Mastering the Mindset
Mastering the Mindset
Why 90% of People Stay Stuck — and How to Be the 10% Who Don’t
Step into 2026 with the mindset of the top 10%. Discover the 3 habits that separate successful people from everyone else — how they outwork, outheal, and outlast the rest.
It’s not about grinding harder — it’s about building focus, discipline, and emotional mastery so you can create a life filled with purpose, peace, and progress. Learn how to think long-term, stay consistent, and heal what’s been holding you back, so 2026 becomes the year you rise above average.
Losing myself and finding my strength came to the conclusion that I want it all. Feeling that pressure of tryna do better. I wanna reach heights, but too scared to fall. Too scared of failure, way more scared of feeling regret. I'm not even trying, that's terrifying. I understand that chasing my goals, I bury my clocks because it takes time. I gotta go. I already know if I wanna grow, you reap what you sow. That be the case. Planting my seeds and water my base. Yeah, I made mistakes. Yeah, I know you grow in your garden, but watch for the snakes. The people that act like you're crazy, but trying this, they far away. They don't think it's possible, I think it's possible. That is just hate. If they hate themselves, cause they on the shelf. While you create a life that you love. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. A life that you love. Loving the fact to improving yourself. Decided that you would not settle. Decided that you got the drive to do it. The road got bumped, you put on the pedal. You go up a level, you turn up whenever. It's time for you to go put in that work. I know my work, huh? I know it ain't gonna be easy, yeah. I know it hurt, but angles for sure. Yeah. Until it put me in this earth. Before I ride in that hearse, I'm chasing my goals. I'm chasing my goals. Loving the fact to improving yourself. You're putting the cutter. I'm fixing my goals. Alright, and welcome back to another episode. Thank y'all so much for being here. If you are on YouTube, go ahead and like and subscribe to my channel. Like right now, just do it right now. If you are listening to me on the podcast platform, please leave me a review. Also, become a monthly supporter of the show. You can choose the amount, it can either be three, five, eight, or ten dollars. Um, and you can cancel at any time. But why would you ever do that? But let's go ahead and dive in today. Let's talk about how to become better than you were this year in 2026. And not just how to be better, but how you can do things the majority of people you know won't be able to do. To put yourself in that top 10% of people who find the most joy and happiness and success and have the great experiences in life, and how you can have all that be better than about 90% of the people you know. And look, we all at some point have had the idea that in order to find success, you gotta work harder, you gotta grind, you gotta put in extra work. That's how you find success. And yeah, that's part of it. It's a requirement in most cases, but it ain't the only thing that's gonna separate you from 90% of people when it comes down to it. And what separates them is the things they do, and three things in particular, and these are the things that they do when nobody else is watching, right? And what it really bought what it really boils down to is the systems you put in place, the system of discipline, of vision, and being able to handle and master your emotions. And my goal for this one is to kind of be um a manual that you can follow. So that in 2026, you're gonna leave this current version in the past, right? Not the good stuff. We're talking about the positive stuff with us. We're taking the positive stuff with us. We're gonna follow this manual, this playbook, and help us create the life we want to help us be in that 10%, that top 10%. And what I'm gonna say first is nothing new. We can all understand that if we want to be in the top 10%, and that's anything, but if you want to be in the top 10%, then we can't do what the other 90% do on the regular. We know that. We understand that. Look around you at the people you know personally, right? The people you see in your in your news feed, just in general. Do the majority of them live a life that inspires you, that motivates you, that you want to follow and be just like them? No, for the most part, 90% of the people you meet don't have the kind of life you want to follow to a tea to just be just like them. For the most part, the majority of people we know are kind of the same when it comes to their comfort and their dreams and goals and personal growth. And like I say all the time, the majority of the people you know will never work on themselves. They just won't. Even when they know they probably should, they don't. And the question we have to ask ourselves is do we truly want to fit in with that? Because most people can scroll way longer than they can work on themselves or work towards their future their future. They talk about action way more than they take action. Unfortunately, most people we know are just not inspiring, right? That they're not trying to be better, right? And I'm not saying that we are trying to be quote unquote better than other folks, right? But we consciously know that if we want to be in that top 10% of people, that we if we if we want to be in that top 10% of people that live the kind of life that we truly want to live, then you have to do things that the other 90% ain't willing to do. And it has to be a conscious effort. Make it a conscious effort to not want to fit in. Because 10% is rare. And if you want to be a rare person, then you need to live a rare life. Your habits have to be rare, your drive has to be rare, has to be rare. You have to think in decades, in decades of a time frame, right? What I mean by that. Well, the big reason why most folks are in that 90% is because they only think about the short term. They only think about their lives in moments. They only think about what's going to make them happy right now, in this instant, this day, this night. They think in terms of, well, I know I should be working on my future, but it's so easy to just scroll on TikTok right now. And I know I said it for years that I want to be a person who is more productive and don't waste time. But it's so easy to say, I'm gonna start it tomorrow or next week, instead of realizing and moving with the mindset that everything I do today is a building block for my future. That the actions I take today don't, the actions I take and don't take right now, they're all gonna paint the picture of how my life looks a decade from now. Are the daily choices you make in alignment with the person you want to be in 10 years from now? And for a lot of people, that answer is no. Do you even know who you want to be in 10 years? A lot of people might know, but they don't ever consciously make the decision to take actions with their future self in mind. They just continue doing all the things that got them to this point that they've been doing for the last 10 years. Most people are reactive to their current reality in life and only take actions for the now. They watch the Netflix, they scroll, they eat the unhealthy food, they go shopping, they don't work on themselves, right? They do, they don't try and change who they are. So ask yourself, really ask yourself this. What do I want to be in 10 years? Where do I want to be in 10 years? And ask yourself about the kind of person, right? What kind of habits does that person have? How do they think? What do they do on a daily basis? And ask yourself, what am I doing right now that's making that version of me impossible? How am I getting in my own way of building that person who has the life I want 10 years from now? If you want to be different, if you want to be in that top 10%, then you have to start thinking in long term. And we're gonna talk about these three things that the top 10% do, the ones that have the most amazing lives, the things they do that are different than most people. And the first thing is they outwork everybody else. And I know what you're thinking. Yeah, duh. Working hard is a given. But there's a difference. See, I ain't talking about working extra hard to go prove somebody wrong, or working hard as hell to turn around and say, look at me. Nobody can outwork me. Or for you or for your goal to just for your goal to be to just work hard and work and work and work and work more and more hours of the day. Right? This ain't about burnout. Yes, it's important to work hard, but it's the kind of work that's the most important. I'm talking about the intentional work and how laser-focused you can be on that work. And I heard somebody call it uh intentional intensity, and I love that phrase. Intentional intensity. Being intense in a very intentional way. I'm not talking about working more hours, I'm talking about working more hours in the hours you have, or working more in the hours you have. And I know that probably don't make sense, but let me give you an example. If you think about an office job, right? We done all had them jobs where you have, let's say, an eight-hour shift, but if you boil it down to your actual work, you really only work like two hours, right? We all done had them jobs, right? You know what I mean. For example, I had an interview with this company, and I won't say who, but it was for position on their DEI programming to train other companies. And in the interview, you know, they know I'm an actor. They understand that this is my passion. And it came up that, you know, whenever they would have their conferences, which is like three to five times a year, and they're only like three days long for each one of them, but when they would have those, I wouldn't be able to miss it, right? I couldn't tell them, you know, well, actually, I'll be in tech week that week, so I can't do it, right? Which I understand that. If I'm in, if if I were to have this job, then whatever they would have, whenever they would have these conferences, I couldn't be in a show or I have to work out it, work it out in my schedule that I would not be able to miss these conference conferences, right? And we got to the point in the interview where they ask if you got any questions for them. And I asked them what a normal workday would look like and all the weeks in between having those conferences. And the answer, or let me tell you, the answer they gave me was basically they have a daily meeting, there's five of them, and you talk about what you're working on. Basically, you can choose uh the areas in which you want to strengthen about yourself, right? Whatever things you want to read up on and research, right? Articles you found that are interesting. And you do this during the times when you ain't planning for one of those conferences. And when you get a conference booked, right, then you start planning like two weeks out. Two weeks, two weeks of work plus the three days of the actual workshop, okay? You do the math, two weeks, let's say five workshops a year. That's 10 weeks, and five workshops, three days each. That's 15 days. So three business weeks. So a total of 13 weeks in a year. So that's 39 other weeks that work ain't actually being done. And they had the nerve, the audacity to be concerned if I would be able to do theater and that job. Can I do both? Yes. Hell yeah. As a theater person, I already do more than what y'all do right now. And I could do what y'all do even during prep week and have a show at night and get the job done. I couldn't believe how easy that job was. Now, granted, I know I would have got tired of having a damn morning meeting every day just to update four other people on what I'm working on. Right? The meetings are an hour long, mind you. Hell no. Right? Blessing in disguise that I didn't get that job. Anyway, my point is, sure, at that job, they do quote unquote do work, but they only get laser focused in the weeks leading up to the conference. A lot of times we do work, but we only work on things that don't that don't necessarily bring productivity. Most of the times, we ain't working efficiently with our time, right? Your to-do list is important, it's full of things you need to do. But the problem is, is when we prioritize the wrong things on that list, laundry is important, making your grocery list is important, washing your car is important, but it can't have the same weight or same priority as the actions you need to take to work on that thing you're working on, on yourself, on your goals. And so it ain't about working harder, it's more about working more efficiently with the time we have to work. And one of the most important things, important ways to do this, is to do what's called deep work. Deep work to schedule yourself for that deep work, and it's really simple, but I'll be damned if it don't work. What it basically is, is you being laser focused on that task, whatever that task is, and you literally turn off yourself from the rest of the world. Put your phone on airplane mode or in a whole nother room, you schedule yourself from everybody else, you lock yourself away, and you don't look at TV or emails or anything else but what it is you're working on. And the reason why it's important to schedule this deep work is because you need to prepare to be free from all the distractions. Get prepared for that. And like I said, like I always say, when it comes to this self-development journey, I'm on this journey with you. And the more and more I learn and come across skills and tools to use, I keep seeing more and more successful people say the same thing that the most successful people can have that super laser focus when it comes to the work they put in. That they get like a heat-syncing missile when it comes to accomplishing those really important tasks. The most important ones on the day, right? It's important to get focused on those first, deep work, deep focus on those to get those checked off. And ask yourself, what do you need to do to get more focused? It ain't always about the hours in the day, it's about how focused you are and how intense you are with that focus. And another big one when it comes to focus, and it ain't rocket science, but to get things done before the rest of the world is up. To get up early, when it's quiet, when the kids still sleep, or before the day starts bustling and hustling, before all the notifications start, before you read about something crazy in the world, before the news cycle hits, before you scroll and see that crazy thing on social media. And I can tell you from experience that this is some of the best time to work. It's quiet. Your brain is fresh. So anyway, that's the first thing. The most successful people, they outwork everybody. First thing. The second thing they do is they outheal everybody else. Yeah, I said it. They outheal everybody else. They heal what's holding them back. One of the biggest reasons why we don't get to where we want to be ain't because of our schedules or obstacles or circumstances working against us. It's the stuff inside of us that we just haven't looked at. The things we ain't worked on yet. You can't outwork trauma. You can't outstrategize self-doubt. You can't work past self-hatred. You can't be highly successful without addressing your imposter syndrome. So many people go into the new year every year and expect a different outcome. They expect a different external circumstance when they haven't addressed the internal obstacles that keep holding them back year after year. You might say, Well, I'm not where I want to be because I procrastinate. Well, yeah, you do procrastinate, but that ain't why you ain't where you want to be. It's because you fear people judging you for whatever reason that may be. Maybe you had uh really judging parents growing up, and when you feel like somebody judges you, you get triggered. Maybe you procrastinate because you are truly deep down afraid of the success. Because that's a real thing. We can be afraid of the success and the success we have to have uh to maintain to keep it up, right? And you're afraid that you're afraid of that success because you have low self-esteem and you don't feel like you deserve it or that it's real. Procrastination is the symptom, and your parents judging you, or you having low self-esteem is the wound, the thing you need to heal. Same thing with overthinking. You're not where you want to be, you're not where you want to be, not because you're an overthinker, you're not where you want to be because you made quick decisions in the past that hurt you or hurt other people and were really bad. And so now you take way too much time to take action because you spend so much time just thinking about it instead of doing it because you have that wound from a past failure. You see what I'm getting at? These are things that keep making you self-sabotage, things you need to address. And until you do, they just gonna keep showing up in your life one way or another. This needs healing. This needs you to take ownership of it, to take ownership for your triggers, for the stories you tell yourself, the things and um the holes that you default to, right? The bad habits that you fall into and why. Right? The things that happen to us are in our past, they affect us and they stay with us. Those things may not be our fault, but unfortunately, they are our responsibility. Figure out what those things are that keep that you keep trying to avoid and confront it and feel it and work on it and heal from it. So that's number two. That's uh yeah, that's number two. The third uh number two is uh the most successful people outheal everybody. And the third thing is they outlast everybody, and this one is so important. The most successful people just don't give up, they get comfortable with consistency and ups and downs and the boredom and the hectic, and they just keep going. You gotta expect the hard, you gotta expect it to be challenging. 90 to 95 percent of people give up on their goals. 90 to 95 percent of people give up on their goals, and that's a fact. That's what studies show. And remember how I talked about in the beginning of this episode that only 10% of people truly find that joy and happiness and success. This is a big reason why. They just quit. They know that, yeah, when you first start something, it's gonna be exciting, it's gonna be easy to work on it, to keep going when it's excited and fun and new. That's easy, right? But eventually, it's gonna change. It's gonna get boring, and it's gonna get hard and tough. And the top 10%, they keep going when it gets boring, when they feel like they might not be making progress. They stay consistent. And remember this finding success in something, it ain't about big milestones. You don't just start something then just hit a milestone after milestone, right? It's about all the boring steps, those small little steps you take day in and day out, that consistency, pushing through the boring, showing up day in and day out. That's how you get to the milestone. Not starting something, working on it while it's fun and exciting, and then once it leaves, jump to something else. No, the most successful folks, they stay consistent and they just outlast everybody. And that boredom, it ain't a bad thing. It's a requirement, it's part of the process. When you're mining for gold, right? When you don't strike gold with your first swing of that hammer or pick or whatever they use, clearly I don't know, but you. They don't quit, right? They keep going. Because once you do strike goal, it's all worth it. Your job is not to feel motivated, it's to be consistent. Even when your feelings don't feel like showing up. And I say this all the time. But for me, it's my daily plan. Me executing my plan day out, day in and day out, it not only ensures that I'm um I'm gonna be productive for the day, but it builds the habit of me showing up. The habit of me being consistent or working towards something day in and day out. So even when I accomplish one thing and I move to the next or something gets added, I know how to go after it. I built up that muscle of putting in the work. But get consistent. Outlast everybody. Most people never accomplish their goals and their dreams because they quit. They give up. And how can you ever accomplish anything if you quit? So these are the three things. Uh outwork, outheal, and outlast. Outwork. It ain't about more hours, but more focused and efficient hours. Outheal. Work on yourself. The fact that you listen to this podcast is a good start. Now you just need to take the actions that we talk about on here. Right? I really hope you are you are not listening to me and you are not actually taking action because I hate to tell you, but you wasting my time and yours to do the work. I promise you it pays off. And finally, out last, don't give up. Stay consistent, build the habits, and keep going. So that's what I got for y'all today. Man, thank y'all so much for making it to the end of this episode. Uh it would be very grateful for me if you were to become a monthly supporter of the show. You can choose the amount. It can be three, five, eight, or ten dollars, and you can cancel it anytime. Why would you ever do that? Uh, please share this episode to your social media or with your friends and family if you think someone you know needs to hear this or if you like this message. Let's go ahead and get to this music. The song I got for y'all today is opening night. Let's ride out. Yes, yes. Yes, look. I decided to take a leap of faith, and I never landed. I'm fly as a bird, I'm high as a bird, and highly favored. But it wasn't my time to shine, so I waited my turn. Set back and observed, yeah, and I got to work. And before I sign on your dotted line, put some respect on my chip. Yeah, cause I know my words. I love my much only what I deserve. I ride the beat like I'm riding a verse. I bought a bag of beat. Boy I come with this heat. You might need a earn. I let it burn. And as long as my family proud, sitting here left, just like my daddy. Cause we go grind, you know we go work. Low is he bother me, that's all that matters. All your chitchatters, not my concern. Never no negative words from her. She probably saw to be causing curved. You probably thought he was finished and done. He started to doubt me. I promise it made me go hard as it burr. Open at night. I gotta buy me an open and fit, man. I hope I don't splurge. I'm reaching heights. I know a bitch late, I gotta fall. I hope it don't hurt. Hoping I don't slay down on the bottom. I hope I return. It's open at night. Hopin' I go to bed, a wake up tomorrow, like over the night. Hopin' you not tryna argue with me, dog. Get up with you right. Been seein' the air no while, she know it's on sight. She know that I'm busy as soon as I find that day off. She get the whole night. Almost time, this is tonight. Clear my mind, I'm finna get right. Yes, yes. Hopin' I shine, they dimin' the lights. Yes. Wish I could give you this feelin'. I promise this shit is the best. I got this weight on my chest, I'm pushing it off me. Promise you that's not a flex. Yes, yes. Damn, but you gotta be so analytic. All you gotta say is you don't get it. Out here acting like a critic. Yes, I'm done tryna prove to y'all that I've been gifted. Have for y'all ain't know I existed. Now my name is sellin' tickets. Yes, I'm thankful to myself, I stay committed. And I'm sorry if I've been dissing. I hope you don't get it twisted. I don't have hate in my spirit, I only hate flying spirit. Open the night, if we've been stiffen, I hope I'm still coherent. Yes. Down the ovation, a big celebration. Pick up your libration, I'm making a toast. I put in hours to hours perfecting my craft and make sure I give you the most. I make it look easy, but trust and believe me. If you tried to beat me, I know you would choke. I don't wanna settle, I wanna do better. A whole nother level. I'm talking about growth. It's open at night and not enough space to type the way I feel in this post. Think about friends and all the parties I missed, then places that I couldn't go. Sorry, but I gotta miss it. I be there in spirit. Bam, I feel like a ghost. I hit the stage and I float.