Realizing Dreams from A-Z: Principles for Excellence

By Byron Sylvester Brown

Packed within the text of this masterpiece is a collection of positive strategies to enable everyone to reach a pinnacle of success in their endeavors. We are reminded that our dreams are awaiting fruition and yearning to be unfolded. In Realizing Dreams from A-Z: Principles for Excellence, Byron S. Brown expertly outlines the path to success for anyone who wishes to tune out the polluting noises of society and listen to his or her inner strength to forge forward in a world filled with uncertainties. This book serves as the fulcrum to connecting a person to his or her dreams being fulfilled regardless of past hardship, regardless of present challenges, regardless of where a person comes from and regardless of what others may think of them. Unlike any other book, Brown uniquely blends his talents of poetry, original motivational quotes, personal narratives and a tremendous sense of humor to lighten the burden for those who are loaded down with the pressures of this life. Page after page in this book draw one closer and closer to the finish line on the turf of success. Brown condemns the emotions of doubt, fear, and hesitation and pushes for prudence, courage, and vigilance as we strive to reach our dreams in a world filled with rich opportunities for all. In a common trend throughout the book, Brown reminds everyone: Never give up on a journey which you embark upon.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Oct 25, 2013
• ISBN: 9781481770439

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© 2013 Byron Sylvester Brown. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 10/17/2013

ISBN: 978-1-4817-7044-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4817-7042-2 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4817-7043-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013911394

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Dedication

Foreword

Chapter One       A=Aim High

Chapter Two       B=Believe in Yourself

Chapter Three       C=Concentrate on Your Dreams

Chapter Four       D=Deliver Results

Chapter Five       E=Explore into Uncharted Lands

Chapter Six       F=Forgive Others

Chapter Seven       G=Grow Strong

Chapter Eight       H=Head to the Top

Chapter Nine       I=Invest into Your Future

Chapter Ten       J=Jump over Hurdles

Chapter Eleven       K=Keep Knocking

Chapter Twelve       L=Listen Intuitively

Chapter Thirteen       M=Monitor and Motivate Yourself for Success

Chapter Fourteen       N=Negotiate with Patience and Wisdom

Chapter Fifteen       O=Outdo and Outlast your Opponents

Chapter Sixteen       P=Pick Up the Momentum

Chapter Seventeen       Q=Question Quantity Over Quality

Chapter Eighteen       R=Remove Limits from Your Quest

Chapter Nineteen       S=Smile When It Hurts

Chapter Twenty       T=Triumph Over Adversities

Chapter Twenty-one       U=Use Your Talents

Chapter Twenty-two       V=Volunteer Your Services

Chapter Twenty-three       W=Walk with Dignity

Chapter Twenty-four       X=Xerox Good Practices

Chapter Twenty-five       Y=Yield Yourself

Chapter Twenty-six       Z=Zoom In

About the Author

Dedication

I wish to dedicate this book to my lovely wife Joyce, my handsome son Daniel and my gorgeous daughter Hannah, to my mother Annie Lee Brown, to my siblings, Theresa Taste, Georgetta Kennedy, Samuel Brown, Deborah Brown and Willie Mae Gadson.

I also wish to dedicate this book to an excellent cadre of professionals of who all have contributed positively into my life and my role as an educator: Merilee Fox, Lynne Kendal-Wilson, Dr. Julie Crawford, Dr. James Wilson, Ms. Krystal Kimrey, Mr. Kevin Sibley, Mr. Ross McCullough and Ms. Kathy Furr.

Finally, I additionally dedicate this book to the best teaching team I have ever worked with in my twenty- two years of teaching: Freda Brew, Mary Chukwu, Zeleta Green, Jonathan David Jelliffe, Kathleen Fitzpatrick, Nioyonu Olutosin, Sandra Rojas, Michael Santistevan, Dr. Richard Stewart, Yolanda Bailey-Stockton, Thaddeus Bowers, William Bill Cleveland and to two other astute individuals who have given invaluable insights and advice to my students during their monthly celebrations of learning: Attorney John Cafferky and Ms. Janet Quantrille.

If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.

Henry David Thoreau

Foreword

by Dr. Henry R. West, Jr. Chicago Public Schools

B yron Brown is a prolific author and motivational speaker. In his latest work, Realizing Dreams from A-Z: Principles for Excellence , Mr. Brown causes us to reflect on an inner strength, the drive and motivation to succeed and persevere despite or in spite of life’s pressures. He reminds us that we can attain true freedom by aiming high, dreaming big, and daring to achieve the purpose that the Almighty has placed us here to accomplish.

Byron Brown gives us reason to hope. As one who has endured hardship, Brown has reflected on situations in his life and reminds us that regardless of one’s position, we can still have pride in being the best at what we do, especially when it comes to serving others. We can do anything that we set our minds to do. Therefore we must free our minds of all limitations, doubts and fears and strive to believe, strive to hope and know that there is something better that lies ahead. His message and reminders are simple. Know that daybreak always follows midnight. You’ve just got to make it through the night. He passionately prepares each of us for our daybreak experience over the challenges we are longing to conquer.

In Realizing Dreams from A-Z: Principles for Excellence, we are encouraged to be risk takers, to explore the unknown and to learn from failures, which are only temporary setbacks. We are implored to forgive others and release the emotional baggage in order to liberate us so that we deliberately and consistently deliver encouragement to those who are watching our lives. Like Brown, we can smile through adversity. ‘Fiery trials’ come as stepping stones in our lives to build our confidence in our own abilities. These stepping stones remarkably motivate us to move on to our next assignment in life. When we are comfortable or content in one location, we sometimes forget that there is yet more to do. So in Brown’s brilliant masterpiece, we are encouraged to forgive, forget and to move on.

There are great gems of wisdom in Realizing Dreams from A-Z: Principles for Excellence. One can’t help but feel inspired, encouraged, strengthened and motivated after reading just a few pages in this book. Byron Brown has masterfully crafted this work of sophisticated poems and triumphant personal narratives with much knowledge and spiritual insight. He is investing and imparting into all who read this book so much so that the reader will be intrinsically motivated to pursue his or her own dreams; to hold on a little longer in the face of opposition; and to view life’s challenges from a more positive perspective.

Despite humble beginnings, Byron Brown is a modern day superman. He is an example to the world that screams, ‘Yes you can’ achieve, accomplish, and be successful if you are willing to make the sacrifices. He also reminds us that we can learn from others and that our true victory in life is not so much in what we achieve for ourselves but rather is determined by the quality of service we can impart to our fellow man.

Byron Brown’s style is light, sometimes humorous but definitely chocked full of insight as he gives us another glimpse into his life’s story. I am sure that Mr. Brown has quite a few more books yet to come as he steps into the spotlight on the national and international stage. Mr. Byron Brown is a visionary man realizing his dreams from A-Z by principles he has been taught and experienced.

Chapter One

A=Aim High

A Poem to Live By:

Created for you and me

The world awakens us daily

That we may yield

To the forces

Of human versus nature

And conquer the unknown

You see the world

I see the world

Yet the world speaks

To our eyes with different images

Though sending the same message

To our hearts

The world rents us space

That we may excel

On God’s place

The world—

A circle of habitation

Welcomes our contributions

For the sake of humanitarian obligations

You see the world

I see the world

The world—

An antique stage

Provides room for us all

To perform regardless

Of the number of our age

For it knows each of us has been called

To aim high

You See Genesis

I see Genesis

The world sees us

By the light we shine

Byron S. Brown

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I Say to You:

"Realizing dreams is a conquering force that can withstand

any form of pressure."

Byron S. Brown

W hen I delivered a keynote address in Milwaukee, Wisconsin at Heritage International Ministries in February 1992, I informed a hungry audience that they must aim high. Thunderous applauds followed my motivational comments: You don’t have to be in the United States Air Force to aim high. You don’t have to be in the United States Marines to be the few and the proud and as all of you know, you don’t have to be in the United States Army to be all that you can be. With this electrifying opening remark, I immediately stole the audience’s heart and went on with the speech, leaving their mouths wide open gasping for more. In this one event, I reached a goal that I had set out to do—to capture the audience’s attention from start to finish. For me, back then that was an act of aiming high. The pastor, Dr. Nathaniel J. Stampley, Sr. nodded to this occasion on that surprisingly warm Milwaukee February Sunday morning.

Aiming high requires one to set lofty goals. Let’s think back to the audacity of President Barack Obama. When the barely known Obama ran for the United States Senate seat in Illinois and won, he reached a political plateau that few do. No doubt the night when Obama delivered his address the thought of running for president was no longer a distant and remote reality for him.

A superb example of aiming high is when the United States Senator Barack Obama announced that he would run for the President of the United States, ‘Home of the Brave’ and ‘Land of the Free’. This shocking announcement was first perceived as a mere routine procedure for a few African-Americans who previously dared to dream. For many Americans, at this time, to have blacks running for the highest political office in the land was only wishful thinking and a waste of tax payers’ money, precious time and human resource. In past presidential elections involving black candidates, voters viewed them as emotional political orators whose time had not yet come. Shirley Chisholm’s attempt to run for president of this great land was recorded in the losing column and so was Rev. Jesse Jackson’s name, and so was Allen Keys’ name and so was the Rev. Al Sharpton’s name. Critics and doubtful historians had already purchased their pens to write Obama’s name in the losing column too. To their surprise, Senator Barack Obama prevailed as the country’s first African-American president.

The fact that President Barack Obama had the audacity of hope, he was able to aim high. This serves as a magnificent and glorious testament to the fact if one sets a goal, no matter how high it may be if the right tools are in place, the dream can be transformed into reality. One cannot give up too easily. If one is to truly aim high, he or she must stay focused and stand strong. Langston Hughes offers us such hope in his poem: Hold fast to dreams. The Harlem Renaissance poet reveals to readers how not holding onto our dreams could adversely affect our qualities as human beings. It could have negative affects on the potential of what a person may or may not ultimately become or achieve. As a consequence of not holding fast to our dreams, there could possibly be deadly results, at least, financially, politically, or socially, if not physically.

One can only aim high if he or she remains vigilant and steadfast. A dream is a necessary ingredient for a person to behold in order to aim high. Amen to Langston Hughes. One can no longer defer a dream. Dreams are created to be realized. Realizing dreams is a conquering force that can withstand any form of pressure. Conquering forces is an awesome concept.

Les Brown has time and time again repeated the truth about realizing dreams in his hundreds of public speeches that he was compelled to write his book entitled: Live Your Dream. His selection of the title Live Your Dream, should resonate within the mind, spirit, and soul of everyone who has the heart to dream. Do you have the heart to dream and the soul to live your dream?

A dream is a necessity in order to aim high. A man without a dream is like a sailor in the middle of the ocean without a compass.

My friend, Matthew Presser, a graduate of Yale University and I had an opportunity to study at the University of Kansas in Lawrence during the summer of 2010 as a result of a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship in the Richard Wright Summer Institute. I admired him from the time we met because he had the courage to dream and to aim high.

As a public school teacher, Presser had a dream to compete in a national writing contest for teachers. Presser knew very well that he could only excel in this endeavor and dream if he aimed high. Considering the advantages and disadvantages of competing in the contest revealed tremendous insight to Presser. He no longer battled the situation and thus began to write the following essay:

The Wait for Superman is Over

To everyone out there waiting for Superman to save education, some good news: I’ve found him.

Wonder Woman too.

They sit in the back row of my language arts class. Superman gets distracted sometimes, especially on Mondays, after a weekend during which he didn’t get his two free meals a day from school. Wonder Woman sometimes puts her head on the desk because she’s tired from taking care of her younger siblings while her mom works a second job.

They’re growing up in one of America’s toughest cities, where murders are so common they sometimes don’t make the front page of the newspaper. Despite this, they come to school. They dream.

In my class, we have a lot of discussions about our community. We read and debate articles of both local and global scope, with a mind toward learning to challenge the status quo and assume new and powerful voices. When my students have concerns or curiosities, they seek the answers – which has led them to hold conversations with our city’s mayor and a videoconference with author Walter Dean Myers, which, according to one student, made her "think that anything is possible since he dropped out of school and had a hard life but still became an author in the end.

Like any good superheroes, Superman and Wonder Woman often face challenges. But unlike Waiting for ‘Superman’ star Geoffrey Canada, who recalled crying as a boy when his mother told him that Superman didn’t exist and thus wouldn’t come and save him, my students don’t despair.

Instead, they’re learning that what it takes to overcome those challenges is already inside them. It’s not the isolated skills and rote facts commonly measured on standardized tests. Instead, it’s their creativity and their ability to think independently. It’s their unique voices.

Recently, I talked with Superman about something that concerns him. As he walks around our city, he sees groups of men huddled on street corners. His dad isn’t around — he died before Superman was born — but from what he knows about him, he’s confident that his father would’ve been there to help him grow up. I handed Superman a piece of paper and told him to