Author: hackettglobalmarketing14

In the movie “Matrix”, ‘Neo’ was offered a choice of two pills. One would put him back to sleep in the Matrix, where he could continue to do what he always did, or the other would wake him up to a world in which he would have to face, a different reality.​

I chose the different reality which was to leave my job with 15 plus years seniority and take “early retirement at 63“. Retirement is great if you live long enough to get there, but not so good if your money is not right. I’ve been blessed with good health and a burning desire to do more and to leave an impact. I have had many jobs over my 40+ years in the work force, but I was always looking for other ways of creating income.

The late great Jim Rohn said it like this.” Profits are better than wages. Wages give you a living. Profits make you rich.” Wages will put food on the table while profits will allow you to buy the table or the whole tree farm. If you make $60,000 a year, you probably have a life style of $80,000 a year which means that every year you go $20,000 a year deeper in debt. Over a ten-year period, that’s $200,000 worth of debt!

Little did I know, that my mom, Beulah Hackett, with a limited education, who never learned how to drive, would have as much an impact on me, at this stage of my life? She passed away in 2010 at the age of 90. She was a very independent woman, who took the bus to work, even in the bitter cold in Detroit MI winters, into her late 80′s.

Mom was a “southern gal from Mississippi” who had final numbers that would impress anyone: She gave birth to 14 children. I was the 9th of her 14 children. Her mother died when she was only eight years old. She was raised by her aunt and uncle who did’t treat her right. She only “knew” of her father. As a Native American he kept count of all his children during his lifetime, and when she was born in 1919 she was the last of 33. That always reminds me of that old TV show titled “Last of the Mohegan s”. 

I was the first Hackett, to graduate from college. I have traveled somewhat (seven countries on three separate continents), as a two-time military veteran (US Air Force and US Army). I was married twice and father (not baby daddy) to three. I now have more time than money. I am part of the baby boomer generation, that lived and played, but didn’t save enough. I still want to travel, but on my own dime and own time. The best thing that I can do now is to be a good example to my children.​

A job may help you take care of your family, but these are uncertain times who knows how long you will stay on your job. If you help a lot of people to create income, you change the name of the game for the next generation. I believe that if you give someone a fish, they have a meal (a hand out). But, teaching that person how to fish (now, they have a skill) is the real deal. Zig Ziglar said it best “If you help enough people get what they want then you can have whatever you want.” If I touched a chord for you, share this post or leave a comment.

H.G.M

Internet comments

​

Mary Barnett

You’re such a great inspiration Earl 🙂

​Dan Norman

Great advise Earl, Zig Ziglar is one of my favorites.

​Earl Hackett

Thank you for your comments

This is an after-thought.

As I write blog this, it reminds me of a Farmers Insurance commercial I saw recently on TV. The young girl calls her car “Brad” and she recalls all the things she went through with her car Brad. I called my Empire Blog “my blog beast”. It’s where I cut my teeth in the blogging experience. Ten trips in four and a half years to varies parts of the country, and amassing over 600 blogs is a learning experience. Glad I got to meet some of the people who commented on my blogs.

Why does the introduction continue? A collection of blogs on a computer screen may build your audience if written well,  filling a need and you have traffic, but to build a book requires setting the stage. If I can build a book from a collection of blogs, so can you. We all have a story to tell, but we must start somewhere.

Life happens to us all. It’s how you handle the bumps in the road that makes the difference. I lost a library of information (500+ blogs) when the Empower Network folded, but I learned a skill in the process or discover my gift. Donna Krech who was know as the “Belief Builder”, had a tough childhood and a rough married life. But she overcame a serial entrepreneur.

David Cook, a sports psychologist talked about mental toughness. Wither it’s a good day or a bad day, what matters most is how we respond. Donna Krech called it the “Motivation Assassinators”   that take us off our game.

Every now and then, we all get stuck. What do need to do, to move forward? Under stand  the basic laws for success and develop the discipline to see things through. When you don’t understand, be prepare to learn to learn the hard way. Napoleon Hill and Jim Rohn talked about the things we need to be concerned with internally. It’s not what happens outside, but what happens inside, that determine our success in business and in life.

There is a certain magic about mentors. Fortunate is the person who has a least one very good friend (James Marshall we go back over 50 years).  He went to Vietnam and I went to Germany back in the day, and we have been separated for years but we always stayed in touch.

 I’m in Philadelphia PA, and he’s in Southfield MI,  near Detroit  MI where we both grew up.  Napoleon Hill always talked about Andrew Carnegie, and Jim Rohn always talked about Earl Shoff. Darren Hardy, Publisher of Success Magazine and Chris Widener of Made for Success, and a host of others, still talk about Jim Rohn.  John Stanton, former CEO and Chairman of the Board for T-Mobile talked about Baker Ferguson who was the Chairman of the Board of Trustees for Whitman College.

Sometimes there are people who wear special rings that everybody don’t know about. We know about the Super Bowl ring and the World Series ring but, did you know about the National Speakers Association Hall of Fame ring or the Empire Network Millionaire Club ring.

Don Hutson wears the Speakers Hall of Fame ring. I blogged about him because he reminded me Empower Network first ring ceremony I attended in Denver CO. I blogged about Tracy Walker, because I saw it coming. The Empire Network team re-blogged an interview with her , so you get an inside peek.

There are special times that we fondly remember. The Empire Network may have folded, but I still remember the leadership council. Long time ago there was the time of King Arthur and the Knights of the round table. I’m old enough to remember the time of John Kennedy and his young family in the White House. In due time, the history will record the time of Barrack Obama and his family as the last Camelot.

There is still more to come, so stay tuned.

H.G.M.

I was influenced by many people, we are are. Because of my military experience I wrote about military hero’s who survived, and lived to tell their story. Rob “Waldo” Waldman survived a real live missile attack and lived to talk about it. I met Vernice  “Fly Girl” Armour in person to hear her amazing story of actual combat. We even took a quick photo together. We all have a unique story to tell and if you don’t write your own, nobody else will. And if they did would they get it right.

 I could have settled down and fell in line but, I didn’t want to settle, so why should you?   I could have easily became a clog in the assembly line, but I wanted more. I listened to the late great Jim Rohn who said if I changed, then everything would change for me. Dr. Tony Alessandra fought his way out of the projects in New York city to leave a mark on society. Albert Mensah who was born in a little village, in Ghana West Africa struggled just to make it to America. When he finally made it, he took advantage of every opportunity and became the “Ambassador of Opportunity.”

We all start from somewhere. But our start is not our finish.  When Denis Waitley was talking with Chris Widener in the “Made for Success series”, he talked about his early childhood where he went to school with a chicken sandwich without chicken. It reminded me of the times I went to school with my fired bologna sandwiches. And when the bologna was gone it was just a mayo sandwich. Robert Helms didn’t want to get in the family real estate business because he wanted to rock the rock the airwaves in a rock and roll band. He ended up rocking the airwaves anyway with the most downloaded show on iTunes talking about real estate.

Mike McGavick talked about the time his skateboard went through a neighbor’s base- ment window  when he was young. What he got from his mom was a lesson in responsibility, that stayed with him. As a result he was able to bring a major corporation back from the a financial brink, later in life. Ellie Drake was the little Iranian girl that escaped from Iran, who promised her parents that she would become a medical doctor , but never practiced, after she finished medical school. She chose to follow her dreams and founded BreaveHeartWomen.com for women. Dino Rossi was told that he couldn’t do this or that, because of his poor background. But when he got elected into politics he balanced the State budget without raising taxes.

Why go though the trouble of reading books and listening to audio tapes? Because you might miss getting inspiration from others. Inspiration comes in many forms. Napoleon Hill wrote classics ; Law of Success and Think and Grow Rich. Sometimes you can get inspiration from a song, or the dialogue from a movie. Oliver Napoleon Hill had more setbacks than most, yet he persevered and he wrote about it. Maybe that is why there is a mastermind that still studies his major works after all these years. If you were fortune enough maybe you got inspiration from a wise grand parent like Denis Waitley.

John Conners was the middle child out of seven but he went on to do great things. As the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for Microsoft he was very busy. I was close to the middle of 14 and I stayed gone a lot; military service keeps you away for long periods of time. Dr. Napoleon Hill wrote about the “Golden Rule” while Dr. Alessandra updated the concept with the “Platinum Rule”. Now we need to reach people at their level; that’s treating people as they want to be treated taking everything into consideration (political correction).

There is more to the intro, so stay tuned.

H.G.M.

Having created a library of material, but saving a small part, for a book is my way back. The name of the physical book will be “Standing in the Shadows, Listening to the Greats!!! A blog novel of true stories of ordinary people who overcame all kinds of odds to become extraordinary, who turned around to help others. 

Dedication Page
To Edward, Nicole, and Matthew. This is Dad doing “that blog thing”! Let your purpose carry you through, whatever your next level is. It’s as much about the journey, as the final destination. Paula, I think we did a pretty decent job.

This is a tribute to your grandmother who I considered to be the country girl from Mississippi, who had so many kids she barely knew what to do. Beulah S. Hackett had 14 children and never learned how to drive, but never let it stop her. As a independent woman she took the bus to work, even in the cold Detroit winters, until her mid-eighties.

Mom had it rough growing up, but she always tried to keep it light. She called the bus the “Iron Pimp”. It didn’t arrive on schedule, but it always came, just in time. At the age of 90 she passed on to glory, I write to continue her story.

Her mother died when she was only eight, and she barely knew her father. What he left her, was his legacy. As a Native American from the Mississippi Delta, he kept count of all his children during his life time. When mom was born in 1919 she was the last of 33.

Are we related, are you part of this tribe? James Hackett, Vera Hackett-Williams, Henry Ray Hackett, Hilton Ray Hackett, Leroy Hackett, Beulah Marie Smith-Lathers, Willie James Arnold, Gwendolia Knight-Mims, Richard Jackson Jr., Diane Hackett, Eugene Hackett, Teresa (Hackett) Fields, Nathaniel Hackett.

The back cover has a picture of me sitting in a high back wicker chair with a kufi ( a cap worn by many populations in Africa and men throughout the African Diaspora.)  Many grandfathers and older men wear kufi’s  to symbolize their status as a wise elder. When worn in America, it  primarily identifies the person as one who takes pride in the West African history. It’s a sign of peace, morning, renewal and protection of the mind.

I have in my hands two symbols of American pride: a US Air Force cap and a US Army cap. While do one and they are done, I did two before I was through. Those stories will be revealed over time.

This blog novel evolved from a series of blogs ( an on-line commentary) about personal development and memories from my past. It’s autobiographic, inspirational, and motivational. What’s unique about this novel is some of the readers took the time and talked back (italicized). I just happen to have had a very unique past and lay it all on the line. Why? Because I know there are those who laid it all on the line, and didn’t return.

Through the discipline of blogging. I built a library of ideas that could be life changing, by listening to some of the best motivational speakers and thinkers of today and yesterday. I will  miss the easy reference to all the material but what’s important is who I became. It’s now what you do, but who you become in the process.

The greatest stories will never be told.

They are buried in the graveyards

Along with all the people who never told their story.

Oscar, Tony, and Emmy Award winner – Viola Davis.

This is my story and my legacy. What will be yours?

H.G.M.

Parting is such sweet sorrow, but over the years I learned some things. The Empire may have fallen, but I’m still here.

For every ending, there is another opportunity for a new beginning. Napoleon Hill said it better, than anyone else I know: “Every adversity brings with it a seed of equivalent advantage”. The future is seen in the minds eye and sometimes we can’t connect the dots until we have finished the journey. Blogging on a consistent basics just opened up the memory bank of a life that was a little different.

Change is difficult, but sometime necessary. If you can’t swim, the above picture is really scary, but if you can float, you can adapt and survive.  I started blogging as something to keep my mind active because of my early retirement. It would have been nice, if I made a little money to supplement social security but staying active was my main goal. One of the core requirements was to “blog daily” to build an audience.

As a baby boomer, this blog thing was like Greek, but I have always been up to a challenge. I learned that a blog is an on-line  commentary on any particular subject; they can function as a personal diary or as an on-line advertising vehicle. What is so unique is readers can leave comments for quick response.

For me to blog on a regular basics, required me to think about something that would hold my interest, or else I would quit. I happen to like the personal development, self-help field. I’ve had a very interesting and unique personal development story and loved to read and listen to the stories of the great motivational speakers. Plus, we all could use a little help in that area.

With the Empire Network blogging platform I didn’t understand a lot, but I was retired and had time to write. I’m not a trained writer, but I have written many things over the years. I wrote a fiction novel in junior high, a very long time ago and I wrote many staff papers and a training program for civilian warehouse workers as a U.S. Army Quartermaster Officer.

I was born and raise in Detroit MI, when it was the Motor Capital of the world. In fact Detroit claim to fame is being “The Motor City” and “The Home of Motown”. I even worked on the assembly line during my last year of high school. It wasn’t easy but I had worked my first summer job and liked the idea of having earned my own money. I turned 18 and applied, but Pops told me I still had to finish high school.

I was home along when the 1967 Detroit Riots started (Pop was out of town and I was on my own).  I saw the movie recently with my sister when I returned back home from Philadelphia PA. Hard to believe it’s been 50 years since that happened. But the numbers are still amazing; 2,000 buildings were destroyed, over 7,200 people were arrested, 1,100 people were injured and 43 people were killed.

God must have directed my steps. It would have been very easy for me to go left,  instead of staying right, but because I didn’t act foolish, I didn’t become a statistic. Because I didn’t cross the police line, I was able to walk the flight line in Libya North Africa (US Air Force) and later support the front line in Germany (US Army).

Even though I lost a library of material, I saved enough to write a book. This is a different platform so I’m just getting use to it. Stay tuned there is more inside.

H.G.M.