Observations from a "Successful" Black Male

[Mr Hate Coffee]

I'm the only in my fam whose never been locked up so trust me I know what you mean. If I was to tell my life story I guarantee you everyone would be screaming

I even went so far as to legally have my first, middle, and last name changed.

On the real, MJ can explain it way better than I ever could

Got damn bruh!

 

[The Devil's Advocate]

I have friends like this too, but everyone can't go into IT or be an engineer or anything else math and science oriented. It's unfortunate that people can't choose a major that brings out their strengths without having 2 jobs and barely making it.

where do people get this idea??? that you can only make money in these fields

the shyt is simple math for real... look at the job market.. search for jobs that are in the field you WANT to study... does it seem like a big money maker?? does it seem like there's a lot of jobs open for this??


it's that simple... yea you love art and fashion.. but more than likely, you're not getting an art or fashion job.. and if you do, it's gonna pay you shyt... so why spend 4 years and ??k dollars to get a piece of paper in that field

i fully understand it's what you love... i love music.. my dream would be to work in that field.. but i'm not paying 50k a year to go to full sail, to be an engineer for some $25 an hour studio. the much smarter plan would be for me to get a degree in something that will pay me.. and take my extra time to minor in music.. or take it later in life... when i can afford to play around with my money and career

you don't want to be 21, 40k in debt, and trying to find a job with a degree in pottery

 

[Tommy Knocks]

Derail a career oriented thread with an essay on "how to make it in rap music" brehs...

Nah it wasnt just rap, I used rap as an example. some of us work in creative careers, its a much different beast than corporate.

what I wrote has to do with music, fashion, art, design, websites (like this one, its not easy to get a board like this to crack, just like a rap career), film etc. had you checked out ol boys link, you'd have seen he's trying to start a clothing line (which was surprisingly good, check him out), he's also making EDM, not rap. It woulda been 4 times longer if I went into each one individually, its just easier to use rap as an example.

Dude really has his shyt set up, his music is good too. It sucks when you do everything right, professionally, and then it goes no where. Thats what sucks about art, you can get off your ass, be great at it, but then have no one to sell it too. I mean dude been posting on here for a year and I barely clicked his links yesterday.

 

[Invisible Man]

This is truly an inspirational an eye-opening thread that serves as a much-needed wake-up call for me. Thank you. Dapped and repped.

 

[The Devil's Advocate]

you aint gotta leave your OG homies. just expand your horizons to new people. i still got my goons but now i got another circle full of lawyers and accountants.
i had to step out my comfort zone tho.​

i been watching "how to make it in america" and i realize that's exactly what i need to be doing.. i got my friends from high school.. not a single one of them are doing shyt.. but they my boys and i love them

but damn i wish i could connect into these higher echelon people... get me a group that doesn't mind putting on a suit and grabbing some high class broads.. find some people who have connections to some shyt... find people who want to travel outside the country... fukk it, outside the state

problem is i hate going out alone.. it's awkward as hell.. and i don't want to start befriending people at work, to come hang with me outside of work

 

[Jesus]

Excellent thread. I guess I'll add one little gem about work that I have noticed.

Never come to work in something new and if you do, come in something that is moderately priced. Work car vs Personal Car. Work clothes vs Personal Clothes. I do this shyt like I'm Bruce Wayne. Old white folks and c00ns at work will notice immediately if you are making too much money.

Show no fear. Deal with most problems honestly, but never react immediately. I have a rule on deal with problems. 20 mins max. I have a temper so when a problem occurs I sit down for twenty mins and write out my solutions. Then I stop thinking about it. Then about an hour later I come back to the problem looking for solutions. It might sound crazy but I do this all the time with huge problems. Anger clouds the mind.

When you start making money or people perceive that you are making money people start to form an impression of you that is wildly different than who you really are. That goes for friends and family.

Great grandfather told me the exact same thing....he was an old WW2 vet.

I'm going to start doing the 20 minute thing even though I'm generally mild mannered.

 

[Jesus]

Excellent list. We need to do more of this, sharing valuable information on our experiences.

I'd like to add a few of my observations too...

- Cacs try to turn any type of disagreement between you as you being "threatening" so dont argue with words, argue with results

- Try to become an independent contractor or consultant in your field of work ASAP. Only way to get paid what your worth and not have to do busy work.

- Dont become complacent, i've seen people waste 20+ years of their life doing the same thing. It's easy to get trapped in a job and lose years of your life.

- The best way to get in good with your boss is not kissing ass or trying to be a superstar. Be the one your boss never has to worry about.

- Dont loan money to friends / family. If you really want to help them, give them the money on the condition they never ask again.

- It's easier to say no the second time if you said no the first time. It's hard as hell to tell someone no if you said yes in the past.

Feed me...feed me. n/h

 

[LezJepzin]

I gotta ask... how does this work out for you AT work?? cause in my head, i'm seeing favoritism go down and you getting fukked over for promotions... cause jeff is my boy and we tag teamed this bytch on the ski trip

Actually, its worked in my favor. My boss is pretty laid back overall yet pushy when needed to be. I've worked a number of different work environments , with many of them NOT going my way. I guess I paid my dues. I have a good relationship with all of the other managers too (including one I wanna fukk (she looks likes a b cup Katy Perry with a fat ass) )

As for my relationship with my co-workers , things couldn't be better right now. There was some friction a while back until I mentioned to my boss I felt like I was working on in an Island. Guess that really bothered her for me to say that , like that was a reflection of her managing performance. Not many bosses would admit that and I wasn't expecting it. I'm pretty good at being a salesman and with that success comes animosity . I had to deal with a lot of that backlash at my last two sales jobs working with shady people and brain dead bosses. None of that where I work at now. The store I work at overall is one of the highest grossing in the entire company and my department is the top ranked one in Northern California . Word is that my department wasn't close to where it was now months before I arrived there . My boss played a big role in that changing the staff environment around so its more of a team and no more of a bunch of me's . Yeah, things aren't always peachy ( this arab guy can't stand this old cac lady in our department , calling her pickles . But she's cool to me though.)

And I know what goes on behind the scenes (who fukked who, who got fukked from getting promoted, etc.) and it doesn't phase me. I understand corporate politics and how dirty shyt can be (stories deserve their own thread) . I stay clear from it, at what I hear go around and just do my job. Only worry about what I can control.


To succeed in the workplace without kissing any ass or "c00ning" is a beautiful thing.

 

[Jesus]

Derail a career oriented thread with an essay on "how to make it in rap music" brehs...

nikkas thinking they going to be Swizz Beatz or Just Blaze....

nikkas have a better chance of being Dentist/Doctor/Lawyer/Engineer than successful baller/producer/rapper...lottery ticket dreams brehs.

 

[Jesus]

I'm one of two black men at my job...mostly cacs and cacettes. shyt is a daily struggle.

The success/jealously is spot on. Just turned 23 and turning it into high gear for my career....expecting 2 of the dozens of people in my friends/family circle to be there when I've completely arrived.

 

[philmonroe]

i been watching "how to make it in america" and i realize that's exactly what i need to be doing.. i got my friends from high school.. not a single one of them are doing shyt.. but they my boys and i love them

but damn i wish i could connect into these higher echelon people... get me a group that doesn't mind putting on a suit and grabbing some high class broads.. find some people who have connections to some shyt... find people who want to travel outside the country... fukk it, outside the state

problem is i hate going out alone.. it's awkward as hell.. and i don't want to start befriending people at work, to come hang with me outside of work

You realize what you need to do but yet don't do it why? The love for your boys and their doing nothingness is holding you back but its all your fault. Its comfortable and its also kinda self assuring when even though you aren't making moves everybody around isn't either so even though you see shyt can be bigger your immediate circle ain't doing it so you feel comfortable being right there in nowheresville right along with them. Gotta get outta that mind set or you'll be stuck man. D your thing and probably don't just save yourself but save them too because they see you making moves they might get the energy to make moves too. As far as being awkward you get your confidence up you'll soon be alright and if that don't help join a public speaking class or acting group that forces you to get out of,that comfort zone you'll be aight I promise.

 

[Creeper]

I th



This post reminds me of my dad


Plus try not to make friends at work

I look at it the opposite. If you're cool with people they will bring you up along with them especially if they move up to the ladder first. It's all about networking

 

[Malik]

I'm the only in my fam whose never been locked up so trust me I know what you mean. If I was to tell my life story I guarantee you everyone would be screaming

I even went so far as to legally have my first, middle, and last name changed.

On the real, MJ can explain it way better than I ever could

 

[Wild self]

where do people get this idea??? that you can only make money in these fields

the shyt is simple math for real... look at the job market.. search for jobs that are in the field you WANT to study... does it seem like a big money maker?? does it seem like there's a lot of jobs open for this??


it's that simple... yea you love art and fashion.. but more than likely, you're not getting an art or fashion job.. and if you do, it's gonna pay you shyt... so why spend 4 years and ??k dollars to get a piece of paper in that field

i fully understand it's what you love... i love music.. my dream would be to work in that field.. but i'm not paying 50k a year to go to full sail, to be an engineer for some $25 an hour studio. the much smarter plan would be for me to get a degree in something that will pay me.. and take my extra time to minor in music.. or take it later in life... when i can afford to play around with my money and career

you don't want to be 21, 40k in debt, and trying to find a job with a degree in pottery

Not everyone cut to be an IT worker. Plus those jobs take up 60+ hours per week where you don't have much time doing what you want to do in life. Basically, you do what you hate for as long as you are awake, and creates all kinds of psychological problems which leads to mental breakdowns and the like.

 

[Huellz Santana]

i been watching "how to make it in america" and i realize that's exactly what i need to be doing.. i got my friends from high school.. not a single one of them are doing shyt.. but they my boys and i love them

but damn i wish i could connect into these higher echelon people... get me a group that doesn't mind putting on a suit and grabbing some high class broads.. find some people who have connections to some shyt... find people who want to travel outside the country... fukk it, outside the state

problem is i hate going out alone.. it's awkward as hell.. and i don't want to start befriending people at work, to come hang with me outside of work

I'm the same way. honestly, the only way I could do it was thru interest groups. like the young black professional network in my city as well as another network related to my field of work. i even met some cool as people by doing french conversational groups thru meetup.com​