When I was growing up, almost every kid I knew had a book called Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein. We didn't have it at our house, however. I never knew why, since every other kid had it.

What I read was mildly amusing, but I didn't miss having the book either. Plus, I wasn't a huge fan of poetry back then.

Fast forward ten to twenty years into the future and I evolved my tastes, also becoming a huge Johnny Cash fan along the way. There was a compilation live album floating around in my teenage years or early twenties that included tracks from both of his live performances at Folsom and San Quentin prisons.

Eventually, I got both At Folsom Prison and At San Quentin. The San Quentin album included a song from Johnny's friend, one that he had just received and read over a couple of times, laughed, agreed to sing it in concert, though Cash had to look at a lyrics sheet when he was on stage.

"Boy Named Sue." By Shel Silverstein.

I dug into Shel's life a little bit. Friends with Cash and Kristofferson and that crowd. Prolific songwriter. And a bit of a "blue" comedic sensibility.

I was soon glad my mom didn't introduce me to Where the Sidewalk Ends, because, knowing me, it would have been a gateway into Shel's "other stuff." A lot of it unsavory.

"Boy Named Sue" is a fun song, though. Overcoming adversity in life and wrestling with abandonment by one's father, shall we say, were a couple of the themes.

The song leads to a climactic brawl between the estranged father and son.

Verse 8:

And he said, "Son, this world is rough

And if a man's gonna make it, he's gotta be tough

And I knew I wouldn't be there to help you along

So I give you that name and I said goodbye

I knew you'd have to get tough or die

And it's that name that helped to make you strong"

Hilarity and tenderness ensue.

Reminds me of another Japanese proverb I ran across.

I gotta tell you, I've stopped waiting for luck—outside of the occasional MegaMillions or Power Ball ticket—because most or all of it I’ve ever got is bad. Not a good track record for this Irishman.

Never shall I wait for death. So unbecoming.

Having probably lived more than half my life already, I know death is coming. Even though it might not be right around the corner, I figure I might as well squeeze as much life out in the time I have left.

So, meanwhile, I've started up a few businesses and a number of—what I call—"courtesan projects" over the last year-and-a-half. The Tom Woods School of Life was a huge catalyst in all this.

Tom says, "They came for your job, your voice, and your children's minds—and they'll do it again. Make yourself unbreakable."

Yesterday's (don't expect these every day, BTW) Japanese proverb was “A single arrow is easily broken, but not ten in a bundle.” Unbreakable, in other words.

So, I give great credit to Tom and his School.

Now, after a series of fortunate circumstances, I work for Tom. This had nothing to do with "luck."

One of my responsibilities within his School is to facilitate weekly calls with like-minded entrepreneurs and plain-ol' dreamers looking to do great things with their lives.

Use the affiliate link below to see for yourself. It's honestly the best money I've ever spent on professional or personal development...by orders of magnitude.

As always,

Brian