LIVE | unconquered: August 2011

The Opening Word

LIVE unconquered's mission is to change people’s lives, for the better. To help everyone breakthrough to a brighter day, no matter their background, situation, or circumstances. Live Unconquered is about restoring and injecting positivity and optimism into your life – all day of everyday so that you can make the most of it. It’s about having faith; in a better day, in what you’re doing, in where you are going, and most importantly yourself – no matter your religious affiliation. Lu will also take on psoriasis/ psoriatic arthritis advocacy under its umbrella as well, in the form of E. A. R. S. - to educate, create awareness, promote research, and develop support in anyway possible.

Daily Mission Checklist
Develop as a person everyday.
Help someone else grow as a person, everyday.
Be a source of constant inspiration in your environment.
Provide light to areas mired in darkness.
Lead by example and with constant integrity.
Continually bask in education and knowledge.
Appreciate all things – good and bad.
Be respectful not only to others, but to yourself.
Establish and maintain a position of forgiveness.

Six Pillars of Development
Wisdom
Strength
Longevity
Hope
Tranquility
Desire

Be not forgetful to entertain strangers; for we entertain angels unaware.

Monday, August 22, 2011

Weathering The Storm Update

As my first book production date begins (less than two weeks away), I thought I would go through some of the first steps that occur for Weathering The Storm to go from manuscript to actual book. It may not as be as easy of a process as you think; it's certainly been more complex and time-consuming than I ever would have guessed. Moreover, as a first time author, this is a completely new process for me so it's not entirely surprising.

The first step Weathering The Storm will enter is a copy-editing phase of production. This process will obviously be completed by my publisher, Tate Publishing. They will work to improve the formatting, style, and accuracy of my manuscript. They don't change the actual text, but make it more clear, correct, concise, complete, and consistent.

Once Tate has completed the copy-editing, they will turn it over to the conceptual editing area of their company. Conceptual editing looks at the overall book and see what's missing from it, what I could do to make it a better project, what needs to be expanded, and what areas I could condense. This stage, in a sense, gets the message I want to portray across in the most understandable manner. In addition, this is also where the appropriate illustrations and graphics are incorporated into my manuscript. If all goes to schedule, this should happen around a month after the copy-editing process begins - so around the beginning of October.

I imagine this will be a busy and exciting time. I cannot wait to see how Weathering The Storm progresses, and everyday that goes by is a day closer to its release date. I will continue to provide updates (and hopefully in the latter stages I can offer previews), and concurrently begin working on the manuscript for the next book in line - Live Unconquered.

Always remember to make the best of your time. Be productive, and have optimism. Life is too short to be a downer - stay positive, stay motivated, and keep living unconquered.

J. Junior II
8/22/2011

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Live Unconquered - The Next Project

In the next couple of weeks, my first book - "Weathering The Storm", will hit the editing and production phases. I will be working with Tate Publishing to make this dream become a reality and bring WTS into market. Concurrently, I have began to develop a concept for my next book, which will carry the same name as this blog. I have already started working on this next project, and hope to have the manuscript completed around the time WTS is officially released in early 2012.

Live Unconquered

breakthrough to a brighter day...

The goal for WTS was to bring you through and out of turbulence; Live Unconquered will serve as the follow up and move you forward/ away from the fringes of said turbulence. My goal is for Live Unconquered to be more in depth and hit more specific topics, in addition to giving you the tools and motivation to live undeterred no matter your circumstance.

This will be a busy yet exciting time. I'm a newbie to this whole area, but I am confident that everything will run smoothly. I look forward to working with Tate and creating the best book possible out of "Weathering The Storm", and constructing another viable manuscript with the Live Unconquered theme --> that of continuous growth, development, transformation, reorganization, faith, hope, and motivation.

Of course, I'll give all the details and exact dates as they arise. Thanks to all my supporters, and don't forget to keep living....

UNCONQUERED.
J. Junior II
08/08/11

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

A Time To Review - Part II

This week, I’ll continue going over posts from the last two months. Rehashing and refreshing is a vital point in the goal to live unconquered. It is easy to become sidetracked; to get completely off-course. It’s not about straying off your path – we are all human and will at some point or another – but getting back on your path in due time without inflicting damage to your life.

New Beginnings - They are important. Sometimes, you will need change and to start over – all environments will stagnant and become routine overtime without it. If you ever feel like you’ve “worn out the welcome mat” – that’s only a sign that it’s time for a fresh start. Don’t fear change – embrace it. I can’t tell you how many times I lamented something being changed – and later found out it was in my benefit…

The Healing Process… - Don’t take two steps forward, only to take three backwards. Let the past go, and turn over a new page. Former chapters need not be a reflection on those yet unwritten. Forgive, which doesn’t mean forget, but letting loose and moving forward. Letting things linger can act as a dead weight on your life, and for many years afterwards. Being unable to let go can also give you an irrational mindset, and lead you into making uneducated, rash, and harmful decisions/ choices. So, stop focusing on yesteryear, because it hurts your planning for the next year.

The Power of Knowledge - It is a key to many doors. It can pave a way out of trials when isn’t a clear path present. It can lead you out of dark and into the light, and deflect detrimental circumstances and situations. It can serve as armor around you if you surround yourself with it. The power from it is infinite if used properly, and there is no task impossible if used with morality. Never end the quest to educate yourself.

Get Out! - If you live in a bad state of affairs, then you need to run from under those clouds as soon as you can. Don’t make excuses, and don’t look for ways to NOT get out. You deny yourself growth and development by sitting in a unfavorable environment. Why live suppressed and defeated, without any goals, hope, knowledge, or faith. Why be in an atmosphere that drains all of your will and strength? You shouldn’t. GET, OUT.

A Tragedy --> A Triumph - Turn your disasters into blessings. Catastrophic events will happen to all of us, and for all their negativity, try to find something positive to take away from them. A horrible event can serve as the seed for something immense. Take a tragedy and create something that is for the good of all. Don’t forget that once your tragedy is a triumph; be sure to assist others to their breakthrough as well.

Beat All The Odds - If you have a negative mindset, you already enter a situation with defeat on your shoulders. Always go into with whatever you do with confidence, a positive and winning mindset, and believing you can achieve – and you can do this without arrogance or pompousness. You can defeat any odd you set your mind to – or at least go out trying. Do not ever concede defeat. You are not truly beaten unless you give up and throw in the towel. Hang in there even when the going is tough, stay motivated; you can accomplish all you set your mind to if you believe you can first.

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Try not to become a man of success but a man of value.
Albert Einstein
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The power of imagination makes us infinite.
John Muir

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Keep Living…
J. Junior II
08-03-2011

More Information

I encourage everyone to visit http://www.psoriasis.org/ - homepage for the National Psoriasis Foundation, to learn a little bit more about psoriatic disease. This chronic disease not only highlights why should we aspire to live unconquered, but we should live for a cause, live everyday, and live for now. The National Psoriasis Foundation is the United States' leading patient-driven, nonprofit advocacy organization that serves the estimated 7.5 million Americans affected by psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis.

Currently, I serve on the inagural editorial board for NPF and our quarterly publication - Psoriasis Advance. As an active advocate with and supporter of this organization, our objective is the same - to strive for better treatments, access to care, and ultimately a cure for all psoriatic diseases.

Since joining Nationwide Insurance in 2013, I've strived to become more active in advocacy and general community involvement. Working for a company that has volunteering and goodwill branded into the culture has really strengthened my "live unconquered" belief, and I look forward to announcing further ventures and activies before 2014 concludes.

Weathering The Storm

Weathering The Storm is an inspirational, motivational, and faith inspiring book that will work to move you from any and all storms in your life. It will serve to move you out of the rain and help you breakthrough to brighter days. I wrote Weathering The Storm in a down to earth way so that everyone can easily relate, with everyday advice ranging from forgiving to moving forward with your life after tragedy. If your life always seems to be in the midst of turbulent weather, my goal is for Weathering The Storm to serve as a shield and a guide to get you through, and towards the fringes of the light. Written from my perspective as a psoriasis sufferer, I want to use my background to inspire you and invigorate you so that you can step away from storm clouds hovering over your head. Life is too short to be mired in constant stress; Weathering The Storm will move you away from the mess and instead help prove you are blessed – no matter your circumstance or situation.

The road to being a published author has been an exciting and rewarding experience, and I've garnered more support for this than I ever could have imagined. The book was officially released by Tate Publishing on August 28th, 2012. As with any book, we will work hard over the next year to increase the profile and momentum behind Weathering The Storm; remember, the life of a book never ends! When signings and presentations are scheduled, I will post updates and information here. The time has flown by working with this project, but I am looking forward to wrapping up new and more in-depth works going forward. Another thank you to all those who’ve been there during this exciting and groundbreaking process!

The Next Few Steps...

The LIVE unconquered Project
I plan for this LIVE unconquered blog will be transformed into a manuscript and book of its own. Serving as a follow-up to Weathering The Storm, I plan for the book to focus on continuing the progress once you’re out of the storm. It will focus on growing, developing, and molding yourself in the aftermath of tribulations. It will help you focus on living each tomorrow better than today and continuing to have success no matter the circumstance, situations, or environments you did encounter, and prepare you for any troubles that may arise in the future. As I work on the follow-up manuscript to Weathering The Storm and determine the appropriate publishing route, I will give updates and insights just as I have on Weathering The Storm. I have already started putting together the manuscript, and planned to be finished over the summer of 2013.

Psoriasis: A Life Changer
Once completed, I know that this will be the pinnacle accomplishment for me because of the effect psoriasis has had on my life. I started on this manuscript before Weathering The Storm was released, and while I have made some end roads, it certainly has not been an easy manuscript to place. As I become more actively involved in psoriasis advocacy and undergo some changes in my own treatment plan in 2013, I expect I will make significant progress and hope to have the manuscript complete and ready to send off for publishing by my birthday in June. Though it isn’t easy writing about something as difficult and traumatizing as psoriasis and the ripple effect it can cause to your life, I believe those same struggles have helped (and are helping) me grow in the proper direction, and that it gives me a tremendous story that I can share to potentially help others realize that while psoriasis is a chronic disease, it isn’t the end of the world unless you allow it to be.