February 26, 2025 • 6 mins
Become a Member for early access, ad-free listening, video versions and exclusive content: https://benlionelscott.com/subscribe
—
The shift is being willing to die to whatever we were before the pain, to birth the person that we’re becoming.
Spoken by:
Rich Wilkerson Jr
twitter.com/richwilkersonjr
Lecrae
twitter.com/lecrae
Eric Thomas
instagram.com/etthehiphoppreacher
Les Brown
instagram.com/thelesbrown
Music:
Secession Studios - I am the Shadow
Secession Studios
thesecession.bandcamp.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
What do I do when my
situation
does not line up with my
expectation?
Where I am is not
where I saw myself being.
I think some of us in this room,
we’re giving up on our vision, the what,
because the how got hard.
How bad do you really
(00:21):
want it?
How bad you want it?
Huh?
You’re going to lose
all of the materialistic things you have.
How focused can you be?
You’re going to lose your job.
And people who you thought will help you
won’t be there for you.
How positive
can you be now?
The greatest opportunities
(00:43):
require the most grit.
If you want more from life,
be prepared to pay for it.
I wish I could tell you I just
woke up one day
and I just made up my mind to live a life
full of joy.
That’s not what happened.
I had to open the closet.
That closet that I had been stuffing pain and fear
and failure and depression in my whole life.
(01:04):
I had to open up that closet,
i had to stare it all
dead in the face.
I had to cry.
I had to go half crazy.
I had to embrace that trauma
and accept the darkness.
The shift
is being willing to die to whatever we were
before the pain to birth the person that we’re becoming.
And you gotta believe even if there’s no reason to believe.
(01:25):
When you see those things that you’ve been working on
just crumble in your face,
you still got to believe.
When friends who should be a source of
strength and encouragement,
relatives who should be there to inspire you and motivate you
and tell you, you can’t do it,
you still got to believe.
Oh, in those moments in the middle of the night when
doubts start creeping in your mind
and you wonder whether or not you have what it takes,
(01:47):
and sometimes you wonder if you’re going crazy.
And you don’t know if the clock is going to run out
before you can live up to your dream.
You still got to believe.
With no money in your pocket and
you don’t know how you’re going to make it.
You know your paycheck’s gone before you get it.
You still got to believe.
Sometimes feeling
lonely and crying and
feel like your back is pressed up against the wall.
(02:07):
You gotta believe.
You want something?
You make up your mind.
I’m making up my mind, I’m getting out of here.
I’m gonna do it.
You gotta talk to yourself sometimes, you hear me?
You gotta talk to yourself.
And yes, I was scared.
And yes, it’s gonna be hard.
It’s gonna be difficult.
And you get more nos than you do yes.
But when you hold out?
Things will begin to happen
you won’t even understand how.
(02:28):
But you’ve got to make up your mind
that you deserve it,
that you want it, and won’t do without it.
You’ve got to make up your mind that whatever it takes,
we know there’s no free lunch in life,
whatever it takes,
I’m going to do it
so I can get it.
I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired.
Oh no, it’s not going to be easy.
Some people say, well, it’s hard.
If it’s hard, then do it hard.
You have an unconquerable soul.
(02:49):
You can stand up inside of yourself.
You’ve got to learn to stand up to yourself
inside yourself.
And short circuit override that conversation
that’s always going on.
85% of what that conversation will tell you
is negative.
It will tell you you’re tired
when you really are not tired.
It will tell you you can’t do it.
It will fill you with fear.
(03:10):
So you’ve got to watch that conversation.
And when you find it going on,
you’ve got to stand up to it and say,
shut up.
I’m gonna do this anyhow.
I’m afraid, but I’m afraid not to do it.
And I’m not going to let you stop me.
You need to be aggressive.
You need to be demanding.
You need to be in control.
You need to be decisive.
You can’t tell me no.
(03:30):
I work too hard.
I get up too early.
I stay up too late.
You can’t tell me no.
Play your hand doggone it.
Play your hand.
you are alive.
Stop crying about your hand.
And stop wishing you had another one.
Play your hand.
You got it going on.
You dope.
You can do it.
I can, because i have the ability to do it.
I got what it takes.
I will, ’cause I’m strong.
(03:51):
And I can overcome any obstacle.
I must
’cause they counting on me.
I dare you to find the strength.
I dare you to stand up
and show them
that there’s no stopping you.
They asked Thomas Edison,
how did you continue to go on?
How did you motivate yourself
after failing over 10,000 times
in inventing the light bulb?
He said, I didn’t fail 10,000 times.
(04:11):
I found 10,000 ways that did not work.
You know, you’re here today, you’re gone today.
You can’t get out of life alive.
So start living it with a sense of urgency
and live it on your terms.
You don’t know what you can’t do.
Don’t let this negative world get to you.
Don’t let it win.
if you develop yourself,
if you prepare yourself,
there’s a great deal of negativity out here in this world,
(04:31):
but you have got to begin to insulate yourself mentally
and don’t allow it to penetrate your shield.
You’ve got to learn how to exist in the world
and not allow the world to exist in you.
It’s a difference between being a thermometer
and being a thermostat.
A lot of people are thermometers,
they fluctuate with life.
Things are going well,
they feel good and they’re positive
and have a yes I can attitude.
Things don’t go well, now they’re depressed.
(04:53):
But then when you are a thermostat,
you don’t let the circumstances determine you.
You go into a negative situation,
you make it positive.
You must be patient, persistent, and positive,
no matter what.
Because when you are negative,
you’re sending out negative energy
and you’re blocking your good.
Wherever you are in life,
you’ve got comeback power.
(05:13):
I don’t care how low you are.
I don’t care what you have done.
I don’t care what you have experienced.
I don’t care how devastated
your life might appear to be.
The shambles it might be in.
There’s a power in you
that can enable you
to be stronger and better
than anything that’s out here.
So you gotta prepare yourself.
You’ve got to develop yourself.
You’ve got to practice.
(05:34):
You’ve got to work.
You gotta do your homework.
You gotta do your research.
And competency builds confidence.
And confidence feeds into competency.
The better you become, the more confident you feel.
And the more confident you feel,
the better you want to become.
You realize that you have no ceiling.
That you can better whatever you’ve done so far.
You can go beyond that.
We gotta look our trauma in the face.
(05:56):
We gotta embrace the pain and the darkness
and allow it to mold us.
The dark times are when we build higher.
Dream harder.
Push further.
Love deeper.
We got to become something new.
You take those terrible events in your life
and you create a new story of triumph.
If you resolve within yourself
that you want now to build a new life for yourself,
(06:19):
you want your life to go in another direction,
you now want to begin to manifest your greatness
and call on the creative energies within you
to help you to create a new future for yourself.
that you will give your total being
every ounce in you,
whatever has to be done.
You will do whatever is required.
And if that’s not enough,
you will do some more.
(06:40):
And if you resolve that,
I say to you, that the universe is on your side.
I say to you, some doors will open to you.
If you develop that sense of purpose with your life.
What do I do when my
situation
does not line up with my
expectation?
Where I am is not
where I saw myself being.
I think some of us in this room,
we’re giving up on our vision, the what,
because the how got hard.
How bad do you really
(00:21):
want it?
How bad you want it?
Huh?
You’re going to lose
all of the materialistic things you have.
How focused can you be?
You’re going to lose your job.
And people who you thought will help you
won’t be there for you.
How positive
can you be now?
The greatest opportunities
(00:43):
require the most grit.
If you want more from life,
be prepared to pay for it.
I wish I could tell you I just
woke up one day
and I just made up my mind to live a life
full of joy.
That’s not what happened.
I had to open the closet.
That closet that I had been stuffing pain and fear
and failure and depression in my whole life.
(01:04):
I had to open up that closet,
i had to stare it all
dead in the face.
I had to cry.
I had to go half crazy.
I had to embrace that trauma
and accept the darkness.
The shift
is being willing to die to whatever we were
before the pain to birth the person that we’re becoming.
And you gotta believe even if there’s no reason to believe.
(01:25):
When you see those things that you’ve been working on
just crumble in your face,
you still got to believe.
When friends who should be a source of
strength and encouragement,
relatives who should be there to inspire you and motivate you
and tell you, you can’t do it,
you still got to believe.
Oh, in those moments in the middle of the night when
doubts start creeping in your mind
and you wonder whether or not you have what it takes,
(01:47):
and sometimes you wonder if you’re going crazy.
And you don’t know if the clock is going to run out
before you can live up to your dream.
You still got to believe.
With no money in your pocket and
you don’t know how you’re going to make it.
You know your paycheck’s gone before you get it.
You still got to believe.
Sometimes feeling
lonely and crying and
feel like your back is pressed up against the wall.
(02:07):
You gotta believe.
You want something?
You make up your mind.
I’m making up my mind, I’m getting out of here.
I’m gonna do it.
You gotta talk to yourself sometimes, you hear me?
You gotta talk to yourself.
And yes, I was scared.
And yes, it’s gonna be hard.
It’s gonna be difficult.
And you get more nos than you do yes.
But when you hold out?
Things will begin to happen
you won’t even understand how.
(02:28):
But you’ve got to make up your mind
that you deserve it,
that you want it, and won’t do without it.
You’ve got to make up your mind that whatever it takes,
we know there’s no free lunch in life,
whatever it takes,
I’m going to do it
so I can get it.
I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired.
Oh no, it’s not going to be easy.
Some people say, well, it’s hard.
If it’s hard, then do it hard.
You have an unconquerable soul.
(02:49):
You can stand up inside of yourself.
You’ve got to learn to stand up to yourself
inside yourself.
And short circuit override that conversation
that’s always going on.
85% of what that conversation will tell you
is negative.
It will tell you you’re tired
when you really are not tired.
It will tell you you can’t do it.
It will fill you with fear.
(03:10):
So you’ve got to watch that conversation.
And when you find it going on,
you’ve got to stand up to it and say,
shut up.
I’m gonna do this anyhow.
I’m afraid, but I’m afraid not to do it.
And I’m not going to let you stop me.
You need to be aggressive.
You need to be demanding.
You need to be in control.
You need to be decisive.
You can’t tell me no.
(03:30):
I work too hard.
I get up too early.
I stay up too late.
You can’t tell me no.
Play your hand doggone it.
Play your hand.
you are alive.
Stop crying about your hand.
And stop wishing you had another one.
Play your hand.
You got it going on.
You dope.
You can do it.
I can, because i have the ability to do it.
I got what it takes.
I will, ’cause I’m strong.
(03:51):
And I can overcome any obstacle.
I must
’cause they counting on me.
I dare you to find the strength.
I dare you to stand up
and show them
that there’s no stopping you.
They asked Thomas Edison,
how did you continue to go on?
How did you motivate yourself
after failing over 10,000 times
in inventing the light bulb?
He said, I didn’t fail 10,000 times.
(04:11):
I found 10,000 ways that did not work.
You know, you’re here today, you’re gone today.
You can’t get out of life alive.
So start living it with a sense of urgency
and live it on your terms.
You don’t know what you can’t do.
Don’t let this negative world get to you.
Don’t let it win.
if you develop yourself,
if you prepare yourself,
there’s a great deal of negativity out here in this world,
(04:31):
but you have got to begin to insulate yourself mentally
and don’t allow it to penetrate your shield.
You’ve got to learn how to exist in the world
and not allow the world to exist in you.
It’s a difference between being a thermometer
and being a thermostat.
A lot of people are thermometers,
they fluctuate with life.
Things are going well,
they feel good and they’re positive
and have a yes I can attitude.
Things don’t go well, now they’re depressed.
(04:53):
But then when you are a thermostat,
you don’t let the circumstances determine you.
You go into a negative situation,
you make it positive.
You must be patient, persistent, and positive,
no matter what.
Because when you are negative,
you’re sending out negative energy
and you’re blocking your good.
Wherever you are in life,
you’ve got comeback power.
(05:13):
I don’t care how low you are.
I don’t care what you have done.
I don’t care what you have experienced.
I don’t care how devastated
your life might appear to be.
The shambles it might be in.
There’s a power in you
that can enable you
to be stronger and better
than anything that’s out here.
So you gotta prepare yourself.
You’ve got to develop yourself.
You’ve got to practice.
(05:34):
You’ve got to work.
You gotta do your homework.
You gotta do your research.
And competency builds confidence.
And confidence feeds into competency.
The better you become, the more confident you feel.
And the more confident you feel,
the better you want to become.
You realize that you have no ceiling.
That you can better whatever you’ve done so far.
You can go beyond that.
We gotta look our trauma in the face.
(05:56):
We gotta embrace the pain and the darkness
and allow it to mold us.
The dark times are when we build higher.
Dream harder.
Push further.
Love deeper.
We got to become something new.
You take those terrible events in your life
and you create a new story of triumph.
If you resolve within yourself
that you want now to build a new life for yourself,
(06:19):
you want your life to go in another direction,
you now want to begin to manifest your greatness
and call on the creative energies within you
to help you to create a new future for yourself.
that you will give your total being
every ounce in you,
whatever has to be done.
You will do whatever is required.
And if that’s not enough,
you will do some more.
(06:40):
And if you resolve that,
I say to you, that the universe is on your side.
I say to you, some doors will open to you.
If you develop that sense of purpose with your life.
Popular Podcasts
Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club
Welcome to Bookmarked by Reese’s Book Club — the podcast where great stories, bold women, and irresistible conversations collide! Hosted by award-winning journalist Danielle Robay, each week new episodes balance thoughtful literary insight with the fervor of buzzy book trends, pop culture and more. Bookmarked brings together celebrities, tastemakers, influencers and authors from Reese's Book Club and beyond to share stories that transcend the page. Pull up a chair. You’re not just listening — you’re part of the conversation.
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
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.