1 00:00:15,800 --> 00:00:20,760 Speaker 1: What Up and Dramas And this is the Street Stoic Podcast, 2 00:00:20,960 --> 00:00:25,520 Speaker 1: your daily dose of timeless stoic philosophy remixed for the 3 00:00:25,600 --> 00:00:29,200 Speaker 1: hip hop generation. Now, with that in mind, let's get 4 00:00:29,240 --> 00:00:39,000 Speaker 1: things started with your daily shot of inspiration. Now. The 5 00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:42,240 Speaker 1: stoke principle that we're gonna be focusing today's show around 6 00:00:42,560 --> 00:00:48,040 Speaker 1: is the idea of discipline. And man, sometimes things just 7 00:00:48,120 --> 00:00:50,960 Speaker 1: kind of work out perfectly when it comes to making 8 00:00:51,000 --> 00:00:54,240 Speaker 1: all of these philosophies connect with hip hop and modern 9 00:00:54,280 --> 00:00:57,680 Speaker 1: pop culture. Because I wanted to take some bars from 10 00:00:57,960 --> 00:01:04,120 Speaker 1: the Gang Star song Discipline right and in it they say, Yo, 11 00:01:04,720 --> 00:01:07,959 Speaker 1: just because I want to it don't mean I will. 12 00:01:08,760 --> 00:01:12,280 Speaker 1: And just because I'm angry, it don't mean not kill 13 00:01:13,240 --> 00:01:16,160 Speaker 1: And just because she looks good it don't mean not 14 00:01:16,319 --> 00:01:19,920 Speaker 1: hit it. And just because I'm horny it don't meet 15 00:01:19,959 --> 00:01:23,319 Speaker 1: I'm with it. Just because I make records don't mean 16 00:01:23,319 --> 00:01:26,959 Speaker 1: that I'm gassed. And just because I'm rapping don't mean 17 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:30,800 Speaker 1: I chase ass. Just because I'm wild and don't mean 18 00:01:30,840 --> 00:01:34,120 Speaker 1: I can't stop. I got disciplined, baby, and I use 19 00:01:34,240 --> 00:01:37,280 Speaker 1: it a lot, And man, I love first and almost 20 00:01:37,280 --> 00:01:39,840 Speaker 1: when you break lyrics like that down and it sounds 21 00:01:39,840 --> 00:01:42,200 Speaker 1: like we're doing poetry. I think it just kind of 22 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:44,680 Speaker 1: speaks to the art form of hip hop in general. 23 00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:49,240 Speaker 1: But man, I think he's saying so much there in 24 00:01:49,320 --> 00:01:52,720 Speaker 1: those lyrics, right, I mean, he's basically talking about not 25 00:01:52,880 --> 00:01:56,320 Speaker 1: giving into urges, right, and not giving it to them 26 00:01:56,360 --> 00:02:00,040 Speaker 1: because he understands the bigger picture, right. He has a 27 00:02:00,080 --> 00:02:03,400 Speaker 1: purpose that is bigger than himself that you know, allows 28 00:02:03,480 --> 00:02:06,720 Speaker 1: him to sort of push away giving into his sort 29 00:02:06,760 --> 00:02:09,520 Speaker 1: of fleeting impulses. And we all have that, right. We 30 00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:12,640 Speaker 1: all get struck and touched by something that makes us 31 00:02:12,639 --> 00:02:15,160 Speaker 1: want to react, whether it be good or bad, you know, 32 00:02:15,240 --> 00:02:18,280 Speaker 1: and it's important to have that discipline to be able 33 00:02:18,280 --> 00:02:22,400 Speaker 1: to walk away from situations that take you away from 34 00:02:22,480 --> 00:02:24,920 Speaker 1: your purpose or the greater good that you're you're working 35 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:26,839 Speaker 1: on it. This kind of lends itself perfectly, I think. 36 00:02:26,840 --> 00:02:28,919 Speaker 1: To add on, but with a quote from one of 37 00:02:28,919 --> 00:02:30,640 Speaker 1: the Stokes and Marcus A really is And I've been 38 00:02:30,639 --> 00:02:34,320 Speaker 1: reading Meditations, which is basically like his journal, and I 39 00:02:34,400 --> 00:02:37,000 Speaker 1: pulled this paragraph from it because I just thought it 40 00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:39,320 Speaker 1: was incredibly inspiring and it kind of ties into all 41 00:02:39,320 --> 00:02:41,760 Speaker 1: that we're talking about today with this idea of discipline. 42 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:45,680 Speaker 1: But Marcus A really says, do external things distract you, 43 00:02:46,320 --> 00:02:50,600 Speaker 1: then make time for yourself to learn something worthwhile. Stop 44 00:02:50,680 --> 00:02:54,000 Speaker 1: letting yourself be pulled in all directions, but make sure 45 00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:57,320 Speaker 1: you guard against the other kind of confusion. People who 46 00:02:57,400 --> 00:03:00,840 Speaker 1: labor all their lives but have no purpose to direct 47 00:03:00,960 --> 00:03:05,120 Speaker 1: every thought and impulse toward are wasting their time when 48 00:03:05,240 --> 00:03:08,440 Speaker 1: hard at work. And he's saying a lot there, he's 49 00:03:08,520 --> 00:03:11,400 Speaker 1: kind of touching on two different ideas here, right, I 50 00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:13,000 Speaker 1: think about it in this way, right, like how many 51 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:16,760 Speaker 1: times you know, did you plan out a day for yourself? Right, 52 00:03:16,800 --> 00:03:20,799 Speaker 1: Like Okay, I'm gonna tackle you know this and do that, right, 53 00:03:20,840 --> 00:03:22,959 Speaker 1: I'm gonna clean the house, or I'm gonna like get 54 00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:25,480 Speaker 1: to this other project that I've been like putting off, 55 00:03:25,560 --> 00:03:29,320 Speaker 1: whatever it might be. And you find yourself end of 56 00:03:29,360 --> 00:03:32,360 Speaker 1: the day like completely off track, right, like you you 57 00:03:32,440 --> 00:03:35,360 Speaker 1: barely got anything done. Or you tell yourself you're gonna 58 00:03:35,360 --> 00:03:38,600 Speaker 1: stay in this weekend, right, like you wanna save money, 59 00:03:38,920 --> 00:03:41,200 Speaker 1: you know, you wanna scratch that itch on your next 60 00:03:41,200 --> 00:03:44,600 Speaker 1: big idea. Right, and then you get that call from 61 00:03:44,840 --> 00:03:47,800 Speaker 1: your friends they convince you, all, why don't you come 62 00:03:47,800 --> 00:03:49,520 Speaker 1: out tonight? You know you don't want to miss out 63 00:03:49,560 --> 00:03:51,920 Speaker 1: on something and you end up going out. And sure, 64 00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:54,960 Speaker 1: maybe you had some some short term fun in that moment, 65 00:03:55,440 --> 00:03:59,280 Speaker 1: but you also ignored yourself and your own priorities as well. Right, 66 00:03:59,680 --> 00:04:02,720 Speaker 1: You the discipline that was necessary to carve out that 67 00:04:02,800 --> 00:04:05,760 Speaker 1: chunk of time for yourself for something that was incredibly 68 00:04:05,840 --> 00:04:09,560 Speaker 1: important to you. You gave into an impulse in that moment. Right. 69 00:04:10,080 --> 00:04:12,600 Speaker 1: And and the other idea that Marcus is talking about 70 00:04:12,720 --> 00:04:15,440 Speaker 1: in that paragraph, he's talking about the idea that we 71 00:04:15,480 --> 00:04:21,560 Speaker 1: oftentimes conflate being busy with making progress or even being successful. Right, Like, 72 00:04:22,160 --> 00:04:23,720 Speaker 1: we're we're doing a little bit of this, we're doing 73 00:04:23,760 --> 00:04:25,279 Speaker 1: a little bit of that, you know, we're putting in 74 00:04:25,320 --> 00:04:29,200 Speaker 1: the hours, and we're doing all these random things running around, right, 75 00:04:29,640 --> 00:04:33,720 Speaker 1: but we're not actually completing anything. We're basically spinning in circles. Right. 76 00:04:33,839 --> 00:04:36,200 Speaker 1: Your mind is all over the place. And sure, you 77 00:04:36,200 --> 00:04:38,120 Speaker 1: can maybe rattle off at the end of the day 78 00:04:38,200 --> 00:04:40,200 Speaker 1: all of the things that you did that you worked 79 00:04:40,200 --> 00:04:42,120 Speaker 1: on that day and trying to make yourself feel good 80 00:04:42,160 --> 00:04:44,880 Speaker 1: that you you kept busy all day long, But what 81 00:04:44,920 --> 00:04:48,480 Speaker 1: did you actually accomplish? Right, You didn't actually do anything 82 00:04:48,520 --> 00:04:51,919 Speaker 1: that is working towards your purpose. Right, you didn't actually 83 00:04:52,000 --> 00:04:55,760 Speaker 1: make any real steps towards your goals or or completing 84 00:04:55,760 --> 00:04:58,640 Speaker 1: the tests that are important to you. Right again, you 85 00:04:58,720 --> 00:05:02,360 Speaker 1: lacked the discipline to stay focused on what is actually 86 00:05:02,560 --> 00:05:06,159 Speaker 1: important to you and what would actually move the needle 87 00:05:06,240 --> 00:05:08,440 Speaker 1: for you in your life. And I say you, but 88 00:05:08,520 --> 00:05:11,440 Speaker 1: we're all guilty of it, right for starters. I think 89 00:05:11,440 --> 00:05:15,880 Speaker 1: for me, while I've definitely fallen off the wagon and 90 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:18,400 Speaker 1: lacked discipline in so many different areas of my life, 91 00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:21,960 Speaker 1: I think overall, if I'm being real with myself, I 92 00:05:21,960 --> 00:05:25,320 Speaker 1: think my discipline is probably something that has given me, 93 00:05:25,760 --> 00:05:29,080 Speaker 1: you know, a huge boost as to achieving my goals. Right. 94 00:05:29,080 --> 00:05:31,159 Speaker 1: It's something that has set me apart from many of 95 00:05:31,200 --> 00:05:33,760 Speaker 1: the people that I came up with, right, And many 96 00:05:33,760 --> 00:05:37,800 Speaker 1: people were far more talented, far better musicians, far man 97 00:05:37,960 --> 00:05:40,839 Speaker 1: more creative than me, but they lacked the same amount 98 00:05:40,880 --> 00:05:42,880 Speaker 1: of discipline I did. And it's of no surprise when 99 00:05:42,920 --> 00:05:44,880 Speaker 1: many of the people that I came up with are 100 00:05:44,960 --> 00:05:48,240 Speaker 1: no longer working towards their their dreams anymore. Right. So 101 00:05:48,320 --> 00:05:52,160 Speaker 1: I think about man me in my early twenties, you know, 102 00:05:52,640 --> 00:05:55,960 Speaker 1: sitting in my parents basement on the weekends and and 103 00:05:56,000 --> 00:05:58,440 Speaker 1: telling my friends that I couldn't go out right, and 104 00:05:58,520 --> 00:06:00,760 Speaker 1: saying no to going out my friends and going to 105 00:06:00,800 --> 00:06:02,760 Speaker 1: the bars and going to the clubs and all these 106 00:06:02,800 --> 00:06:06,880 Speaker 1: different things, you know, because I wanted to instead focusing 107 00:06:06,960 --> 00:06:09,200 Speaker 1: on my craft. Right. I can remember just sitting in 108 00:06:09,279 --> 00:06:12,880 Speaker 1: my parents basement, you know, djaying for myself, practicing and 109 00:06:12,960 --> 00:06:15,520 Speaker 1: recording mixes, you know, getting better at what I did, 110 00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:19,840 Speaker 1: downloading music, organizing my crates. Right, and then same thing 111 00:06:19,880 --> 00:06:22,480 Speaker 1: with producing music. I told myself, I can't go out 112 00:06:22,520 --> 00:06:25,160 Speaker 1: because I have to finish this remix that I'm working on, 113 00:06:25,279 --> 00:06:28,240 Speaker 1: or this song or this mashup, whatever it was. I 114 00:06:28,320 --> 00:06:31,799 Speaker 1: realized that that was more important than just a quick 115 00:06:32,040 --> 00:06:34,359 Speaker 1: few hours of fun with my friends. You know. I 116 00:06:34,400 --> 00:06:38,279 Speaker 1: knew that in the long run, I'd be more happy 117 00:06:38,360 --> 00:06:40,320 Speaker 1: because of what I was able to accomplish, that that 118 00:06:40,360 --> 00:06:42,080 Speaker 1: I was able to focus in on the things that 119 00:06:42,320 --> 00:06:46,560 Speaker 1: were truly of purpose to me. Right. And then even 120 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:49,440 Speaker 1: fast forwarding when I when I was out deejaying, you know, 121 00:06:49,800 --> 00:06:52,480 Speaker 1: and began to DJ and bars and clubs and things 122 00:06:52,520 --> 00:06:55,080 Speaker 1: like that, Like, there were so many times where I'd 123 00:06:55,080 --> 00:06:57,919 Speaker 1: be jealous of of my friends because while I was 124 00:06:58,320 --> 00:07:01,000 Speaker 1: you know, every Friday Saturday night, I had that spoken 125 00:07:01,040 --> 00:07:03,400 Speaker 1: for me because I was djaying somewhere. My friends were 126 00:07:03,400 --> 00:07:06,120 Speaker 1: out enjoying themselves in the summer. They were going to 127 00:07:06,160 --> 00:07:08,080 Speaker 1: all the clubs, all the bars, they were meeting all 128 00:07:08,120 --> 00:07:10,680 Speaker 1: these people, doing all these different things, and I was, 129 00:07:10,880 --> 00:07:14,440 Speaker 1: you know, working essentially right. But for me, I'm grateful 130 00:07:14,480 --> 00:07:16,480 Speaker 1: that I had that discipline and that I understood the 131 00:07:16,480 --> 00:07:19,760 Speaker 1: bigger picture, right because I was making money at that time, 132 00:07:19,800 --> 00:07:22,160 Speaker 1: I was I was saving that money up and and 133 00:07:22,200 --> 00:07:24,120 Speaker 1: because I was dedicated to that, I was able to 134 00:07:24,160 --> 00:07:26,960 Speaker 1: do djaying full time. And from there I was also 135 00:07:27,040 --> 00:07:30,000 Speaker 1: honing my craft. I was getting better at you know, 136 00:07:30,080 --> 00:07:34,080 Speaker 1: playing music, at reading a crowd, at my craft of djaying, 137 00:07:34,120 --> 00:07:36,680 Speaker 1: and that lent itself to bigger and bigger opportunities that 138 00:07:36,720 --> 00:07:39,480 Speaker 1: then snowballed into you know, me sitting here right now 139 00:07:39,680 --> 00:07:43,160 Speaker 1: talking to you. So I think that discipline is what 140 00:07:43,320 --> 00:07:45,880 Speaker 1: set me apart from so many other people that I 141 00:07:45,880 --> 00:07:48,440 Speaker 1: grew up with, from my my contemporaries, who had similar 142 00:07:48,520 --> 00:07:51,280 Speaker 1: dreams as me but never realized them. And listen, I'm 143 00:07:51,320 --> 00:07:54,120 Speaker 1: not saying you can't have fun, right like, I'm not 144 00:07:54,160 --> 00:07:57,080 Speaker 1: saying that I was locked in the basement every single 145 00:07:57,160 --> 00:07:59,120 Speaker 1: day of the week. And I never saw the light 146 00:07:59,120 --> 00:08:01,000 Speaker 1: of day, and I never saw my friends or anything 147 00:08:01,080 --> 00:08:04,120 Speaker 1: like that. But I understood it all has to be 148 00:08:04,160 --> 00:08:07,960 Speaker 1: in moderation, right, Like I I allowed myself to maybe 149 00:08:08,040 --> 00:08:11,080 Speaker 1: have a night out with my friends because I knew 150 00:08:11,120 --> 00:08:12,840 Speaker 1: that the rest of the week I was busting my 151 00:08:12,840 --> 00:08:14,920 Speaker 1: ass and putting in the time and putting in the effort. 152 00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:17,920 Speaker 1: When I quit my my full time job that I 153 00:08:18,320 --> 00:08:21,560 Speaker 1: had in my twenties, I only allowed myself to take 154 00:08:21,680 --> 00:08:24,360 Speaker 1: you know, side jobs and gigs, nothing that would actually 155 00:08:24,360 --> 00:08:28,120 Speaker 1: hold me down to a consistent schedule. I understood that 156 00:08:28,160 --> 00:08:30,440 Speaker 1: I needed to devote the majority of my time towards 157 00:08:30,520 --> 00:08:34,400 Speaker 1: this dream, towards his goal. So I only chose menial jobs. 158 00:08:34,400 --> 00:08:36,319 Speaker 1: And I did that purpose because I didn't want to 159 00:08:36,360 --> 00:08:39,720 Speaker 1: waste any unnecessary time or energy that could be put 160 00:08:39,720 --> 00:08:42,400 Speaker 1: towards my goals. Right. I wanted to be in control 161 00:08:42,520 --> 00:08:46,120 Speaker 1: of my schedule. I didn't want anybody having any expectations 162 00:08:46,160 --> 00:08:48,360 Speaker 1: of me above me doing what I was paid to 163 00:08:48,400 --> 00:08:51,600 Speaker 1: do and leaving the minute that clock strikes my my 164 00:08:51,720 --> 00:08:54,760 Speaker 1: ending time. Like I, I did all of that with 165 00:08:54,760 --> 00:08:56,880 Speaker 1: with purpose because I knew that I wanted to be 166 00:08:56,920 --> 00:08:59,400 Speaker 1: able to vote as much time to honing my craft 167 00:08:59,640 --> 00:09:03,920 Speaker 1: as humanly possible, and that took discipline. Now we've heard 168 00:09:04,000 --> 00:09:07,040 Speaker 1: from Gang Star, we've heard from Marcus Aurelius. I've given 169 00:09:07,040 --> 00:09:10,679 Speaker 1: you an antidote into my life and how this principle 170 00:09:10,679 --> 00:09:14,520 Speaker 1: of discipline has been so incredibly powerful for me. Now 171 00:09:14,600 --> 00:09:17,000 Speaker 1: let's talk about how you can make it your mantra 172 00:09:17,120 --> 00:09:19,720 Speaker 1: for today. But first let's take a quick break and 173 00:09:19,760 --> 00:09:32,440 Speaker 1: then we'll be right back. All Right, So we've heard 174 00:09:32,520 --> 00:09:35,160 Speaker 1: from one of the stoics, Marcus Aurelius, We've heard from 175 00:09:35,200 --> 00:09:38,920 Speaker 1: the legendary Gang Star. Right, I've talked about my story 176 00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:41,080 Speaker 1: a bit more for you. Now I want to talk 177 00:09:41,120 --> 00:09:44,320 Speaker 1: about how you can make it your mantra for today. Now, 178 00:09:44,880 --> 00:09:48,679 Speaker 1: it's oftentimes said that learning to say no is a 179 00:09:48,760 --> 00:09:52,520 Speaker 1: form of self care, right, And and that means prioritizing 180 00:09:52,600 --> 00:09:55,440 Speaker 1: your own needs over the wants of others, right. And 181 00:09:55,480 --> 00:09:58,560 Speaker 1: I think for me, one of the greatest sort of 182 00:09:58,760 --> 00:10:03,000 Speaker 1: lessons and things that have been incredibly helpful for me 183 00:10:03,440 --> 00:10:06,520 Speaker 1: has been learning how to say no, right Because I 184 00:10:06,559 --> 00:10:10,559 Speaker 1: know we're we're also incredibly scared of like disappointing others, 185 00:10:10,640 --> 00:10:12,720 Speaker 1: right or or fomo right, I fear of missing out. 186 00:10:12,760 --> 00:10:15,000 Speaker 1: We don't want to, you know, say no to going 187 00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:16,360 Speaker 1: out one night and all a sudden we miss like 188 00:10:16,400 --> 00:10:19,240 Speaker 1: the craziest night out with our friends. Right. But when 189 00:10:19,240 --> 00:10:23,040 Speaker 1: we give into that fear, we're in fact ignoring our 190 00:10:23,280 --> 00:10:27,840 Speaker 1: own happiness. Right. We're giving into those sort of little 191 00:10:28,040 --> 00:10:32,040 Speaker 1: fleeting wants, right, that that are happening in the moment, right, 192 00:10:32,480 --> 00:10:34,840 Speaker 1: those vices that it's that we're trying to scratch in 193 00:10:34,880 --> 00:10:37,560 Speaker 1: the short term, that really does nothing for us in 194 00:10:37,600 --> 00:10:40,959 Speaker 1: the long term. Right. And this also means not wasting 195 00:10:40,960 --> 00:10:44,320 Speaker 1: your time doing meaningless things just for the sake of 196 00:10:44,400 --> 00:10:47,640 Speaker 1: looking busy. Right. I know so many people, myself included, 197 00:10:47,640 --> 00:10:49,800 Speaker 1: who at times took on a million and one different 198 00:10:49,880 --> 00:10:52,520 Speaker 1: jobs and gigs just so people would look at us 199 00:10:52,520 --> 00:10:55,120 Speaker 1: and be like, wow, there are killing it. They're busy, right, 200 00:10:55,200 --> 00:10:57,439 Speaker 1: But at the end of the day, many of those 201 00:10:57,440 --> 00:11:00,600 Speaker 1: things did absolutely nothing for our great your purpose, or 202 00:11:00,640 --> 00:11:03,600 Speaker 1: for my greater purpose. So define your purpose and then 203 00:11:03,640 --> 00:11:07,520 Speaker 1: develop the discipline needed to say no when you need to, 204 00:11:07,600 --> 00:11:11,400 Speaker 1: and to focus on the work. Right, only focus on 205 00:11:11,480 --> 00:11:15,640 Speaker 1: the work, on the tasks that actually get you closer 206 00:11:15,880 --> 00:11:18,760 Speaker 1: to your goal. And with that said, thank y'all so 207 00:11:18,880 --> 00:11:21,880 Speaker 1: much for checking out the street Stoke podcasts. Do your 208 00:11:21,880 --> 00:11:25,600 Speaker 1: best to apply these concepts we discussed into your everyday life, 209 00:11:25,720 --> 00:11:32,400 Speaker 1: and I'll catch y'all next time. The Street Stoke podcast 210 00:11:32,480 --> 00:11:35,880 Speaker 1: is a production of I Hearts Michael Bura podcast Network