I’m congratulatory!

I’m quick to send you a … great job. High five. Way to go. Keep up the good work. I see you!

But…

No one needs to be privy to all of your magnificent and monsterous plans, success, and even your doubts and failures. Move in silence and shine in brightness. But give yourself some time to fully illuminate before you put all of your business out in the streets. The streets is watching… and if you don’t believe it, tell that to every rapper who has had their borrowed diamond bezels stolen from their hotel room.

Play Chess not Checkers.

In a game of spades, the jokers slamming cards down so hard the table moves are just bad bluffers. No one with a winning hand boasts that much, it’s unnecessary and not strategic. Someone cutting diamonds OUT of the GATE doesn’t want you to know… in fact, they wanna lay that 8 of spades down so smooth like, you reach for that 9 of spades without really even thinking about those ten diamonds in your hand. It’s like shouting “KING ME” at the top of your lungs in a game of checkers, but having no idea in sight of how to use it. Everybody can see your double decker checker and stay clear…

But no one can see inside your mind. While you are plotting on that knight or taking yourself to the King, it’s not until it happens that everyone knows what you have been planning since the first move. You have freed yourself from the naysayers, the unsolicited advice of a bunch of folks who tried and failed at your venture of choice, and most importantly you have kept your trade secrets to yourself. Only you, your accountant, your business partner, and your lawyer need anymore information than that you are seated and ready to play. As you creep on your come up, the creeps will be on your come up. Don’t let them get to your treasure before you even figure out where X marks the spot!

True to form, when you broadcast your every move, flattery soon follows. But what is flattery…

“Flattery is telling the other person precisely what he thinks about himself.” -Dale Carnegie

Flattery is selfish and self-serving. It often causes those of us who are its recipients to divulge more, giving the giver even more to harbor contempt about. It pretends to give you praise and attention that you likely haven’t demonstrated you deserve but in every effort to set you up to take away from those things that are real and tangible. You become more proud and often people you thought were friends are filling you with insincerity. Everybody won’t be happy for you, and human nature dictates that most often we are not very much concerned with what others want but only concerned with what we want. Be careful what you share and how much you share.

So when you hit them with King pawn forward, Queen Pawn forward, and Queen to diagonal stop… they knew you were moving, but they had no idea where…CHECKMATE!

“Real Gs move in silence like lasagna.” Lil Wayne