Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:15):
Yes, Yes, I am Dramas and this is the Street
Stoke Podcast, bringing your daily dose of timeless stoic philosophy
remix for the hip hop generation. Now, with that in mind,
let us get things started with your daily shot of inspiration.
(00:36):
Now today we're gonna be focusing all around the stoic
idea of taking action and man, as we still are
here fresh in a new year, I feel like I'm
hitting you like these one two punches to light that
fire under you to really get moving on what it
is that you want. Right and today we're pulling a
quote from the artist's Tone Deaf song is called Optimist,
(00:57):
and in it they say there's reasons the week of
will never dream or believe before they leap. They concede
to defeat and agree to retreat. Now when fatigue has
really got you by the balls, remember that if you
really didn't believe you'd succeed, then you wouldn't have tried
at all. So jump regardless of the consequence, because even
(01:19):
on the night of the apocalypse, everybody's an optimist. We're
going to just kind of dive into maybe what the
hell he's trying to say for certain parts of this right,
but I think the general message that I take away
from it is that the only guaranteed loss in this
life is when you don't take any action whatsoever on
what it is that you want. And I love the
distinction here, and we've all, you know, sort of allowed
(01:44):
fear to take us by the balls, if you will, right,
and to not take action on the things that we
want to do. Right. So when he talks about people
who are weak of will right, who don't have that willpower,
why they never dream or believe is because before they
actually take any sort of action, they literally talk themselves
out of it, and they concede to being defeated off
the get they run back to where it's safe, They
(02:06):
run back under the covers, to where it's warm. Those
who have a weak sense of willpower never actually get started.
And that last line I kind of want to break
down a little bit and try to see if I
can analyze, in my opinion, what he's trying to say.
What he says even on the night of the apocalypse,
everybody's an optimist. Two things kind of came to mind
as I was thinking about those last couple of bars,
and this is open to interpretation, but one being that
(02:29):
you know, even when we feel like, oh, you know,
the world's about to end hypothetically, right, let's say there's
a media coming towards life, there is still that little
hope that the media misses Earth or whatever. Right, there's
still I don't know why the movie arm Again is
coming to mind, right, but there's still is that shred
You're not just completely kind of sinking in like we're
all going to die type of thing. Right, even if
(02:51):
you are being told by the news that we're about
to be hit by this meteor, there's a small part
of you that still has a little bit of optimism,
like they could be wrong and we could survive to
live another day as right. And I think what he's
talking about there is like you're staring in the face
of the worst case scenario, but you still know there's
a possibility that you can come out on the other
side of it. And I think that alone is like
(03:11):
the idea of keeping some sort of optimism even in
the face of your worst case scenario. The other thing
I was going to say about that thing is maybe
even with the apocalypse, if you're a person of faith,
you just believe that this is God's will and they're
taking care of you, so you're like accepting of it
and it's okay. So whatever happens happens either way. I
think there's still some positive be found kind of in
those last bars. Now, let's talk about quote from one
(03:34):
of the stoics, Seneca, where he says, sometimes even to
live is an active courage. And I think what that
means is, whether you realize it or not, every day
you're taking action, like subconsciously, you're taking some sort of action.
You're going out into the unknown. If you're commuting to work,
you don't know what obstacle may face you on the highway.
(03:55):
A car may spin out of control, a deer may
run in front of your car, Like you just don't
know what potentially it could happen from you leaving your
doorstep to you getting to your job. Now, if you're
playing the odds, it's better than other risks, but there's
still is a risk involved. Right You're heading out into
the unknown essentially, And my point is you're accustomed to
taking action, whether you realize it or not. Yet when
(04:16):
it comes to taking action on our dreams or on
something that is a bit outside of the norm, we
all of a sudden sort of forget that we know
how to do this right, that we know how to
put one foot in front of the other and actually
just start walking forward. And I mean even for me,
you know, I think about this, like my career, my
life in general, has just been a series of risks.
(04:37):
When I quit my job at the Breakfast Club, that
was a risk, that was a dream job for so
many people, that opened so many doors and continue to
it gave me leverage in so many situations, and not
having that backing behind me made it more difficult to
make certain things happen right. And then beyond that, I
had a job after the Breakfast Club. I was, you know,
producing podcasts full time, and I quit that within a
(05:00):
few months of having it, you know, because I just
recognized this wasn't for me. And man, at that time,
that was early on where I was really rolling the
dice on like if this was gonna work out, this
whole self employment thing. But I knew that I had
to follow my gut. I knew that I had to
be courageous and take the leap of faith and bet
out myself. And of course I tried to do it
in the smartest way possible. But it was still a risk.
(05:22):
There's no way that I was able to get around
the idea of this being a gigantic risk and there
being a possibility of me losing everything I had invested
my time and effort and money into. Right, But I
understood that in order for me to live the life
that I wanted, I would have to be courageous. And
I think that's sort of the message that we're getting
at today with all that we're talking about. Now we
(05:44):
have heard from the artist Tone Deaf, heard from one
of the stoics, Seneca, giving you some insight into how
this is just sort of my daily life right now,
always you know, taking some sort of action, taking some
sort of risk. Now let's talk about how you can
make it your mantra for today. But first let's take
a quick break and then all right, So today we've
(06:10):
been talking all about the Stoic idea of taking action.
We have heard from the artist Tone Deaf, We've heard
from one of the stoics, Seneca, give you some insights
in my own life. Now let's talk about how you
can make it your mantra for today. And I think
what I'm trying to kind of get at here is
the idea of courage, and I feel like we don't
give ourselves enough credit for how much courage we each
(06:33):
put on display each and every day. And oftentimes it's subconscious,
oftentimes it's a part of our routine, but we are
all putting on displays of courage every single day, just
living out our normal lives. So I think the key
is really to stop building up this idea of taking
action right the moments that you do have to go
(06:53):
out and do something that you do have to put,
you know, an idea out there and actually put some
sort of action behind it. Stop allowing yourself to build
it up in your mind as this new and crazy thing,
and remember that each and every day you are taking action.
Each and every day, you're taking some sort of risks.
Each and every day, you are putting courage on display.
(07:15):
You do this every single day. Action is a normal
part of our routine as human beings, just living our
lives each and every day. And I think once you
begin to recognize that you are accustomed to taking action,
it becomes far easier to train yourself to not just
allow your ideas to live and die in your mind,
(07:36):
but recognize that you have the tools already to begin
bringing them to life if you choose to do so. Now,
to recap all we've been talking about today, you have
the artist Tone Deaf talking really about the people who
are are a week of will. He says, right that
before they ever take any sort of action, they just
decide to give up. And I think this is where
(07:58):
ninety nine percent of the people who are not living
a life that makes them happy, this is the category
that they fall into. This is the category of people
who always have that great idea, who always talk about
what they could have done, what they would have done right,
who live this sort of life of regret. They drive
to work upset each day, they drive home upset each
(08:19):
and every day, and it's because of the decisions that
they didn't make. It's because of the risks that they
didn't take right, the action that they didn't take. And
then going on to a quote from one of the
stokes here Seneca talking about sometimes even to just live
is an active courage. And I bring this up to
remind you that you already have the tools that you
(08:40):
need to take the action that is necessary. Each and
every day you're putting that on display. It's reminding you
that just living life takes courage, right, So why would
you sell yourself short when it comes to the things
that you truly want, the things that can potentially make
you happy? And even me, My life is much of
what I dream but it was because I kept taking risks,
(09:02):
and I continue to take risks. I understand that the
reward comes from consistent action, from consistently betting on myself
and my ability to even in failure, bounce back even
when things don't work out according to plan. Know that
that is not the end of my story and a
commitment to myself that and I'm not perfect at it.
(09:24):
But for as much as I can, I want to
avoid living with any sort of regret. I want to
know that I at least tried, and that I can
say that I at least tried each and everything that
you know I've been wanting 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
into your everyday life and I'll catch you next time.
(09:50):
The Street Stoke Podcast is a production of Iheart's Michael
Tura Podcast Network.