C4: An Explosive Way to Live a Dynamic Life

By Edward J. Davis and Robert E. Reed

C4 – How to Live a Dynamic Life, uses a very unique approach to enlighten its readers on the four (4) components necessary to live an explosive life. By tackling the areas of Character, Conviction, Creation and Contribution, the reader will be both irritated and motivated to explosive success! As opposite sides of the same coin, authors Robert Reed and Edward Davis speak to us in a language we will understand. Whichever voice moves you to action, is of no consequence. What matters is that you take an introspective look at what is holding you back from achieving dynamite results! The bonus section offers a countdown to detonation that focuses on procrastination, time management, goal setting, removing distractions, getting out of your comfort zone and other countdown measures that are sure to help you lift up and take off!

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: May 4, 2018
• ISBN: 9781543934588

Book preview

Copyright © 2018 by Edward Davis and Robert Reed

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Print ISBN: 978-1-54393-457-1

eBook ISBN: 978-1-54393-458-8

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Edward Davis, MIT, BBA, CART, is a local Houston businessman, speaker, author, and community activist. As founder and co-founder of multiple for-profit and nonprofit organizations, he has helped thousands of individuals throughout the United States through personal development and continuing education. His most recent community jewel is Re-Creating ME, which is dedicated to youth development through prevention and intervention services, adult development through services related to computer literacy, financial literacy, career advancement, and entrepreneurship. Through the organization’s many partners and sponsors, Edward is able to continue to do the work that he loves the most—bringing real and lasting change through personal development to as many people as possible. The core principle that guides his organizations is that everyone has the right to define for themselves who they ultimately become. This book is an extension of that mission.

Robert Reed was born and raised in Houston, Texas, but now resides in Arizona as a speaker, author, and licensed insurance broker. As a broker, he was awarded and recognized as a Top 10 Agent and was a member of the top sales team in the country. As a speaker, Robert has spoken to budding young entrepreneurs on personal development and independent professionals on personal branding. He is also the author of the personal growth book Character Coins: Investing in Significance. His mission is to help empower others to realize their destinies through self-mastery. This book is an extension of that mission.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Component 1 – Character

COMPONENT 1 — CHARACTER

Who are you really?

Character is Dynamic Magnetism

Control of Self is Required for Lift-Off!

Master Your Health

Master Your Finances

Building a Powerful Character

Avoiding Landmines Along Your Course

Cognitive Dissonance

Creating an Explosive Character Takes Hard Work!

It’s All About Character

What is Character?

What Kind of Character Are You?

Character Attraction

Reputation Rides on Character,

and EVERYTHING Rides on Reputation

Where Does Your BRAND Stand?

What you diet on will determine your true character (color)

Mistakes and Missteps

Potatoes, Eggs, and Coffee Beans

Takeaways

Action Steps

COMPONENT 2 – CONVICTION

COMPONENT 2 — CONVICTION

Let Your Passion Lead You

Conviction Personified

What is Your Conviction?

Stop Monkeying Around and Grab Hold

of Something Bigger Than Yourself

The Power of Conviction

Live for Something or Die for Nothing

Why is conviction so important?

Align With Your Convictions

Develop a Personal Mission Statement

See the Vision

Eat Thunder and Crap Lightning

Mistakes and Missteps

Takeaways

Action Steps

COMPONENT 3 – CREATION

COMPONENT 3 — CREATION

The Art of Wealth Building

Sight Comes From Your Eyes;

Vision Comes From Your Imagination

Drumming Up Business

The Business Application for Tom Brady and the Patriots

Business Case Study (Friends and Business)

Money Menu

Stimulate your appetite (appetizers)

Enjoy your entrée (main course)

Now, for a little dessert

Know Your Numbers

It All Starts in Your Mind

Create Your Own Reality

I’m the Greatest of All Time. I Shook Up the World!

As a Man Thinketh

How to Create Wealth

Creating Wealth Begins With Living Within Your Means

Investing in Yourself

Maintaining your Health

Learn How to Save

ALWAYS Shop with a Shopping List

Never Shop on an Empty Stomach

Drop the BAD HABITS

Pay Yourself First & Become a Millionaire!

Mistakes and Missteps

Takeaways

Action Steps

COMPONENT 4 – CONTRIBUTION

COMPONENT 4 — CONTRIBUTION

It All Adds Up

What is Your Contribution?

At the Root of Contribution is DOING

It’s Not How You Start, But It’s How You Finish

Make Your Contribution an Institution

Make Every Day Count for Something:

Every Contribution Counts

If Your Dream Starts and Ends with You, It’s Not Big Enough.

Contributions in the Arts

Contributions in Engineering

Contributions in Business

Mistakes and Missteps

Takeaways

Action Steps

ROBERT’S FINAL THOUGHTS

ED’S FINAL THOUGHTS

BONUS: COUNTDOWN TO DETONATION

10...Procrastination: The Biggest Destroyer

of Dreams and Contributions

9...Time: Our Most Precious Commodity

8...Who’s in Your Circle?

7...Comfort Zones: Killers of Progress

6...Distractions: Removing the Roadblocks

5...The Importance of Preparation

4...The Power of Affirmations

3...The Significance of Goal Setting

2... Benefits of Journaling

1….Press the Button!

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This work would not be possible without the support of my team and partners, Edward Davis and Jacqueline Terrell. Just being associated with these individuals has been a blessing. Ed and Jackie have recharged my entrepreneurial batteries and hold me to a higher standard, and for that I’m eternally grateful.

Ed, you are a childhood friend that I am proud to partner with on this project. We are so alike in many ways, and you bring truth to the proverb that iron sharpens iron.

Jackie, you are the glue that holds the project together and holds both Edward and I accountable. I am so grateful to have met and partnered with you.

I would also like to acknowledge the family that is closest to me. They are my motivation and drive. To Brandon, Jordan, Nikolas, Riley, Tonya, Tawandra, Leontyne and Latosha, your support, love and encouragement have meant more to me than words can express. Your admiration fuels me while your love comforts me.

Finally, I would like to honor The Most High King of Israel whom without him nothing else matters.

Robert Reed

There are many people I owe a great debt to for making this book come to life. Thanks to everyone who put their eyes on it and gave invaluable feedback to make this a better product. Special shout out to our chief editor, Jacqueline Terrell of J. Terrell Consulting Firm. You went far beyond the traditional role of editing for typos, sentence structure, and grammatical errors, and actually gave feedback and suggestions that made this book twice as good as it would have otherwise been. This book project and the Personal M-PACT brand is eternally indebted.

I want to also acknowledge my childhood friend, business partner, and co-author, Robert Reed. You are a man who truly tries to live by the principles you minister to others. You are the one who actually inspired this book. In addition, this book would only be half (literally) the book it ended up being without your contribution. You are an all-around great guy, and I am proud to be able to call you a business partner, friend, and brother.

Finally, I want to acknowledge my family, Jamila, Aereah and Amare. But this is dedicated especially to my children, for genuinely being a part of my WHY and demanding that I be a better version of myself. Aereah, this is just to remind you that you can do what you love, but preparation, execution, and persistence will separate the doers from the dreamers. Amare Eejay Davis, you will know that anything is possible and the only limitations you face will be those you impose on yourself. The world is yours, conquer it. You will always have daddy’s wisdom to guide you. This book will be a part of that foundation of continuous guidance long after I am no longer physically here to offer it. Just hoping I am granted enough time to see your C4!

Edward Davis

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of every book written is to effectively communicate some idea to the reader. The goal of the author is to make sure that the communication in the conversation being created between author and reader is crystal clear. After all, if what is written is not understood by the reader, then what is the purpose of the book? But, is simply being understood enough? The world is filled with people who understand many things, and yet, they still find themselves in a rut and lacking in major areas of their lives.

When putting this book together, Robert came up with an idea that I truly believe is a brilliant approach to how we have the conversation with our readers. He said, Ed—yes, that’s what he calls me—some people embrace change through motivation, but others need irritation. As simple as this statement seemed on the surface, it was profound in its implications. The statement reminded me of a famous quote by my personal hero, the late, great South African President Nelson Mandela. Mandela once said, "If you talk in a language that people understand, you talk to their head. But, if you talk to them in their language, then that goes to their heart."

So, in this book, we tackle the same topics from different perspectives, or, as Robert puts it, the opposite side of the same coin, with the objective of both motivating and irritating our readers into a life of dynamic and explosive possibilities. Motivation will be a language that some of you will understand, but it will not ignite you because it is not YOUR language. Irritation will be the language you identify with. Others of you will understand the language of irritation, but your fuse will only be lit by the language of motivation. The authors of this book are only concerned with the ends, not the means. Whatever moves you into ACTION after the understanding is all that matters to us, because, ultimately, it is only through action that you can ever expect to truly live a life of dynamite!

Each of us has our own language. When a person understands and speaks to us in that language, not only do we understand, but we also feel what they are saying. I have often heard people tell a great speaker that they were moved by the words he or she spoke. Being moved can’t be done by words that you simply understand. What moves us are words that are spoken in our language. Our objective is to move you into a life of dynamic possibilities. So, our hope is that we are not simply understood. We want you to FEEL this explosion!

Component 1 – Character

AFFIRMATION

I am becoming the most awesome, positive and powerful version of myself.

QUOTE

Bad things do happen; how I respond to them defines my character and the quality of my life. I can choose to sit in perpetual sadness, immobilized by the gravity of my loss, or I can choose to rise from the pain and treasure the most precious gift I have – life itself.

—Walter Anderson

COMPONENT 1

CHARACTER

(Robert’s View)

Who are you really?

Character isn’t something you were born with and can’t change, like your fingerprints. It’s something you weren’t born with and must take responsibility for forming.

– Jim Rohn

When I was much younger, my friends and I were into roleplaying games. No, not the kinky stuff. I’m talking about D&D, Street Fighter, Vampires, Werewolves and more of the same. We would stay up all night, literally, creating characters that we would play right then or act out in a future campaign. You know, kinda like what you see on the hit TV show Big Bang Theory when they gathered around the table, rolled the dice, and stated an action. We did the exact same thing, and we loved it! The character creation part, in particular, was fun, energetic and often tedious because of all of the effort and painstaking attention to detail that we put into creating what we thought were dynamic, or at least interesting, characters.

One of the main reasons we participated in the game was because we were able to be creative and engage our imaginations. Whatever we wanted was available at the stroke of a pencil. Fame, money and supernatural power was ours for the taking—providing we worked for it through campaigning, of course. Nevertheless, we made all our own decisions and took our own actions and, depending on how the dice landed, we adapted and made adjustments to achieve our desired end. We started with details such as our names, our characters’ names, their