March 20, 2023 • 10 mins
Many of us struggle with self-doubt and low self esteem, yet we fail to realize the ability to succeed lies in having confidence in our abilities and talent. Today Dramos looks at quotes from Tupac and Epictetus about the importance of maintaining a sense of humor as we navigate the sometimes difficult path of success.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Yes, Yes, I am Dramas And this is the Street
Stoic Podcast, bringing your daily dose of timeless stoic philosophy
(00:24):
remix for the hip hop generation. We are combining Asia
philosophy with lyrics and quotes from some of the greatest
who ever grace a microphone. Now, with that in mind,
let's get things started with your daily shot of inspiration.
Now today we are going to be focusing around the
(00:47):
idea of not taking life so seriously and a little
bit different. Right now, I'm gonna start with somebody who
is not a rapper and not a stoic, but of
the culture, and that is halleb Harry. And she has
this really profound quote that I think it is just
perfect for what we're discussing today. And she says, don't
take yourself too seriously, know when to laugh at yourself
(01:11):
and find a way to laugh at the obstacles that
inevitably present themselves. Right, And I just think this is
such simple yet profound advice for the human experience. Right
as she says, obstacles, they are inevitable, and you have
to find a way to lessen their impact on you
(01:35):
and your overall quality of life. You know, and this
also leads to another quote that I pulled, and it's
from an actual rapper, and of course it's Pack and
he says, but through whatever you see, through all the
rain and the pain, you gotta keep your sense of humor.
You gotta be able to smile through all this bullshit.
(01:56):
And he's saying the same thing as as Hallie in
in a very different way, but they're both having the
same underlying message. You know, Pocket is talking about the bullshit, right,
the hard things that happen in life, and you know,
whatever's going on, the rain, the pain, you got to
keep your sense of humor. You cannot allow the tough
times in life to take that away from you. And also,
(02:18):
I think, at the end of the day, not taking
yourself too seriously in general, right, not hiding parts of
yourself for the sake of being scared to look foolish.
It's important that we show people who we really are,
you know. And a part of that is being an
imperfect human being. A part of that is being silly,
being able to joke, you know, and and not you know,
(02:39):
trying to put on this face of perfection, you know,
and I do want to kind of preface all that
we're talking about. Like, I know, we talk a lot
about and not wasting time on Earth, and of course,
you know, you want to take your time here on
this planet very seriously and you want to put all
of your energy into everything that you do. But you
also have to learn how to make peace with the setbacks, right.
(03:00):
I think that's what we're talking about today. You have
to have a sense of humor, you know. I mean,
life ain't that serious in general, right, Like not everything
has to be this huge meltdown and this sort of
like existential crisis. And this leads perfectly to a quote
from one of the stoics, Epictetius, and he says, he
who laughs at himself never runs out of things to
(03:21):
laugh at, right, And this to me speaks to the
fact that we're all gonna mess up eventually at some point,
right inevitably, and we're gonna keep doing it over you know,
we're gonna say something stupid. We are going to you know,
try and be perfect all the time, but it's just impossible,
you know. And I think that it's important to man
your livelihood, to your mental health, your sanity, your quality
(03:44):
of life, Like it's important to let your guard down
and just experience life as it comes to you. You know,
by trying to maintain some sort of like impossible perception
of perfection, you're again just hiding parts of yourself that
many people would find to be interesting, right, that many
people would actually end up being drawn to you if
(04:06):
you were unafraid to showcase that side of yourself, you know.
And for me, I relate to this in a number
of different ways. I mean, I think in general, I
have perfectionist tendencies and it shows up in various ways
throughout my life. And I think one of the ways
I've noticed is when I get a new job, I'm
trying to give off this level of perfection and I'm quiet,
(04:28):
and I am not trying to, you know, show too
much of myself, you know, show my cards, you know.
And this happened when I first started with the Breakfast Club.
I was there for like a year before I really
had any real connection with anybody. It was because I
was just too nervous to be myself right. And then,
you know, as things would happen because I'm not going
to be perfect even if I'm trying my best, like,
(04:50):
I would end up beating myself up if I did
something wrong or if I didn't say the right thing
every time they threw the microphone my way right. But
it's interesting about that, and the learning lesson that I've
found from that experience was that when I eventually just
stopped trying to be perfect and I allowed myself to
be silly and to play around and to just be
myself right, because all those things are characteristics of who
(05:12):
I am amongst friends and family. You know, When I
allowed those parts of me to show up in this environment,
that's when again, the real me started to be on
display for people. And as a result, that is when
I truly began to connect with those that I was
working with, you know, and build relationships with them, because
(05:33):
they got to actually see the human side of me.
I was no longer kind of keeping them at arm's length.
I was no longer wearing this veil. I was being
unafraid to show up authentically, good, bad, and imperfect. And
that is what allowed me to build friendships, build relationships,
and also what allowed me to, you know, utilize this
opportunity of working on such a profound show where I
(05:55):
now had the relationship built in a way that I
could lean on these people for vice or for possible
introductions to people that I was interested in meeting and
potentially working with. Right, but all of that came as
a result of me eventually just letting my guard down,
allowing the real side of me to show and to
stop obsessing with being perfect and taking everything so fucking seriously. Now,
(06:18):
with that said, we have heard from halle Berry, we
have heard from Tupac, we have heard from Epictetus, you
have heard from myself. We're hearing from a lot of
people on today's show. Now let's talk about you and
how you can make this whole concept of not taking yourself,
not taking life too seriously, How you can make that
your manstra for today. But first let's take a quick
(06:39):
break and then we'll be all right. So we have
heard the words of halle Berry, we have heard Tupac,
and one of the stoics, Epictetius, myself all around this
concept of not taking life too seriously. Now let's talk
(07:00):
about how you can make it your mantra for today.
And I think, first and foremost it starts with just
learning to let your guard down a bit, right, like
be okay with being human, being imperfect, being silly, just
just being you, right Like, you can't constantly be thinking
that every moment is the end of the world, or
(07:21):
that if you make this one mistake, everybody's gonna hate you.
Like that is no way to live, and that is
is probably the least productive way to carry yourself in
any environment. Right At the end of the day, people
are always going to relate to those who are real
and and being real, you know, is also being okay
with being imperfect, right Like, showcasing the human side of
(07:45):
yourself is what is going to make people relate to you.
It's what's going to make people drawn to you and
want to have some sort of connection and relationship with you,
right like that, that is what life is all about.
It's about being able to smile through all the book shit,
like like Pox said, right, it's about what what Halli
was saying, where you know, you have to learn how
(08:06):
to laugh at the obstacles that are inevitably going to
be presented your way, that are inevitbly going to present themselves.
You have to be able to just lighten the load,
take some of that weight off of your shoulders, and
give yourself some relief by not taking shit so seriously, right,
and of course we're in the midst of kind of
recapping everything. Epictetius old dead white dude has not been
(08:28):
around for centuries, is echoing the same message. Right. This
is a message and a methodology that is as old
as time because it's that important to our livelihood and
us having a happy and fulfilled life. Right, talking about
he who laughs at himself never runs out of things
to laugh at. Right, The ability to laugh at yourself
(08:50):
and to not take yourself too seriously. That allows you
to enjoy life far more rather than sitting there and
and beating yourself up for every wrong thing saying that
you do that leads to a sad and depressing life. Right,
that is a lot of weight to be carrying around,
and even for myself, you know, in a professional sense.
And also it could be I think related to a
(09:11):
personal sense, you know, attracting friends or a romantic relationship.
Like when I stopped being so conscious of my every move,
you know, when I stopped being a robot essentially, right,
and I began to let my guard down and was
okay with the fact that I'm going to make a mistake,
I'm going to make a bad joke, I'm going to
say something stupid like when I got over those fears,
(09:32):
that is when I built a real connection with the
people around me, and that is what helped excel my
career and my life, and also in my personal life.
That same methodology has attracted all the people I could
have ever dreamed about into my orbit right because I
again was unafraid to showcase who I really am, and
people are attracted to that right. The ability to not
(09:57):
have a meltdown when life Eneviti throws something you're way.
That is a really easy way to bring more joy
and peace into your life. And I think that's what
we're all striving for at the end of the day.
And with that said, thank you so much for checking
out the Street Stoic podcast. Do your best to apply
these concepts that we discussed today into your everyday life
(10:17):
and I'll catch you next time. The Street Stoke Podcast
is a production of Ihearts Michael Blura Podcast Network.
Yes, Yes, I am Dramas And this is the Street
Stoic Podcast, bringing your daily dose of timeless stoic philosophy
(00:24):
remix for the hip hop generation. We are combining Asia
philosophy with lyrics and quotes from some of the greatest
who ever grace a microphone. Now, with that in mind,
let's get things started with your daily shot of inspiration.
Now today we are going to be focusing around the
(00:47):
idea of not taking life so seriously and a little
bit different. Right now, I'm gonna start with somebody who
is not a rapper and not a stoic, but of
the culture, and that is halleb Harry. And she has
this really profound quote that I think it is just
perfect for what we're discussing today. And she says, don't
take yourself too seriously, know when to laugh at yourself
(01:11):
and find a way to laugh at the obstacles that
inevitably present themselves. Right, And I just think this is
such simple yet profound advice for the human experience. Right
as she says, obstacles, they are inevitable, and you have
to find a way to lessen their impact on you
(01:35):
and your overall quality of life. You know, and this
also leads to another quote that I pulled, and it's
from an actual rapper, and of course it's Pack and
he says, but through whatever you see, through all the
rain and the pain, you gotta keep your sense of humor.
You gotta be able to smile through all this bullshit.
(01:56):
And he's saying the same thing as as Hallie in
in a very different way, but they're both having the
same underlying message. You know, Pocket is talking about the bullshit, right,
the hard things that happen in life, and you know,
whatever's going on, the rain, the pain, you got to
keep your sense of humor. You cannot allow the tough
times in life to take that away from you. And also,
(02:18):
I think, at the end of the day, not taking
yourself too seriously in general, right, not hiding parts of
yourself for the sake of being scared to look foolish.
It's important that we show people who we really are,
you know. And a part of that is being an
imperfect human being. A part of that is being silly,
being able to joke, you know, and and not you know,
(02:39):
trying to put on this face of perfection, you know,
and I do want to kind of preface all that
we're talking about. Like, I know, we talk a lot
about and not wasting time on Earth, and of course,
you know, you want to take your time here on
this planet very seriously and you want to put all
of your energy into everything that you do. But you
also have to learn how to make peace with the setbacks, right.
(03:00):
I think that's what we're talking about today. You have
to have a sense of humor, you know. I mean,
life ain't that serious in general, right, Like not everything
has to be this huge meltdown and this sort of
like existential crisis. And this leads perfectly to a quote
from one of the stoics, Epictetius, and he says, he
who laughs at himself never runs out of things to
(03:21):
laugh at, right, And this to me speaks to the
fact that we're all gonna mess up eventually at some point,
right inevitably, and we're gonna keep doing it over you know,
we're gonna say something stupid. We are going to you know,
try and be perfect all the time, but it's just impossible,
you know. And I think that it's important to man
your livelihood, to your mental health, your sanity, your quality
(03:44):
of life, Like it's important to let your guard down
and just experience life as it comes to you. You know,
by trying to maintain some sort of like impossible perception
of perfection, you're again just hiding parts of yourself that
many people would find to be interesting, right, that many
people would actually end up being drawn to you if
(04:06):
you were unafraid to showcase that side of yourself, you know.
And for me, I relate to this in a number
of different ways. I mean, I think in general, I
have perfectionist tendencies and it shows up in various ways
throughout my life. And I think one of the ways
I've noticed is when I get a new job, I'm
trying to give off this level of perfection and I'm quiet,
(04:28):
and I am not trying to, you know, show too
much of myself, you know, show my cards, you know.
And this happened when I first started with the Breakfast Club.
I was there for like a year before I really
had any real connection with anybody. It was because I
was just too nervous to be myself right. And then,
you know, as things would happen because I'm not going
to be perfect even if I'm trying my best, like,
(04:50):
I would end up beating myself up if I did
something wrong or if I didn't say the right thing
every time they threw the microphone my way right. But
it's interesting about that, and the learning lesson that I've
found from that experience was that when I eventually just
stopped trying to be perfect and I allowed myself to
be silly and to play around and to just be
myself right, because all those things are characteristics of who
(05:12):
I am amongst friends and family. You know, When I
allowed those parts of me to show up in this environment,
that's when again, the real me started to be on
display for people. And as a result, that is when
I truly began to connect with those that I was
working with, you know, and build relationships with them, because
(05:33):
they got to actually see the human side of me.
I was no longer kind of keeping them at arm's length.
I was no longer wearing this veil. I was being
unafraid to show up authentically, good, bad, and imperfect. And
that is what allowed me to build friendships, build relationships,
and also what allowed me to, you know, utilize this
opportunity of working on such a profound show where I
(05:55):
now had the relationship built in a way that I
could lean on these people for vice or for possible
introductions to people that I was interested in meeting and
potentially working with. Right, but all of that came as
a result of me eventually just letting my guard down,
allowing the real side of me to show and to
stop obsessing with being perfect and taking everything so fucking seriously. Now,
(06:18):
with that said, we have heard from halle Berry, we
have heard from Tupac, we have heard from Epictetus, you
have heard from myself. We're hearing from a lot of
people on today's show. Now let's talk about you and
how you can make this whole concept of not taking yourself,
not taking life too seriously, How you can make that
your manstra for today. But first let's take a quick
(06:39):
break and then we'll be all right. So we have
heard the words of halle Berry, we have heard Tupac,
and one of the stoics, Epictetius, myself all around this
concept of not taking life too seriously. Now let's talk
(07:00):
about how you can make it your mantra for today.
And I think, first and foremost it starts with just
learning to let your guard down a bit, right, like
be okay with being human, being imperfect, being silly, just
just being you, right Like, you can't constantly be thinking
that every moment is the end of the world, or
(07:21):
that if you make this one mistake, everybody's gonna hate you.
Like that is no way to live, and that is
is probably the least productive way to carry yourself in
any environment. Right At the end of the day, people
are always going to relate to those who are real
and and being real, you know, is also being okay
with being imperfect, right Like, showcasing the human side of
(07:45):
yourself is what is going to make people relate to you.
It's what's going to make people drawn to you and
want to have some sort of connection and relationship with you,
right like that, that is what life is all about.
It's about being able to smile through all the book shit,
like like Pox said, right, it's about what what Halli
was saying, where you know, you have to learn how
(08:06):
to laugh at the obstacles that are inevitably going to
be presented your way, that are inevitbly going to present themselves.
You have to be able to just lighten the load,
take some of that weight off of your shoulders, and
give yourself some relief by not taking shit so seriously, right,
and of course we're in the midst of kind of
recapping everything. Epictetius old dead white dude has not been
(08:28):
around for centuries, is echoing the same message. Right. This
is a message and a methodology that is as old
as time because it's that important to our livelihood and
us having a happy and fulfilled life. Right, talking about
he who laughs at himself never runs out of things
to laugh at. Right, The ability to laugh at yourself
(08:50):
and to not take yourself too seriously. That allows you
to enjoy life far more rather than sitting there and
and beating yourself up for every wrong thing saying that
you do that leads to a sad and depressing life. Right,
that is a lot of weight to be carrying around,
and even for myself, you know, in a professional sense.
And also it could be I think related to a
(09:11):
personal sense, you know, attracting friends or a romantic relationship.
Like when I stopped being so conscious of my every move,
you know, when I stopped being a robot essentially, right,
and I began to let my guard down and was
okay with the fact that I'm going to make a mistake,
I'm going to make a bad joke, I'm going to
say something stupid like when I got over those fears,
(09:32):
that is when I built a real connection with the
people around me, and that is what helped excel my
career and my life, and also in my personal life.
That same methodology has attracted all the people I could
have ever dreamed about into my orbit right because I
again was unafraid to showcase who I really am, and
people are attracted to that right. The ability to not
(09:57):
have a meltdown when life Eneviti throws something you're way.
That is a really easy way to bring more joy
and peace into your life. And I think that's what
we're all striving for at the end of the day.
And with that said, thank you so much for checking
out the Street Stoic podcast. Do your best to apply
these concepts that we discussed today into your everyday life
(10:17):
and I'll catch you next time. The Street Stoke Podcast
is a production of Ihearts Michael Blura Podcast Network.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!