Happy New Year, Family! So the shooting continues; no end in sight. Many of our young people don't want to put out the blood, sweat and tears to be successful that previous generations had to expend. They want immediate gratification, wealth, bling, material stuff and they want it now. Our country is obsessed with things material versus focusing on the more important things, like family, relationships, education, protecting the environment, healthy eating and living healthy, sustainable lifestyles. More on this after the Top 20.

Holding on at #1 is Run This Town by Jay Z, Rihanna and Kanye West. Still in the #2 spot is Whitney Houston's monster hit anthem Million Dollar Bill. Up to #3 is Boom Boom Pow by Black Eyed Peas. Up to #4 is a previous essential new tune; Make Me by Janet Jackson. This one is now doing well in the dance charts. Up to #5, it's Bad Habits by Maxwell. Maxwell is one smooth, funky, soulful dude and his music reflects this.

Slipping to #6 is Mary Mary with God in Me. Falling to #7 is the dance anthem I Know You Want Me by Pitbull. Fighting its way up to #8 is Empire State of Mind by Jay Z and Alicia Keys. Down to #9 is Under by Pleasure P. At #10 is Release Me by Agnes.

On the way up at #11 it's Baby By Me by 50 Cent featuring Ne-Yo, a recent essential new tune. Up to #12 is I Invented Sex by Trey Songs featuring Drake. Improving to #13 is Money To Blow by Birdman featuring L'il Wayne and Drake. Slipping to #14 is S.O.S. (Let The Music Play), by Jordin Sparks.

Jumping to #15 is Papers by Usher. Up to #16 is Paparazzi by Lady Gaga. Tumbling to #17 is Obsessed by Mariah Carey.

Now this week's essential new tune. In at #18 its It's Killing Me by Melanie Fiona, a sad ballad. Falling to #19 is Successful by Drake featuring L'il Wayne. Falling to #20 is Wasted by Gucci Mane featuring Plies or OJ Da Juiceman.

Now back to this week's word – delayed gratification. We have to teach young people the concept of delayed gratification. I've seen instances where a person had to choose between paying their rent and buying Christmas presents for their children; and chose the Christmas presents.

This individual would think their landlord was horrible for evicting them for nonpayment of rent, but we have our priorities all screwed up. If you don't own a home, you need somewhere to live and must pay rent. If you own a home you must pay a mortgage, until the mortgage is paid off in full. That should be your first expense. I don't get how people can not take care of their housing costs first. If you have no place to live; you're whole life is jacked.

You should set your mortgage payment to happen on the first of every month so that it is the first expense you pay, before you pay yourself. Some intelligent persons will argue that by paying my mortgage you are paying yourself, because when you pay your mortgage, you are building wealth and equity (ownership) in the property. But some people don't get that.

Then there's the tendency of people to not want to start small. Young people look at older persons and say that they are lucky because they own a home! Not exactly; these people worked and made sacrifices.

I recently met a young couple who were having a kid and they just had to have this massive apartment. I suggested to them that they might like to stay in a smaller place until the baby was about 2, then get something bigger. They wouldn't listen to me. After some months, when the baby came; they realised that they couldn't afford the big place they were renting.

Well, that's the problem with our young people; they want immediate success without the hard work and sacrifice. If you're gonna own a piece of the rock; you have to start small and sacrifice. So many young people say that there is no way they can ever own property in Bermuda. Well, that is true if they go around having multiple babies, starting from the time they are teenagers. That is true if they don't save their money and waste it on things that don't appreciate in value.

Young people will never own if they think that you buy one big, massive dwelling at age 25 and that's your dream house for life. It doesn't work like that. You have to save your money; avoid having too many children too early in your life; try to be in a stable relationship with someone with whom you can work and who has similar goals; and stay the course.

Start small, purchase a one- or two-bedroom condo. Pay the mortgage on that for five years, then hopefully your earnings are better and you can upgrade. You do this every so often until you eventually build up enough equity and wealth that you can buy your dream home later in life.

But it is unlikely that you will ever own property if you're paying $3,000 to $4,000 in rent every month. You are paying someone else's mortgage.

So, young people, embrace the concept of delayed gratification, start small and build up, sacrifice, pay off your mortgage instead of going on shopping trips to New Jersey or wherever else Bermudians go for such frivolous endeavours. That's just one blueprint for getting a piece of the rock. Don't give up on the dream of owning Bermuda real estate. If you can dream it; you can achieve it. Dream on … DJLT.