50 Cent & Epictetus | Ready for the Tough Road

In this episode, Dramos combines quotes from 50 Cent and Epictetus to explain why sacrifice is needed to succeed.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:16):
Yes, Yes, I am Dramos and this is the Street
Stoke Podcast bring you your daily dose of timeless stoic
philosophy remix for the hip hop generation. Now, with that
in mind, let's get things started with your daily shot
of inspiration. Now today, we're gonna be focusing all around

(00:38):
the stoic idea of taking action. And there's probably no
better person to have us kind of start off with
on today's discussion than the legend himself fifty cent And
I pulled a quote from him. I believe this is
from his book The Fiftieth Law, if I'm not mistaken,
and the quote is, don't wait for them to tell you,

(01:02):
tell them. And I think point blank what Fittia is
saying here is you don't need anyone's permission, right. I
think so many times the biggest sort of hinderance that
we have, or the biggest burden that we carry, or
the biggest obstacle stands between us and actually doing something
we want to do. We're waiting for somebody to kind

(01:23):
of give us a coast sign, right, even in the
smallest way. We just want somebody to tell us that
our idea is a good one, right, And sometimes that
might come easily with those around you if they are
familiar with whatever it is that you're trying to do.
But there are also oftentimes where you are amongst people
who have never done or don't have any experience whatsoever

(01:44):
in the area that you're trying to create something in right,
and those people are probably never going to give you
the cost sign that something is a good idea. So
you could be waiting forever and not taking action on
an idea, and life is just going to pass you
by as result. I think, at the end of the day,
the best thing you can do for yourself when you
come up with an idea, when you are excited by something,

(02:07):
just start taking action on it. Go down that road,
use the excitement as some fuel, and then kind of
pivot accordingly as needed. Right. And this leads perfectly to
a quote for one of the Stokes Epictetius where he says,
first say to yourself what you would be, and then
do what you have to. And I love that part.
Do what you have to. I think now it's probably

(02:29):
a good time for some tough love, right, because I
think I always am a bit cautious of not promoting
an unhealthy lifestyle. One that's a lack of balance, right.
The Stokes don't believe in being a workaholic and working
yourself to the bone, you know, not giving yourself what
you need on a spiritual even just a physical level
as a human being. But with that said, everything we

(02:51):
want is going to require some level of sacrifice. It's
going to require some level of difficulty, and you're going
to have to do that. Aren't necessarily the most fun.
You don't get to just sort of skip your way
down the path or the journey towards the dreams that
you have without running into some sort of obstacle, some
sort of difficulty, some sort of thing that you have

(03:12):
to overcome. Right, it's just a part of it. It
is inevitable, it's a part of building. Right. Sometimes it's uncomfortable,
sometimes it's difficult, it's just what you have to do, right,
do what you have to do. So you have to
develop that sort of tough skin, and of course within reason,
but developing tough skin and understanding that your path, your journey,
you taking action, is going to come with some really

(03:34):
difficult moments and you have to just embrace them and
push past them with the knowledge that you are building
something for your long term happiness right. And for me,
I always relate to quotes like this one because I
consider myself to be a master manifestor right like, I
have manifesting powers, and a lot of people in my
life will sort of remind me of this and at

(03:57):
times kind of speak in awe of the fact that
I can tell them I'm going to do something and
then all of a sudden one day I'm there doing
it right. And it can seem like these crazy ideas
that nobody believes in, yet somehow, some way I'm able
to make a version of it happen. And when I
really stop to think about what is kind of like
the secret sauce to making my ideas come to life?

(04:20):
I think, first and foremost, it starts with a belief, right,
and within that belief, working backwards and laying out the steps,
and then literally just doing whatever I have to do
in order to accomplish those steps along the way. I
think it's a lot simpler than sort of people will
make it out to be right, And again, doesn't mean

(04:40):
that those steps aren't difficult at times, doesn't mean that
things don't go according to plan, but it really is
just you kind of saying to yourself what you want,
what you want it to look like, who you want
to work with, and then laying out the steps along
the way, and then just taking action on them. That's
literally these simple formula for manifesting anything that you want

(05:02):
in this life. And again it sounds easier said than done,
because it is because some of those steps require a
great deal of difficulty and effort, and I think that's
what holds a lot of people back. But when you
can get past the sort of the present hardship, right
or the small moments where the obstacles present themselves, When
you get past that, you can recognize that anything is

(05:24):
possible as long as you develop the tough skin that
allows you to keep taking action regardless of what is
thrown in your way. Right now, we've been talking all
about the idea of taking action. Now let's talk about
how you can make it your mantra for today. But
first let's take a quick break and then we'll be
right back. All right, So, Tay, we've been talking all

(05:53):
about the stoic idea of taking action. We've heard from
fifty sent we have heard from one of the stokes
at Petitis. I've given you some site into my own
manifesting powers. Now let's talk about how you can make
it your monstra for today. And I think first and
foremost it's it's stop over complicating things, right. You have
to get the nonsense out of your mind that everything

(06:14):
is so much more difficult than it actually is. And
again that doesn't mean that there's not hard work involved
in whatever it is that you are chasing after. But
you have to remind yourself that as long as you
have a plan and you continue to act upon it,
nothing is impossible. Right And obviously within reason, if you are,

(06:34):
you know, a middle aged man who wants to go
play quarterback for the New York Jets, it's probably not
going to happen for you at this point in your life, right,
I think you know father time has caught up with you.
But things within reason, whatever dream that you have that
is within some sort of actual physical, you know, tangible
reasonable shot of this world that we exist in, of reality,

(06:55):
that's all out there for you to get as long
as you take action. But again it requires you not
waiting for anybody to kind of co sign your journey
or to co sign your dreams. Right, you have to
dictate what it is that you want lay out the
plan and take action. Nobody else has to be involved
in that process, and nobody else's opinion or lack thereof,

(07:15):
should be involved in that process. Right, All of this
begins and ends with you and the actions that you
do or don't take at the end of the day.
So I think it's really just developing that mindset that
the world is not going to see you the way
that you want to be seen until you begin to
take actions that reflect that person. You want to be

(07:36):
a successful musical artist, well, until you begin to do
the things that a successful music artist does, the world's
not going to see you that way. You want to
be a lawyer, well, until you start taking the steps
towards getting a law degree, the world is not going
to see you as somebody who could be a lawyer. Right,
You first and foremost have to believe in it in
yourself and take that action towards it for everybody else

(07:57):
to then understand where you're coming from and what it
is that you're trying to do. So to recap all
we've been talking about today, right, you have fifty sat saying,
don't wait for them to tell you, tell them he's
declaring I don't need your co sign, I don't need
you to see it. I'm going to tell you exactly
who I am and what I want, and you're going
to have to accept that, right. You're going to have

(08:18):
to see me the way that I see myself at
the end of the day. And epictetis one of the
stoves making it very simple. First say to yourself what
you would be, and then do what you have to right,
put in the hard work, declare what it is that
you want, make a plan, and put in all the
work that is necessary to make that plan come to life.
And even for me, I feel like I've been just

(08:40):
manifesting thing after thing, right even this podcast, and all
that I've been doing is declaring what I want, believing
that I can get it wholeheartedly, and then just working backwards,
writing down all the little steps that it's going to
take to bring this idea into the real world, and
not stopping until I've checked all of those little goals
off until we've reached the big one, which now one

(09:00):
of them right here again this podcast, me talking to
you right now. This was achieved by just following that
very simple formula of having an idea believing in myself
and taking action. Now it's up to you to do
the same if you really do want whatever it is
that you're claiming you want in this life. Now, with
that said, thank you so much for checking out the
Street Stoke Podcast. Do your best to apply these concepts

(09:23):
we discussed into your everyday life, and I will catch
you next time. The Street Stoke Podcast is a production
of Iheart's Michael Tura Podcast Network.