Teaching what I've learned from the hood, the ring, and everything in between. Join 35k other readers to learn how to manage risk, build relationships, and confront reality.
No One Teaches This: The Most Important Thing You Can't Remember
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You don't remember the most important thing about yourself. And I'm not talking about your first kiss, where you grew up, or who your best friend is. That stuff is kind of important and is a part of you, but it’s not what makes you who you are. Those are the things you’ve done. I'm talking about the things that happened to you that you can’t remember, because your mind decided you couldn't handle them. So those things got buried so deep that you don't even know they're missing. Here's the part no one teaches you, and this is the most important part: just because you've blocked out the memory doesn't mean you're immune to its influence. The stuff you can't remember? That's what's been in the driver's seat the entire time, ghost riding your life and steering you into the same problems dressed in different clothing each time. No one's childhood is perfect. Some of us get chipped a little. Many times, those imperfections make us beautiful. But if you are completely shattered, not only can you not be put back together, but the broken shards become a danger to anyone around you Watch the video here or read the rest on
Today’s sponsor actually gave me the experience to write the above essay and produce the video. Jeff Lundeen reached out to me and asked if I’d be interested in trying a free hypnosis session. If I got value from it, I would promote his free workshop to my audience. I’d never done hypnosis before, and I had my ideas and preconceptions, but I figured I’d give it a shot. Worst-case scenario, I’d lose an hour of my time but would get to meet someone new. If you’ve experienced hypnosis before, you already know what I’m about to say. If you haven’t, then let me tell you: It is nothing like how it’s portrayed in the movies or in a stage trick. You don’t get suggestions implanted that you act on unconsciously like a cue. You’re fully conscious the entire time. But you are focused and guided in a way that allows you to change the emotional meaning you take from past events. This can be effective for everything from dealing with addiction to coping with trauma to even programming your mind for success in the future. If you want to experience a free group hypnosis session, Jeff is hosting a live webinar on Thursday, June 11th at 2 pm EST. If you see this after that date and are still curious, he’ll be running these live webinars every Thursday for the foreseeable future. Fitness and trainingI’m starting a free LinkedIn group to discuss—and I hate how trendy this word has become—optimization. I hate how trendy it’s become because some of us are not only really about that life but are actively living it. Although I officially decided to step away from boxing, I did so after figuring out how to train and return to fighting at 40 years old. Between that and working on my chess game and preparing for foreign language certifications, I want to teach, discuss, and swap methods in a free, informal group. Rather than start a second newsletter and give your inbox something else to put in the spam folder, I’ll be starting a Telegram group. I got the idea this morning after talking to my good friend AJ Cortes. If you’re interested, just respond to the email and let me know. I’ll have it set up in the next day or two, and I’ll send you the link. |
Stoic Street Smarts
Teaching what I've learned from the hood, the ring, and everything in between. Join 35k other readers to learn how to manage risk, build relationships, and confront reality.
The Great Hood Sage Lil’ Jon once famously said: “Don’t start no shit, won’t be no shit.” I learned this growing up in the projects, but if you don’t speak hood, I’ll translate: If you don’t provoke people or cause problems, your interactions with them will be free of provocation and problems. The idea seems simple enough, but rarely does it ever go as planned, because some ornery humans will always—in their pursuit of more—end up in conflict with those whom they think are victims to take...
Life isn’t easy. Most of the time, it’s not even fun. Most of life is hard, but that doesn’t mean something is wrong. On the contrary, it’s part of what makes life so beautiful. Making it through those challenging moments—when it feels like the whole world is against us and we can’t catch a break—is the only sustainable path to joy. And we chase that joy like a fiend after a fix because it gives our lives meaning. Imagine, for a moment, a world without hardship, where it was just all fun and...
“The good news is, nigga, you came a long way The bad news is, nigga, you went the wrong way.” —J. Cole, “Love Yourz” Everyone knows that “practice makes perfect.” You may have even heard the adage, for added clarity, “Perfect practice makes perfect.” But what many people forget is that this sword cuts both ways. If you practice the wrong thing, you become proficient at the wrong thing. Something I see repeatedly in boxing—and that I think applies to many other areas of life—is people...