Prophet, who said, “If someone is asked to share their knowledge but they hide it and do not speak, they will be bridled with a bridle of fire (on the Judgment Day).”3

The Prophet also made it known that spiritual knowledge, which puts a person on the right path and leads to righteousness, is more valuable than the greatest worldly treasures: “By God, it is better for you that God should give guidance to a single person on the right path through you than that you should acquire a whole herd of red camels.”4 At this time, red camels were very precious, and a person who owned such a camel was rich; extremely few people owned an entire herd of red camels. This comparison, therefore, clearly shows the value of knowledge that leads to good, and of leading others to good.

Yazid ibn Balama once asked, “O Messenger of God! I have memorized many of your sayings. But I am afraid that those I memorize later will make me forget those I memorized earlier. Tell me a word that will help me retain all the things I have learned without forgetting the others!” The Prophet replied, “Stay upright before God in what you have learned (and that is enough for you)!”5

One of the most esteemed Companions of the Prophet, Ibn Abbas, gave the following advice: “Tell people one hadith per week. If this does not seem enough, recount two or three. And never cause people to become bored with the Qur’an! When peo- ple are talking amongst themselves, never let me see you walk up and interrupt them to teach them something. When they are speaking, be quiet and listen. If they come to you and ask you to talk, then you should teach them on their request.”6

In addition to choosing the appropriate time, it is also impor- tant when teaching ethical principles or religious knowledge to choose a level that can be understood by one’s audience. Some people try to appear knowledgeable by using a style and manner which is not clear or understandable. This is wrong, as it goes against the proper manners of speaking to people in a way that makes sense to them. No less a person than Ali ibn Abu Talib said, “Tell people things they can understand. Do you want to be re- sponsible for making God and His Messenger misunderstood?”7 He meant that plain and clear speech should be used, especially when speaking of spiritual matters. Ibn Mas’ud also said, “If you say something to a gathering which is above their intellectual ca- pacity, it will certainly lead some of them into mischief.”8

Someone who lives an exemplary life and tries to please God by teaching other people and sharing knowledge is on the Path of God, and God is indeed pleased by such a person. Kathir ibn Qays explains, “I was in the Mosque at Damascus sitting beside Abu al- Darda. A man came and said, ‘O Abu al-Darda, I came from the Prophet’s city of Medina to ask about a hadith that I have heard you are relating.’ Abu al-Darda, in order to find out whether this was really the man’s intention, asked, ‘Could you also have come to do business (trade)?’ ‘No,’ he answered, ‘I did not come to do any such thing.’ He asked again, ‘So you did not come for any- thing else other than to hear a hadith?’ The man replied, ‘No, I came only because I heard that you know hadith.’ Only when he had established that the man had truly come to win God’s pleasure did Abu al-Darda say, ‘I heard the Prophet of God say, “God will make the path to Heaven easy to anyone who takes to the road looking for knowledge. Angels lower their wings over the seeker of knowledge, being pleased with what he does. All the creatures in the earth and sky, even the fish in the sea, pray for God’s help and forgiveness for those who acquire knowledge. The superiority of the scholar over the worshipper is like the superiority of the moon over the stars (i.e., in brightness). Scholars are the heirs to the Prophets. For the Prophets left neither dinar nor dirham (units of money) but knowledge as their inheritance. Therefore he who acquires knowledge has in fact acquired an abundant portion.”’”9

The following points can be deduced from the hadith:

Any effort or endeavor that is expended on acquiring knowledge is counted as effort or struggle made on God’s way, and this leads a person to Paradise. To put it simply, the path of knowledge is the path to Heaven; what a beautiful path it is. The angels come to the aid of one who is on this path, and all creation offers prayers for them.

The difference between the scholar and the follower is like the difference between the moon and stars, for knowledge is a light that illuminates a person’s whole surroundings and the community of the knowledgeable person. It shows the right path to everyone. However, a person who sim- ply follows, even if they perform a great deal of super- erogatory worship, does not benefit others in the same way. Their worship benefits only themselves. Those who choose knowledge, on the other hand, bring blessings down upon themselves and all those around them.

Scholars are the heirs to the Prophets; the only thing the Prophets left as an inheritance was knowledge. When schol- ars choose the path of learning and the pursuit of knowl- edge, they win the honor of inheriting the legacy of the Prophets. One of the Prophet’s Companions, Abu Hurayra, was almost always at the Prophet’s side. He would listen to all the Prophet’s teachings, carefully memorizing his say- ings. One day in Medina, he spoke aloud to the people milling about on the street: “The Prophet’s inheritance is being divided up; why are you wasting time here? Go and claim your share!” The people said, “Where is it being dis- tributed?” Abu Hurayra said, “In the mosque.” So they ran to the mosque. But soon they turned around and came back, and Abu Hurayra asked, “What’s happened?” They said, “We went to the mosque, but we did not see anything like what you said being distributed.” So he asked, “Was there no one in the mosque?” They answered, “Yes, we saw some people; some of them were praying salat, some were reading the Qur’an, and some were talking about the per- missible and the prohibited.” Hearing this, Abu Hurayra told them, “Shame on you. That was the Prophet’s inheritance.”10

The Qur’an mentions the adab of sitting in the gatherings where a scholar or spiritual guide is teaching to increase one’s faith and knowledge:

O you who believe! When you are told, “Make room in the assemblies (for one another and for new comers),” do make room. God will make room for you (in His grace and Paradise). And when you are told, “Rise up (and leave the assembly),” then do rise up. God will raise (in degree) those of you who truly believe (and act accordingly), and in degrees those who have been granted the knowledge (especially of religious matters). Surely God is fully aware of all that you do. (Mujadila 58:11)

When knowledge, which leads one to greater piety and a bet- ter religious life, and allows others to benefit, is added to faith, God will exalt its owner by many ranks. God commanded the Prophet, “(O Muhammad,) Say, ‘O my Lord, increase me in knowl- edge!’” (TaHa 20:114).

In full submission to this Divine order, the Prophet prayed, “O God, make the knowledge You have taught me benefit me, and continue to teach me knowledge that will benefit me. Increase me in knowledge. God be praised at all times.”11 This prayer in which Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, asks God to make his knowledge beneficial to him is also complement- ed by another prayer in which he sought refuge in God from knowledge that would not prove beneficial.

Why do humans learn? Why should knowledgeable people be so highly regarded above all others? The answer to these questions can be found in the Qur’an: “Of all His servants, only those possessed of true knowledge stand in awe of God…” (Fatir 35:28). So it can be said that one reason for this is that scholars make it possible for others to know God better and to better understand the message of the Prophets of God.

God’s Messenger taught that it was worthwhile to envy two things. One of these is when someone takes the possessions God has bestowed on them and spends them in the way of God. The other is when someone blessed with knowledge and wisdom becomes a teacher and shares that wisdom with others.12 This means that when one acquires knowledge, one should then teach it to others; it is not wrong to “envy” (desire to be like) a person who does this.

The Prophet said the following regarding studying, literacy, education, making our knowledge a source of good for others, and educating others: “It is incumbent upon all Muslims to acquire knowledge.”13 As we can see, studying and learning are of critical importance in Islam. These hadith confirm the Prophet’s teaching,

“Knowledge and wisdom are the common property of every be- liever; wherever they are found, they should be acquired.”14

The technology we have today is without a doubt the product of knowledge. It is easy to understand, looking from the perspec- tive of the heights of knowledge, from the science and technology that have been achieved in the modern world, why Islam empha- sizes knowledge and education so strongly. Is it possible to ignore its importance when we are surrounded by all the useful fruits and products of intellectual inquiry? Certainly we must listen well to the teachings of Islam on this matter and show greater concern for educating the next generation if we are to solve some of the cur- rent harmful trends. Instead of leaving them material possessions, we should spend our money to make sure they receive opportuni- ties to become truly “rich” in knowledge. Ali ibn Abu Talib said, “Someone who has money will have to protect it, whereas a person who has knowledge will be protected by it. Knowledge is a king; possessions are captives. And when possessions are spent they di- minish, while knowledge increases when shared.”15 Highlighting the excellence of knowledge Prophet Muhammad, peace and bless- ings be upon him, said, “Be of those who teach or those who learn, those who listen, or those who love knowledge. If you are not in at least one of these groups, you are headed for destruction.”16

The adab of learning applies not only to those who are teach- ing and learning religious studies but all types of useful knowl- edge. Here we give some details for our younger brothers and sis- ters who are students, regarding the adab of learning to add to what has been quoted above:

If at first you don’t succeed do not lose heart.

Classes should be entered with a mind that is prepared and willing.

Listen to a teacher with your spiritual ears.

When you don’t understand something, always ask.

Try to make friends with successful students and get tips from them.

Always plan and organize your time.

Always try to be the best.

Don’t go on to something else until you have understood what you are working on.

If what you are studying is practically applicable, learn it through application.

Do not maintain ties with people who discourage you from learning or dislike your studying.

Be respectful and humble towards your teachers.

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404botnotfound · 5 years

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Deliverance [2]

Careful when you’re swimming in the holy water.

SERIES: Far Cry 5 WORD COUNT: 7,557 SHIP: Quinn/John Seed CHARACTERS: quinn leonis, john seed, eli palmer, wheaty, jacob seed

HERE TAKE THIS IM SICK OF LOOKING AT IT

It had never been apparent to her just how debilitating losing her sense of time’s passage could be until now.

She imagines it’s been weeks since she’d fled the Whitetail Mountains, but between the lack of sunlight and the hours that crept by so slowly they felt like days instead she had no idea how much time she’d been stuck here in the cell she’d been thrown in after the baptism John had performed on her.

Part of her still found that amusing. She’d been raised Catholic (her mother’s insistence, not her father’s), and that meant she’d effectively been baptized twice. It’s not technically unusual and she knows people sometimes chose to have another, but it wasn’t something she would have ever chosen herself—she hadn’t been any semblance of religious since her pre-teens.

A breath is huffed out as she lowers herself on bent arms, chest almost brushing the ground before she pushes herself back up again.

For the first time since escaping Jacob’s clutches Quinn can feel herself regaining the strength and good health she’d had before her initial capture in the mountains. Being stuck in a cage once again was hardly a great feeling (dehumanizing, at best) but unlike his older brother John seemed to actually give somewhat of a damn about keeping her healthy. It was probably some kind of manipulation tactic, but she could hardly complain about not starving and having a cot to sleep on rather than the ground.

Whether or not that applied to his other prisoners, she wasn’t sure.

It was slow going and she knows she won’t be back to peak health for a while, but she was on her way and that was good enough for her. The degrading health had been the worst aspect of her time with Jacob—not the starvation itself or the deplorable conditions they were all kept in or even the mind-fuckery, but the fact that she could feel herself weakening with every day that passed.

His methods hadn’t made any sense to her while there; what was the point of trying to train soldiers when you were keeping them too weak to so much as throw a halfway decent punch?

She’d gotten John to clarify it a bit after she’d discovered that once he’d found out she gave as good as she got in wordplay he could be sufficiently distracted from pulling her metaphorical—hopefully metaphorical—teeth.

(maybe she’d batted her eyelashes a few times and maybe Jacob’s demeaning question of if she abused flirting to get her way all the time drifted into her head whenever she did, maybe Jacob Seed could go fuck himself)

Jacob’s game was deprivation of sustenance and rest, keeping the ‘trainees’ weak and demoralized until they were physically and mentally pliable enough to push and twist in the direction he wanted. Classical conditioning. Pure psychological warfare confirmed.

There wasn’t any comfort in having her suspicions validated; it had almost made her less comforted when she again heard a faint echo of come home, kitten whisper through her mind like a passing breeze.

The cat and mouse games her and John had started up from the moment he first strapped her to the chair in his workshop was something she hadn’t expected to get away with, but he’d actually seemed to enjoy it—at least in the beginning. His patience for it had begun to wear thin, if his increased threats and agitation as the days passed were anything to go by.

Though she managed to dig a few more things out of him during their ‘sessions’, he was talented at swerving around questions and idle comments that would have given her something to actually work with; in itself, that was telling. He’d probably been in a white-collar profession judging by the well-kempt appearance and intelligence, but that assumption had a wrench thrown in it every time he slipped and let the monster of Wrath loose.

Jacob had been easier to read even considering the cool and distant demeanor. Posture and vernacular said military career, careful speech patterns spoke of both intelligence and pointed restraint, and Darwinian beliefs combined with the classical conditioning he was employing meant he was well-read and clever.

John, on the other hand, switched gears so frequently and with such ease that whenever she thought she had a grasp on him it slipped through her fingers. All she knew about him was that she didn’t know a Goddamn thing about him. One minute he played the calm, considerate man of God and the next he was the embodiment of rage and hate, another he was charismatic and likeable, and the next he was a grotesque caricature of a human being.

They had to have been masks, but the question of which one was the true John Seed remained. Were they just techniques to bend people the way he wanted them to bend, simply more subtle than the closed-fist punch of Jacob’s? A way to drag out the answers he wanted to hear from the people he brought into what amounted to a torture room?

Whatever it was, it was effective—some days she’d seen him pry a confession out of a begging victim before he’d even begun to cut and carve into them.

If she thought about it long enough those confessions actually seemed to aggravate him and she couldn’t put a finger on why, since it was confessions he was after in the first place.

The sadism combined with the chameleon nature of his personality made it easy to ignore the stories of his childhood that she overheard him impart to his victims (and to her, once) as well as the sympathy they dredged up in her, but there was something raw to his anger every time the people he interrogated refused to play by his rules. He would insist that he was trying to help them, that he could free them from the bonds of lies and sin, and why were they fighting that freedom?

Psychotic behavior at its finest, but how much of that was true disposition, and how much of it was a direct result of upbringing, provided those horrific stories were true?

A grunt of exertion leaves her mouth with another push-up; she needs to stop psychoanalyzing the bastard, she knew, but there wasn’t really much else for her to do while she was stuck here waiting for her turns in that chair.

Humming and singing tunes when she was left alone with the rusty smell of blood and phantom screams seeping from the walls around her was her only other pastime aside from trying to pick apart the brain of a madman like she’d been trained to do back at Quantico. Sleeping too much just gave her headaches, and though exercising to the best of her ability gave her something to do it really didn’t do much to stop her from thinking and thinking and overthinking.

Maybe the Rolling Stones had it right, she muses, a strained hum of a familiar tune about sympathizing with the devil leaving her mouth as she continues her routine.

At least she was getting practical experience she could boast about if—when—she got the chance to appeal for her badge.

She wonders if Stevie was having any more luck with figuring out how to stop the Seeds while she counted out her repetitions; so far, she’d had no luck staying away from the bastards long enough to even breathe.

Pausing with her body flat to the ground as the unmistakable, skin-prickling sensation of being watched hits her, she purses her lips.

Wordlessly she resumes, not happy with the burn she was beginning to feel telling her she wasn’t going to be able to do much more. Her captivity with Jacob had taken more out of her than she had realized. “What is it with you boys and staring? It’s fucking rude.”

Sure enough, the voice that responds is exactly the one she expects, preceded first by a disapproving tsk. “That Pride of yours again. Hadn’t you thought that, maybe, I was just waiting for you to finish?”

“I know the feeling of eyes on my back, John.” She replies, her next push-up more strained and slow than the rest; she was shaking with the effort now. “I also know the feeling of eyes on my ass.” With a heavy sigh she pushes herself up to her feet to stretch, lamenting that she’d barely counted half of what she’d been capable of before coming to Hope County.

Baby steps.

John scoffs at the accusation as he crosses the floor towards her. “Every day you make me more certain of the sin my brother suggested you suffered from.”

“Oh, I’m not suffering from it.” Her back pops nicely when she stretches upward as best as she can with the low ceiling of her cell. “You seem to be taking a hell of a lot longer to commit to mine than any of the other victims of your insanity here. Why the delay in mutilating me?”

Not that she wants it—fuck, it’s the last thing she wants.

“Because you have to willingly acknowledge it. You have to want to atone for your sin. You have to say yes.” He says, and she lifts an eyebrow at his failure to deny the mutilation comment. Considering his convictions—otherwise decent—she’d have expected him to defend his methods.

Her shoulder begins to ache, aggravated by her exercising in spite of the injury he’d given her by tipping the chair she’d been bound to over in a rage. She rolls it, folds her arms over her chest, and then in a completely deadpan voice says: “No.”

The change is immediate; he steps closer to her cell, fury in every hard line of his body.

She goes rigid. It’s a miracle she manages to not step away in reflex, but her knuckles go white where they grip her upper arms and she has to swallow the sudden stone in her throat.

John was nowhere near as physically imposing as Jacob was but his unpredictability made him every bit as dangerous—not that her constant and conscious attempts to provoke him were doing her any favors in that regard. Stop playing with fire, Quinn.

Their tense staring contest is broken by him first, and she watches as he storms over to the workbench she’d grown painfully familiar with in the last few days as he lost patience for her glib attitude and games. With an angry roar he places his hands on the edge of the bench and shoves, tipping it over and sending it crashing to the floor. All the tools stacked and lined up on its surface clatter to the ground and either roll or bounce away.

Her eyes are wide as she stares at the workbench. Silently she scratches out her previous mental assessment of his physical capability; clearly, his lean frame was deceptive.

Then a quiet ting near her feet catches her attention and she looks down, blinking at the sight of a thin screwdriver that had rolled from the bench and bumped into the bars of her cell. Adrenaline pulses through her veins at the sight and she quickly lifts her eyes back to John, schooling her features and praying he wouldn’t notice it lying there. Please, for once, let my luck turn out in my favor.

He doesn’t turn away from the workbench immediately, but once he’s apparently collected himself he returns to her, smile all teeth. “This could be so much easier if you just bared your Pride and let me free you from it.” He hisses.

“I already told you,” she says carefully, licking her lips and not missing the way his expression flickers and eyes follow the motion, “I’m not interested in being saved and I’m definitely not interested in baring myself to you.”

Wait—fuck.

She wastes half a second hoping he didn’t notice the accidental entendre, but the way his fury is fully doused and replaced by a heat of a different kind has her swearing a blue streak internally. He leans forward, hands on the bars of her cell and expression now an open leer. “My, my, Agent, where did your mind go just now?”

Oh, no, he was not going to stick her with the Scarlet fucking Letter. “Get bent you son of a bitch.”

“And Wrath makes an appearance as well! My dear, you must have a lot to own up to that’s just aching to come out.” He laughs, and her skin prickles. “I could help you with that. You just. Have to. Say. Yes.”

Christ, he’d circled through about half a dozen personalities and attitudes within the span of just five minutes—whether she’d been napping in the dirt and starving or not, she was starting to miss Jacob. At least he was consistent.

Her mouth opens, scathing comment ready to go, but before she can get the words out there’s a hiss of loud static from the two-way attached to his belt. “John. You there?” Gooseflesh ripples over her skin and she shivers, recognizing Jacob’s voice and trying not to wonder what the odds were that he’d contact John right after she’d thought about him.

The smile on John’s face drops and his jaw ticks; without breaking eye contact he reaches for the radio and clicks the receiver. “I’m busy, brother.”

“Stop being busy.” Jacob says, and Quinn has to chew on her lip to keep the mild laughter that bubbles in her throat from the flat disregard in his voice. “You’ve got a problem heading in your direction.”

A lightness settles in her chest at Jacob’s words that she fights to keep from showing; the only real problem the Cult had been dealing with in recent events, so far as what she’d heard from Eli and the Whitetails, was one determined as hell and very pissed off Stevie Brewin, who had in just two months managed to light a fire under the local Resistance’s ass.

John stares at her for a long moment before finally stepping back, pointing at her with the antenna of the radio and smiling easily. “I have business to take care of, it seems—don’t go anywhere. I’ll be right back.”

She says nothing, watching him with sharp eyes while he leers at her and hoping that karma would smack him in the face in the form of tripping over one of the tools he’d sent scattered across the floor while walking backwards. When he finally turns away, unfortunately skipping the delightful opportunity for schadenfreude, she listens to his footsteps fade away as he disappears down a stairwell beyond a grated dividing wall.

There was no way for her to tell if he’d just been fucking with her by saying he’d return, but either way she was going to be balancing a fine line here. If she waited too long, she risked running into him on his way back, and if she didn’t wait long enough she risked running into him before he’d even really left.

She won’t let herself consider he wasn’t planning on going far at all and she’d have nowhere to slip past him anyway.

Tense as a board she counts out two minutes before scrambling for the fallen screwdriver at the foot of her cell and then setting to work on forcing the lock on the door open. It’s a long shot, but in a relieving upturn of her luck it works.

Resisting the urge to toss the tool away and just book it, she instead slowly slides the door open and gently sets it aside. There’s a knife on the floor ahead of her, tossed along with all of John’s other tools, and she quickly snatches it up. There was one other door in the room opposite the direction he’d left in, but it’s locked fast and requires some kind of key—one that John probably kept on his person rather than floating around.

Unhappy about it, she turns and follows after John.

The landing at the bottom of the stairs leads to an industrial room like his workshop, this one packed with crates and shelves of stored tools and supplies. All of it was stark and military in appearance, an orderly form of chaos, adding to her confusion as to where in the hell she was; this hardly seemed like the kind of place a man like John with his fancy shirts and designer shades would willingly spend time in.

It sort of made sense considering his clear and disturbing fondness for torture, but that left the supplies—she doubted he needed so many just for getting his rocks off by cutting a few people open. Her gut feeling said that, no, this place had nothing to do with John’s extracurricular activities.

There’s an open door up ahead, blocked by a cultist looking out into the hall beyond; she waits, watching and hoping she didn’t plan on standing there until John returned. Luckily, she turns around and Quinn quickly doubles back, ducking under a shelf at a near-crawl and bypassing the unaware cultist entirely.

Exposed pipes, stark metal, and solid concrete walls that almost reminded her of manufacturing facilities and laboratories, hoses and power wires crisscrossing the floors, and a few open pipes large enough for her to crouch and move through to dodge more cultists all became familiar sights to her as she moves through the facility quietly and unseen.

A lot of the Peggies were working, packing away boxes and taking inventory of their contents, moving equipment into different rooms and occasionally stopping to gossip about their boss. Much as she’d like to stop and snoop, she wasn’t about to risk her chance at getting free. Learning about the Seeds wasn’t at all worth getting found out and either shot full of holes or dragged back to John’s workshop. She’d already pushed him far enough, and that would just give him an excuse to get even more aggressive in forcing a confession out of her.

What gives her heavy pause and leaves her with an ill feeling in her stomach is the sight of repurposed sections of hallways, blocked by metal gates, with groups of shaking people huddled with in. If she weren’t a lone woman armed with nothing but a knife and her wits and had some idea of where she was going, she could take the time to try and free them.

Her stomach twists as she does, but she ignores them all and continues moving, careful to stick to the shadows as she moves up a flight of stairs and filing away a growing suspicion that whatever this place was, it had something to do with the Collapse the Cult seemed so obsessed with.

Sneaking around Jacob’s operations up in the mountains with Jess had served her well—save for a few close calls where one of the cultists catch a glimpse of something skulking around she manages to avoid confrontation through a dozen rooms and up another flight of stairs without much struggle.

Any of them that did happen to spot her moving around in the shadows just mumble something about too much Bliss before simply returning to work. Apparently the Cult’s best brainwashing weapon was also a double-edged sword.

As she passes another doorway a familiar voice catches her attention and she pauses; ultimately it’s the sight of the bow and quiver she’d nicked from one of Jacob’s hunters in the room beyond that alters her path into the room. It’s empty save for a few pipes stretching from the floor to the ceiling in one corner and a workbench up against the wall, next to which sat her recurve and quiver.

Her radio is nowhere to be found, but that doesn’t surprise her.

She carefully slinks past an open doorway with a soft glow lighting the floor from within and quietly slings both her bow and quiver over her back.

The she refocuses on the voice, John’s smooth tone coming from the room she’d just passed by and now returns to, hiding just beyond the frame and peeking inside. His back is to her as he leans over a desk in the center of the room, a single desk lamp illuminating whatever it was he was staring at and throwing enough ambient light for her to see what looked like a facility map taped up between the rows of obsolete screens and computers lining the walls.

Some kind of security hub, maybe, but all she cares about is the map and it’s what she focuses on with intent as she listens in on him.

“—is why Joseph is so insistent these two need to be converted to our cause, or why they should be important to us at all. We’re expending a lot of effort and people trying and all the while they’re helping the Resistance undermine our efforts.” She’d missed the first half of his statement, but she frowns at the half she does hear.

Joseph wanted her and Stevie to be part of the Project? Well that had a snowball’s chance in hell of happening—Quinn would sooner stab herself in the eye, and she knows Stevie well enough to know they’d be in agreement on that front.

“It doesn’t matter. You know how he gets when the Voice is involved.” Jacob says, clear disinterest in his voice even through the wash of static that distorts it. That catches her interest, however—did Jacob not actually believe in Joseph’s overarching goal for the Project?

It was far beyond a long shot, but she wonders what the possibility was they could convert him.

John lets out a scoff. “Your lack of faith in Joseph’s gift never ceases to astound me, Jacob.”

“You’re the one asking why.” Ever the dutiful soldier, it seemed, if Joseph gave the order and Jacob followed whether he believed or not. “The Deputy’ll reach the south gatehouse in the next few hours unless she deviates.”

“Hours? I thought you said your hunters last saw her by the ranger station?”

“Apparently she knows how to hotwire.”

Damn. Quinn makes a note to ask Stevie to teach her that trick; spending three days dodging Jacob’s hunters on foot just to reach another section of the County had been the exact opposite of fun.

Speaking of—

She stands from where she’d been crouched by the doorway and lets out a sharp whistle just as John presses the receiver on the radio. He whirls around and she grins at the look of bewilderment on his face. “Hey, you mind pointing me in the direction of the restroom? I think I’m a bit lost.”

This was so fucking stupid, but totally, one-hundred-percent worth watching the gears in his head struggle to get back up to speed.

The second his expression turns some mixture of impressed and wickedly amused she shoots him a cheeky two-fingered salute and then turns and bolts, a wild smile on her face as she goes. He gives chase immediately, heavy footfalls following after her as the industrial architecture of the facility blurs around her.

She jukes around cultists on her way through, following the map to the best of her memory and hoping she’d gotten a long enough look to be heading for the entrance; they all shout in alarm as she passes, silenced shortly after by loud thumps and crashing that tells her John wasn’t bothering to be nearly as careful as he followed her.

He was taller than her and had longer strides, but even with her diminished health and knowing she was on an endurance clock that would’ve made her instructors cry, she was faster and had freerunning—one of her hobbies—on her side.

The distance between them begins to grow, and he seems to realize he was losing ground. “You’re only making this more difficult, my dear!”

“Difficult for who? You sound out of breath!” She calls back, darting through a doorway and nearly running over another Peggie; they were starting to look more urgent, and that meant the ones they’d already passed had radioed ahead. Things were about to get more difficult.

Without slowing she jumps directly for the solid wall that greets her past the open doorway and plants a foot on it, pushing off at an angle and taking the sharp turn without losing speed.

“I will catch you!” He yells. She’d expected him to sound angry or frustrated, but instead he just sounded invigorated. He was having fun.

Her intent had been to piss him off and the fact she’d misjudged and failed spectacularly should have frustrated her.

It didn’t. She was having fun, too.

A doorway halfway down the hall up ahead would take her to the facility exit if her memory served her well, but she’s forced to skid to a complete halt to make the turn with no wall to bounce off of. Even with the immediate push forward she still feels a rush of air just behind her as John misses her by inches.

Alright, so he was bad at cornering but really good at open sprints. Noted.

Through the doorway she sees a large room littered with stacks of more crates and boxes, and the sheer size of whatever operation this was suddenly occurs to her; they were really digging in for something, and Quinn wonders where the line blurred between paranoia and preparation.

Two Peggies are startled at her sudden appearance, both standing on opposite sides of a stack of crates half her height.

John yells for them to grab her and the two step forward to intercept, ready for her to try and dodge around—instead, she leaps directly for the stack of crates, slapping her hands down onto the surface and expertly vaulting right between them.

Maneuvering around the rest of the room slows her down, but when she breaks through the organized chaos into the open landing, only one cultist between her and a stairwell that would lead her to freedom, she’s still moving fast.

Fast enough for her to drop her shoulder and body slam the cultist into the wall near the stairs. He collapses, wheezing and nearly dragging her down with a desperate grab for her shoulders but she skips back, spinning and taking the stairs two at a time.

Her lungs were starting to burn uncomfortably. Just a bit further, she reminds herself.

Footsteps echo after her up the stairs, and those four simple words become a mantra.

When she reaches the final landing of the absurdly tall stairwell—no windows, industrial, tons of bulkheads, were they underground?—she sequesters the bud of victory that starts to form in her chest. A false sense of security would be her worst enemy when this would be the most dangerous stretch of her escape.

Brilliant sunlight nearly blinds her as she bursts through a final bulkhead, thick metal door ahead of her ajar and beckoning her forward.

She nearly tumbles right over the edge of the raised landing outside the door, forced to quickly redirect and move for a ramp that led down to the flat, open ground of the yard in front of her. It’s a loading bay, littered with even more scattered supplies and a semi-trailer parked back up against the raised landing. A trio of white pickups were lined up ahead with their sides facing her.

She could risk checking for keys in the trucks, but she’d already gone beyond pushing her luck by taunting John rather than fleeing silently and without attracting attention. If her dad were here, he’d definitely be giving her one hell of a disappointed stare for the impulsive decision.

“There! She’s there!”

“Don’t shoot her, the Father wants her alive!”

“Aim for her legs!”

Not only did that sound hellishly unpleasant, one good shot to her legs would put her right back at square one, incapacitated and ready to be dragged back down into the depths and right back into John’s hands.

She glances around, noting the wire fence penning in the area, the opening flanked by gatehouses up ahead, and the trio of heavily-armored cultists blocking the exit—and her eyes settle on the line of trucks.

Alright, so this wasn’t her most brilliant of ideas, ever, but it was better than making a fool of herself by getting all the way to the end of the line only to have nowhere to run.

The first shot rings out across the yard and spurs her forward.

A stack of crates unloaded next to the nearest truck is used as a springboard to launch her up onto the wall of the truckbed, and from there she hops up onto the cab and then across each of the trucks with the thought in her head that Frogger was a hell of a lot less fun than she remembered.

“What the fuck is she doing?”

“Go! Go around!”

When she reaches the third truck she braces herself and then leaps, clearing the barbed wire topping the yard fence by scant inches. Her heart drifts into her throat as the freefall grips at her, the sound of more gunfire breaking the silence of the surrounding forest and sending nearby flocks of birds into panicked flight.

Pain flares up her leg as she lands, the force of her fall sending her sprawling; a noise of pain leaves her, but she forces herself back to her feet and keeps running, pouring every ounce of speed into her burning limbs and ignoring her tiring lungs.

One of the cultist’s bullets finds its mark and she stumbles as fire erupts in her arm, more pain that through sheer force of will is ignored in favor of running. It’s not a bliss bullet, or she wouldn’t have made it to the trees—the only dizziness she feels is purely the result of a tiring body begging her to slow down and stop.

She’s pursued into the woods, frantic shouts and barked orders and gunfire that causes her to instinctively duck as she runs as quickly as she dares down a slope following after her. The forest thickens as she goes, giving her more cover as she ducks in and around trees and bushes as often as possible.

After what felt like an eternity the sounds of pursuit leave her behind, fading farther and farther back until she feels comfortable enough to duck and hide under a rocky outcropping in the sloped landscape; the shade does little to ease the inferno in her blood from so much exertion and sweat drips down the side of her face.

It’s a struggle to calm her breathing as she waits, hating the way her tired limbs start to shake.

Five minutes pass. Distant but still too-close-for-comfort shouts from John’s followers reach her ears. Their hair raising calls of “come out, little girl!” and “play nice and we will!” do nothing to assist in calming her.

Ten minutes. Footsteps crunch in the underbrush on sticks and dry leaves nearby. None approach.

Fifteen.

“She’s gone.”

“Damnit. I’m not telling him.”

“Quit complaining. All of you head back, I’m checking ahead.”

The other voices drift off along with the groups of footsteps she’d been hearing until only one is left; her body is starting to shake more with the adrenaline fading and it’s a struggle to keep upright as she listens with bated breath.

The steps drift towards her hiding spot. Her eyes narrow.

With her body so unsteady she has no idea if she’ll be able to accomplish what she needs to if she’s found, but she steels herself for it anyway. The bow would make too much noise if she tried to slide it off her back in the quiet woods, so she instead reaches for the knife she’d tucked under her belt back in the bunker.

She holds completely still, keeping her breathing as even and quiet as she possibly can when a pair of booted feet enter her vision to the left of the rocky outcropping.

What she assumes is one of John’s Chosen steps fully into her sight, passing her completely without even bothering to check behind the outcropping. Fucking idiot. He stands there scanning the area; her knuckles are white where they grip the knife.

When he does finally turn around his gaze settles on her with a startled expression; she springs forward with a snarl, jamming her knife into his throat before he can lift the gun in his hands, surprising both him and herself for two very different reasons. His eyes widen and the gun drops from his hands, clattering to the loose dirt and leaves between them, one of his hands fisting in her hair in dying fury and yanking.

A yelp of pain leaves her and her fingers slip from the knife when his other hand snaps around her throat—a single painful squeeze is all he can manage before his grip on her slackens and gaze goes distant, her hair and her throat both released as he collapses to the ground on his back in a twitching heap.

She stumbles back on unsteady feet, falling back onto her ass and watching with something she can only describe in the moment as horror while he grasps furiously at the blade in his throat until his movements slow and eventually stop, blood still leaking around the sharp edge of the weapon and bubbling in his throat.

Nausea rises in her own and she sucks in a sharp breath, pressing her lips together tightly to keep herself from retching at the sight of the still body and glassy eyes laid out in front of her.

She’d wanted to be an FBI agent since she was a teenager—still did. She’d known from the beginning that there was a more than high possibility that her choice of field would lead to her having to kill someone at some point, but she hadn’t ever expected it to be like this. Not even when the stories Eli had told her gave her an idea of what Jacob might have been trying to do with her, not even when she’d been up in the mountains helping the Whitetails—that had been at a distance, cold and impersonal. It still made her sick at first, but it had been getting easier to deal with.

Suddenly, that decent ease she’d begun to grow with killing meant absolutely nothing, and she felt like she’d just made her first kill again. This was up close, she’d been near enough to see the life leave the man’s eyes, and she decides immediately that she does not fucking like it.

Worse was knowing that, sooner or later, she was going to have to get used to this as well. She’d been lucky up in the mountains and had a partner watching her back, both of them taking enemies down at a distance.

This wasn’t going to be the only time she was going to be on her own and at risk.

Swallowing, she gathers her wits and stands, moving forward with palpable hesitation and reaching down to grasp the handle; her shoulder flares with pain as she pulls it out with a sickening, wet noise. More bile rises in her throat at the immediate gush of more blood from the wound without something blocking it.

Pulling arrows from corpses was no different. It wasn’t, but no matter how many times it runs through her head her skin still crawls.

It’s only knowing that the longer she sticks around the likelier it is she’ll be found and that she was up shit creek without the metaphorical paddle—paddle being supplies—that gives her the constitution to search the body for anything she can use. She has to avoid looking at the man’s face in order to do so.

A pair of throwing knives are both tucked into her boots. Nothing in the way of food or water are on his person, but she’s not surprised considering she’d caught them all of guard.

It was still worrying. She was who knew how many miles from any semblance of civilization, and between the marathon she’d just run and the bullet wound on her arm she risked dehydration at least.

Hell, she’d be lucky if she could make it anywhere between the wound and the ache in her ankle that was more prominent in her mind without the adrenaline and urgency keeping her focus elsewhere, and that wasn’t taking into account the exhaustion that was going to settle over her quickly now.

There’s a radio clipped to his belt, and having decided that she’s not going to find anything else truly useful, she snatches it off him with quick fingers and steps away. Her eyes drift around as she tries to get her bearings and decide a direction to go; if she keeps lingering, it was tantamount to her just turning around and walking right back into John’s hands.

And she didn’t go through all this for nothing.

She lingers long enough to rip a strip of fabric from the bottom of her shirt and tie a makeshift tourniquet around her bicep just above the bullet wound, and ultimately she decides to simply follow the ravine she’s in downhill. Ravines meant water erosion, and if she was lucky she would wander across a body of water at some point. The question was whether or not she’d get to one before passing out.

After an hour of walking, her ankle slowly paining her more and more, she was struggling to motivate herself to keep going rather than finding a bush to just lay down and rest. Despite the tourniquet there’s a slow trickle of blood that’s doing her no favors, either.

Come home. Come home. Come home.

She hesitates, staring with blurry, blinking eyes up at the bridge spanning the gap of the ravine fifty feet above her. The sun was starting to set and more than the exhaustion itself—or maybe a direct result of it—the thought kept creeping into her head. Come home. Jacob’s voice was like a ghostly whisper in her ear and she sways with indecision.

She sure as fuck wouldn’t be able to make it back to the Veteran’s Center from here, but maybe if she went back to John—

Holy fucking shit.

Her head shakes rapidly to break the thoughts in her head, a shaky breathe leaving her and the motion making her even dizzier. Jesus, Tammy had been right. He gets into your head, she had told her, venomous and warning, there’s no avoiding it. No matter how long you’re with him. He gets into your head.

The knowledge that within three weeks he’d been able to plant control into her brain leaves her disturbed. What would he have been able to accomplish if she’d been there longer?

She’s too tired to be ashamed of the startled yelp that leaves her when a voice crackles through static on the radio clipped to her belt. “Brayden, do you copy?” It’s not John, just another of the Peggies.

Her fingers grasp the radio and unclip it, and she wars with the same thoughts—come home come home come home—as she stares at it and debates on responding. She could be a petty little shit and taunt them, but she has no idea how far she’d actually managed to get away from John’s bunker and she didn’t want to give them the idea that she was still nearby.

The voice that wasn’t her own told her that was exactly what she wanted to do.

“Brayden, do you copy? We need an update. Are you tracking her?”

Definitely the guy she’d killed. With him not responding they were probably going to suspect foul play and send a group out to look for him—and, by extension, her. Ignoring the voice that sounded suspiciously like a red-haired, blue-eyed wolf of a man, she decides she needs to get oriented and find somewhere safe that wasn’t with John.

With the sun setting she’d be at one hell of a disadvantage if they were still out looking for her. She’d never been taught to navigate by stars, and she was alone with no supplies and no idea if there was any shelter nearby.

It was looking more and more like her luck had been used up by managing to dodge Jacob’s hunters for nearly a week after this nightmare had begun, and Lady Luck had wiggled a glimmer of it in front of her nose with this escape only to take it away again.

Blinking down at the radio, she switches the frequency to one she hopes wasn’t too far out of range. “Eli, this is Quinn. Are you there?”

Only her footsteps as she resumes her unsteady and slowed walking pace answer her at first, and she starts to doubt that she could still reach the Militia out here. She’s about to press the button to try again when she finally gets a response. “Shit, Quinn, is that really you? Jess told us what happened, we’ve been trying to get in contact with you for weeks!”

His voice is slightly garbled, likely a result of the distance, but it’s unmistakably Wheaty on the other end. She sighs in relief. “It’s me, Wheaty. Good to hear you.” Then what he said gives her pause. “How long was I dark?”

“A little over two weeks, after that ambush. Hey, you’re breaking up real bad—where are you?”

It couldn’t hurt to share the wildly general area, considering she truly had no idea. “Somewhere in Holland Valley, I think.”

“You don’t know?”

“I just spent two weeks held captive underground, so no. That’s why I’m contacting you guys. I need help getting my bearings.”

There’s a longer pause and she assumes that Wheaty was processing what she’d told him or looking for a map, but the next voice that speaks is the one that she’d called for in the first place. “John got hold of you?” Eli must have been listening in and had chosen then to cut in. She feels a momentary pang of regret for interrupting whatever he might’ve been working on, but the concern in his voice soothes it somewhat.

“He did. I’m okay, Eli, just exhausted. I gave him a swift metaphorical kick in the nuts on my way out, so it was worth it.”

“You and the Deputy are something special, Quinn. Been at this resistance thing for years but none of us have been able to kick over the Cult’s sandcastles the way both of you have in just a few months.” Eli says, amused and relieved in equal measure. “Can you give me some landmarks to work with? Get to high ground if you can.”

She’d already anticipated the request and had—with difficulty thanks to both her leg and arm—begun to scale the hillside of the ravine she’d been traversing, wary of the open road and bridge she’d just bypassed. Once at the top she squints at the mountainside to her right and the waning colors of sunset. “I’m facing south right now, been traveling through a ravine down the mountain I think.”

She’ll need to get moving as soon as Eli gives her a direction to go in, now. This was an unsecured frequency the Whitetails monitored, and anyone could’ve been listening in.

Scanning her environment, she lists off anything noteworthy she can see; a lone church down by a small lake, spire just barely peeking up over the top of the trees, what looked like an airfield somewhere to her southeast, plus the bridge she’d just passed, and—

She blinks, having turned around to see if there was anything behind her and suddenly wondering if the blood loss was causing her to hallucinate visually as well as audibly. There above the trees was a massive Hollywood-style billboard featuring exactly three letters: YES.

What. The. Fuck.

When she realizes she’s keeping Eli waiting she clicks the receiver down, unable to tear her eyes away from the sign. “I—there’s a big ‘Yes’ sign up in the mountain northeast of me.” Really, John?

Eli doesn’t comment on the billboard and she almost wishes he would—it’d make the surreality of what she was looking at make her feel just a bit more grounded. “Can’t tell exactly where you’re at, kid, but in a general sense keep heading southeast. I remember right, Grace Armstrong is holed up somewhere near the foot of the hill you’re on.”

She winces, heading carefully back down into the ravine. “Thanks, Eli. Hey, I’m on a stolen radio right now ‘cause John took mine, so I don’t have the encryption channels anymore. Until you can swap out the keys, avoid details on the radio.”

“Got it. Damn miracle they haven’t intercepted us yet.”

“Yeah.” She says. “I’m sorry.”

“Not your fault. Put a bullet in John and help your friend put a few in Jacob and we’ll call it even.”

She laughs, feeling light in her chest and unsettled by the fact she can’t tell if it’s from the blood loss or exhaustion or she was just happy to hear from someone friendly. “Will do, Eli. Quinn out.”

#v: far cry 5 #f: deliverance #c: quinn leonis #ch: john seed #ch: jacob seed #ch: eli palmer #ch: wheaty #sh: say yes

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ericvick · 4 years

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Mortgage veteran Roger Strecker on persevering via the pandemic

Editor’s Be aware: This is the ninth installment in the “Industry Warriors” series, a collection of profiles on veteran real estate pros and lenders who developed substantial volumes pre-9/11 and pre-2008, weathered individuals economic downturns and rebounded even more powerful.

In more than 25 a long time in the mortgage sector, Roger Strecker has been no stranger to agility. He’s maneuvered the wave of bank consolidations and closings through his occupation.

“A the vast majority of my career, I went from just one bank to a further as they had been absorbed or consolidated,” said Strecker, now regional manager, field mortgage functions for Navy Federal Credit score Union. “I worked 15 several years with Washington Mutual, left WaMu, went to a massive unbiased (bank) and then all of a unexpected, WaMu goes less than. The unbiased I went in excess of to, CTX Economical, they went beneath. I looked for the up coming major umbrella I could come across at Wachovia. I assumed, ‘I’m good to go this is Wachovia.’ Taken over by Wells Fargo.”

Strecker’s journey also incorporated operating at MetLife, Funds A single and PNC Bank just before he ended up at Navy Federal. Now six yrs into his position at the credit history union, Strecker’s location of Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia usually does about $2 billion to $2.5 billion in buy first-mortgage originations on a yearly basis, he mentioned.

HousingWire spoke to Strecker about the worth of agility in navigating today’s lending market place.

This job interview has been edited for size and clarity.

HousingWire: What are you carrying out in your lending enterprise to adapt to the present-day current market problem?

Roger Strecker: Our users are the mission, so for us, no issue what the lending ecosystem is, we are looking for techniques to be obtainable for them and to achieve them. We went from having it’s possible 10% of our workforce of just about 20,000 staff in a remote ability, and right away our ISD technology group carried out a miracle and place the 90% of us out, able to get the job done with laptops, phones, displays, MiFis. So just to get that established up for us to be readily available for the members was moving mountains.

Since all of this has gone down, we have appeared at retooling our workflow, and how do we optimize our availability for our members. For instance, we have 9 million users who are global in mother nature. They all know our telephone amount, our website address, and exactly where the branch is, so we have to be obtainable for them, and we at this time are operating by way of these dynamics now.

I was at the department past 7 days. One particular of them does not have a drive-through. They are physically assembly members deal with to confront, either with a mask or without the need of, but people employees are accomplishing that assistance for the associates, no matter of their individual individual health dangers.

HW: Has there been any alter that you’ve experienced to make to any of the procedures, in conditions of lending or applications?

RS: All the things, with all of us becoming remote or remotely situated now, just from getting in contact with our members. Not just about every employee is employed to remaining a distant staff. Not every staff has the equipment to be a remote staff. Not everyone would like to be a distant employee and operates in that ecosystem definitely effectively.

So we’re concentrating on employee engagement, member engagement. Really, in all of those people capacities, our get hold of centre is focused on 24/7 availability, accountability for our customers. They’re an vital section of the operation. Our department people are possibly doing the job the drive-through or executing drive-up company, handling files in and out of car or truck home windows with gloves and masks.

From a mortgage-specific adjust, it’s seriously acquiring our workers the accessibility to the users and letting them know we are offered and we’re in this article for you.

We are targeted on assembly the customers wherever they need to have us to, whether or not they’re calling into the center, no matter whether they want to go to the department — we’re attempting to continue to be open up and readily available. Our loan officers are not in the branch any for a longer time, but if they are desired by a member who comes into the branch, it is redirected to us.

We deal with all the web-site inquiries and purposes as normal, which is instantly filtered to our loan officers. We are also working with our associates, no matter whether they are Realtors, Navy Federal title expert services on the closing side, whether it’s our servicing group, we are building absolutely sure that the funding and the servicing are all taken care of seamlessly for the users.

From an staff standpoint, we’re often quite engaged. For me and my group, we have huddles, we communicate on the telephone, we’re on IM. We have each individual other’s personal mobile telephones anyway. Then we’re just seeking to be as comprehension as achievable with our staff members from a operate circumstance. All of a sudden the educational institutions have closed. A lot of of our workers have young young children so we’re getting proactive with functioning with them on a schedule, and we’re just becoming flexible with the membership and our workforce.

HW: How are you encouraging your team to stay good for the duration of this time?

RS: That is probably paramount for where by we are in the business correct now. For me, I consider being entirely clear with your staff members is selection a single. I adore to be open and truthful about what we’re doing the job on, what the firm is working on, how we’re going to tackle the members’ desires. And often I never have all the responses, and I enable them know that.

This environment is unparalleled, and in some cases you might have to fly a little bit by the seat of your trousers on occasion. I do not intellect sharing that with them. I feel also listening to their feed-back is critical. My workforce is aware that no matter is off the desk and that any strategy that would assistance us to improved serve the users is up for thought.

For me, I feel I have to product positive conduct, which is genuinely easy for me simply because I’m a glass-is-fifty percent-complete kind of individual. I feel for individuals who which is really not how they’re built, they have to have to come across their reason why they have to have to be upbeat and constructive for their men and women, specifically in this remote setting. Dealing with workers is a person factor working with workers that are now remote is a full diverse ball of wax. It is an supplemental skillset that you have to have or get the job done on creating.

HW: How are you staying favourable?

RS: I check out myself at the doorway every morning. I’m just designed this way. I really like existence. I appreciate what we do in mortgage. Simply because the place do you have an possibility like this to make these types of a massive impact on a member’s lifestyle? It is one thing I remind my crew about as generally as attainable. For me, for my group, I bring the pleasurable and maybe a minor radical habits, because I feel laughter is the drugs that we all require. It’s a excellent worry reducer.

(I do that) usually on the phone due to the fact I assume it’s faster and easier to join with people today. They can listen to my voice. They can hear the inflection. They can listen to when I’m backpedaling, or I’m laughing or whatever it is, but I also check out and give them tiny mind teasers and just trying to keep them engaged on IM.

I’m constantly partaking them in diverse means mainly because not everybody’s insane about the mobile phone, but they could enjoy e-mail, or they might like IM. Primarily our young people today, they like to text so I’ll place some textual content in there. I’m not worried to make pleasurable of myself, just to get them to just have a instant where by they are not apprehensive about what is heading on in their individual life or the life of our members.

HW: What did you do in previous economic shocks to effectively navigate the downturns?

RS: I attempted to just continue being positive. I tried to see the upside. I’m ordinarily quite real looking and trustworthy with myself and in dealing with many others, and I held telling myself: You can only regulate what you can command, but I can however make a large effect in an individual else’s life. So whether or not I was emailing an individual, a comply with up to a conversation about a attainable buy or refi, no matter if I was speaking with a Real estate agent, I’d say, ‘Hey, I’m continue to here. Hope you are performing properly. How’s small business?’

Back again in ’07, ’08, you just never ever realized sometimes protection showed up and they just shut your place down, or they just advised you, ‘Today is around,’ and they just moved good friends of mine proper out of the constructing. It was a crazy time.

You know, now I can study from history as I appear back. How can I carry out a little something today that’s good? I tried using to execute something just about every day. I think my advice to other folks would be never be scared to retool, how and what ever you are carrying out just about every working day. Re-search at your method stream for possibilities. Never be frightened to make blunders consider and try out yet again, take a look at it, then test it once again. And you have to collaborate with some others in like scenarios.

I have constantly been extremely related to the rest of the mortgage market, primarily in the DC location. I gained my CMPS (Accredited Mortgage Setting up Specialist) along the way I recently gained my CMB (Certified Mortgage Banker). So I depend on the CMB Society and other CMBs to form of retain me in check simply because that brain have faith in and what they have been by way of is amazing. I rely on the MBA (Mortgage Bankers Affiliation) a great deal, from a learning and training standpoint.

HW: What did you do in 2007-2009’s economic downturn to realize success for the duration of that time?

RS: In ’07, ’08, just about every put I went, they were being shutting the doorways. I truly considered it was me. The rubber actually achieved the road for me in ’07 and ’08 and which is when I genuinely experienced to variety of tighten the belt buckle down, keep on being optimistic and be real looking. I just experienced to maintain concentrating on, ‘There must be a way to do company.’ I went and requested other men and women who were being, in my intellect, productive and nonetheless earning it come about: ‘How are you doing that?’ I’m not scared to go and ask for assistance both. ‘Hey, can you show me that? Hey, the place did you get that merchandise from? Wherever did that loan occur from?’ But ‘07, ‘08 was rough. It was tough on a whole lot of us.

HW: Provided your background in individuals earlier economic downturns, what do you believe LOs need to know now that they may not be considering about?

RS: You nevertheless have an option now, even in this marketplace, to make a substantial effect in an individual else’s lifetime or their family’s life. You are included in the biggest financial determination a man or woman will ever make, and they require your experience. They have to have you to be engaged. They require you to keep centered.

I know it is difficult, but our users require that. Many of our members are energetic duty armed forces, so our intention of reducing their anxiety amount with our notice to detail, that is paramount for us. When you speak to a person whose husband just went down-variety, and she’s relocating the entire family, and I can hear the anxiety in her voice, and if we can make her get by the system of relocating a person much more time, you can appear home at the end of the working day and say, ‘You know what? I helped anyone today through some thing they by no means believed we could get as a result of collectively. But mainly because we are alongside one another, we got through it.’

HW: What piece of assistance from your history in downturns would you give to other people in your industry striving to navigate COVID-19?

RS: I would say you’re not alone. We’re all in this alongside one another due to the fact COVID-19 is not a fiscal disaster of ’07, ’08. It is a health and psychological disaster, which will drive a fiscal disaster. So we’re all in this jointly from a world wide point of view.

From a member point of view, I assume you need to husband or wife with a lender that you belief. Due to the fact there are likely to be some persons who applied to be mainstays for Realtors at the regional amount who do a amazing position that, in my viewpoint, could or may possibly not make it, based mostly on leverage and warehouse traces and items like that. So you want to make certain that your trusted husband or wife is likely to be in a position to fund your obtain deal.

From an staff standpoint, I would say you need to stay linked to your workforce. Give them the sounding board to be read. I feel it is significant to validate people’s thoughts, not generally to resolve the issue, just to pay attention. Which is most likely the most important detail, is to just pay attention to your personnel and just to know that background has shown us that we will get via this. We will be superior and stronger in the finish.

From a small business continuity standpoint, this is likely to be seemed at, I think, in my view, by means of MBA, graduate and PhD classes for several years to come — what we did correct, what we did improper, what we could have done again, how would we prep for a further probable pandemic. But in the stop, I believe items are heading to be ok. Just management what you can manage, which is you, your personal point of view, how you offer with your members, and just deliver your A-game every single day.

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kieranconveyy2 · 5 years

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Modelling Catalogues & Agents

https://grabcad.com/

Grabcad as it says on the front page which grabs me the largest community of designers, engineers, manufacteurs and students which speaks a lot about the modelling shop, over the other competitors there seems to be an easily accessible 3D printing page too which allows you to buy or turn your creations realistic sculptures that you can use as live reference models or if its your own selling your products as models. CAD as it appears means that they appear to predominiatly focus on architecture as the plans for buildings are commonly mainly designed using this software but Maya in my opinion is also this but you can include a lot more visual detail and make it appear almost exactly to the environment.

https://www.turbosquid.com/

Turbosquid is the 3D modelling shop I am personally most familiar with and probably has one of the largest names out there for modelling. Turbosquid stocks pretty much anything on a varying level of polys from basic low poly models which are very cheap or free or you can get the highest spec studio standard ones for a few hundred to a a couple of thousand of pounds. I have noticed on Turbosquid a lack of architectual models when browsing through the website, but you can even find a good armoury of characters within this website which I wasnt expecting.

CGTrader

https://www.cgtrader.com/

Another 3D modelling shop I really like the fact all the categories are much larger than Turbo Squids below and are easier to see and the black and white allows the typography to stand out really well (a model Im using for my website) their appears to be more architectual modelling than its Turbo Squid competitor and they also offer you 20$ (about 17.50) free on your first couple of models you buy. Although their doesnt appear to be any free models on this website which may send away some beginner animators for use as practice models (as learning the animation process like rigging and animating characters takes a very long time.)

https://www.miraclenext.com/gaming/3d-modeling-company.htm

Miracle Next are an agency which ask for projects and have some staff hired for those projects I can spot from the website they tend to use a huge focus on characters into games and also appear to have vehicle simulators (which ideally would be a good focus next into designing my cars as they need to have an interior built into them all although I cannot find many tutorials about it. It also seems to have a big focus on the character design and has its own concept artist which I also feel I may need to employ if I build my own company in the same way.

Engine Creative

https://www.enginecreative.co.uk/

Engine Creative appear to have done a lot of famous work according to their website including giants like Tesco and Coca Cola and the company appear to be very proud of their work and how long they have engaged with the brand they are working alongside, they also contain a variety of different animations from 2D, Motion Graphics to 3D. Even the jobs page appears very inviting which I may include something else on mine and give any potential employee a family feel which will be a good model to follow.

TalonX

https://www.talonx.com/3d-modelling/

TalonX are the only website agency Ive looked at with a lot of work straight away at the front page this to me makes it looks like that the work is the most important thing which I really like when a brand is being shown off. Their also appears to be a huge focus on typography and writing on the work which probably means these brands work a lot within logos Ive also seen their based in America, Canada and Germany but being in the UK I don’t think that would affect me as a potential employer especially with the way the web is so worldwide nowadays so this could be a useful third option.

#personal branding

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butwhatistrue · 7 years

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Dream, Reality, Psychosis and Me

Okay, look ^^^^^ there is a pretentious title to start this pretentious introspective piece off. I almost feel like I’m on my old blog! Except, this time it’s personal.

Uhhm cw for nightmare content and unreality I guess but not too badly and nothing graphic. Mentions of demons(possession), murder, syringes, blood, violence.

In which I contemplate my relationship to Reality, The Dreamworld, Dream Intergration and it’s relation to my supposed psychosis.

Okay so I was recently diagnosed with psychosis (non-organic, unspecified). This is a weird position for me to be in, because if I accept this diagnosis I will, in effect, have to accept that I have been more or less psychotic since before a time I can barely remember.. And that is …. Hard to accept.

You’d think it was easy, too. Whenever my friends talk about being bullied in school I end up going a little quiet, because the truth is I have MASSIVE gaps in my memory but I remember SOME bad things, and some really really WAY UNREALISTICALLY bad things which I assume are dream-memories. I remember the fear and the feeling that everyone was plotting against me, from small things like seating in the classroom, to bigger things, like their supposed endgoal of “putting me down” with a euthanasia syringe stolen from the local vet, or setting the playhouse on fire with me stuck in it. But I also have very clear memories of being called “a slut” and “a whore” with reference to events which I at the time had no memory of, and which were likely fabrication(?!). I wonder if my classmates noticed my faulty episodic memory and used it against me, or if they didn’t realize how much they were fucking with my mind?

Still, the tale goes back before school, at least to kindergarten but dare I say the daycare too. I vaguely remember daycare, but I think what I remember are dreams and not reality. I just remember lying in my bed with someone standing over me and being absolutely certain I was going to die and believing they were hurting me. I never did like daycare, according to my mom. I would come home “cleaner than when I arrived”, so they might have been bathing me which could explain the issue as I was massively opposed to being cleaned as a child. I think the dreams began then or a little later. At first they were a little silly. The lamp would flicker, rip itself loose and come floating towards me from above. The teddies on my duvet would get up and start to wander towards me, closer and closer, their intent unknown.

At this time I didn’t think of them as dreams or nightmares. They were ‘the things that happened in my room at night’. To this day I wonder about the two categories of nightmares: Awful shit nightmares, and “things that happen in my room at night” nightmares. Sometimes I wonder if I’m even dreaming, I wouldn’t be able to say if I weren’t. The ‘awful shit that happens’ nightmares came right on their tail. My brother would hold me down while my father butchered me with an axe; I would be buried alive or thrown in the trash. My mother would cry over my still-sentient mutilated dead body. Sometimes they were weird and eery. Like one time my brother and his friends acquired a syringe and every time someone was struck with it, they would start to multiply, and their personality and wishes would be washed out the more they multiplied and the more it would be replaced with the need to multiply others too. Some were just bloody and gory beyond belief, like the one time all the other children had been slaughtered and i was forced to drink their blood (which tasted like overripe tomatoes, a food item i can’t eat to this day lmao)

I believed strongly at this age that there were spirits, often hiding in lamps, who could occupy a human body and bend it to their will. This could happen at anytime, to anyone, which meant I was never safe – even from the one person I did trust (my mother). I also never did trust reality. I started to wake up from nightmares within another nightmare that would play out in the house. Going to my mom for comfort, only to find her possessed by spirits, or getting attacked and mutilated on my way through the house, was a stable. I would have dreams within dreams within dreams. When I was awake I was anxious enough to turn reality into a nightmare, too. The darkness came to life before my eyes. So naturally, I became wary of reality.

Who wouldn’t? At an early point in kindergarten I had my first successful lucid dream. I was having a scary dream, not really a nightmare. It was too silly, too cliché, like something other kids would tell me about. A witch had caught me, and was preparing the bowl in which she was going to cook me alive. “This cannot be,” I said to myself. “How ridiculous. This ain’t even scary – you gotta do better!” and you know. In the end I WAS boiled alive by the witch but I knew I wasn’t REALLY dying. And that was a grand victory over The Dreamworld. I told the other kids, proud of my accomplishments, and I was deemed a Dream Hero (or maybe they didn’t believe me but those are Lesser Details).

Of course, I rejoiced too soon. The dreamworld did up it’s game, and soon Reality followed. By the time I entered school and people had the realization that I Was Not Correct, and presumably started to freeze me out and/or even bully me, The Dreamworld was Ready to Strike.

And it wasn’t as much about seeing Dream stuff in reality, it was more about fake memories and weird notions given too much credit. yet. yet..

I never really thought about any of this in terms of psychosis. The thought honestly never even crossed my mind???? Until a little over a year ago when that psych dude indelicately pointed it out.

Since being a small child I’ve thought about this like a battle between Reality and The Dreamworld (and sometimes with anxiety). The world of dreams contains both bad and good. There are good things there for me to harvest. Eventually I had non-scary lucid dreams, and I started having good-natured inception-style battles of wit with my “subconscious”. I would be wake up exasperated but fond.

Just like the Dreamworld knows how to fuck me up, it knows my aesthetics intimately, and I’ve had the most beautiful views and riveting adventures in that world. It was a force of nature for me to tame and control. The night is twilight hour. Anything can happen during the night. You don’t even know if you’re dreaming or awake, during the night. Trust, me if you wake up enough times from a waking position, you’re going to lose count.

It doesn’t matter either. You marvel at the beauty of it all. Or quiver in existential fear.

I’ve been constantly questioning reality, whether dreaming or awake, since I was four. I’ve had to. And I know the rules. If something seems reality-ish I play by the rules of Reality lest I fuck up. Even if things seem very very dream-ish I try not to do anything that would kill me in Reality, jic. It’s working out great. I feel like my connection to the Dreamworld is a gift as much as a curse.

Sometimes Dream-elements enter reality, even at day, and I guess that is what people so clinically refer to as “hallucinations”, but to be honest I never thought much of it. It never goes beyond a point where everything is reality-ish, so I still act according to the Reality-ruleset and then I may employ a second jic-ruleset which might be considered a little to the delusional side.

But who really cares as long as it’s working out?

I never assumed reality was supposed to be clearcut. I always saw figures in the dark and considered if it was a man walking his dog, an axe-murderer, a demon or a trick of my mind. Those were all equally valid options and I considered that to be the way reality works.

You can’t trust everything you experience, but there are so many reasons not to? It could be a dream, or it could contain dream elements, or I could be misreading something.

It’s not a scary, weird thing, pathological thing, is it????? How much do people trust their senses normally? I’m sure it happens just as often that I consider something a Trick of Mind, when in fact, it’s true. Just the other night I was sleeping at my friend’s mom’s place. I woke up to a dripping sound, and found that the ceiling was dripping rhythmically on my duvet. Naturally I assumed this was a “thing that happens at night”, and went back to sleep. Next day it turns out there WAS in fact water dripping from the ceiling!

I mean isn’t that equally a problem? And now that people are throwing about scary words like psychosis and even schizophrenia, it makes it all so much more scary and anxiety-inducing.

It’s not just about a battle of wits anymore. It’s about “mental illness”. And it’s like…. All the hard work I’ve done.. is not good enough?????? Like I’ve worked so hard,, And I’ve gotten so much better… but it’s not good enough?? I’m not good enough.

And what are they even basing this whole thing on??? “Oh you hear a few things? Oh you smell a few things? Oh times is weird? Oh lamps are scary?” like no fucking shit but I GOT THIS OKAY

So WHY AM I EVEN WASTING THEIR TIME? What do I want???? I guess I really really really wanted someone to tell me the whole structure/concentration issue was an adhd issue and prescribe me miracle meds …. If I’m being honest. I don’t know how to deal with these meds. They scare me. I don’t know what Reality is without Dream Intergration???? But it sounds really empty and scary and meaningless.

At the same time they’re saying it might help my anxiety and I’m so DESPERATE for relief it’s embarrassing. I almost cry at the thought of relief????? Because it just. It hurts so fucking much??? Lmao im so weak but still. It makes me so anxious to think it might have no effect. I was so resigned to status quo. The idea that it can be different creates hope and hope breeds anxiety. I was going to be fine but now I’m DESPERATE for that sweet relief??? I fantasize about it.

And then there is dream logic which shouldn’t be taken too seriously. But I have noted that I’ve missed two buses since I started on these meds, which I would’ve made it to if my usual time-skills had been working. I can’t say for sure the meds have anything to do with it, the system does fail me sometimes, but it’s quite the coincidence. Twice time has seemed to go in the opposite direction of what dream logic dictates, or at least been flowing in non-gentle directions. It’s supposed to be a just in time matching system. The logical Reality explanation is that I’m tired and not focusing on the time properly, which is not good either. But it’s like. Some time stuff has returned. For example I’ve started checking the time at 13.13, 14.14, 19.19 etc again. I feel very proud??? Even thought it’s a useless skill. But that might indicate my time-understanding is improving. I might just need to adjust, so checking those keypoints could be a way of adjusting?

There are also real, valid concerns about anti-psychotics, that I’m ignoring in favor of hunting that Sweet Anxiety Relief…

I feel like I’ve played myself. Am I scrapping over twenty years of learned tolerance for the Dreamworld’s antics? What comes after?

I never ever want to be small and afraid and without reality testing again.

#Kit doesn't know when to shut up #actuallypsychotic #maybe #lmao #It's been a while since I posted one of my horrible longwinded introspective me me me posts but....#i might need it a little #in light of recent events #just be happy #I've had one about gender brewing in my mind for half a year you absolutely don't want to read that shit #which can be summed up with 'im disstressed but no course of action will make me less distressed w h y '#this one might at least be a little more interesting #going somewhere with it #or like.#im wondering if anyone relates #still trying to figure out if I've been misdiagnosed #this is all really prompted by the fact that my dreams have seemed weirdly insignificant and 'normal' the past few days #like kind of mundane and with more classic than awesome dream logic #i don't approve of this change #i dont hope it's a permanent effect of these meds #especially now that I'm doubling the dose from today

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004-wambui-blog · 5 years

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When The Egg comes First

“Today’s youth are more educated than their parents and are “waiting in the wings”, not yet active but ready and willing to do so. But for this to happen and thus reduce youth and educated unemployment, there is a need to ensure that there are enough opportunities for them to participate actively in the economy and society.”

I was invited to speak at local technical college in Gilgil about a month back. The talk was on the power within: Attitude. I chose to define it as such A- Attention T-alent T-ime I-nvested U-nder D-irected E-xcellence. The Investment bit is what is relevant to this discussion.

The quoted paragraph was extracted from a newspaper article in The Star titled “Can Kenya become the South Korea of Africa?”. I zeroed in on the first sentence, how our educated youth are ‘ready and willing’ to get moving but there seems to be very few opportunities in spite of the rise in the job market in skilled personnel. 43 percent of Kenya’s youth are currently either unemployed or working yet living in poverty. Unemployment is a real bummer in our country. No lie. We agree on that.

Now herein lies my contention, which is only applicable to semi-developed to developed counties. “Innovations in mobile phone-based banking and related technological platforms have resulted in more financial inclusion that has reached 75 percent of the population.” Common tongue would state that Mpesa or rather mobile banking is quite available in most parts of the country. And with it comes the pressure of the smart phone for Wozzap (WhatsApp) and Facebook for the common Kenyan. Let’s keep the Instagram and Twitterers out of this for now.

I can speak on this issue without bias because by all means I am an educated unemployed youth. As far as formal employment goes. I am still at home, crash on my mother’s bed, eat her food, poop in her toilet. Use her toilet paper as well! I have felt the pressure of applying for jobs and either b too qualified or under-qualified. I have received the ‘WE REGRET TO INFORM YOU THAT YOUR APPLICATION…’ email. Applied for government jobs kama za (just like ) Census data collection, rejection buda!! It is harsh world when your own government wouldn’t shortlist you…again, story for another discussion.

So I get it. I really do. Which is why I will boldly say that this chip we have on our shoulders on the fact that we cannot get employment is bull. Oooh the government has done this, Uhuru’s government did not deliver on its promises…meanwhile we sit on bar stools, rage in parties, bend over to Sauti sol’s Melanin and smoke weed. The other fraction will attend keshas (vigils), call forth miracle jobs, serve in Churches and Wozzap…the other fraction in unpaid internships. The horror! We cannot understand why anyone would work for anyone for free! We complain and work as we please, bitch about our employers…when we get paid it’s not enough…you get the drift?

Now, about this investment thing. I don’t know how viable these are in other Counties, but in Nakuru, egg vendors with their 1 and half clear buckets roam the streets. God bless those people!! Long live street food. If you know, you know. Now typically an egg with kachumbari (or guacamole for the more ‘refined’ bracket of our society) will cost you Ksh 20/=. And if you’re not careful, you can spend 100 bob on yourself eating those eggs. In one sitting.

So as I spoke to those students in Gilgil, a rowdy energetic bunch, I asked them how many Mbs 20ksh would get them. Okay, first I asked them how many had smart phones. A large number did. As per Safaricom’s outrageous charges Ksh 20 can get you 70 Mb. Here is a simplified equation:

1 egg + Kachumbari = 70 Mbs of Safaricom Data

Now, there’s also the option of the power bundles. Get this! For Ksh 19, you’d get 250 mbs for one hour!

1 egg + Kachumbari = 250 Mbs of the Safaricom Power Bundle for 1 hour

Eh. It’s a heavenly deal. Or not. Here is why. See these 250 Mbs are only valid for an hour, and depending on how planned the user is, it can either be a gift or a total waste. You only get this power bundle when you have a plan for it. Otherwise the 70 Mbs are a better deal. I suggested to the students that in as much as they were in school, it was up to them to learn as much as they could from outside their two storey building. To not do so would be to insult their education. Note I did not say schooling.

Here’s what I mean. If all you get when in school is your degree or certificate or Diploma, then you’ve disserviced yourself. Then again, I do not blame the students but the general education system and the knowledge parents are exposed to. Again, story for another day.

Lakini hizi story ni mob sana…

The 250 Mbs on YouTube can get you at least 5 downloaded videos each lasting one hour. Why is this important? See in that College, technical skills being the focus, YouTube could be their greatest ally. For the beauticians, we can’t even exhaust the multitude of videos on makeup and cosmetic education. For the electrical engineers, exposure to Elon Musk and the likes would be so easy…basically YouTube would be their free tutor. All for the price of an egg. Investment? No? Yes?

So vitu kwa ground ni that hakuna jobs (situations on the ground suggest that there aren’t any jobs).

But…depends what ground you’re standing on.

Unemployment will never cease. Just like what Jesus said about the poor, that they will always be there. Does it sound unsympathetic, of course it does! But it is true. It’s true because we prefer handouts. We prefer to follow trends over what has worked, kinda like rats and their trails. They never change routes unless forced to run for their lives under pressure.

Is that why they call it a rat race?

As a young unemployed youth on paper, I will say that those who cry wolf over Youth Unemployment, especially in more urban counties need to stop. Unemployment is real but you can be unaffected by it. If you remain so, remain without an income, it probably could be that you are lazy, still stuck in the bureaucracy of our former education system, still stuck on tradition or just need a nudge towards exploring other opportunities.

How many eggs have you eaten this week? How much have you spent on bundles to App your mami or DZaddy? To post status memes for your fans? If you have Wifi, how are you using that supply? To stream football? Watch porn… Eggs are proteins. We need proteins (amino acids) for body building! Funny thing is, the Ksh 20 you use to buy a boiled egg could build your life if you turned it into Cyber-Aminos.

What can you do with 20 bob? You’re not unemployed. Maybe just Unwilling to Employ other means.

#-Muhuni

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therealestatesparkblog · 5 years

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What Being a CPA Has Taught Me About Becoming a Millionaire

Usually my articles are all about taxes and how real estate investors and business owners should approach various scenarios and apply sets of tax regulations. I always try to share my knowledge to help you improve your bottom line. What Ive come to realize through speaking with and advising hundreds of real estate investors and having a front row seat to their financial lives and mindsets is that Ive learned quite a lot about wealth over the past two years. Ive learned about creative and unique means to generate wealth. Ive learned about market niches that are rarely brought up in the BiggerPockets Forums that turn out to be quite lucrative. Ive learned about ways to mitigate exposure to various financial and market risks. However, one of the most beneficial thing that Ive learnedand the topic of todays postis how millionaires build their wealth. Im not talking about the mega-millionaires. While Im sure everyone would love to be in the mega-millionaire category, frankly its unattainable for most. Im talking about the Millionaire Next Door type of millionaires. This type of millionaire is, as Ive found, relatively easy to become. Full disclosure: Im not a millionairenot even close. However, I have been lucky enough to interact with and advise many homegrown millionaires. Hopefully, youll still be able to take away something of value from my article. So what does the everyday millionaire do differently than the rest of us? They develop key habits, defer their gratification, and treat their passive income like the most important business theyve ever run. The #1 Non-Money Habit of Millionaires The number onenon-money habit that will make you a millionaire is waking up earlier than the rest of the world. I know its hyped up and over-sold. I always rolled my eyes when I heard about this habit, too. Im not a morning person, and the thought of waking up before the sun was dreadful. But that was before I got into the business of advising successful real estate investors and business owners. That was also before I established this habit for myself. Waking up early has plenty of benefits;however, the two that stand out the most when Im conversing with clients are that it gives you time to work on projects you never have time for and it jump starts your productivity. Related: Building Wealth: What Key Practices Separate Millionaires From the Middle Class? The difference between people living mediocre lives and people living successful lives is that the successful people create time to work on the projects that the mediocre people dream about. Dont have time to review three real estate deals a day? Wake up early! The projects dont have to be real estate-related; in fact, they dont even have to be business-related. Maybe you dream about starting a podcast or writing a book about the tea and food pairings. Maybe you just want to paint more often or get in shape. When interviewing my clients, other investors, and business owners, Ive realized the most successful ones have some sort of cool project theyre working on. As I noticed the trend, I began inquiring not only about the projects, but also about how they have time. The answer almost all of these successful people provided was that they wake up early. Its that simple. And think about itwhen you wake up early to work on the project youre always putting off, do you think youll be excited to wake up? Not only will you be motivated to get out of bed, but your entire day will essentially see a jump start in productivity. You will create this sort of productivity momentum, which will result in you performing better throughout the day at your job, business, real estate, or whatever it is youre working on! I dont have scientific data. I dont know the neurology behind it. But I do know that almost all of the successful investors and clients Ive collaborated with wake up early to work on their various projects. I was skeptical at first, but I tried it. I read Miracle Morningfor some motivation, and Ive now created a habit of waking up early. My productivity has exploded, and Ive seen the benefits spill over into other areas of my life life business, investing, relationships, and overall health and happiness. Best of all, waking up at 5:00 a.m. isnt bad at all after a week or so. Im used to it and have a routine that motivates me to jump out of bed every morning. If you get nothing else out of this post, I highly recommend trying this for 30 days. The benefits will exceed your expectations. Deferring Gratification and Value-Add Spending All, let me repeat, ALL of the successful people Ive spoken with understand the art of gratification deferral. The thought process goes like this: That purchase will make me happy, but is it necessary today? Do I really need that product or service? Will it help me reach my goals? Oftentimes, the answer is a simple no. So they put off buying the new shoes, fancy dinners, and concert tickets. They buy used vehicles rather than new and expensive cars. They focus on saving and investinggrowing their dollar and paying their future selves. This allows them to get out of the rat race and snowball their investments into financial freedom territory. Buy the Tesla once your net worth reaches $1,000,000. Your future millionaire self will thank the present you for waiting. Another key trend semi-related to this topic is that the successful investors and business owners focus on value-add spending and savings. For instance, one of the investors I know built up an enormous amount of wealth by simply owner-occupying multi-family properties and slowly rehabbing all of the units. He would buy a four-plex, live in one unit for a year, rehab it, then move to the next unit and rinse and repeat. While he was flipping the unit, the other three would be rented out, covering his mortgage and then some. He used this strategy for two four-plexes, and it took him about eight years to complete. He was able to 1031 exchange those properties into a much larger apartment complex, which is valued at over $1,000,000. Related: 5 Habits of the Wealthy That Helped Them Get Rich One of my clients spends tens of thousands of dollars each year on seminars and trainings. However, she has a high net worth and has determined she can do this without it negatively impacting her financial position. Her business is centered on building a network of people, and shes quantified the value of every $1,000 she spends at these seminars and found that she will eventually earn revenue about twice the size of the cost to attend. But it wasnt always this way. Had she spent thousands of dollars going to a seminar while her business was trying to get on its feet, she may not have succeeded at all. In the early days, her money was better spent creating content, advertising, building a local network, and implementing business systems. She understood that while the seminars may be valuable, there were better things to spend her money on at the time to grow to a level where it was financially feasible to attend these larger events. Treating Real Estate Investing Like a Business One of the more eye-opening conversations Ive ever had was with a gentleman who invests in apartment buildings. I was showing him a property I thought was a good deal, and before he even looked at the deal, he asked me how the local economy was. The investors that see large-scale success analyze real estate in a completely different way than the rest of us. The successful investors start by analyzing economic conditions of various cities, towns, etc. When they find one they like, they narrow down their search and identify the best locations and neighborhoods in the area. They dont start with Realtor.com. They also dont necessarily start by contacting a real estate agent. They want to understand the macro and microeconomic conditions that may affect their investment performance to determine if its even worth their time to continue looking in the target area. Then they worry about building relationships and getting boots on the ground. And when you think about it, that simple reversal of the typical methodology many of us employ makes complete sense. Why invest in the best neighborhood in a city that has declining economic conditions? Its backwardlogic. On top of that, before they even attempt to identify a property, they learn all they can about the competition in the area. If they want to invest in apartment buildings, they will find out exactly what the other apartment buildings in the area have to offer. If they find a value gap, they exploit it. For instance, the gentleman I briefly mentioned above told me that his apartment building has washer and dryer hookups, and no other apartment building near him has washer-dryer hookups. Something that simple can give you a huge competitive advantage over all the other investors in your area. Thats how businesses are run. Theres a constant jockeying of positioning to have the best value-add offerings. The investors who understand and can identify competitive advantages will win every time. The Wrap-Up Being a CPA has allowed me to peer into the financial lives of many successful real estate investors. Though Im not a millionaire myself, Ive identified habits, mindsets, and logic that I believe can make anyone a millionaire if they are all applied. I find wealth a fascinating topic, and I hope you are able to take something away from this article. Until next time! Were republishing this article to help out our newer readers. Which of these lessons strikes a chord with you?What would you add? Leave your comments below! https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2016/01/31/cpa-taught-millionaire/

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its-3am-imustbelonely · 6 years

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The Prince Of Egypt

So this morning I watched the prince of Egypt for the very first time. I’d heard many good things about this movie, I was slightly skeptic at being an atheist, but I figured why the hell not have a watch, may as well give it a look.

It’s a fucking awful movie! If I look past all of the religious bullshit, theres just a shit ton of whitewashing, although that was kind of expected, given it was made in 1998 before there was any real progress made towards the demise of whitewashing in film (im not saying we’ve fixed it, just that there has been progress made in that regard.

Then there’s the fact that as they walk through the parted Red Sea, there’s a fucking whale!

Whales don’t live in the Red Sea, there are whale sharks, but no whales!

Now back to the religious side of this bullshit movie, for the most part I can live with it, the burning bush bullshit, the hatred of Hebrews by the Egyptians, blah blah blah, but when god smites all the first horns of the Egyptians is where I draw the fucking line.

First of all, you’ve got this omnipotent god, who can only fucking tell the difference between Hebrew children and Egyptian children by the fact that there’s lambs blood on the herbrew families doors? Nah get fucked! Also wouldn’t the fucking Egyptians question why they were painting lambs blood on their doors? Like this is a civilisation that has last longer than any other in history, enslaved a whole religious group to build some of the most insanely brilliant structures ever created, but they don’t even realise that all the Hebrews painting lambs blood on their doors is an omen?

THEEEN after all the first born Egyptian children have been Smote, Moses is hella distraught about it all, then his biological sister, whom he barely knows starts singing a song about how that shit is a miracle, and all of the sudden he’s on board with the mass murder of all these children? I know that the pharaohs has a fuck ton of Hebrew children murdered as well, that’s how Moses managed to live to be old enough to do this shit, and I know this shit is Old Testament god, so an eye for an eye is his way, but fucking Moses was so upset about it, but then changes his mind because of some fucking song! What a dick!

And then there’s the nail in this movies coffin, the slavery. As we all know, for a very long time it was believed that the ancient Egyptians used slaves to build the pyramids and all their other incredible structures, though now scholars believe this is not the case. However it is still believed that Ramesses II started using slaves which is why his works are so prominent throughout Egypt.

But I just don’t buy it. Now this is not a quarrel with the religious aspects of the movie, nor even truly an issue with the movie itself (although I do have an issue with the movie having Seti using slaves, because in my limited research I have found nothing to suggest that the pharaoh seti used slaves, please correct me if I’m wrong on this), and I know there is evidence to suggest that Ramesses II did use slaves, but to my mind it is just feasible, for centuries the pharaohs of Egypt employed willing Egyptians to help build their monuments, archaeological evidence suggests that they had a full on workforce in place complete with unions, health care etc.

But then all of a sudden Ramesses II (and possibly Seti before him) says fuck it, why use willing people to build my shit, when I can force unwilling people to do it.

I just don’t buy it.

Anyway

All in all, I thought it was a terrible movie and all it has done for me is reaffirm my belief that all religion is a blight on this earth.

#the prince of egypt #religion #athieism

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autopilotrecruiting · 6 years

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New Post has been published on

New Post has been published on http://leadershipmentoring4free.info/blog/2018/02/15/use-viral-marketing-spread-word-business/

How to Use Viral Marketing to Spread the Word About Your Business.

The concept behind Viral Marketing

word-of-mouth:

The concept of viral marketing is by no means new. Word-of-mouth marketing, viral’s forefather, has been around for ages. The principle behind word-of-mouth marketing is simple; use influencers to generate peer-to-peer product recommendations or buzz. Prior to the advent of the Internet, however, this form of marketing was too disjointed to effectively benefit most advertisers. The effect of word-of-mouth was largely contained to specific geographic areas simply due to the lack of widespread social networks. Word-of- mouth was generally limited by the ability of the influencer to physically speak to another prospective customer, hence the term “word-of-mouth”.

Enter the internet: The Internet has radically changed the concept of word-of-mouth, so much so that the term “viral marketing” was coined by venture capitalist Steve Jurvetson in 1997. The term was used to describe Hotmail’s email practice of appending advertising for themselves to outgoing mail from their users. The assumption is that if such an advertisement reaches a “susceptible” user, that user will become “infected” (i.e., sign up for an account) and can then go on to infect other susceptible users.

While email may have been the original catalyst; the advent of social networks, online communities and chat provide the ability to distribute information exponentially faster than ever before. Where word-of-mouth marketing could take weeks or months to reach a thousand people, viral marketing can reach hundreds of thousands or millions in a matter of days or hours. The spread of an effective viral marketing campaign is akin to an epidemic outbreak of a virus, limited only by the potency and relevance of the marketing message.

Viral marketing defined:

The Wikipedia defines viral marketing as “marketing techniques that seek to exploit pre-existing social networks to produce exponential increases in brand awareness, through viral processes similar to the spread of an epidemic. It is word-of-mouth delivered and enhanced online; it harnesses the network effect of the Internet and can be very useful in reaching a large number of people rapidly.”

Why viral marketing?!

The proliferation of marketing and advertising, coupled with the onslaught of millions of media channels in today’s world, has given cause for consumers to tune out and effectively avoid a great deal of traditional supplier driven messaging. The creation of technologies such as PVRs, satellite radio and Internet ad blocking software are driving a fundamental shift in the way the public consumes media and the advertising often tied to it. Television ads, radio spots, online ads and even emails are facing increasing competition for effectively capturing the viewer’s attention and provide positive ROI for the marketer.

This competition, coupled with the rising cost of media buys, has caused marketers to search for an alternative means to reach the customer. Viral marketing is an attractive solution because it utilizes the free endorsement of the individual rather than purchase of mass media to spread the word. Because the distribution model is free, viral can potentially be lower cost and more effective than traditional media.it’s the best solution for all start-ups and who want to become an entrepreneurs

the viral effect

More than 90% of consumers said they told at least one other person about a Web site when the original recommendation came from a friend, according to Jupiter Research.

viral marketing advantages

1. Cuts through the clutter of traditional advertising, allowing marketers to effectively reach the audience. 2. Doesn’t require a product with a wow factor in order to raise awareness, generate buzz, and kick-start peer-to-peer spread. Instead, the viral campaign’s communication agent is the element that needs a wow factor or element of interest. 2. Unlike traditional advertising viral is not an interruptive technique. Instead, viral campaigns work the Internet to deliver exposure via peer-to-peer endorsement. Viral campaigns, whether ultimately liked or disliked, are often welcomed by the receiver. The focus is on campaigns with material that consumers want to spend time interacting with and spreading proactively.

viral marketing disadvantages

Viral marketing, like all marketing is hit or miss. However, viral marketing by nature is often more risky or controversial than traditional marketing. If done improperly viral marketing can backfire and create negative buzz.

The Marketing Mix:

Viral marketing is by no means a substitute for a comprehensive and diversified marketing strategy and marketing objectives. In employing viral marketing to generate peer-to- peer endorsement, brands have also learned that the technique should not be considered as a standalone miracle worker.

James Kydd, Brand Director for Virgin Mobile who just launched the 11th release in their successful series of viral marketing campaigns, states, “viral marketing is best used not as a one-off tactical end in itself, but as an integrated strategic part of the overall marketing mix. It is a means to an end whereby it not only generates buzz, but also provides ongoing, quantifiable brand benefits, such as increased awareness, peer-to-peer endorsement and ultimately more sales.”

Common Viral Marketing Messaging:

While the messaging and strategy ranges radically from campaign to campaign, most successful campaigns contain some commonly used approaches. These approaches are often used in combination to maximize the viral effect of a campaign.

free products or services

Many viral marketing programs utilize free products or services to spark interest. Giving away low-cost items such as t-shirts can often lead to the sale of much higher cost items. Marketers often use low cost items as a method of collecting consumer data and building a database of potential customers that are already familiar with the brand.

compelling content

From hilarious to raunchy to controversial good content and concepts can often make or break a viral campaign. Creating quality content can often be more expensive than simply offering a free product, however the results are often better. The general rule of thumb is that the content must be compelling, it must evoke a response on an emotional level from the person viewing it. This fact alone has allowed many smaller brands to capitalize on content based viral campaigns. Traditionally larger brands are more reserved and risk adverse to the possibility of negative reaction.

exclusivity

This form of messaging is designed to appeal to our natural tendency to desire things we can’t normally have. This messaging includes invitations to join V.I.P clubs, access to products or services before they are released to the public and the ability to choose the fate of others within a peer group. While this tactic can be extremely successful, there is a built in cap to its success. If the offer spreads too wide it will loose its exclusive appeal.

get paid

Rewards and financial incentives often play a role in viral referral campaigns. Marketers can incent users to pass along a message in exchange for compensation ranging from points, special offers and in some cases cash.

Making it Viral user considerations

Successful viral campaigns are easily spread. When creating a campaign marketers should evaluate how people will communicate the message or campaign to others. Marketers should ask themselves the following questions when developing a viral strategy: • Does the content require special plug-ins? • Will an attached file in email be too big? • Does the Web site require broadband? • Is the URL easy to remember? • Is the referral mechanism easy to use? • Is the barrier to entry too high? The easier a campaign can spread the more successful it can ultimately be. A large majority of campaigns miss the mark because they fail to take this into consideration.

campaign seeding

“Seeding” the original message is a key component of a viral campaign. Seeding is the act of planting the campaign with the initial group who will then go on to spread the campaign to others. The Internet provides a wide array of options for seeding, including: • Email • Online Forums (Google groups) • Social Networks (Google+, Facebook.com) • IM (AIM, ICQ, MSN, Google) • Blogs • Podcasts When determining where to seed it is important that marketers consider the audience you are seeding for. If a campaign is skewed towards a certain audience marketers should make sure they seed towards that audience. Failure to due so may kill a campaign before it ever gets off the ground.

leverage existing media buys

Marketers should leverage existing media buys by incorporating the promotion of the viral campaign. This can range from a simple reference at the end of a commercial or in print to a fully integrated approach using mass media to directly promote the viral activity.

ability to scale

The goal of a viral campaign is explosive reach and participation. Marketers should be adequately prepared to meet the needs of participants in the event that the campaign is successful. Server space, bandwidth, support staff, fulfillment and stocking should be taken into consideration well in advance of campaign launch. The marketer should have the ability to capitalize on the full success of the campaign.

If you would like to learn more about viral marketing

Request More Information

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tt-review · 7 years

Link

[ad_1]

The concept behind Viral Marketing

word-of-mouth:

The concept of viral marketing is by no means new. Word-of-mouth marketing, viral's forefather, has been around for ages. The principle behind word-of-mouth marketing is simple; use influencers to generate peer-to-peer product recommendations or buzz. Prior to the advent of the Internet, however, this form of marketing was too disjointed to effectively benefit most advertisers. The effect of word-of-mouth was largely contained to specific geographic areas simply due to the lack of widespread social networks. Word-of- mouth was generally limited by the ability of the influencer to physically speak to another prospective customer, hence the term "word-of-mouth".

Enter the internet: The Internet has radically changed the concept of word-of-mouth, so much so that the term "viral marketing" was coined by venture capitalist Steve Jurvetson in 1997. The term was used to describe Hotmail's email practice of appending advertising for themselves to outgoing mail from their users. The assumption is that if such an advertisement reaches a "susceptible" user, that user will become "infected" (i.e., sign up for an account) and can then go on to infect other susceptible users.

Viral marketing defined:

The Wikipedia defines viral marketing as "marketing techniques that seek to exploit pre-existing social networks to produce exponential increases in brand awareness, through viral processes similar to the spread of an epidemic. It is word-of-mouth delivered and enhanced online; it harnesses the network effect of the Internet and can be very useful in reaching a large number of people rapidly."

Why viral marketing?!

The proliferation of marketing and advertising, coupled with the onslaught of millions of media channels in today's world, has given cause for consumers to tune out and effectively avoid a great deal of traditional supplier driven messaging. The creation of technologies such as PVRs, satellite radio and Internet ad blocking software are driving a fundamental shift in the way the public consumes media and the advertising often tied to it. Television ads, radio spots, online ads and even emails are facing increasing competition for effectively capturing the viewer's attention and provide positive ROI for the marketer.

This competition, coupled with the rising cost of media buys, has caused marketers to search for an alternative means to reach the customer. Viral marketing is an attractive solution because it utilizes the free endorsement of the individual rather than purchase of mass media to spread the word. Because the distribution model is free, viral can potentially be lower cost and more effective than traditional media.it's the best solution for all start-ups and who want to become an entrepreneurs

the viral effect

More than 90% of consumers said they told at least one other person about a Web site when the original recommendation came from a friend, according to Jupiter Research.

viral marketing advantages

1. Cuts through the clutter of traditional advertising, allowing marketers to effectively reach the audience. 2. Doesn't require a product with a wow factor in order to raise awareness, generate buzz, and kick-start peer-to-peer spread. Instead, the viral campaign's communication agent is the element that needs a wow factor or element of interest. 2. Unlike traditional advertising viral is not an interruptive technique. Instead, viral campaigns work the Internet to deliver exposure via peer-to-peer endorsement. Viral campaigns, whether ultimately liked or disliked, are often welcomed by the receiver. The focus is on campaigns with material that consumers want to spend time interacting with and spreading proactively.

viral marketing disadvantages

The Marketing Mix:

James Kydd, Brand Director for Virgin Mobile who just launched the 11th release in their successful series of viral marketing campaigns, states, "viral marketing is best used not as a one-off tactical end in itself, but as an integrated strategic part of the overall marketing mix. It is a means to an end whereby it not only generates buzz, but also provides ongoing, quantifiable brand benefits, such as increased awareness, peer-to-peer endorsement and ultimately more sales."

Common Viral Marketing Messaging:

free products or services

compelling content

exclusivity

This form of messaging is designed to appeal to our natural tendency to desire things we can't normally have. This messaging includes invitations to join V.I.P clubs, access to products or services before they are released to the public and the ability to choose the fate of others within a peer group. While this tactic can be extremely successful, there is a built in cap to its success. If the offer spreads too wide it will loose its exclusive appeal.

get paid

Making it Viral user considerations

campaign seeding

"Seeding" the original message is a key component of a viral campaign. Seeding is the act of planting the campaign with the initial group who will then go on to spread the campaign to others. The Internet provides a wide array of options for seeding, including: • Email • Online Forums (Google groups) • Social Networks (Google+, Facebook.com) • IM (AIM, ICQ, MSN, Google) • Blogs • Podcasts When determining where to seed it is important that marketers consider the audience you are seeding for. If a campaign is skewed towards a certain audience marketers should make sure they seed towards that audience. Failure to due so may kill a campaign before it ever gets off the ground.

leverage existing media buys

ability to scale

[ad_2] viral rewards

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trendingnewsb · 7 years

Text

10 books every entrepreneur should read in 2017

Image: Mascha Tace/shutterstock

Entrepreneurship is a commitmentnot only to your venture or business, but also to a unique learning process. Where others seek guidance through big universities and established companies, I know many entrepreneurs like myself who have a desire to go their own way and learning becomes a self-guided experience. As a result, Ive gained a whole new dimension to my learning experience, having combined it with what I have chosen to read and what I have learned in the field.

Many entrepreneurs are avid readersnot just out of curiosity, but necessity. I love listening to podcasts and audiobooks because its something I can do while Im on the go whether that is traveling or exercising. Reading is one of the only ways you can learn from the worlds best and brightest, especially those who choose to share their thoughts on paper instead of through a weekly podcast.

Here is an entrepreneurs reading list for 2017 that include ten books that I have been motivating, insightful, and humbling for me. I hope that they leave a positive impression and assist you on your journey toward building something impactful in the world.

1. “All In” by Bill Green

This is a must read for any first-time entrepreneur who thinks building a business is an easy process. Author Bill Green uses “All In” to both inspire entrepreneurs on their quest for greatness and put things in perspective. Starting in a flea market and ending with a publicly traded company, Greens story demonstrates what it means to go all in on an ideaand not stop until the goal is achieved something that stands out for me in terms of the perspective that has helped me in bringing my own business ideas to fruition.

Greens company was Wilmar Industries, a corporation that ended up employing more than 2,300 people. When Wilmar went public in 1996, Fortune rated Wilmar as one of the best IPOs of the year. In 1999, Wilmar was named by Forbes as one of the top 200 Best Small Companies in America. “All In” describes Greens humble beginnings, his bootstrapping mindset and, ultimately, his rise to building a company that today is owned by Home Depot, with revenues topping $1.8 billion.

2. “Top of Mind” by John Hall

In a noisy world of digital marketers, how do you stand out? CEO of Influence & Co. and business thought leader John Hall has some valuable insights. After all, his recipe for staying top of mind with your consumers is the same step-by-step process he used to build Influence & Co to one of Forbes Most Promising Companies In America.

Top of Mind is full of tactics, with insights into how consumer needs and expectations have changed over the past few years; how you can build a brand that serves both your ideal customers and your own employees; and ways to use digital content to build lasting trust with your readers, followers and subscribers. I have put many of these tactics to work already with great success in my own business.

3. “The Miracle Morning for Entrepreneurs” by Hal Elrod and Cameron Herold

Consider this your wake-up call. Few books can change your daily habits as effectively as “The Miracle Morning for Entrepreneurs.” Author Hal Elrods original “The Miracle Morning” was a self-development crash course. In this follow-up page-turner, wisdom is added from Cameron Herold, a bestselling author and widely respected business coach, using the Miracle Morning framework as a foundation.

The book has given me six daily practices to create and sustain positive change in my lifepersonally and professionally. I have found that one of the most difficult challenges is to maintain a balance between building a successful business and taking care of myself. It has taught me that if Im off, then the whole picture is off. The principles in this book have put balance back in my life, which has benefitted my business, helped me feel better, and made my family a lot happier.

4. “Grit” by Angela Duckworth

Can success be reduced to a process? Pioneering psychologist and New York Times bestselling author Angela Duckworth thinks it can. She calls it grit. “Grit” does an incredible job of exploring what makes someone exceptionaland, as Duckworth has discovered, it certainly isnt talent or inherent intelligence.

She argues that the most successful people discover their own genius through the daily habit of persistence while always remembering to lead with what they are most passionate about. I thoroughly enjoyed the personal stories as well as interviews with peak performers and industry leaders, ranging from JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon to Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll.

5. “A Paperboys Fable” by Deep Patel

This book struck me for its title because it made me think about my first job and the other ventures I tried when I was younger.

Part story, part riveting interviews with professors, entrepreneurs, CEOs and more, “A Paperboys Fable” creatively shares some of the most tried and true lessons learned in business. Like the Arbinger Institutes Leadership and Self-Deception, what makes “A Paperboys Fable” a worthwhile read is its ability to take high-level and timeless business lessons and make them both easy to understand for beginners and poignant reminders for us more seasoned entrepreneurs.

6. “Rich20Something” by Daniel DiPiazza

The brand, Rich20Something, was started by Daniel DiPiazza, a recognized digital marketer and influencer. A website, a massively popular Instagram page, and now a book packed with lessons, “Rich20Something” is DiPiazzas story of being a typical twenty-something, unsure of what to do in life, and how he built a brand around the hustling mentality that can turn any young entrepreneur into a success.

Unlike the conventional corporate ladder path, “Rich20Something” is essentially a guide to hacking your way to wherever you want to go. DiPiazza shares his own advice from the trenches along with anecdotes from other successful entrepreneurs and mentors and step-by-step techniques for building businesses around my personal skill set. Its helped me beyond the dream and make things happen.

7. “Managing the Mental Game” by Jeff Boss

Who better to learn mental fortitude from than a former Navy SEAL? In Managing the Mental Game,” Boss reflects on his experiences as a SEAL and walks readers through techniques that build self-confidence, mental endurance and positive habits.

The book is comprised of over 23 mental exercises, covering topics such as how to deal with stress, how to avoid common mental traps, how to handle uncertainty and even the neuroscience behind change. Ive used these in my daily work life to deal with those unexpected issues and barriers that seem to pop up with a startup, which has provided me with a much more measured and logical approach when these do happen.

8. “Disrupted” by Dan Lyons

What is Silicon Valley really like? After 25 years at Newsweek, journalist Dan Lyons lost his job to younger talent. Shortly thereafter, he found himself working for a famed Silicon Valley startup, Hubspot, which had over $100 million in venture capital. “Disrupted” is Lyons take on the idealized entrepreneurship scene in California. As a resident of Silicon Valley, this book hit home in terms of familiar situations and advice on how to navigate the territory here.

One part crash course on entrepreneurship, two parts humorous stories and unfortunate conclusions, this book shows that heavily funded startups arent all they seem to be from the outside. According to Lyons, Its a world where bad ideas are rewarded, where companies blow money on lavish perks, and where everyone is trying to hang on just long enough to reach an IPO and cash out.

9. “Be Obsessed or Be Average” by Grant Cardone

Grant Cardone is a success story, to say the least. In addition to having one of the strongest personal brands, Cardone has made a name for himself by building five successful companies and turning himself into a multimillionaire. “Be Obsessed or Be Average” is like his other NYT bestseller,The 10x Rule a humbling reminder of just how much you have to want success in order to e ventually have it. It reads just like Cardone sounds in his videos and on his podcastfull of energy and motivation. His quotes have stayed top of mind long after finishing the book, which have been inspirational when faced with some critical issues in my business.

From Cardones perspective, success ultimately comes down to three basic rules: first, be willing to set crazy goals, and aim to reach them, every single day; second, value your money and make it work for you; and, third, use your haters as fuel. These rules have worked for me and many colleagues, so they will work for you, too.

10. “The Fire Starter Sessions” by Danielle LaPorte

Theres a reason “The Fire Starter Sessions” has sold over a million copies. Author Danielle LaPorte explains that many of the things we believe about the road to success are actually wrong, and that we end up driving ourselves mad by searching for things that dont actually exist.

Some of the controversial topics covered in this book include the fact that life balance is a myth, that our principles and beliefs might be the very things holding us back, and that happiness has far more to do with how we feel while were working and not necessarily the achievement of our goals. “The Fire Starter Sessions” offers helpful reminders for any entrepreneur who wants to build a meaningful future. Its certainly given me a lot of food for thought on how Ive looked at my own business and leadership style.

John Rampton is serial entrepreneur who now focuses on helping people to build amazing products and services that scale. He is founder of the online payments company Due. If you’re looking for even more to read, check out his book: “Self Employed: 50 Signs That You Might Be an Entrepreneur.“

WATCH:

John Rampton