Latest / The Black Sheep Leadership Podcast / WHILE YOU STILL HAVE TIME ⌚🕛Take Care of Yourself. Build Something. Say What Needs to Be Said.

Transcript

WHILE YOU STILL HAVE TIME ⌚🕛Take Care of Yourself. Build Something. Say What Needs to Be Said. · The Black Sheep Leadership Podcast

0:37
SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Black Sheep Leadership Podcast.
0:39
SPEAKER_00: I'm Athena Renee, and this is where the misfits, the underdogs, and the black sheep come to turn pain into power and build a life by design so that they can leave a legacy behind.
0:51
SPEAKER_00: If this is your first time tapping in, welcome home, family.
0:55
SPEAKER_00: Pull up a chair.
0:56
SPEAKER_00: We're so glad you're here.
0:57
SPEAKER_00: And if you're back again, welcome back, my fam.
1:00
SPEAKER_00: It's good to see you again.
1:02
SPEAKER_00: Now let's do this quick vibe check.
1:04
SPEAKER_00: Because if you're easily offended, sensitive, entitled, waiting on somebody to come save you, or allergic to accountability, get your ass up out of here.
1:13
SPEAKER_00: This ain't your safe space.
1:14
SPEAKER_00: Go ahead and tap out now.
1:16
SPEAKER_00: But if you're ready to think bigger, move smarter, and you refuse to live beneath your potential.
1:22
SPEAKER_00: Stay locked in, my friend.
1:24
SPEAKER_00: Because by the end, you're walking away with something that you can execute immediately.
1:29
SPEAKER_00: Now let's get to work.
1:32
SPEAKER_00: Now on the previous briefing, we talked about going where you can grow.
1:38
SPEAKER_00: We talked about protecting your environment, your confidence, and the person that you're becoming.
1:45
SPEAKER_00: But today, I need to talk to you about why we can't keep assuming we have forever to do it.
1:55
SPEAKER_00: Like she family, I'm dropping you this message, and whenever you hear it, I pray that you hear this message and you really take this as a roll call.
2:08
SPEAKER_00: Because I promise you, I promise you, I'm taking it as mine.
2:14
SPEAKER_00: This one is personal today.
2:15
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
2:17
SPEAKER_00: I recently lost my cousin.
2:21
SPEAKER_00: And the thing about it is two things.
2:24
SPEAKER_00: Number one, he was only 38 years old.
2:30
SPEAKER_00: You know, and when somebody leaves Earth that young, it has a way of making you look at your own life completely different.
2:40
SPEAKER_00: You look at your health different, you look at relationships different, you start looking at excuses and at plans you've made, you look at everything different.
2:50
SPEAKER_00: Because one day it doesn't sound like a date anymore.
2:57
SPEAKER_00: It really starts to sound like a gamble.
3:01
SPEAKER_00: And that's why today's episode it's called While You Still Have Tie.
3:07
SPEAKER_00: Let's unpack it.
3:09
SPEAKER_00: Because there are three things I haven't been able to stop thinking about.
3:13
SPEAKER_00: And I think somebody listening needs to hear them too.
3:19
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
3:21
SPEAKER_00: Number one, love yourself enough to take care of yourself.
3:27
SPEAKER_00: You know, I'm gonna start right here because I'm always talking about big dreams and you know, all these different things.
3:35
SPEAKER_00: And I'm and I'm telling you, like, that's just how I am naturally wired.
3:39
SPEAKER_00: I created this podcast as a safe space for my black sheet that I don't care if you've come from the gutter of gutters and you have a big dream, you should be able to dream that dream, and you should be able to go to a safe place where you can express those ideas and dreams, right?
4:03
SPEAKER_00: But number one, I want you to understand though, health is wealth, and I know people say that so much, sometimes we don't even hear it anymore.
4:17
SPEAKER_00: But think about it.
4:19
SPEAKER_00: You can have a business, house, career, followers, the cash, the clothes, the plans, but you really need a body and a health system that's able to carry you into the life you're building.
4:34
SPEAKER_00: Let me be very clear, family.
4:36
SPEAKER_00: I am not a doctor, I'm not giving anybody medical advice.
4:41
SPEAKER_00: Okay, and when it comes to my cousin, I knew there were health issues, but I don't know what caused what.
4:50
SPEAKER_00: And I'm not going to speculate.
4:53
SPEAKER_00: This isn't about diagnosing anybody, it's about stewardship.
4:58
SPEAKER_00: You, my family, black sheep, and a lot of times, black sheep, you we come from all many walks of life.
5:06
SPEAKER_00: Some of you are only child, some of you are the oldest, some of you just the runt by nature, you know, some of you the youngest, you just always felt like an outsider.
5:15
SPEAKER_00: You just never fit in.
5:17
SPEAKER_00: It don't matter with, what, who, when.
5:19
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't matter, right?
5:22
SPEAKER_00: And when you come to this podcast, I need you to understand you have someone that cares about you and love you enough to tell you these things.
5:36
SPEAKER_00: Right?
5:36
SPEAKER_00: Because as black sheep, people see us as strong all the time.
5:40
SPEAKER_00: Oh, you so strong, you so strong.
5:42
SPEAKER_00: You know, that's all people say, you so strong.
5:45
SPEAKER_00: But people don't think about what it really takes to be strong.
5:50
SPEAKER_00: People don't ask the strong person, how you doing?
5:53
SPEAKER_00: Right?
5:53
SPEAKER_00: They just see you as the next lick, the next come up, the next opportunity.
5:59
SPEAKER_00: But family, I gotta talk to you today.
6:03
SPEAKER_00: We we really do.
6:04
SPEAKER_00: I need you to pull that seat up because I need you to really ask yourself, am I taking care of the one body I have?
6:12
SPEAKER_00: And I'm including myself in this conversation.
6:15
SPEAKER_00: Listen, y'all, I love sweets.
6:17
SPEAKER_00: I'm a baker by nature, I'm an old school baker, I'm a Paula Dean baker.
6:24
SPEAKER_00: If you don't know who Paula Dean is, she loves butter.
6:27
SPEAKER_00: I'm an old school baker to the fact where when the holidays come around, I love sending out goodie boxes, right?
6:35
SPEAKER_00: That's the type of stuff I be on.
6:37
SPEAKER_00: I used to look for recipes to make for the upcoming weekend just to try them out.
6:42
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so I understand the struggle.
6:45
SPEAKER_00: I know what it is to say, stay in the fight with weight, movement, food, and discipline.
6:51
SPEAKER_00: So I'm not standing on some mountain talking down to anybody.
6:54
SPEAKER_00: I'm saying, let's stay in the fight.
6:58
SPEAKER_00: Right?
6:59
SPEAKER_00: Maybe we just maybe you need to walk a little bit more, move your body.
7:04
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you know you're eating way too much of a certain thing, right?
7:09
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you know you've been ignoring something that needs attention.
7:12
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you've been saying, I'll get to it later.
7:15
SPEAKER_00: But family, later isn't guaranteed.
7:21
SPEAKER_00: You know, I've really that's something I've really, really, really been thinking about.
7:26
SPEAKER_00: Later is not guaranteed.
7:32
SPEAKER_00: And not just in health, but number one, we're gonna talk about health because health is wealth, truthfully.
7:39
SPEAKER_00: You know, whether you got a million dollars or you got a thousand dollars, five hundred dollars, won't it feel so much better when you can actually enjoy it?
7:56
SPEAKER_00: You know, we live in a time where we have access to more health information, nutrition, fitness resources, screenings, community stuff, and professional guidance than generations before us could have ever imagined.
8:09
SPEAKER_00: I mean, you can get online and get supplements, all type of stuff you can get, right?
8:14
SPEAKER_00: You can create, remember back in the day, you know, having a personal trainer was huge, and don't get me wrong, I was looking at that industry, and it still is huge.
8:22
SPEAKER_00: Why?
8:23
SPEAKER_00: Because sometimes having that personal guidance, that personal guidance, like I'm here to guide my black sheep family.
8:30
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes that personal guidance, that mentorship, it makes a huge difference.
8:35
SPEAKER_00: But here's the thing: I just want you to use what's available to you.
8:40
SPEAKER_00: Use what's available to you, family.
8:43
SPEAKER_00: And no, you don't have to become obsessed or become a full-town fitness influencer, right?
8:49
SPEAKER_00: I don't want you to be out here trying to live off of lettuce and air.
8:52
SPEAKER_00: Enjoy your life, enjoy it.
8:55
SPEAKER_00: You know, I want you to enjoy your life, eat the cake sometimes, but love yourself enough to practice moderation.
9:03
SPEAKER_00: Love yourself enough to move.
9:06
SPEAKER_00: Love yourself to pay attention to what's going on around you.
9:09
SPEAKER_00: Don't just sit there, right, and say, oh, someday.
9:13
SPEAKER_00: Brian Tracy, um, a self-development leader, I really love him.
9:19
SPEAKER_00: Um, but he says a lot of people move to someday aisle.
9:22
SPEAKER_00: Someday aisle, because everything is about someday aisle.
9:26
SPEAKER_00: Someday aisle.
9:28
SPEAKER_00: But I want you to love yourself starting right now.
9:32
SPEAKER_00: Love yourself enough to ask questions when something doesn't feel right.
9:36
SPEAKER_00: Because discovering your destiny, it doesn't mean that much if you're destroying yourself trying to get there.
9:42
SPEAKER_00: Your mission, your family, your future, it needs you to be alive.
9:48
SPEAKER_00: So, us together, let's make a pact.
9:54
SPEAKER_00: Let's stop treating health like something we're going to worry about after we come become successful.
10:00
SPEAKER_00: Taking care of yourself is part of success.
10:05
SPEAKER_00: And let me say this too, family.
10:09
SPEAKER_00: Please note that the moment you say I'm gonna do better in something, the way life is set up, the challenges are going to come your way.
10:20
SPEAKER_00: When you're on the edge of breaking through and going breaking through something, listen, it's coming.
10:27
SPEAKER_00: Something is always gonna be something.
10:30
SPEAKER_00: You know, me personally, we all going through different things.
10:34
SPEAKER_00: But you know what I've decided, family?
10:36
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna show up anyway.
10:40
SPEAKER_00: Some days life just wipes you out.
10:42
SPEAKER_00: Let's be clear.
10:43
SPEAKER_00: You know, a lot of times people talk that motivational talk.
10:46
SPEAKER_00: That's why I was sell you, family.
10:47
SPEAKER_00: This is our motivation.
10:50
SPEAKER_00: This are the golden nuggets and tools and resources and tactics that you need to get through when you the black sheep.
10:59
SPEAKER_00: Because black sheep sometimes we find our backs against the wall and we gotta find a way to do it anyway.
11:09
SPEAKER_00: Okay, and this is just your wake-up call.
11:13
SPEAKER_00: This is my wake-up call.
11:15
SPEAKER_00: I've been thinking about it all week long.
11:17
SPEAKER_00: And I say, you know what?
11:18
SPEAKER_00: I know I don't even normally drop on a Friday, but I gotta tell my family this.
11:24
SPEAKER_00: Whether you catch it on a Friday or a Saturday, I don't care when it is.
11:27
SPEAKER_00: I said, I gotta tell them.
11:29
SPEAKER_00: I gotta tell them.
11:30
SPEAKER_00: Now, here's the second one, y'all I've been thinking about life is too short to keep living out of alignment.
11:38
SPEAKER_00: Life is too short, y'all.
11:41
SPEAKER_00: I've been looking online and I just see people living their lives, and it's not even about it being some big fancy life.
11:49
SPEAKER_00: It's really not, but it's about making that move that a lot of times you're scared to make, the one you've been curious about.
11:58
SPEAKER_00: You know, I've been thinking about is how much time we waste.
12:04
SPEAKER_00: Not just scrolling and watching TV.
12:07
SPEAKER_00: I'm talking about a bigger type of waste.
12:10
SPEAKER_00: Once again, thinking we have forever.
12:14
SPEAKER_00: We we're spending years around people who don't even like us.
12:18
SPEAKER_00: We can feel it.
12:20
SPEAKER_00: I talked to y'all about how energy don't lie, and you know it don't.
12:24
SPEAKER_00: We spend years trying to convince people to support us, shrinking ourselves in environments we've already outgrown.
12:31
SPEAKER_00: Years doing something that we hate, while never even attempting the thing that we keep saying we want.
12:42
SPEAKER_00: Years, we spend years, some of us holding grudges over things we can even barely remember them anymore.
12:48
SPEAKER_00: But we still, some of us still holding grudges, assuming I'll call them later, I'll visit next month, I'll tell them I love them.
12:58
SPEAKER_00: One thing I'm grateful for, family, and this didn't happen with my cousin, but I I made it my life principle, one of my life principles too.
13:11
SPEAKER_00: If it's people that I love, I'm gonna tell them ahead of time.
13:16
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna celebrate them ahead of time.
13:19
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna give them flowers while they can still see them.
13:23
SPEAKER_00: It was a song they used to sing in church called Give Me My Flowers while I can still see them bloom.
13:32
SPEAKER_00: You know, family, I personally don't like to really go to funerals.
13:38
SPEAKER_00: Uh the first one I went to, unfortunately, was of my cousin, another cousin that I had in Chicago.
13:46
SPEAKER_00: Um, I didn't even know him like that.
13:49
SPEAKER_00: But he had been taken out due to gang violence.
13:54
SPEAKER_00: You hear me talk about, you know, um the horrors of being in a gang-infested environment.
14:02
SPEAKER_00: Many of you know I'm from a small city outside of Chicago.
14:05
SPEAKER_00: And um, I don't talk about it as much, but it started me down a rabbit hole because, as you know, Al Capone, that was his home on the south side of Chicago.
14:15
SPEAKER_00: And I used to do, you know, all types of reports and things on the mafia.
14:20
SPEAKER_00: And it was until I met a maid man that actually was affiliated.
14:24
SPEAKER_00: He was from Sicily, but he had moved to um the East Coast, and he was heavily affiliated with the Nostra La Costa or the La Costa Nostra, which is the American Italian mob.
14:40
SPEAKER_00: And I just remember him putting in my place and saying, you know, you don't understand how many lives they messed up.
14:47
SPEAKER_00: He said they're the same as any type of gang.
14:50
SPEAKER_00: They were just dressed up, you know.
14:52
SPEAKER_00: And um, when I went to my cousin's funeral, it was just so sad.
14:59
SPEAKER_00: I couldn't believe it.
15:00
SPEAKER_00: He took two to the head, and ever since then, you know, I really had just been, it was so sad.
15:08
SPEAKER_00: I just that's like been one of my my terror moments, right?
15:14
SPEAKER_00: But what I decided from that moment was after the person has transitioned on, there's nothing that you can do.
15:27
SPEAKER_00: And so the most important part is treating people right.
15:32
SPEAKER_00: If you love them, tell them.
15:34
SPEAKER_00: If you appreciate them, tell them.
15:37
SPEAKER_00: Tell them you appreciate them.
15:43
SPEAKER_00: And yes, family.
15:45
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes we gotta be the bigger person.
15:48
SPEAKER_00: And I know it sucks because we always try to be the bigger person.
15:51
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes it's just easier to say to write them off, right?
15:55
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes people get on your nerves and you don't wanna be, you know, you don't want to be bothered, right?
16:01
SPEAKER_00: Just different things happen.
16:03
SPEAKER_00: But black sheep, don't get it twisted.
16:07
SPEAKER_00: You know, even if you have to forgive some people, forgiveness does not automatically mean access to you, right?
16:13
SPEAKER_00: We've talked about it, but you know, some people you need to, they they need to be forgiven from way over there, right?
16:21
SPEAKER_00: Leave them in Timbuktu, right?
16:25
SPEAKER_00: You can forgive them and still not hand them another key to your house.
16:31
SPEAKER_00: Okay, but every disagreement doesn't require a lifetime sentence.
16:39
SPEAKER_00: Okay, friends and family, I really want you to understand that because I'm all about cutting people off.
16:45
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna be absolutely honest with you, because as a black sheep, I've taken so much crap off of people and made excuses for their disrespect year after year after year.
16:58
SPEAKER_00: You'll hear me talk about somebody that I've known for 30 plus years that I went out my way for in July.
17:06
SPEAKER_00: It's just been crazy, right?
17:09
SPEAKER_00: And um, it's sad the outcome of that.
17:13
SPEAKER_00: But at the end of the day, for my best interest, for my protection, I have to cut them off.
17:19
SPEAKER_00: I don't want to be their friend, associate, nothing, nothing at all, right?
17:26
SPEAKER_00: But guess what?
17:28
SPEAKER_00: I'm not walking around with no grudge.
17:30
SPEAKER_00: I forgave them, and I can be honest with you, family.
17:34
SPEAKER_00: I'm still a little bit hurt and pissed off at the same time about it because I went out my way to be mistreated.
17:42
SPEAKER_00: Right?
17:43
SPEAKER_00: But I'm not, it's not a bitterness, it's really me being disappointed in me because when I always tell y'all, when you see the signs, when people show you who they are, believe them.
17:55
SPEAKER_00: And forgiveness does not mean they have access.
17:58
SPEAKER_00: Okay, sometimes you and somebody you genuinely loved, you had a disagreement, right?
18:07
SPEAKER_00: Pride got involved, time passed, and now neither one of you wants to be the first person to pick up the phone.
18:14
SPEAKER_00: If it's safe, if it makes sense, and if your spirit keeps telling you to reach out, family, reach out.
18:22
SPEAKER_00: Reach out now.
18:24
SPEAKER_00: This ain't for everybody, though, because I'm not reaching out to that particular person, but I want you to know the difference, though, because this is not about cutting everybody off and saying, screw them, screw everybody, right?
18:35
SPEAKER_00: Because black sheep, we've been done dirty so many times.
18:38
SPEAKER_00: Like, I'm never going to uh downplay the stuff we've been through.
18:42
SPEAKER_00: It is what it is, but what I don't want you to do is hold that grudge and let that cloud your judgment to people that it really, right?
18:55
SPEAKER_00: Y'all had a disagreement, but the love was strong enough to say, man, listen, man, you know, listen, girl.
19:00
SPEAKER_00: I mean, you know that I love you, girl.
19:02
SPEAKER_00: You know, we had that disagreement, let's move past it.
19:05
SPEAKER_00: And your spirit, your inner person, even if you atheist, this is what I love about energy and spirit and soul.
19:10
SPEAKER_00: Even if you an atheist and say, I'm not a believer, right?
19:14
SPEAKER_00: Your conscience, your soul is going to continue to cry out for you to reach out.
19:20
SPEAKER_00: But check this out, y'all.
19:21
SPEAKER_00: You don't need a darn 10-page speech, right?
19:24
SPEAKER_00: Just say, hey, I was thinking about you.
19:26
SPEAKER_00: Hey, I hope you're doing okay.
19:28
SPEAKER_00: I just want to tell you I love you.
19:30
SPEAKER_00: And that's enough.
19:31
SPEAKER_00: That's enough, family.
19:33
SPEAKER_00: Some of us have that same issue with our parents.
19:36
SPEAKER_00: Now, you know the different boundaries.
19:38
SPEAKER_00: We talked about that.
19:39
SPEAKER_00: You know the different boundaries you need to have in place.
19:42
SPEAKER_00: I want you to have a clean slate for your soul and your heart.
19:46
SPEAKER_00: Because, family, it's time for us to really understand that we don't have forever to do what we're gonna do.
19:53
SPEAKER_00: We really don't.
19:55
SPEAKER_00: Okay, just reach out and let them know.
19:58
SPEAKER_00: You know what I'm saying?
19:59
SPEAKER_00: Because one thing I realize, y'all, is funerals are full of flowers.
20:04
SPEAKER_00: They full of flowers and people getting up saying, you know, A, B, and C and blah, blah, blah, they were a great person.
20:12
SPEAKER_00: They were this and they were that.
20:15
SPEAKER_00: But guess what?
20:16
SPEAKER_00: That would have meant so much more in somebody's living room.
20:20
SPEAKER_00: That would have meant so much more if we would have had a phone call.
20:24
SPEAKER_00: That would have meant so much more if we would have taken them out to lunch.
20:30
SPEAKER_00: Think about that.
20:32
SPEAKER_00: And the same thing applies to your life, though, family.
20:36
SPEAKER_00: Stop waiting for permission to live.
20:41
SPEAKER_00: You only get one shot at being you, and I understand that we come from all walks of life, but hey, we only get one shot.
20:50
SPEAKER_00: One thing we can't agree on, you might think afterlife, but you don't know.
20:53
SPEAKER_00: We none of us know.
20:54
SPEAKER_00: Only thing we know is we gotta go someday.
20:58
SPEAKER_00: Right?
20:59
SPEAKER_00: And with all the noise going on in the world, political arguments, racial tension, violence, road rage, social media beef, everybody demanding that you pick a side.
21:10
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna tell you one thing, you better learn to pick you number one, and two, you better learn how to protect your focus.
21:19
SPEAKER_00: Family, you cannot control everything happening outside of you, but you can control what gets your attention, what gets your energy, what gets your time, what gets your life.
21:33
SPEAKER_00: And I've been thinking about that personally.
21:36
SPEAKER_00: I want to take bigger swings, bolder chances, bigger risks with my my vision, not just reckless stuff and doing whatever, intentional ones.
21:47
SPEAKER_00: Because lost, y'all, listen to me, family.
21:50
SPEAKER_00: Lost has a way of reminding you that life is not a rehearsal.
21:55
SPEAKER_00: We already on stage.
21:59
unknown: Now here.
22:00
SPEAKER_00: Here's the third thing I want to really talk to y'all about.
22:02
SPEAKER_00: That's something that's been on my heart really heavy.
22:07
SPEAKER_00: This is the third thing.
22:11
SPEAKER_00: And it's a simple framework.
22:13
SPEAKER_00: Family.
22:15
SPEAKER_00: Build, save, and prepare.
22:19
SPEAKER_00: You know, I heard someone put it in that simple.
22:24
SPEAKER_00: Put it that simple recently.
22:28
SPEAKER_00: And it stuck with me.
22:30
SPEAKER_00: It really did.
22:32
SPEAKER_00: You know, automatically I've been, you know, stocking up a few things.
22:39
SPEAKER_00: You know, just for for, you know, a rainy day.
22:43
SPEAKER_00: Doing what I can do.
22:45
SPEAKER_00: Right.
22:46
SPEAKER_00: I honestly have been, family.
22:52
SPEAKER_00: Because we just don't know.
22:57
SPEAKER_00: Right?
22:58
SPEAKER_00: We just don't know what's coming.
23:00
SPEAKER_00: But we can see all of these changes and stuff going on.
23:04
SPEAKER_00: Now, check this out, family.
23:06
SPEAKER_00: This is not about fear.
23:07
SPEAKER_00: This is not fear mongering.
23:09
SPEAKER_00: Because we have to feel the fear and make moves anyway.
23:12
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
23:13
SPEAKER_00: There's a difference.
23:14
SPEAKER_00: We're not letting fear paralyze us.
23:17
SPEAKER_00: We're actually we actually should let fear and things that's going on to have us move more intentionally.
23:24
SPEAKER_00: This is what this message is about.
23:26
SPEAKER_00: When you understand you don't have forever, you want to make moves intentionally for today and for your future.
23:39
SPEAKER_00: And when I was listening to this particular message, it was on the spiritual side.
23:43
SPEAKER_00: A lot of you may or may not know I'm absolutely a believer in Christ, but I'm not here to push anything off on you because you just never know the people that will show you a uh that will give you an extended hand, will show you love.
23:58
SPEAKER_00: You know, as a black sheep, we can't be closed-minded to think that people that look like us, believe like us, uh, you know, we can't get anything from them.
24:08
SPEAKER_00: As a black sheep, unfortunately, the first form of rejection that we experience is from people that's supposed to love us.
24:15
SPEAKER_00: It's like, wait a minute.
24:17
SPEAKER_00: Right?
24:18
SPEAKER_00: And so, black sheep family, I've always been open-minded to helping other people and receiving wisdom from them.
24:25
SPEAKER_00: Don't ever, ever, ever, ever shortchange your blessings because somebody does not look like you think they should look to give you the help you need.
24:34
SPEAKER_00: But as I was listening to this broadcast, um, it's just about we don't know what's coming, family.
24:42
SPEAKER_00: You hear people talking about it and all of these different things with AI and robots and job loss and all of these different things.
24:49
SPEAKER_00: But overall, and we see a lot of things going on, but we don't know everything that's coming.
24:56
SPEAKER_00: This isn't fear.
24:57
SPEAKER_00: That's the reality of it.
24:59
SPEAKER_00: Companies restructure, industries change, technologies change, economics change, economies change, jobs disappear.
25:06
SPEAKER_00: I face job loss.
25:09
SPEAKER_00: I face job loss with my second job in my whole life.
25:13
SPEAKER_00: And when I tell you, it was one of the best jobs that I had.
25:18
SPEAKER_00: I face other job losses, but that was one of the ones that really stuck with me because that was a job where I saw the connection.
25:27
SPEAKER_00: I I worked with all boomers, right?
25:30
SPEAKER_00: And there was a few of us in there, a few millennials, a few genetics, but mainly they were boomers that had worked at this company.
25:37
SPEAKER_00: And they had built a beautiful life.
25:40
SPEAKER_00: And before you know it, we got laid off.
25:42
SPEAKER_00: And they were just talking to me like, you know, that was it for them.
25:45
SPEAKER_00: They wasn't going out to find another job.
25:48
SPEAKER_00: That was it.
25:49
SPEAKER_00: And the other day I thought about them due to some information that came up, you know, just recently, Tyson, the chicken processor, the meat processor.
25:58
SPEAKER_00: But I guess they do all types of meat.
26:00
SPEAKER_00: But they announced that they're closing their Jocelyn, Illinois beef facility.
26:04
SPEAKER_00: And check this out about 2,500 jobs are expected to be affected.
26:10
SPEAKER_00: Think about that.
26:12
SPEAKER_00: 2,500 households getting reminded in real time that employment and security are not always the same thing.
26:26
SPEAKER_00: And I'm not saying this as somebody who believes in growing careers because you'll talk about it all the time.
26:32
SPEAKER_00: You'll hear me talk about it.
26:33
SPEAKER_00: I have a career, right?
26:34
SPEAKER_00: I'm continuing to learn, I'm studying, I'm making sure I stay competitive.
26:39
SPEAKER_00: There's absolutely nothing wrong with having a good job.
26:44
SPEAKER_00: Nothing.
26:46
SPEAKER_00: According to my belief system, it says if a man cannot handle the affairs of another man, he do not have, he do not deserve the rights to handle his own and don't get caught up in the gender.
27:01
SPEAKER_00: What it's simply saying is if you can't work for somebody else, working for yourself is super harder.
27:08
SPEAKER_00: You're gonna work 12 hour days, no pay.
27:12
SPEAKER_00: Now you and I both know if you work for somebody else, you're looking for pay.
27:16
SPEAKER_00: You're looking for pay right now.
27:19
SPEAKER_00: You're looking for that pay, right?
27:26
SPEAKER_00: But what I need you to understand is the mistake is believing one stream, one company, one industry, or one person is obligated to guarantee your future.
27:38
SPEAKER_00: Because they're not, they're not.
27:43
SPEAKER_00: And the scripture, and scripture gave us this principle a thousand years ago, family.
27:49
SPEAKER_00: It comes from the Ecclesiastics 11.
27:52
SPEAKER_00: Now, Ecclesiastics was written, thought to be written by Solomon, King Solomon.
28:00
SPEAKER_00: He is also known, just really overall, to be the wisest and the most richest man that have ever lived.
28:07
SPEAKER_00: Okay, and in this particular scripture or verse, it says it talks about spreading what you have across different ventures because you don't know what trouble may come.
28:21
SPEAKER_00: And then later in that same chapter, it talks about sowing your seed in the morning and not letting your hands become idle in the evening, because you don't know which one will succeed.
28:34
SPEAKER_00: This is wisdom.
28:36
SPEAKER_00: That was wisdom from thousands of years ago.
28:39
SPEAKER_00: It wasn't panic, it wasn't greed, it was preparation.
28:44
SPEAKER_00: Because at the end of the day, family, you don't know which seed is going to grow.
28:50
SPEAKER_00: This is why I tell you guys, you are a seed and you have so many different seeds within you.
28:54
SPEAKER_00: Think about a bell pepper.
28:56
SPEAKER_00: If you cut that bell pepper open, they say it's enough to last you a lifetime supply of bell peppers.
29:01
SPEAKER_00: But a bell pepper has like over a hundred and hundreds of seeds.
29:04
SPEAKER_00: And all of your seeds, you are a walking seed, right?
29:07
SPEAKER_00: It's like we're we're so multidimensional, we're seed in soil.
29:10
SPEAKER_00: But when you look at yourself as a seed, first and foremost, you all of your gifts and talents, those are other seeds.
29:19
SPEAKER_00: So plant them.
29:21
SPEAKER_00: This is why we talked about um in season one having an inventory of yourself, know thyself, know what you're good at.
29:30
SPEAKER_00: Don't just put yourself in one lane because you don't know.
29:36
SPEAKER_00: You don't know, family.
29:38
SPEAKER_00: You just don't know.
29:41
SPEAKER_00: So plant, you don't know which opportunity will work.
29:44
SPEAKER_00: So develop your skills.
29:46
SPEAKER_00: You don't know which stream will eventually become significant.
29:49
SPEAKER_00: So build responsible.
29:51
SPEAKER_00: Maybe responsibly, maybe it's your career, your business, maybe it's a book, maybe it's consultant, maybe it's content, right?
29:58
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's a digital product, maybe it's a skill somebody will pay you for.
30:04
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's something you haven't even discovered yet.
30:07
SPEAKER_00: But black sheep family, build something, build something, family.
30:13
SPEAKER_00: Do not put your hands, do not put your future in the hands of another man or woman.
30:22
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
30:24
SPEAKER_00: Next, save something, family.
30:26
SPEAKER_00: Even if it's not a huge amount yet, start developing the habit of keeping something.
30:30
SPEAKER_00: You know, some family, it's crazy because when you come from the bottom, like the way I did, it's like, hey, all of your money shoot.
30:37
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I need it for everything.
30:39
SPEAKER_00: I need it to, I needed all of it to go on everything, to go on the bill.
30:43
SPEAKER_00: But you know one thing I learned, family?
30:46
SPEAKER_00: Set aside$25, set aside 10.
30:50
SPEAKER_00: I don't care if it's five, set aside something.
30:53
SPEAKER_00: Why?
30:53
SPEAKER_00: Because even in the next week ahead, that five, ten dollars could be the thing that you need to help you get to the next page.
31:02
SPEAKER_00: That five dollars.
31:04
SPEAKER_00: I'm serious, family.
31:05
SPEAKER_00: Shoot, you never know.
31:08
SPEAKER_00: You never know, fam.
31:13
SPEAKER_00: You just never know.
31:15
SPEAKER_00: You would have set it, set something to the side.
31:17
SPEAKER_00: Two, three dollars, five dollars.
31:19
SPEAKER_00: Don't ever let anybody tell you that, oh, a little bit won't add up.
31:24
SPEAKER_00: It does add up, it do.
31:28
SPEAKER_00: Okay, start developing that habit, family, of keeping something.
31:31
SPEAKER_00: I don't care if it's three dollars, give yourself some breathing room, give your family some options, give your future self a fighting chance.
31:40
SPEAKER_00: The prepared person won't control every storm.
31:42
SPEAKER_00: We just can't, guys.
31:44
SPEAKER_00: But preparation can change what happens when the storm arrives.
31:47
SPEAKER_00: That's why I love the saying stay ready so you don't have to get ready.
31:52
SPEAKER_00: Black Sheep family, we've always been some of the most strongest people.
31:56
SPEAKER_00: Seriously, but you should know by now, nobody's coming to save us.
32:01
SPEAKER_00: It's not just you, it's me too.
32:03
SPEAKER_00: And every day that things are going on, I continue to get that hard, cold fact that hey, hey, nobody is coming, and it gotta be me to do the saving.
32:18
SPEAKER_00: Your story may not, may be part of what you're supposed to build.
32:22
SPEAKER_00: And here's another piece of the building that I don't want black sheep overlooking, family.
32:27
SPEAKER_00: Your message, your story, what you have survived, what you've learned, what you can explain now that would have helped the version of you from five years ago.
32:36
SPEAKER_00: I want you to understand, family.
32:38
SPEAKER_00: You might be sitting on something that somebody else desperately needs.
32:42
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it becomes a book, a blog, a podcast like this, or even a class.
32:47
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's simply because the conversation you've had with somebody you have with somebody younger than you.
32:53
SPEAKER_00: But I want you to understand, family, don't assume your experience was only for you.
32:58
SPEAKER_00: Some of the pain you survived, it came with an intelligence package attached.
33:04
SPEAKER_00: Extract it, package it, share it, serve it.
33:10
SPEAKER_00: That is part of why I created the Unmute message and why I am continuing to build our reinvention masterclass.
33:19
SPEAKER_00: I'm not doing anything today, I'm not selling anything, guys, today.
33:22
SPEAKER_00: That's not what this episode is about.
33:25
SPEAKER_00: But I'm telling you, there is more coming because I want black sheep doing more than surviving the times we're living in.
33:33
SPEAKER_00: I want us to build through them.
33:35
SPEAKER_00: Reinventing, creating, learning, preparing, and turning what you've lived through into something useful for other people.
33:45
SPEAKER_00: You never know who might get your message and hold on to it.
33:50
SPEAKER_00: We talk a lot about Napoleon Hill in the uh self-development and motivational space and entrepreneur space.
33:58
SPEAKER_00: Napoleon Hill date was almost a hundred years ago, 1932.
34:03
SPEAKER_00: Right?
34:04
SPEAKER_00: And we're still influenced by it.
34:06
SPEAKER_00: Do you know what the other kicker is?
34:08
SPEAKER_00: I don't believe that Napoleon Hill even had kids.
34:12
SPEAKER_00: And he was still very impactful.
34:15
SPEAKER_00: There was even a saying that when he wrote the book, he didn't have any money.
34:19
SPEAKER_00: But guess what?
34:20
SPEAKER_00: He still had a message anyway.
34:24
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
34:27
SPEAKER_00: And so I don't want you to let anything to hinder you or to stop you from believing that your message is not useful because it is.
34:38
SPEAKER_00: So when I put everything that's been on my heart together, it comes down to this, family.
34:44
SPEAKER_00: Take care of the person, repair what is worth repairing, and build something that gives you future, that gives your future options, family.
34:54
SPEAKER_00: Whether it's you furthering your education on YouTube, university, udemy, wherever, right?
35:00
SPEAKER_00: Take care of the person, which is you.
35:04
SPEAKER_00: Build something that gives your future options, your health, your relationships.
35:08
SPEAKER_00: Stop assuming that you have unlimited time.
35:12
SPEAKER_00: So, what's your next move?
35:16
SPEAKER_00: Number one, take one health step, family.
35:19
SPEAKER_00: Not 20, just one.
35:22
SPEAKER_00: It could be schedule the appointment you've been delaying.
35:24
SPEAKER_00: Take a walk, drink more water, change one food habit, do something that tells your body, I plan on being here.
35:31
SPEAKER_00: There's nothing, there's no perfect plan, family.
35:34
SPEAKER_00: But guess what?
35:35
SPEAKER_00: We're still gonna advocate for ourselves.
35:37
SPEAKER_00: We're still going to vote for ourselves at the end of the day.
35:40
SPEAKER_00: Move number two.
35:41
SPEAKER_00: Say what needs to be said.
35:43
SPEAKER_00: Call somebody, forgive somebody, thank somebody, tell somebody you love them, or finally establish the boundary you've been avoiding.
35:51
SPEAKER_00: Whatever needs to be said, say it while you have the opportunity.
35:55
SPEAKER_00: I'm really, really huge on that family.
35:57
SPEAKER_00: Tell them now.
35:59
SPEAKER_00: Say it.
35:59
SPEAKER_00: And I'm gonna tell you something too, family.
36:01
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's something that you need that you need to say to yourself, right?
36:06
SPEAKER_00: Tell yourself, hey, I'm capable, I'm beautiful, I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna figure it out.
36:11
SPEAKER_00: I forgive myself, right?
36:14
SPEAKER_00: Maybe when I was younger, I did a lot of stupid stuff.
36:17
SPEAKER_00: Hey, I forgive myself for that.
36:20
SPEAKER_00: Say it to yourself, but also say it to other people, family.
36:24
SPEAKER_00: We're moving forward with no regrets on how we on things, on the decisions that we make, family.
36:28
SPEAKER_00: Because let me tell you something, Blashi family, before I give you this last one.
36:33
SPEAKER_00: We have looked out for everybody else a lot in our lives.
36:37
SPEAKER_00: And I'm not talking about becoming selfish, but it's time that we focus on ourselves.
36:45
SPEAKER_00: It's time, it's time, it's time.
36:49
SPEAKER_00: Okay, move number three, y'all.
36:53
SPEAKER_00: Take one step toward another lay of security.
36:56
SPEAKER_00: Update your resume this weekend if you need to.
36:58
SPEAKER_00: Learn a new skill, save something, start the business research, write the first page, create that account, take the class, plant one seed.
37:08
SPEAKER_00: You do not need to know which one will become the orchard before you start planting.
37:13
SPEAKER_00: Just one step, y'all.
37:15
SPEAKER_00: One step.
37:16
SPEAKER_00: It could be just updating your resume.
37:18
SPEAKER_00: Listen, family, I was online, and as I told you, I'm always in um in one of my books, um, Flourishing Under Fire.
37:25
SPEAKER_00: We're actually coming out with volume number two, and it talks about staying a lifelong student.
37:35
SPEAKER_00: And family, as I go through the internet, or excuse me, YouTube specifically, there are so many informational videos out there where people have poured their heart out to give you content that people were gatekeeping earlier, or you had to be a part of their club click crew, or you had to be at their university, team, family.
37:56
SPEAKER_00: There are videos out there with any and everything that you're trying to do.
38:00
SPEAKER_00: If you're trying to start a food truck business, catering, whatever, whatever.
38:08
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
38:10
SPEAKER_00: Pick one, pick one for you, pick one for you, plant one seed, family.
38:18
SPEAKER_00: See, one day is not a strategy.
38:20
SPEAKER_00: Build a life while you still have time.
38:23
SPEAKER_00: We're moving off of one someday aisle.
38:26
SPEAKER_00: We're moving off of someday aisle.
38:29
SPEAKER_00: Black sheep family.
38:30
SPEAKER_00: I want you to know I got more coming for you, specifically for the black sheep who are ready to invent their lives and really get their message out there.
38:37
SPEAKER_00: They want to unmute the message that's inside of them.
38:40
SPEAKER_00: Unmute your message is designed to help you start pulling your story, knowledge, and your experience into something that can serve somebody else as one seed.
38:48
SPEAKER_00: Because I just truly believe that everybody you encounter has a story.
38:52
SPEAKER_00: That's why you that's this is one of the things I loved about leadership in my career role, is because you meet all these different types of people.
39:00
SPEAKER_00: And it's funny, guys, because even when I was growing up, we had so many exchange students and foreigners, they were coming to the U.S., changing their lives, and I would ask them different questions.
39:10
SPEAKER_00: I was always amazed at people that would pick up and go to another country.
39:15
SPEAKER_00: And yeah, sometimes they're sending money back, but guess what, family?
39:18
SPEAKER_00: Some of those people they never saw their family again.
39:22
SPEAKER_00: But they had to take their chance, they had to make their move.
39:26
SPEAKER_00: And it's your time now.
39:28
SPEAKER_00: You have a story to tell, and that's what Unmute Your Message is all about.
39:33
SPEAKER_00: And we'll continue to build our reinvention masterclass for those who are ready to intentionally design their next chapter.
39:40
SPEAKER_00: I'm not asking you to buy anything today, family.
39:43
SPEAKER_00: I just want you to start thinking: what am I going to do with the time that I still have?
39:50
SPEAKER_00: Family, tomorrow is a possibility, but it's not a promise.
39:55
SPEAKER_00: So take care of yourself.
39:57
SPEAKER_00: Love people while they're here.
40:00
SPEAKER_00: And love people that love you.
40:03
SPEAKER_00: Build something your future can stand on while you still have time.
40:08
SPEAKER_00: Don't just hear today's lesson, y'all.
40:10
SPEAKER_00: I want you to run it, test it, master it.
40:15
SPEAKER_00: Because information is everywhere, but execution is rare.
40:20
SPEAKER_00: I'll see you next time, fam.