Mastering the Mindset
Mastering the Mindset
Shaping Your Future: The Power of Choices and Resilience
Have you ever thought about how your smallest choices today shape your future success? There has to be a shift in focus. Life can be "easy now and hard later, or hard now and easy later". Let's dissect the consequences of inaction in our daily lives. Whether it's choosing a Netflix binge over hustling for your dreams or settling into your comfort zone instead of taking steps. Every decision carries weight.
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What's up everybody, and thank you for listening to Mastering the Mindset. My name is Darius Dodge and I'm an actor, hip hop artist and fitness and life coach, and I'm here to personally help you train and improve your mindset so that you can one become the best version of yourself mentally, and to gain focus and motivation to be able to take action and achieve the success in life that you want and deserve. Before we get started, please like and subscribe to my channel and at the end of this episode, if you liked it, please share it with a friend or a loved one or someone who would benefit from hearing this message. I'm so glad you're here and I'm ready to go on this journey with you, and that journey begins now. That journey begins now. All right, everybody, thank you all for being here. Like I always say, please make a donation. Those greatly help me keep this channel going. If you are watching on YouTube, go ahead and like and subscribe, and if you are listening on the podcast platform, leave a review. These are all greatly appreciated and it helps me continue to do my thing and give you all these episodes. So let's just jump in. Today I'm going to give you one of those episodes that you might not want to hear, and that goes for me too. I need this episode as much as you do and, like I always say, this podcast ain't one of those podcasts where the host is some already rich and famous, highly successful person who is trying to tell you how to gain wealth and success and happiness. No, I'm going on this journey with you and the things I talk about on here I really implement as much of it as I can into my life and I'm loving the results that I've been seeing, and I want that for you too.
Speaker 1:But, yes, this one is important because, when it comes to consequences, this one is important because, when it comes to consequences, what we tend to do is look at the negative consequences. When it comes to what it takes to follow and go after our dreams and goals, we look at the negative consequences at doing all the work we need to do in order to create the life we want. But, on the flip side, what we don't look at, what we choose not to think about, are the negative consequences that we'll get if we don't follow our dreams. The negative consequences of our life stand the same versus making a change, and what we end up doing is we look at those negative consequences of going after our goals and dreams and creating our life we want and we let all the work ahead of us, all the changes in ourselves and our lives that we need to make. We look at all that and we let it paralyze us why it's out of our comfort zone. We talk ourselves out of it, we think, okay, well, maybe this just ain't for me, and insecurity set in and we start making excuses and we justify in our brains while we don't take action.
Speaker 1:Today we're going to talk about the negative consequences of you doing what I hope you haven't been doing, of you not taking action, of you doing the same thing over and over again and getting the exact same results, of you wanting different results, wanting a certain life or dream or reality, but you're not doing anything to actually make it come true, to fruition. Because the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. It's almost like we want magic to be real right. We think of this magical future, this life that we want and expect to get, without actually doing anything to make it come true. This money, this happiness, this joy, this dream. We expect it to just fall in our laps without actually doing anything to acquire it, and that's straight up insane insanity. And everything we do, every action we take, has consequences, positive and negative, and let's dive into all that. So, like I said, we like to focus on the negative consequences of taking action, of what it takes to actually acquire what we want and what we don't. Focus on the negative consequences of not doing what we need to do in order for those goals to come true, and which one is way worse the consequences of not making change, not taking action, staying the same. Those are way worse. And I came across this quote and I come across a lot of good quotes, but the quote is and I want us to think about this for a second when you say yes to something, you're automatically saying no to something else.
Speaker 1:When you say yes to something, you're automatically saying no to something else, and that's whether we realize it or not, or know what that thing is or not. For example, if you say yes to net, now, of course, it's OK to watch Netflix. I have it, I watch it, we all have our shows and movies but when you watch is the important part. Noon on a Monday is probably not the right time to be watching Netflix or Hulu or whatever streaming service you use, when you got things you have to get done or things you got to start. So saying yes to Netflix at noon on a Monday means you're saying no to working on creating that business. You're saying no to being focused on your goals. You're saying no to building the life you want. You're saying no to getting better at that thing you know you need to work on. You're saying no to putting in the work that's going to make you become a better version of yourself, to become the kind of person who accomplishes those goals you have, because right now you're not that person. That's why that is what you're saying no to. You're saying no to changing people's lives around you who see you doing that thing. What young person are you saying no to? Who needs to see you? You, the person, you are, the person that looks like you, who is that? That somebody that you might not even know who, who it is? They need to see you doing the things that you're striving to do.
Speaker 1:And this ain't a mini guilt trip or me trying to make you feel like you don't got what it takes, but there's still some some validity to it. There's still some validity. Wow, there is still some validity to this, and it can be small things too right, like saying no to laundry or cleaning the kitchen or going to get that oil change Consequences come in all shapes and sizes. And saying yes to hitting the snooze button and sleeping in, that means you're saying no to something else, like your morning routine or you being able to take your time getting to work instead of having a rush. Because no matter what you do, even if you feel like you didn't do anything all day, you still did something, and that something has a consequence. That something means you said no to another thing. So even if you say I didn't do anything, I just laid in my bed and looked at the ceiling all day, that's still doing something. You laid in bed, that's something. And maybe you said no to reading that book or doing yoga or grocery shopping.
Speaker 1:For every single action we do or don't do, there's a consequence, and one of the things I see folks make one of the mistakes I see folks make in the music space when it's just starting out and they don't have music out actually and I used to make the same mistake, so I can speak from experience is people make all this music. They want to wait for the right moment to release it. They want to make sure it's perfect. They want to have the perfected sound, they want to make sure it sounds top tier, quality production, and they have all these songs that they made and they don't actually put it out there. And I used to be that, to a certain extent, I had all these songs written, well memorized. This is way back when I didn't used to write. I used to memorize as I went. I'm so glad I changed that, so glad I actually write it down. It's way more efficient to write it down and I feel like, lyrically, I have been on another level lately, but anyway, back then I had all this music in my head and I just wasn't putting it out there. I ran into somebody today uh well, not today, yesterday who went, who I went to high school with, and his friend was telling me how he's in the studio and he got some fire and I asked to hear something and he like, yeah, you got to come to the studio because it ain't out yet. And I used to be the exact same way. I was rapping my songs in person to people Fast forward to now.
Speaker 1:If I knew what I know now way back then, I would have been dropping music way faster. I would have been putting music out because all I did was delay my progress, my success, my learning, my setbacks and failures to learn and get better from. And it was years before I really started putting that music like that. And I was saying yes to waiting at that point, right, I was saying yes to waiting for the studio sound, even though I didn't have a studio. I was waiting instead of doing. And what did it do? It delayed me anyway. So so far I've only been given negative ones.
Speaker 1:But let's flip it. Let's look at both now. So let's say you say yes to building a business. You say yes to being focused and dedicated and disciplined to making it happen. Or you decide your goal is to create a generation of wealth for you and your family. You want to create that reality. Well, what are some of those consequences? Well, when you say yes to those things, you say yes to working for yourself. You say yes to having financial freedom. You're saying yes to be able to travel anywhere you want. You're saying yes to being your own boss. You're saying yes to creating that company just how you want it. You're saying yes to this life and all those seem like good consequences, right? Well, let's look at it on the other side of it. Let's talk about the flip side, the negative.
Speaker 1:Well, you most definitely have to say yes to hard work. You have to say yes to less sleep. There's a good chance that you just won't be getting the same amount of sleep some nights, a lot of nights. You're saying yes to dedication. You're saying yes to hard work. You're saying yes to getting out of your comfort zone. You're saying yes to rejection. You're saying yes to failure because you better believe it, you just won't start it and see all this massive success right away. There's basically a hundred percent guarantee that you won't get it right the first try. So maybe that means you're saying yes to some of your insecurities that you didn't even know you had pop up when things start getting rocky. You're saying yes to hearing a lot of no's, especially if you want your friends to support you. Yes, you have those ones that support you and show love, but you better believe that for you to really make strides, you got to rely on strangers, and that can be a tough pill to swallow. Trust me, I know from my music and my acting.
Speaker 1:Yes, people will like a post. They will leave a comment. Sure, what if I told you I've been doing theater professionally since 2009 and I can only count on one hand how many folks from my high school came to see me perform? I'm dead serious. Now, don't get me wrong. They're like a post about a show I'm in or about a milestone I hit, but when it comes to folks coming out to support me in person, it ain't really a reality. Same thing with my music. Now, I will say I do have a lot and I repeat, a lot of genuine supporters of my music.
Speaker 1:So this might not be the best example, but, again, people will like it, leave a comment and tell me how good they think it is. And yet, whose music do you think they share when they're making their posts? All the famous folks that they don't even know Better, yet, people that don't even know them. Now, don't worry, I ain't talking about you, but no, for real, I'm joking. Another one man I had these friends from college and they know that I did theater, they knew I was in a show at that time and they had this double date night and guess what they did? They went to go see Phantom of the Opera at this big ass commercial theater that don't even hire local actors a show I wasn't even in and they had never seen me on stage before and, to make this post on social media talking about date night, had to check out some theater or whatever the hell it said, and my polar feelings was hurt.
Speaker 1:Anyway, my point is don't count on your friends to support you, and another thing that you will say yes to, which is absolutely necessary, is a personal development journey. There ain't no way you're going to create a life like that without having to work on yourself along the way, because the person you are right now can't handle it and they can't create it yet, because if you were that kind of person, you would have done it already. It's true, if you can sit here and think about a life you want whatever that quote unquote dream life is, or that goal in life that you think about, that life you want to have someday, if you were the kind of person who could do it, you would have done it already. The life you have right now, the successes you've had, the things you've accomplished you are exactly the kind of person who can, who can do all of that because you did it. So, yes, personal development is definitely something you have to say yes to. And you can say these are negative consequences. Right, these are negative losing sleep, having to work hard, having to be rejected, having facial insecurities these are all some of the negative consequences for working towards that business or that life. You want All things that you have to deal with, for saying yes to building that life, but if you look at the negative consequence, the negative consequences for not building that business, what do you get?
Speaker 1:Well, you get the same old life. You get to stay in your comfort zone. You get your same predictable life and circumstances that won't change. Maybe that means working for somebody else for the rest of your life Now, nothing wrong with that. But if you want to build a business, then you'd be working for yourself. Then right. And maybe that means you have to keep doing things that truly don't fulfill you. Maybe it's the fact that you won't create that life you want for your family, right? So there's negative consequences to building that life. You want positive and negative, and there's consequences to not positive and negative. That's just life, and building a business might not be the best example for you. A lot of folks have no desire to build a business.
Speaker 1:Let's say you want to live a better, healthier lifestyle. Are there positive consequences to creating a healthy lifestyle? Of course, let's talk about the positive ones, the positive things that you say yes to. Well, you say yes to living longer. That means you have more time with your children. You'll be healthier, more mobile. Maybe you can have more time with your children. You'll be healthier, more mobile. Maybe you can have more energy. Maybe that means when you get older in age, like in your 70s, maybe that means you can go play with your grandkids or great grandkids instead of having to sit on a porch and watch. That's a consequence, a positive one. Having a healthy lifestyle means you won't have as many health issues. But enough said with that one, because we all get no and them joints. They ain't jumping like they used to Anyway.
Speaker 1:So what about the flip side of it, the negative consequences to a healthy lifestyle? Well, some of the things you have to say yes to is not eating that food you love. Maybe that means, let's say, you love chocolate chip cake or chocolate cake. Maybe that means you don't eat chocolate cake as often that's a negative consequence. Another thing you might have to say yes to is waking up early to hit the gym before work or going right after work and not being able to come home and relax right away. Showing up for yourself.
Speaker 1:Having a healthy lifestyle is not easy, especially in america. It's way easier to have the opposite and cheaper. That's a negative. That's something you have to say yes to. But ask yourself this which negative is worse? Right, and you don't even have to think about it because you know the answer not having a healthy lifestyle is way worse. Maybe that means not living as long. Maybe that means health complications down the road. Maybe that means you have to say yes to obesity. Maybe that means you have to say yes to heart problems. Maybe that means you won't get to walk your daughter down the aisle. Maybe it'll start to affect you at work. You don't have as much energy.
Speaker 1:Maybe that's saying yes to having kids that end up having the same lifestyle as you and they don't eat healthy because they grew up in a house where nobody did so. Which one would you rather have? And I apologize if this feels like I'm trying to guilt trip you into being more healthy. I promise it's not my intentions. I'm just making a point of consequences and what you say yes to.
Speaker 1:And the thing that gets us is we like to ignore it, right, we like to turn a blind eye. We know deep down that not taking action or taking the wrong action will have the consequences, but we don't make a change. And the thing is those consequences they're still there. They ain't going nowhere. Time always wins Over time. It'll always happen. If you ain't taking care of yourself, your bad health will come with time. If you ain't taking care of yourself, your bad health will come with time. If you ain't working on personal development, your failures will come with time. If you sit and watch Netflix all day, that's going to lead to you not completing all the things you have to do. Time wins and this brings up another phrase that I've said on here multiple times and it's basically the theme of this whole episode.
Speaker 1:But it is life is either hard now and easy later, or easy now and hard later. Life is either hard now and easy later, or easy now and hard later, and we tend to take the easy route. It's easy to not work out, it's easy to eat that chocolate cake, it's easy to hit the snooze button and never wake up and work on things, taking the ride with the least amount of resistance. That's easy. That's the easy now. But what's the part that comes? What's the hard part that comes later? Well, it could be not having good health, not having the body you want, not creating the life you want, not becoming a better version of yourself, and doing the same things over and over again. That's the hard part, and the question is which one do you really want? And the good thing is you still have time. You can still make the choice right now. So what do you need to say yes to? That's what I got for you today, man.
Speaker 1:Thank y'all for being here. As I always say, please make a donation. If you're watching on youtube, like and subscribe, and if you're on the podcast platform, please leave me a review. I'm going to leave y'all with some more music today, and the song today is going to be lean on me, let's ride out. We'll be right back and be strong.
Speaker 1:I mean, I'm way too lunar, cause I grind all day till the sun go down and the moon up. I wake up and say hallelujah, you got to be Achimadula, for dicky. We not stacking loot up, my nigga. We jump in the water and come out with them barracudas. I know the future. Go get you a scooter. They about to kick in the road with us.
Speaker 1:Watch, you can lean on me, put everything on me. Sometimes you gotta lean in. I'm the one you can't lean on. I know you gon' lean straight. Hold your head and lean strong and lean on me, and I lean on you.
Speaker 1:I hear my cousin say what's up? He came through with a blunt. We talked about dreams. He said why not you? He said do it for the fam, do it for your blood. Like I'm Pairoo, and this shaker here tried to pull me down. But I'm too fly boo. This is what the fuck I do. Still got a bird's eye view.
Speaker 1:But who can you trust when people try to throw you under the bus? I just want a window seat Me and a recub. I do. I know they want me to babe and I'm getting big. Yeah, used to be so little, but now I'm in beast mode. I need some skittles and I've been knocked down. They was looking at me like he ain't gonna get up and she like rolling on E-mails. She ain't gonna fill up. Yeah, they better pay me. I need more. Skrilla Couldn't be more. Thank you foam cup and pour it all over my shirt. So, in other words, you can lean on. I know you gon' be straight, hold your head and be strong and lean on me, and I lean on you. Lean on me, lean on me. Outro Music.