1 00:00:16,120 --> 00:00:18,640 Speaker 1: Yes, Yes, I am Dramas and this is the Street 2 00:00:18,720 --> 00:00:22,040 Speaker 1: Stoic Podcast, bring you your daily dose of timeless stoke 3 00:00:22,079 --> 00:00:25,560 Speaker 1: philosophy remix for the hip hop generation. Now, with that 4 00:00:25,640 --> 00:00:28,320 Speaker 1: in mind, let's get things started with your daily shot 5 00:00:28,400 --> 00:00:37,519 Speaker 1: of inspiration. Now today we're gonna mix things up a 6 00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:39,960 Speaker 1: little bit and we're going to talk about the stoke 7 00:00:40,080 --> 00:00:44,520 Speaker 1: value of pursuing virtue right or excellence right, the chase 8 00:00:44,600 --> 00:00:48,520 Speaker 1: for excellence. And to me, the person that immediately came 9 00:00:48,560 --> 00:00:51,800 Speaker 1: to mind when kind of thinking about this idea of 10 00:00:52,200 --> 00:00:55,880 Speaker 1: pursuing excellence in your particular craft is J Cole. Right. 11 00:00:56,280 --> 00:00:58,400 Speaker 1: I pulled a couple of excerpts from an interview that 12 00:00:58,400 --> 00:01:01,000 Speaker 1: I had watched from him not too long ago, and 13 00:01:01,480 --> 00:01:04,280 Speaker 1: a first quote I have from him. He's talking about 14 00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:07,080 Speaker 1: the process of making the warm Up mixtape, and he 15 00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:09,880 Speaker 1: says that was the way the warm Up came from. 16 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:13,280 Speaker 1: Every day I woke up, wrote verses and made beats. 17 00:01:13,680 --> 00:01:16,280 Speaker 1: And I love this this notion. Right. If you dive 18 00:01:16,360 --> 00:01:19,520 Speaker 1: deeper into the interview, he talks about how literally he 19 00:01:19,560 --> 00:01:22,200 Speaker 1: would wake up and before he did anything else, before 20 00:01:22,200 --> 00:01:24,479 Speaker 1: he brushed his teeth, before he washed his face, before 21 00:01:24,520 --> 00:01:27,800 Speaker 1: he ate anything, literally would get up, roll over, grab 22 00:01:27,840 --> 00:01:29,760 Speaker 1: his notebook, and he would write a verse. Right. This 23 00:01:29,920 --> 00:01:33,360 Speaker 1: was his exercise every single day, challenging himself that he 24 00:01:33,520 --> 00:01:36,399 Speaker 1: had to write a verse before he got his day started. Right. 25 00:01:36,720 --> 00:01:39,880 Speaker 1: And another quote I pulled from that Seam interview, he says, 26 00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:42,840 Speaker 1: I put myself through drills. I really try to work 27 00:01:42,880 --> 00:01:46,039 Speaker 1: out my craft to like reach new heights and push myself. 28 00:01:46,520 --> 00:01:51,600 Speaker 1: And I love this idea of doing something not because 29 00:01:51,680 --> 00:01:55,240 Speaker 1: someone is watching you, right, but instead you're challenging yourself 30 00:01:55,280 --> 00:01:58,680 Speaker 1: to be better every day because you want it for yourself. 31 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:01,200 Speaker 1: When he puts himself through I think he talks about 32 00:02:01,200 --> 00:02:02,840 Speaker 1: like seven minute drills. I guess where he could write 33 00:02:02,840 --> 00:02:04,920 Speaker 1: a song in seven minutes and he challenges himself to 34 00:02:04,960 --> 00:02:07,400 Speaker 1: do so. Right. Again, this isn't a show he's putting 35 00:02:07,440 --> 00:02:09,919 Speaker 1: on for anybody else. He's not posting this to social media. 36 00:02:09,960 --> 00:02:11,840 Speaker 1: He's not, you know, doing it in front of some 37 00:02:11,960 --> 00:02:15,440 Speaker 1: producer to impress them. He's literally by himself putting on 38 00:02:15,560 --> 00:02:18,320 Speaker 1: these drills just to challenge himself to be a bit 39 00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:22,440 Speaker 1: better at songwriting, at his craft, because he's chasing excellence, right. 40 00:02:22,520 --> 00:02:24,560 Speaker 1: And this leads to a quote from one of the 41 00:02:24,560 --> 00:02:28,520 Speaker 1: stokes perfectly Arius Didamus, and he says self control is 42 00:02:28,560 --> 00:02:31,360 Speaker 1: the knowledge of what things are worth choosing and what 43 00:02:31,480 --> 00:02:35,040 Speaker 1: are worth avoiding and what is neither. Contained within this 44 00:02:35,240 --> 00:02:41,600 Speaker 1: virtue are things like orderliness, propriety, modesty, and self mastery. 45 00:02:42,320 --> 00:02:45,760 Speaker 1: And I think the sort of grandiose message here is 46 00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:50,079 Speaker 1: that greatness requires self control. And I love that line 47 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:53,399 Speaker 1: about knowing what things are worth choosing and what things 48 00:02:53,440 --> 00:02:57,160 Speaker 1: are worth avoiding. That contained within this virtue of self 49 00:02:57,160 --> 00:03:00,640 Speaker 1: control is a life that is you know, balance is 50 00:03:00,680 --> 00:03:03,640 Speaker 1: in order, and being able to master your craft and 51 00:03:03,720 --> 00:03:07,240 Speaker 1: master yourself right, becoming the person that you are meant 52 00:03:07,240 --> 00:03:10,520 Speaker 1: to be the highest version of yourself. And I think 53 00:03:10,560 --> 00:03:12,800 Speaker 1: this is where a lot of people fall short. A 54 00:03:12,800 --> 00:03:15,760 Speaker 1: lot of people have these ideas, they have these dreams, 55 00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:18,440 Speaker 1: but they're not willing to put in the real effort 56 00:03:18,520 --> 00:03:21,200 Speaker 1: that it takes to be disciplined. I saw this quote 57 00:03:21,240 --> 00:03:24,760 Speaker 1: the other day of somebody talking about Jim Carrey actually 58 00:03:24,760 --> 00:03:29,760 Speaker 1: talking about how some people aren't willing to sacrifice the 59 00:03:29,800 --> 00:03:32,280 Speaker 1: finer things in life for a year in order to 60 00:03:32,320 --> 00:03:35,800 Speaker 1: better their entire life right. They're too concerned with looking 61 00:03:35,880 --> 00:03:39,760 Speaker 1: successful or happy or like they have it all together 62 00:03:40,280 --> 00:03:42,840 Speaker 1: to the outside world. That's their priority at the end 63 00:03:42,880 --> 00:03:46,320 Speaker 1: of the day, rather than making the sacrifices needed to 64 00:03:46,400 --> 00:03:49,480 Speaker 1: actually build the foundation needed to live the life that 65 00:03:49,520 --> 00:03:52,400 Speaker 1: you want right, And I relate to this on various levels. 66 00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:53,880 Speaker 1: That's sort of how I've tried to live my life, 67 00:03:53,920 --> 00:03:55,880 Speaker 1: and at times I've been better at it than others. 68 00:03:56,080 --> 00:03:59,720 Speaker 1: We all sort of fall into those ruts. But for me, recently, 69 00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:02,240 Speaker 1: a habit that I've adapted that I try to stay 70 00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:04,960 Speaker 1: on is waking up every day at six am, not 71 00:04:05,040 --> 00:04:08,320 Speaker 1: because I have to, but because I want to give 72 00:04:08,400 --> 00:04:12,160 Speaker 1: myself the extra time needed to take care of a 73 00:04:12,200 --> 00:04:15,920 Speaker 1: particular task. For me, writing every day for an hour 74 00:04:16,240 --> 00:04:19,000 Speaker 1: has become a form of discipline. It's how I've been 75 00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:21,560 Speaker 1: able to write four books in one year. I wake 76 00:04:21,640 --> 00:04:23,600 Speaker 1: up at six am, I go through my morning routine, 77 00:04:23,600 --> 00:04:26,200 Speaker 1: and from seven am to eight am, I write. And 78 00:04:26,320 --> 00:04:29,080 Speaker 1: every single day that's my routine, Monday through Friday, and 79 00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:31,640 Speaker 1: eventually I have enough for a book, and then another book, 80 00:04:31,640 --> 00:04:34,920 Speaker 1: and then another book. And this sort of self discipline 81 00:04:35,080 --> 00:04:38,000 Speaker 1: of not giving myself the extra sleep that I always 82 00:04:38,080 --> 00:04:42,520 Speaker 1: kind of need, but challenging myself to become a better writer, 83 00:04:42,839 --> 00:04:47,040 Speaker 1: to become somebody who has far more output creatively than 84 00:04:47,320 --> 00:04:50,479 Speaker 1: the average person would who's writing books. That sort of 85 00:04:50,680 --> 00:04:53,560 Speaker 1: idea of challenging myself to be the best version of 86 00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:57,400 Speaker 1: myself in this particular format, that's allowed me to then 87 00:04:57,480 --> 00:05:00,159 Speaker 1: do something crazy, which I can't believe when I say, 88 00:05:00,279 --> 00:05:02,440 Speaker 1: four books in one year. It's a wild thing to 89 00:05:02,480 --> 00:05:06,279 Speaker 1: talk about. But again, that all starts with discipline and 90 00:05:06,440 --> 00:05:09,440 Speaker 1: challenging myself to be better than I was yesterday. Right, 91 00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:13,039 Speaker 1: it's all about self mastery and wanting to master my 92 00:05:13,120 --> 00:05:15,320 Speaker 1: craft and become better at it each and every day. 93 00:05:15,680 --> 00:05:17,679 Speaker 1: And we've heard from J. Cole, we have heard from 94 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:21,000 Speaker 1: one of the Stoics areas Didnamus. I've given you some 95 00:05:21,080 --> 00:05:23,640 Speaker 1: insights to my own daily routine. Now let's talk about 96 00:05:23,640 --> 00:05:35,320 Speaker 1: how you can make this your mantra for today. So 97 00:05:35,360 --> 00:05:39,479 Speaker 1: today we've been talking all about the Stoic idea of 98 00:05:39,520 --> 00:05:42,320 Speaker 1: the pursuit of virtue or excellence. You've heard from J. Cole, 99 00:05:42,360 --> 00:05:44,840 Speaker 1: you've heard from one of the Stokes areas Didnamus give 100 00:05:44,880 --> 00:05:47,080 Speaker 1: you some insight into my own sort of methodology with 101 00:05:47,160 --> 00:05:49,400 Speaker 1: this concept. Now let's talk about how you can make 102 00:05:49,440 --> 00:05:53,359 Speaker 1: it your mantra for today. And I think at the 103 00:05:53,440 --> 00:05:55,919 Speaker 1: end of the day, you have to make a decision 104 00:05:56,560 --> 00:05:58,880 Speaker 1: as to I think, a what you want to be 105 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:03,920 Speaker 1: excellent at, but be more than that. I think there's 106 00:06:03,960 --> 00:06:06,839 Speaker 1: obviously the craft in itself. Right, If you are a 107 00:06:06,880 --> 00:06:09,320 Speaker 1: songwriter like Jay Cole, you obviously want to get better 108 00:06:09,360 --> 00:06:11,479 Speaker 1: and better at that each and every day. You know, 109 00:06:11,520 --> 00:06:13,799 Speaker 1: if you are a creative and you like writing, like myself, 110 00:06:13,839 --> 00:06:15,040 Speaker 1: each and every day, I want to try to get 111 00:06:15,040 --> 00:06:17,120 Speaker 1: better at that. Right. It's a very tangible thing, but 112 00:06:17,160 --> 00:06:19,719 Speaker 1: I think even larger that than that, on a more 113 00:06:19,800 --> 00:06:24,560 Speaker 1: existential level, it's challenging yourself to do things each and 114 00:06:24,600 --> 00:06:28,360 Speaker 1: every day that bring out the best version of yourself. 115 00:06:28,480 --> 00:06:33,200 Speaker 1: And you know, just a practical example is the content 116 00:06:33,279 --> 00:06:35,760 Speaker 1: that you ingest on a daily basis, Right, who are 117 00:06:35,760 --> 00:06:37,840 Speaker 1: you following on social media? What are you watching on TV? 118 00:06:37,960 --> 00:06:40,080 Speaker 1: And I think we've kind of touched on different things 119 00:06:40,120 --> 00:06:42,039 Speaker 1: like that along the course of these two seasons on 120 00:06:42,080 --> 00:06:45,920 Speaker 1: the podcast. But even for me, rather than only watching 121 00:06:46,120 --> 00:06:49,039 Speaker 1: you know, mindless television, the majority of the content that 122 00:06:49,080 --> 00:06:53,000 Speaker 1: I watch is like educational based. I'm always watching YouTube 123 00:06:53,040 --> 00:06:57,200 Speaker 1: videos on social media hacks or how somebody found their success, 124 00:06:57,200 --> 00:06:59,000 Speaker 1: what was their come up story? Right? Things that are 125 00:06:59,040 --> 00:07:02,359 Speaker 1: always you know, sort of implementing ideas into my brain 126 00:07:02,440 --> 00:07:04,960 Speaker 1: that I can then possibly use to become better than 127 00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:08,039 Speaker 1: I was the day before. And I've dedicated myself to 128 00:07:08,160 --> 00:07:10,880 Speaker 1: a life of excellence, right, This has become sort of 129 00:07:10,920 --> 00:07:14,880 Speaker 1: my norm. Right. I don't sort of indulge in a 130 00:07:14,880 --> 00:07:18,320 Speaker 1: lot of these standard entertainment stuff because I'm always trying 131 00:07:18,360 --> 00:07:21,680 Speaker 1: to sort of hack my own excellence, you know, and 132 00:07:21,720 --> 00:07:24,160 Speaker 1: become better. And in order to do so, I need 133 00:07:24,200 --> 00:07:27,480 Speaker 1: to be very mindful of the content that I am ingesting, 134 00:07:27,560 --> 00:07:29,760 Speaker 1: of the routines that I'm taking up, right, of how 135 00:07:29,800 --> 00:07:32,200 Speaker 1: I'm spending my time, who I'm spending it with. It's 136 00:07:32,200 --> 00:07:36,320 Speaker 1: a life of really being dedicated to excellence. And I 137 00:07:36,360 --> 00:07:39,320 Speaker 1: think when you are dedicated to that self mastery, that's 138 00:07:39,320 --> 00:07:42,280 Speaker 1: where happiness comes from. Right, That's where fulfillment comes from. 139 00:07:42,560 --> 00:07:45,160 Speaker 1: And I think that's sort of the missing key and 140 00:07:45,200 --> 00:07:48,800 Speaker 1: a lot of sort of modern day social climate that 141 00:07:48,840 --> 00:07:51,440 Speaker 1: we live in, this sort of fast food era where 142 00:07:51,560 --> 00:07:55,120 Speaker 1: we're all sort of just chasing the perception of greatness 143 00:07:55,480 --> 00:07:57,920 Speaker 1: rather than greatness in itself. And I think that's sort 144 00:07:57,960 --> 00:08:00,880 Speaker 1: of the mindset we have to adapt today, is that 145 00:08:01,480 --> 00:08:03,960 Speaker 1: regardless of if somebody is watching or not, we're still 146 00:08:03,960 --> 00:08:06,440 Speaker 1: going to be dedicated to our excellence. That's the priority. 147 00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:10,320 Speaker 1: Our excellence is the priority. The validation comes second to that. Now, 148 00:08:10,320 --> 00:08:13,200 Speaker 1: to recap all we've been talking about today, Jake Cole 149 00:08:13,320 --> 00:08:16,800 Speaker 1: sort of being the embodiment of this idea of having 150 00:08:16,800 --> 00:08:19,640 Speaker 1: his priorities in order. He is putting in the time 151 00:08:19,720 --> 00:08:22,360 Speaker 1: when no one is watching. He's not resting on his 152 00:08:22,520 --> 00:08:27,640 Speaker 1: previous successes. Right, He's challenging himself constantly to become better 153 00:08:27,760 --> 00:08:30,280 Speaker 1: at a craft that many consider him to be one 154 00:08:30,320 --> 00:08:33,079 Speaker 1: of the best of all time. He's still saying to himself, 155 00:08:33,320 --> 00:08:36,000 Speaker 1: I can still get better. And he's challenging himself each 156 00:08:36,040 --> 00:08:38,840 Speaker 1: and every day, right, And that's a dedication to excellence. 157 00:08:38,960 --> 00:08:41,720 Speaker 1: That's sort of a life's purpose that provides him with 158 00:08:41,800 --> 00:08:44,480 Speaker 1: I'm sure a lot of fulfillment within his everyday life. 159 00:08:44,800 --> 00:08:48,600 Speaker 1: And Arius didim as talking about the idea of self control, right, 160 00:08:49,080 --> 00:08:52,520 Speaker 1: Having this this self control allows you to make decisions 161 00:08:52,520 --> 00:08:54,640 Speaker 1: that will bring out the best in you, right, choosing 162 00:08:54,679 --> 00:08:58,600 Speaker 1: what you should be avoiding and choosing what is actually 163 00:08:58,640 --> 00:09:01,640 Speaker 1: worth your time. Right. All that leads to self mastery, 164 00:09:01,720 --> 00:09:05,120 Speaker 1: a happier life, a better life, a better version of yourself, 165 00:09:05,520 --> 00:09:09,319 Speaker 1: and even myself creating routines that give me the best 166 00:09:09,360 --> 00:09:12,840 Speaker 1: opportunity to become better at the things that I'm passionate about, 167 00:09:12,920 --> 00:09:15,200 Speaker 1: and making sure that I carve out that time and 168 00:09:15,200 --> 00:09:18,360 Speaker 1: that I have the discipline to sort of be, you know, 169 00:09:18,960 --> 00:09:21,720 Speaker 1: very rigid in saying no, this time is set aside 170 00:09:21,760 --> 00:09:23,480 Speaker 1: for this. I'm going to take care of it each 171 00:09:23,520 --> 00:09:26,200 Speaker 1: and every day. This is my priority. Even though nobody's watching, 172 00:09:26,200 --> 00:09:29,480 Speaker 1: nobody's holding me accountable. I'm holding myself accountable because I 173 00:09:29,520 --> 00:09:32,720 Speaker 1: want to chase excellence in this current task or just 174 00:09:32,800 --> 00:09:35,040 Speaker 1: as a human being in general. Now, with that said, 175 00:09:35,320 --> 00:09:37,640 Speaker 1: thank you so much for checking out the Street Stoke Podcast. 176 00:09:37,800 --> 00:09:39,800 Speaker 1: Do your best to apply these concerts that we discussed 177 00:09:39,840 --> 00:09:42,080 Speaker 1: into everyday life, and I will catch you next time. 178 00:09:48,080 --> 00:09:51,320 Speaker 1: The Street Stoke Podcast is a production of Iheart's Michael 179 00:09:51,360 --> 00:09:52,840 Speaker 1: Dura Podcast Network