Episode 4: Core Values

[00:00:00] One, two, three, four, five.

[00:00:13] Woo!

[00:00:14] Yo, my bad, y'all, my bad, my bad.

[00:00:17] Y'all been doing these exercises that have really been working on my core strength,

[00:00:21] my posture, my balance, my stability, have all shown improvements.

[00:00:27] All that hard work that I've been putting in is really starting to show us value.

[00:00:31] And I know, I know, I know, I know.

[00:00:33] Get to the point, is this a fitness episode?

[00:00:35] You talking about exercising your core or the hard work you put in then, is starting to

[00:00:41] show us value.

[00:00:43] What are we talking about?

[00:00:45] Nah, this ain't a fitness episode.

[00:00:48] It's just me using different literary devices, the schemand, wordplay, all-to-convey-evaluable

[00:00:55] message that affects me to my core.

[00:00:58] I know, a day I go again, sometimes I get a little carried away with the imagery, I

[00:01:02] know that, but that's just who I am.

[00:01:05] And I guess that's why this episode is called core values.

[00:01:08] But speaking again, carried away, we're about a minute some change into this episode and

[00:01:14] I haven't even done my intro yet.

[00:01:16] Man, shoot a music!

[00:01:49] It was goodie, I'm your host Jay Small and welcome to the live unexamined is not

[00:02:00] worth living.

[00:02:01] And we are on episode 4 core values.

[00:02:05] Now before I get started, you will confirm you are spotifying Apple and there you will

[00:02:09] can subscribe to my podcast, follow me on IG at the underscore life underscore unexamined

[00:02:19] underscore podcast.

[00:02:21] And there I'll be sharing some video content of me discussing various topics that I talk

[00:02:26] about on my episodes during the week and I'll also be sharing my words of the day to

[00:02:29] keep you actively thinking.

[00:02:31] And please visit my website examine our lives.com where you can find information about my

[00:02:36] podcast information about myself, you can find information about the guests that I have

[00:02:40] on my episodes.

[00:02:42] I have some blogs that I'm putting together as well and if you want to reach out to

[00:02:46] me, you can hit me up on my website and suggestions, feedback and questions that you may have.

[00:02:51] Please don't hesitate to ask.

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[00:02:57] And who knows, I may end up playing a message on one of my episodes with your consent of

[00:03:01] course.

[00:03:03] Alright, so let's get back to business.

[00:03:06] Now in the beginning, I just said that this is not a fitness episode and it's not but

[00:03:10] it is an exercise, a mental one.

[00:03:14] And it is a workout, a physical one, not the type of physical workout that y'all think

[00:03:18] about, but a workout that involves actions and discipline.

[00:03:23] See this episode entails everything that I've discussed in episodes one through three

[00:03:27] and turning that into actions.

[00:03:30] Co-values are the guiding principles that shape our actions, our behaviors and our decision

[00:03:35] making.

[00:03:36] They essentially would define us as individuals, it represents our fundamental beliefs and

[00:03:40] our ethics.

[00:03:42] By identifying and embracing your core values, you create a solid foundation that reflects

[00:03:46] your vision, that reflects who you are.

[00:03:49] Sound familiar?

[00:03:51] Hit better sound familiar to y'all.

[00:03:55] Determining your core values not only benefits you as an individual but it also benefits

[00:03:59] others around you as well.

[00:04:01] It gives them an understanding of what your purpose is, what you stand for.

[00:04:06] It sets expectations not only for yourself but for those around you as well.

[00:04:10] So now how do we identify our core values?

[00:04:13] Well first, we gotta reflect on our past.

[00:04:16] We gotta find out what motivates us, we gotta think deeply and challenge ourselves.

[00:04:21] And once we have a list of values that represent who we are, then it's time to commit

[00:04:26] and put them into action, reflection, reflection, reflection.

[00:04:30] Now I have literally heard me use that word ad-nozium on my podcast.

[00:04:36] But now it's time to use it for real and it's time to put it to work.

[00:04:40] So now when it comes to identifying your core values, you wanna reflect on your past.

[00:04:46] Just like I talked about, whenever so one, whenever so two, whenever so three, you wanna

[00:04:52] do the same thing now.

[00:04:54] But relying on your resources, not only look within yourself and think about what are

[00:04:59] the things that were fulfilling to you, when you were younger, things that made you happy,

[00:05:04] things that gave you distress.

[00:05:06] Right?

[00:05:07] Now also rely on one, your family, your parents, your siblings, your cousins, your grandmother,

[00:05:14] your grandfather, your aunts, your uncles, rely on all of them.

[00:05:19] Rely on your friends, people who know you personally have a sit down with them, talk to them,

[00:05:25] ask them about how things were when you were younger.

[00:05:28] So let's use an example of loyalty and trust as our core values.

[00:05:33] So you have a sit down with your family, and they tell you, you know, you've always been

[00:05:36] big on loyalty and trust.

[00:05:38] Since you were little, that's always been important to you.

[00:05:41] It's always been important to our family as well.

[00:05:44] And we saw the effect that it had on you when you used to interact with your friends,

[00:05:49] and they didn't reciprocate the same type of loyalty to you.

[00:05:53] You couldn't trust them.

[00:05:54] I remember you literally coming home, going into your room and just being sad because

[00:06:00] you just couldn't understand why your friends would do that to you because you stood for

[00:06:05] that, those were your standards and your morals but they didn't share that and then used

[00:06:09] to bother you.

[00:06:10] So you hear all of that and you started thinking your mind and you say, dang it, that's

[00:06:15] true.

[00:06:16] Like I do remember that and it's not that I didn't understand that loyalty and trust was

[00:06:21] important to me.

[00:06:23] Because I know that.

[00:06:24] But I never really thought about it and I never reflected on the fact that I've been like

[00:06:29] this since I was younger and the impact that it had on me and how it made me feel down

[00:06:35] when I wasn't around people who were like that because now that I look at my life, the

[00:06:39] same exact thing happens to me today.

[00:06:42] And now I got to understand that I need to do a better job with a line in myself with

[00:06:46] people who are loyal and people that I can trust.

[00:06:50] And see, that's an example of what I'm talking about when I say that your family could

[00:06:54] be a piece that can help you to understand you on a deeper level, help you to understand

[00:07:00] what your core values are.

[00:07:02] Because sometimes you can understand what's important to you but going back to the past

[00:07:08] has its benefits.

[00:07:09] You know what I'm saying?

[00:07:10] When you reflect on that, it has its benefits.

[00:07:13] Now let's use family and quality time as our core values for the next example.

[00:07:18] So now you have a conversation with one of your friends and they tell you, man I remember

[00:07:22] your family used to do everything together.

[00:07:24] Y'all were all about quality time.

[00:07:27] You know we used to have like the dinners and they would let your friends come by like

[00:07:31] I remember coming by to your house with all the different events that they would have

[00:07:34] and we used to have so much fun.

[00:07:36] It felt like a community though.

[00:07:38] You know what I'm saying?

[00:07:39] And they made us all feel like family.

[00:07:41] You know when that quality time was so imperative.

[00:07:45] And when you hit it, you say to your friend, you know man that's crazy and you're right.

[00:07:50] And my family is disdain for that.

[00:07:53] And that is how I grew up and you were around and not of them thinking about it like

[00:07:58] that.

[00:07:59] It's like it was crazy because when I look at my life now, I'm not even indulging in

[00:08:04] the same family activities that I was doing back then.

[00:08:07] Quality time is not the same though it's not even close to being the same thing as what

[00:08:11] it was when I was younger at all.

[00:08:14] And not so much because it's not important to me but because you know I got a job working

[00:08:20] in corporate America and I'm working a ton of hours.

[00:08:23] I'm working like 60 plus hours a week and I'm making good money but like I don't even

[00:08:27] get to spend the time that I want with my family, that I was used to having when I was younger

[00:08:33] and I think that a lot of times I'm just going through the motions and I'm not really

[00:08:36] thinking about it like that.

[00:08:38] But I know that emptiness is there and there's unhappiness there.

[00:08:41] But I'm not really delving into that.

[00:08:44] You know what I'm saying?

[00:08:45] I'm not really reflecting on like you just said, the past.

[00:08:49] Now let's pause for a second.

[00:08:51] The core values that I just identified are all examples of how our family and our friends

[00:08:56] can be used as great resources with another pair of eyes, a pair of ears that just aren't

[00:09:01] yours.

[00:09:02] And now we get into the action plan of our reflection.

[00:09:05] This is an exercise.

[00:09:07] So if you have a notepad, write everything down that you're learning from your family

[00:09:11] and your friends, even the things that you're learning from yourself inwardly write

[00:09:15] that down.

[00:09:16] Write it down so you can always look at that.

[00:09:18] You can always go back to that.

[00:09:19] You can see it is visually there or if you're not a person that likes to write things

[00:09:24] down all the time, that's fine too because I'm that type of person.

[00:09:28] I write important information down at times and other times I don't.

[00:09:33] I could be more of a person that keeps everything in his head.

[00:09:36] You know what I'm saying?

[00:09:37] So if you want to keep those things in your mind and you have really great retention skills

[00:09:42] then you can do that too.

[00:09:44] But it is always great to have something visually there for you to see and keep you organized.

[00:09:50] So if you want to break everything down into separate columns, then create a column

[00:09:54] for a time in your life when you feel really upset when something really bothered you.

[00:09:59] Situations that cause you distress.

[00:10:01] Do a breakdown of scenarios that affect you negatively.

[00:10:04] Think about when you felt truly happy in your life.

[00:10:09] What were the circumstances?

[00:10:10] Think about a time when you were fulfilled what was going on.

[00:10:14] Think back to a moment where you felt very proud of yourself and again this is going to

[00:10:18] be a combination of your thoughts, your family's thoughts, your friends' thoughts.

[00:10:23] But with all that being said you got to see where all those thoughts apply to you today

[00:10:28] because it is great to know about what worked for you in the past that may not work for

[00:10:32] you today.

[00:10:33] You may work for you today, you got to decipher that.

[00:10:36] But this is about putting that into action right now.

[00:10:39] So next on the list we have motivation.

[00:10:42] Understanding your motivations can give you a glimpse of what truly matters to you.

[00:10:46] If you're somebody that's trying to make a real difference in the world, you want to use

[00:10:50] your voice.

[00:10:51] Huh, it's funny.

[00:10:53] To give to others there are so many reasons for why we get out of bed every day and we

[00:10:58] need to understand why we do that.

[00:11:00] We need to understand what moves us.

[00:11:02] We need to understand what fuels us, what keeps us going every day.

[00:11:07] Now obviously there isn't just one answer to the question of what motivates us.

[00:11:12] It's going to depend on a scenario we're talking about and I'll actually give you two examples

[00:11:16] when it comes to myself.

[00:11:18] So one of the things that motivate me is competition.

[00:11:21] I've played basketball since I was young and I've always been competitive.

[00:11:25] I am over competitive and basketball and to be honest with you, I'm an over competitive

[00:11:29] person in general.

[00:11:31] I don't like losing.

[00:11:32] I despise losing with a passion and I'm going to continue talking about basketball but when

[00:11:38] I was younger I used to play monopoly with my boys.

[00:11:41] We played at like nine ten o'clock at night and we were playing till four o'clock in the

[00:11:46] morning yo seriously four o'clock in the morning and I just refused to stop playing.

[00:11:54] So some of my friends would say yo I'm out.

[00:11:56] I'm going home it's too late man.

[00:11:58] I quit so they put their money in a property back and a few of them would stay so there'll

[00:12:03] be a few of us still standing but it just turned into a game of attrition because for me

[00:12:09] or I was never doing that, I'm never saying I'm going home.

[00:12:12] Nah it's serious for me.

[00:12:14] I hate losing.

[00:12:17] It's horrific to me yo and if I do lose please believe that I'm ready to go again on

[00:12:23] a spot right there.

[00:12:25] No wasted time I'm ready.

[00:12:27] You could just tell the way that I'm talking right now that it rubs me the wrong way.

[00:12:34] Oh my gosh man I'm a little off I know that it's all good though but back to basketball.

[00:12:41] While I do care about the camaraderie and I do care about the community and being around

[00:12:45] my boys and my friends and we come together in this dope but when I play basketball like

[00:12:51] I'm in a different zone mentally.

[00:12:53] Something that motivates me when I'm on that court.

[00:12:56] It's important to me it's what keeps me going even like myself improvement when it comes

[00:13:01] again better at playing basketball.

[00:13:02] I mean I'm 35 years old turn to 36 in March but I still work on my game.

[00:13:08] I still practice when nobody is there.

[00:13:10] That's my motivation it's internal within me so competition and striving for greatness

[00:13:16] is me on the court and off the court.

[00:13:18] Anything that has my name on it, I want that to be great.

[00:13:21] You know when I'm competing, I'm not really competing against my peers like that when it's

[00:13:26] off the court.

[00:13:27] I'm really competing with myself.

[00:13:28] I hold myself to a high standard and I'm very critical of myself but I want to be great

[00:13:33] in everything that I do and I'll put forth the effort that is required for me to be

[00:13:38] great.

[00:13:39] Now on the flip side I have another example for you out there's this young boy that plays

[00:13:43] bowl with us every week and he's from our neighborhood where I grew up and he's 18

[00:13:48] years old so I met him last year.

[00:13:50] So he grew a like into me and he never really played basketball like that so I was just

[00:13:57] teaching him the fundamentals.

[00:13:59] So we were out conversations from time to time and he was always receptive to the things

[00:14:03] that I had to say to him.

[00:14:05] He was like a sponge just soaking up game and he wasn't an echo hit.

[00:14:09] He wasn't out there getting in trouble and the more time that we spent with each other

[00:14:13] his game continues to improve.

[00:14:15] I started to realize that he was an intelligent young man, young and lacking wisdom but intelligent

[00:14:20] nonetheless and I gained a great deal of respect for him.

[00:14:24] And during this whole time I also was starting to realize that he was starting to view me

[00:14:29] as a mentor, as family and it was just humbling to see that and I was shown tough love on the

[00:14:35] court off the court and just seeing him be receptive to that style.

[00:14:42] I realized like I had little man calling me not little man.

[00:14:46] Young man is tough because he playing basketball with us you know saying we're older heads

[00:14:50] and we're rough and we're physical you know what I'm saying?

[00:14:55] And he plays with us and it's not a problem.

[00:14:57] We talked to him the certain way, it's not a problem.

[00:15:00] Case in point.

[00:15:01] I remember one day we were playing and he was shooting around and he was like sliding

[00:15:06] all over the floor like his sneakers, the bomb of his sneakers look crazy.

[00:15:10] So me and my boys, we all roast each other that's how we grew up, that's how we taught.

[00:15:15] So we started clowning him and we telling him, yo you can't be out here with these sneakers

[00:15:20] man.

[00:15:21] You sliding all over the floor, you look crazy.

[00:15:24] You need to get some new sneakers man so that he says to me, so he calls me unk which

[00:15:30] is short for uncle.

[00:15:32] You know what I'm saying?

[00:15:34] And you know that you get old when they call you unk.

[00:15:37] I can't even call myself young anymore because I got this 18 year boy calling me unk but

[00:15:42] I respected though and I take that title proudly.

[00:15:45] So he says, unk I do need some new basketball sneakers but I can't afford that right now.

[00:15:51] So I said, I ain't cool.

[00:15:52] I took a mental note of that.

[00:15:53] So the next time that we played that next week, I bought him some sneakers so when he came

[00:15:58] inside I said, yo I got a surprise for you.

[00:16:00] So he looks at me and he says, what are you talking about?

[00:16:03] I said look.

[00:16:05] So he sees the box and he says, oh nah, uh, this is too much.

[00:16:10] What are you doing man?

[00:16:11] So I said, yo open it.

[00:16:13] So he opens the box fresh pair of sneakers.

[00:16:16] You know what I'm saying fresh pair of sneakers and I added a pair of socks to match too.

[00:16:22] So I had my boy looking right out there.

[00:16:24] So he looks at me and he gives me that and he says, oh man you don't have to do that for

[00:16:28] me and I said, you're right.

[00:16:30] I didn't have to do that for you.

[00:16:31] I said but I wanted to you deserve that or that hard work that you've been putting in

[00:16:35] on the court that you've been putting in off the court or the conversations that we had

[00:16:40] you telling me about your mom and how hard she works, how you want to be there to support

[00:16:44] her and help her out financially.

[00:16:47] You got a good head on your shoulders and please believe I'm gonna look out for you

[00:16:51] your family.

[00:16:52] So to conclude the story he says to me, yo, how can I pay you back?

[00:16:58] And I said, pay me back.

[00:17:00] I said, you don't have to pay me back man.

[00:17:02] I did decide to goodness my heart.

[00:17:04] Just keep doing what you're doing and that's it.

[00:17:06] That young man is going to remember that for the rest of his life.

[00:17:10] And I'm going to remember that for the rest of my life.

[00:17:12] But my motivation to do those things that I did for him is my selflessness.

[00:17:18] It's the connection, the bond that you develop with people when you give back to them, when

[00:17:24] you can have a conversation with them, when you can learn about their past, when you

[00:17:28] can learn about who they are, learn why they do the things that they do.

[00:17:31] I like to understand people and I like to help people.

[00:17:35] Those who are in need and even those who may not even know that they need it.

[00:17:39] The connection that I established with that ACO boy, that really opened something within

[00:17:44] my heart.

[00:17:45] It really opened my eyes to the next place that I wanted to pivot in my life.

[00:17:50] I want to volunteer more.

[00:17:51] I want to get back more doing this podcast as an example of me giving back, being a mentor,

[00:17:57] being a life coach, me interacting with him took me to a higher place.

[00:18:02] And this is what I was talking about before when I said that it's not just about thinking

[00:18:06] about it, but it's about putting it into action.

[00:18:09] So when you figure out what motivates you, then write that down and not only write it

[00:18:13] down, but look at it every day.

[00:18:16] It's about the repetition.

[00:18:18] You have to make this an active part of your life.

[00:18:20] It's an exercise.

[00:18:21] Remember keep mental notes.

[00:18:23] And before you know it, it becomes a B.A.U. business as usual because you'll be doing

[00:18:27] it on a regular.

[00:18:29] So now we're about to get to the difficult part.

[00:18:31] The heavy lifting.

[00:18:32] I'm about to challenge.

[00:18:33] I want you to take a moment to reflect on everything that I just said and ask yourself

[00:18:37] a few questions.

[00:18:39] What do I stand for?

[00:18:40] What do I believe in?

[00:18:41] What am I not willing to compromise about myself?

[00:18:44] What legacy would mark do I want to leave when this earth before I die?

[00:18:48] I want you to really answer those questions honestly, put a lot of thought into it.

[00:18:54] And when you do that, then now you're going to start to develop a list of your core values.

[00:18:59] Now if it makes it easier for you and you like a certain number, then do a top five list.

[00:19:05] Do a top ten list.

[00:19:07] There's not an exact science.

[00:19:08] You don't have to do it that way.

[00:19:10] You could have 15 core values.

[00:19:11] You could have 20, 30.

[00:19:13] It doesn't really matter.

[00:19:15] But if it makes it easier for you, start off with a top five list.

[00:19:19] Then maybe move it up to a top ten list because we're about to get to the heavy lifting

[00:19:23] part.

[00:19:24] Yeah, there's a lot of work.

[00:19:27] So what's this hard work that I'm talking about?

[00:19:29] What's the word that personifies the work that you're about to put in?

[00:19:33] The word that I used earlier in this episode, commitment.

[00:19:36] That's a very strong word that holds a lot of power.

[00:19:40] But that's what's required in order for you to make real changes in your life.

[00:19:44] You got to make sure that your values are visible everywhere that you go.

[00:19:48] You got to make more and more and more decisions every day that align with your core values.

[00:19:55] You got to make yourself feel uncomfortable.

[00:19:58] You got to challenge yourself.

[00:19:59] You got to start putting yourself in situations where you're testing yourself for an example.

[00:20:04] If you haven't already, start to seek out people who are like-minded, people who communicate

[00:20:09] the same way that you do.

[00:20:11] People who have similar core values and I'm not saying that every person in your life has

[00:20:15] to believe in what you believe in or has to have the core values that align with you.

[00:20:21] I'm not saying that.

[00:20:22] But what I am saying is, I don't know if we really understand the power of being around

[00:20:29] like-minded people.

[00:20:31] Being around like-minded individuals, it keeps you inspired.

[00:20:35] It keeps you motivated.

[00:20:36] When you surround yourself with people who are doing an opposite of what you're doing,

[00:20:40] that can have a negative effect on you.

[00:20:43] We don't really realize that.

[00:20:44] You got to align yourself with the right people.

[00:20:48] That might make you feel uncomfortable because you may have a friend in your life that you

[00:20:52] knew since childhood.

[00:20:54] But I don't have the same core values and it conflicts with who you are.

[00:20:58] If that's the case, that doesn't mean that you still can't beat that person's friend,

[00:21:02] but it just means that you have to keep your distance.

[00:21:05] You can still love them absolutely.

[00:21:07] But you need to be around people who are striving for the same things that you're striving

[00:21:11] for.

[00:21:12] People who will build you up.

[00:21:14] People who want to build with you.

[00:21:17] That's what I got to start doing.

[00:21:18] I shouldn't just be saying, I know my core values now.

[00:21:22] But I'm just going to continue to go through my life and not test myself or not align those

[00:21:28] values with my everyday life.

[00:21:30] If you do that, then it's just pointless.

[00:21:33] This whole exercise is a waste of time if that's all that you want to do.

[00:21:36] But we got to challenge ourselves.

[00:21:38] Keep track of any progress that you had.

[00:21:40] And I mean even the slightest, smallest progress reflect on that.

[00:21:45] Keep track of that.

[00:21:46] Write it down.

[00:21:47] Because when you see that, when you have a visual of your progress, when in everyday

[00:21:52] basis, that's motivation.

[00:21:54] That makes you feel good.

[00:21:55] You start to reach that path of fulfillment.

[00:21:58] And if you need to make some adjustments, you need to reevaluate and do that too.

[00:22:02] Because maybe you have made changes in your life.

[00:22:05] Maybe your core values have changed.

[00:22:06] That's dope.

[00:22:07] There's nothing wrong with that.

[00:22:09] And remember, it's not just about the short term gains.

[00:22:13] The short term gains, those are attractive.

[00:22:17] They're like low hanging fruit because it doesn't take much effort to attain it, but

[00:22:20] it's short live.

[00:22:22] It's about long-term fulfillment.

[00:22:24] So I want to conclude by saying that episodes one through four are the holy grill of life

[00:22:31] that are fundamentals of life.

[00:22:32] Remember in episode one when I said that, oh, I know that you're probably looking for

[00:22:36] me to give my opinion on certain subject matter various topics, giving you a quick solution

[00:22:42] to problems.

[00:22:44] And I said, I'm not doing that.

[00:22:45] We're not skipping steps because I said you got to start with the foundation.

[00:22:49] It's paramount.

[00:22:50] I don't want you to lose focus of the importance of what I said in that episode.

[00:22:55] Because once you have a strong foundation, once you figure out who you are, once you figure

[00:23:00] out what category you fall into, conditional, unconditional, and when you figure out

[00:23:05] what your core values are, I'm telling you right now that that is going to lead to a life

[00:23:11] that has so much fulfillment and happiness.

[00:23:15] That doesn't mean that you will never be sad.

[00:23:17] It doesn't mean that unfortunate situations won't happen to you.

[00:23:21] It doesn't mean that, but I'm telling you that at least a happiness.

[00:23:25] And this is coming from somebody like me who has gone through so much trauma.

[00:23:29] I've had so much loss in my life.

[00:23:31] I could easily be a person that says, well, I don't care about my life and as a matter

[00:23:36] of fact, I was that person at a certain point in my life.

[00:23:39] I was, but I healed and I continued on.

[00:23:43] But even with all of that, I could still be miserable.

[00:23:46] I could still say, you know bad things happen to me all the time.

[00:23:49] I just want to be negative.

[00:23:50] It's not fair.

[00:23:51] I'm sad.

[00:23:52] I'm down.

[00:23:53] I have nothing to live for.

[00:23:54] What's going to happen to me next?

[00:23:56] I could easily have that mentality.

[00:23:58] I could easily bring other people down with me.

[00:24:00] I could have bad energy.

[00:24:02] All of that.

[00:24:03] It's easy to do that.

[00:24:04] But everything that I talked about in episodes one through four, I've applied that to my life.

[00:24:09] And I want all of y'all to do the same thing because it leads to real results.

[00:24:14] I'm the walking embodiment of that.

[00:24:17] There are so many other people who walk this earth that are walking embodiments of that

[00:24:21] and that's the truth.

[00:24:23] And I want my listeners to be walking embodiments of that.

[00:24:26] Do you know how happy that would make me?

[00:24:28] And scratch that because it don't even matter how happy it makes me.

[00:24:31] Do you know how happy that would make you?

[00:24:35] You know what I was saying?

[00:24:36] You know how happy that would make you?

[00:24:37] This is most important.

[00:24:39] But in order to get there, y'all have to be brutally honest with yourselves.

[00:24:43] There's no more excuses.

[00:24:45] I've given you out of blueprint.

[00:24:46] I've given you out of guide.

[00:24:48] I've given you out of map to happiness.

[00:24:50] I've given you out of map to fulfillment.

[00:24:52] I'm giving you all of that.

[00:24:53] There's no excuses anymore.

[00:24:55] There's no excuse for you not being in the process of building a strong foundation.

[00:25:00] There's no excuse for you not being in the process of figuring out who you are.

[00:25:04] There's no excuse for you not being in the process of figuring out if you are conditional

[00:25:07] or an unconditional person.

[00:25:09] There's no excuse for you not being in the process of figuring out which of core values are.

[00:25:14] Though autumn excuses out the window, we're not doing that anymore.

[00:25:18] Hold yourself accountable.

[00:25:20] Your eyes are open now.

[00:25:22] You know better.

[00:25:23] So do better.

[00:25:25] Apply yourself.

[00:25:26] Now I have one last exercise for y'all.

[00:25:28] Yeah, I ain't off to hook yet.

[00:25:30] Nah, nah, nah, nah, we're not done.

[00:25:32] When y'all make that list of your core values, I want you all to think about how all of

[00:25:38] those core values align with your life.

[00:25:42] Do they match up with your personal life, your professional life?

[00:25:47] Do they match up with your short-term goals?

[00:25:49] Do they match up with your long-term goals?

[00:25:52] Do you need to reevaluate them that we talked about earlier?

[00:25:55] And I don't just want you to just think about that once.

[00:25:58] I want y'all to think about this every day.

[00:26:00] And if that's a little bit too aggressive for y'all, then that's cool.

[00:26:04] That's all right.

[00:26:05] But I need y'all to make a schedule a few times a week.

[00:26:08] Think about this.

[00:26:09] This is an exercise, a mental exercise.

[00:26:12] Call it your mental workout.

[00:26:14] You know what I'm saying?

[00:26:15] This is what I ask of y'all.

[00:26:16] But the more that you do this, it becomes a part of your everyday life.

[00:26:20] So now it starts to feel like it's involuntary.

[00:26:23] As if you don't even have a choice in the matter, you actually do.

[00:26:27] But the repetition in the discipline makes it appear that it's involuntary.

[00:26:32] And that's what we're looking for.

[00:26:34] So that's the last exercise that I have for y'all.

[00:26:37] So figuring out what is core to you and what you deemed to be most valuable?

[00:26:42] Well, there's only one thing left to say.

[00:26:45] And y'all already know where I'm going with this.

[00:26:47] Y'all know what I'm about to say.

[00:26:49] Way forward.

[00:26:51] So that, ladies and gentlemen, is another pathway to an entrance of a life that's worth

[00:26:57] living.

[00:26:58] I'm your old Jay smooth.

[00:26:59] And you just listen to the life on examine.

[00:27:02] It's not worth living in a mighty peace.