The School of Greatness - 48 A Conversation on Poetry, Life, and the Vulnerability of Pursuing Dreams with IN-Q

Episode Date: January 15, 2014

Los Angeles based rapper, actor, teacher, songwriter, and award winning spoken word artist, In-Q is a unique voice in entertainment. His work has been featured on HBO's Def Poetry Jam, two seasons of Verses & Flow, the Discovery Channel, the Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, EA Sports, ABC, NBC, and A&E. In-Q is a National Poetry Slam Champion The School of Greatness.

This is episode number 48 with Poetry Slam Champion in queue. Welcome to the School of Greatness. My name is Lewis Howes, a former pro athlete turned lifestyle entrepreneur. And each week we bring you an inspiring person or message to help you discover how to unlock your inner greatness. Thanks for spending some time with me today. Now let the class begin. Hey, what's up everyone?

Welcome back to this show, The School of Greatness. I am back in Los Angeles this week and I got a chance to sit down with a new friend of mine, extremely talented guy, a guy that I was a chance to sit down with a new friend of mine, extremely talented guy, a guy that I was immediately drawn to because I saw him do a live poetry slam session at an event, and his art form, his stage presence, his performance, his lyrics were just so inspiring to me that I said, hey, man, I got to get you on the show. So luckily we got him here in the studio. His name is Adam NQ, and he's a really interesting guy.

He is a Los Angeles-based rapper, actor, teacher, songwriter, and award-winning spoken word artist. And his work has been featured on HBO's Deaf Poetry Jam, two seasons of Versus and Flow, the Discovery Channel, the Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, EA Sports, ABC, NBC, and A&E. Again, he's the National Poetry Slam champion. I'm very excited to dive into this. We're going to cover a lot of different things. You're also going to get to hear a couple of his works of art, which I think were pretty cool when he starts and dives into those.

And you're going to learn a lot about the difference between poetry and music, how to see every human being as a mirror of yourself, to utilize the power of working openly with people and creatively, and what poetry teaches us about life and business. So I'm very excited about this episode. And if you haven't tuned into the previous episodes, specifically the last two, where the one with my brother, Christian Howes, who talks about his lessons from prison and what he learned on how to be a successful businessman and jazz violinist based on his experience in prison, then make sure to tune into that one after you listen to this one with Adam in queue.

And with that, guys, I'm very excited about this episode. And let's dive in with the one and only Adam in queue. I'm a bird that wants to be a plane. I know that sounds insane. But every living thing deserves to dream. I watch them take off from the island on the side of the runway lane And curse my feathered wings I'm jealous of these giant metal kings How their engine sings, floating off the ground Leaving smoke clouds in perfect iridescent streams

I've tried to follow them Hoping that they would take the lead But they don't notice me and I can't keep up with their speed I always wind up somewhere in between. And as their trail disappears into thin air, it's hard to breathe. I really wish they'd let me join their team. My breaking heart is on my sleeve. So I open up my beak to speak, but no one ever hears my screams. To them, I'm chicken feet because they don't understand what I aspire to achieve. I have higher needs indeed, beyond the pretty paws and the subtlety of swaying reeds. I want to kiss the moon, cutting rain clouds over endless seas, bend the breeze, let it freeze.

Elements are of no consequence when you're forever free. But instead, I'm me. I can't undo my pedigree, but that don't mean that I'll accept, defeat, or ever let it be. So every time they weave into a straight line, I intervene, because one of these days, I swear I'm going to find the strength to leave. And I don't give a cluck, because I'm the type to still believe, the type to scream into a storm from the highest tree, the type to chirp until i die because it's in my genes the type of bird to be a plane you just wait and see

yeah i love it man thanks man so i'm joined at the studio in los angeles with adam in q what's up i'm super pumped. We just had a moment that neither of us have ever had in our lives. It was epic. Speak on it. For 30, probably 30 minutes at least. Adam comes up here in the studio and I'll post a picture in the show notes at lewishouse.com. And we see this in the distance, a small little rainbow.

It was, it was wide. It was wide, but it was like an inch. Let's say if you're looking out in the distance, a small little rainbow. It was wide. It was wide, but it was like an inch, let's say, if you're looking out in the distance. It had girth. It had some girth. It was girthy. And then we were like, look at this amazing rainbow. We don't see it that often in Los Angeles.

You've been here for how many years? I'm going to go with my whole life. Your whole life. A number of years. I've only been here a year and a half. I've never seen a rainbow. And we go out. I show them the place. place we look on the balcony and this rainbow erupts yeah from the distance almost just over downtown and then slowly but surely we're like taking pictures we're amazed at this

little teeny rainbow and then it starts to grow you know bigger and bigger then there's one strand and then i start to see a bend and about about 10 minutes later, we see the full rainbow. It literally arced across the sky. It was like a halo over Los Angeles. From downtown to the valley. Yeah. Perfect moment. Right over the hills. It was unbelievable. There's no ordinary moments, that's for sure. So I'm very excited to be introducing you guys to someone that inspires me. And we actually only hung out a couple times and talked for like 10 minutes total. But I met Adam at Summit Series on the mountaintop and heard a poem similar to the one you guys just heard.

And it really moved me and gave me chills. Thank you, man. And whenever I get the moment to feel chills, I know I get to savor that moment, just kind of like during the rainbow. So I got double chills today. I feel pretty good. Double rainbow, double chills. But I'm double chills today. I feel pretty good.

Double rainbow, double chills. But I'm excited, man. And I want to talk about poetry, the spoken word, and kind of its lost art form, I guess, and what your intentions are for being a creative source of energy for the world of inspiration and bringing it back. And also, I just want to talk about what it means to you and how people can apply this type of lost art form in their own business, life, relationships, things like that. So let's talk about how you got into it. First off, you used to be a rapper, right?

Absolutely. Started out as a rapper. Hip hop is still kind of the foundation of my art, I would say. It's still kind of the foundation of my art, I would say. And I wanted to be an emcee, like, you know, at the highest level more than anything else in the entire world. And I was completely obsessed. And I spent all of my time, you know, trying to make that a reality. And it never really happened the way that I wanted it to. But, you know, I put in my 10,000 hours and I wound up at a spoken word spot in Los Angeles called the Poetry Lounge.

And I came in at the inception of it, which it's become basically the biggest spoken word spot in the nation. Wow. It's gotten 350 people for the last 14 years. And I got a chance to work with some of the best poets in the country and I was spitting my rapping acapella and um people called me a poet and I wanted a platform to express myself and I didn't correct them and uh and I continued to try to make it as a rapper and then one day I looked up and I realized that I was more of a poet than a rapper yeah amazing and when. Amazing. And when did that start? Um, I was 21. Okay.

Um, so I don't know, 2001 maybe. Gotcha. Okay, cool. Yeah. When I,

when I started to, to visit the poetry lounge and speak, who else was there? What are there people we know of that were kind of like starting out as artists or poets or? Sheehan. Sheehan, the prototype was there.

A guy named Sekou the Misfit, Javon Johnson, Omari Hardwick. Sekou was there back in then? Yeah. Wow. Maybe not in 2001. He came maybe three or four years later, but we're a part of the same spoken word community.

Wow. Yeah, he's really powerful as well. He's amazing. He's like, just got that energy, you know? Yeah. I would say you're more of like a, like a soft-spoken, rhythmic, artistic poet where you bring the passion sometimes. No, it's okay.

I'm taking it in. He's more of like the, ah, you know, from what I've experienced of him at least. Maybe he's got some softer moments as well. I'm going to let him speak on that. But yeah, he's an incredible poet and definitely somebody who's been inspirational. What's the difference between poetry and music? I mean, it's a different genre, so you could just start there. When I write music, it's a totally different process for me than when I'm writing a poem.

But both, I think, start with finding a place that's true and then trying to build off of that um and uh you know I like exploring the things that happen in my life through my poetry um and then the music side since most of the stuff that I write is songs, is trying to find a way to take a concept and make it simple and digestible. Poetry is very rhythmic for me. Right. And music is kind of round. And so there's concepts and then there's just the actual spacing of the words and how you go about attacking a project. There's a lot more structure in music, at least for sellable music, I guess, right? When you're being commissioned or writing songs.

Absolutely. You've got to have a certain structure or else it's not going to... Yeah. Yeah. B section. Exactly. Chorus, verse, B section, chorus, bridge, chorus. Now you've written some songs for some big names, right?

Who have you written for? Yeah. I work with a company called Rock Mafia. And so I've co-written songs for selena gomez and miley cyrus and um a bunch of disney stuff and uh then a guy named aloe black who has a song out called ticking bomb right now who's a friend of mine and an amazing artist you should definitely check him out if you're not up on his stuff i need a dollar right i need a dollar yeah wake me up i met him at summer series a couple years ago too he sang there yeah he brought me out oh did he okay yeah that's that's awesome he's a pretty inspiring guy as well he's incredible so you write with him uh we wrote together on that song yeah wow yeah and we've worked over the years

so amazing and how did you get into writing for music, for artists, when you were originally just doing poetry a lot of the time? Well, you know, when I finally realized that I wasn't going to make it as a rapper the way that I thought I was going to make it. And that's like really kind of an important distinction. What did you think? Like Eminem style or what? I thought I was going to be like Gangstar from Santa Monica, you know. I thought I was going to be like Gangstar from Santa Monica, you know? And I think that the industry changed out from under me from when I really like dreamed of doing it. And then also the lowest common denominator became really popular.

And that wasn't really what I was selling. And then I think I was still trying to find my voice as an artist. And so all of those things were happening simultaneously. And now I can look back and I'm so glad that it didn't happen the way that I so badly wanted it to happen, because I'd be crazy right now. I know that for a fact, like I didn't really come into my own skin until like last Wednesday or something. and fortune and all that stuff it can be great if you know who you are and you know how you want to shape your career but if you don't you're gonna wind up searching externally for something that you don't have yet on the inside and so I think I basically woke up one day and I realized that my dreams had changed and I think that's interesting too because I think oftentimes people don't

acknowledge or recognize that their dreams have changed so they keep on trying to make something happen and they don't realize they've actually moved on from that. And so I woke up and I went, wow, like I am more of a poet now than I am a rapper. And, you know, I would rather pursue something and try to create a market for something that doesn't really fully exist than, you know, be one person in a marathon, you know, trying to reach the finish line, especially when I'm not as passionate about it anymore. And, you know, I guess acknowledging that and pursuing that is one thing, but figuring out how to make money right away off of it was another. And so I just kind of kept performing and kept getting out there and caught the eye

of Rock Mafia. and they kind of i think figured at the time that it would be good to bring a different voice into their crew and see if they could add some poetic words into some of these pop songs and and it's been a great collaboration ever since what's the difference between realizing that you don't you're not passionate about your dream anymore and moving on between that and giving up or quitting and what if someone's like well i don't like to quit yeah so i'm gonna like finish this till the end because that's what i like if i just keep going on from dream to dream to dream then i'll never finish anything well what are you doing anything for you're doing it for yourself you know so like whatever preconceived notions you have i like i don't want to see myself as a quitter well if that stops you from acknowledging your new truth

then you're getting in your own way it's true yeah so i think it's a personal thing for everybody and only people who can look inward can figure out the answer to that for themselves. Yeah. I feel like just your energy and your, your poetry, it sounds to me like you've done a lot of work on yourself. Thank you. And I don't know if that's true or not, but it really is. Let's get some 40 son.

We're going out. It sounds like you're extremely grounded. Like you've been through a lot of different experiences that have shaped you to be like, all right, I know what I'm about. I know what I want. Yeah. And I i'm very you seem centered and grounded yeah i feel that way we're all gonna die man yeah seriously yeah we're all gonna die dude so it's like we we're gonna

spend time like thinking about what someone might imaginary like have thoughts about you or judgments or like no dude just be authentic show up be open you know um i try to uh try to find something to like about every moment that i'm in sure and uh try to find things to be grateful for yeah and uh and then even within that you can decide who you want to spend your time with and you don't want to spend your time with right you set your own boundaries but like you know in general in general i don't waste my time thinking about what other people might be thinking about sure sure what's been your greatest moment so far this one best moment ever yeah okay what's been your biggest accomplishment that you had set out to this one okay i like it best moment ever like full full-on rainbow outside

that's pretty good you know i mean uh i saw louis ck in an interview one day and he said um you always think you're making it in your career like you'll have a moment you'll be like i made it and then you wake up the next day and you're like damn i gotta make breakfast you know like it was something similar to that and the idea of it is that you're always evolving. You're always in a new moment, you know, and you're always striving for something else. And you always have to be kind of grateful for where you are. So for me, when you ask that, my real answer is right now. Yeah.

Yeah. Because you're not guaranteed another minute. I'm not. And this is amazing. Yeah. You know, it's amazing if you want it to be amazing right and if you don't then it won't be i i was at uh century city the other night and um i came down from watching the hobbit i saw that last week it's so good man yeah it's great it's great it's cute it's like a cute movie yeah um and fun and like you know lord of the rings were my shit you know but uh

but this still does the trick and i was happy i saw it yeah so i walked out and someone had hit my car which is weird too because like century city in general like if you've ever been there it's just like a normal parking structure it's like someone had backed up like 15 feet or something to hit my car it's like what possibly could they have been thinking? And, you know, I was like, oh, wow, interesting. Like, look at this moment. You know, interesting. You know, I could choose to get really angry at that.

Or I could choose to just be present and try to solve the problem and i think that's often something that i try to do too is i try to be solution oriented rather than problem oriented um but that's not always easy because you have emotions i mean i wasn't happy that somebody had hit my car you know right and i was broke for so long you know i i spent all this time getting enough money to buy my car like this cool you know to have this car and then it's beat my car. Like this cool, you know, to have this car. And then it's beat up. And you're like, what the fuck, you know? So I like walked all the way upstairs and I talked to security guard to see if there was cameras and stuff like that.

But I was really nice, you know, and he was on the job. He's been on the job for 12 years and he has to stay up all night. And so instead of thinking about my own, I was like trying to like, you know, have a conversation with him and be present. Connect. Yeah. And and then I came back downstairs and he was taking pictures of the car and because i was not angry i noticed on my windshield you know i had had all those things from valets you know well underneath one of the things from the valet is the guy had left his card and information, which was awesome of him to do that. Perfect. But I promise you, five years ago, I would have been so angry that I wouldn't have seen the card. I know that to be the case. I know to be the case that I would have left and then I would have seen that and I would have grabbed it and I would have thrown it in the trash before I even acknowledged that anything else was there.

And I think you see what you focus on consciously or unconsciously in your life. So I try to focus on the good things and therefore this is the best moment of my life. There you go. That's great. Let's talk about poetry, man. What's your vision for poetry, word or all that stuff uh i think i think it needs to be broken in popular culture i think that why because i think people are looking to connect right now um i think that with uh the expansion of technology i think it's wonderful but it's

also isolating so there's a real dichotomy there we're so connected we're disconnected that's exactly it and um and and yet like you know we can take a picture and put it up you know of this rainbow or whatever and then somebody in beirut could see it i mean really it's pretty cool it's amazing that that exists and it allows us to see everyone's experience on a very matrix level that we've never had in the history of the world before. So there is something very connecting about that. And there is also something very isolating about that. And so I think that within that people are seeking out communities that are immediately in front of them or trying to create communities more differently than they have in the past.

And this particular genre is all about vulnerability. It's all about hopes and dreams and disappointments and being human and really showing up. And so I think that there's a lot for people to explore within the artists that are out there as poets right now. But also, I think that once it's broken as a genre, and there are platforms for exposure on a larger level, and it's seen like any other popular genre, and it's monetized, that people will want to do it themselves, which is also an opportunity for them to self-explore. And anytime you're doing work on yourself, you're doing work on the world. That's true.

And I believe that. That's true. Yeah. Interesting. So where do you see it going then? Where do you see this trend moving towards? And where do you see yourself in it? You want it to be mainstream, but like how? You know, I say that I want it to be mainstream, but even within that, like, I say that I want it to be mainstream, but even within that, I don't want it to be mainstream at the expense of its integrity or my integrity. I think every artist brings their own truth to the table. And I've worked long enough to figure out what that truth is where I want to be true to it.

I want to be true to it i want to be true to my truth you know and um and that being said i i you know i think that uh i think that it can be as big as anything else i think that poets can have sitcoms i think poets should be on late night i think uh poets should have their own hbo specials you. It's kind of like the new comedian. Absolutely. Comedian going from shows to then movies to music to everything else, right? Yeah. And I think, in fact, I don't think. I know it's going to happen. It's just a matter of time and it's a matter of opportunity

and it's about making sure that whoever's in the driver's seat at that point seizes it. And once people know it's possible, then all the dominoes will fall on its own. What's your perfect day look like? Just waking up, man. Just waking up. I mean, I could get more specific of being with people that I love and care about, doing things that I have fun doing, having adventures, doing things that I've never done before. I mean, that's always great. Before, I would say that I was probably more scared of life than anything else,

but I didn't really acknowledge that to myself or to others. So I had a very, I think, tough veneer in terms of how I would look at everything, how I would look at people, how I would look at situations. And in that, I wasn't interested in adventure. I wasn't interested in doing things that I had never done before because it's just fucking scary. And it sucks to do some shit that you're not good at. Why not just stick to the shit you're good at? Well, that feels good. It feels good to do some shit that you're good at. Why do you want to do some shit you're not good at? But that's the whole thing. It's like, how do you grow? You do shit you're not good at but that's the whole thing is like how do you grow you do shit you're not good at and it's it's not even like necessarily in that thing like whatever you choose to do that day like if you want to go indoor skydiving you know let's

say you're not the best indoor skydiver you know what i mean you don't have to become a professional indoor skydiver in order to learn from the experience of indoor skydiving. No, it's like there are all sorts of lessons in, you know, putting yourself in uncomfortable situations socially, putting yourself in uncomfortable situations physically, emotionally, pushing your own boundaries. Just being with people that I care about and have love for and exploring new ideas and continuing to test this physical reality, this bizarre human experience that we're all in. It's amazing. Yeah. Let's get back to vulnerability. Okay.

Man, fuck that. I'm out. vulnerability has been something i've been really working on myself for the last year and really allowing myself to be vulnerable in any moment at any time as opposed to put up a wall or barrier or a shell and for myself when i've been working on it i'm not working on it just being vulnerable right and allow myself to be that it's really powerful the type of connections i'm not working on it just being vulnerable right and allow myself to be that it's really powerful the type of connections i'm able to create totally the type of empathy i'm able to have with other people and they're able to have with me and it's like almost like if i meet someone in a few minutes and we get vulnerable really quickly it's like we've known each other we trust

each other instantly yeah do you feel like you're always bringing vulnerability when you're writing and performing these poems? And why do you want to be vulnerable when you're writing poetry? Well. Is it to create that connection with the audience instantly or is it to make them feel deeply? What is that purpose for you? That's interesting. Well, I think that we're all mirrors. And I think that's what we're doing here.

We're just kind of mirroring the human experience back to each other. And so what I try to do through my work is I try to explore my own human experience in the most honest way that I can, and then kind of give that window away to the audience to look at life through my perspective, and then inquire about their own lives. And I've always been honest in my writing, but I think in my performance, I have not always been honest. Why not?

Because I wasn't comfortable being vulnerable. I was being conceptually vulnerable. You were performing more than actually being vulnerable? Yeah, I was telling. Performing vulnerability as opposed to living it? That's right. I was telling, not showing. And I didn't really have the ability to do that at that time.

And I'm still learning how to do that now. I mean, you know, there'll be shows that I do where, you know, I get on stage for an hour and a half sometimes and I'll be flying. And then there are other shows that I do where I feel pushback from different pockets of the audience at different times because I explore so many different concepts. of the audience at different times because I explore so many different concepts and different than comedy in comedy you can kind of hide behind the laughs my stuff is funny but it's not mostly funny so once in a while yeah it's like 60 40 or 70 30 or something like that so like since I don't have that to hide behind and since I don't have music to hide behind and it's just it's raw and it's not even some other writer's words or some story that I'm putting my truth into it's me

you know it's hard not to take personally how people respond to it and that's an interesting life lesson for me so if I feel pushback from an audience, my first instinct is just to fucking kill the poem. Because I go into like, well, then watch. I'm fucking good. Watch how good I can be, which is all bullshit. Kill the poem. You mean stop it or like start crushing it? No, no. Like crush the poem.

Like crush the shit out of it. Like I'm about to murder this poem. Yeah. I'm going to show you. I'm going to show you. Yeah. Yeah. Let me show you.

Ego comes out. Yeah. And that's all stupid, man. And it's not really what I'm trying to do. What I'm trying to do is communicate. And I'm trying to communicate in a way where I don't need anyone else to respond in any way in order to validate my truth. Don't you want a response? Well, interestingly enough, the more I can get into that mentality, whatever the response is, is okay.

And it makes me lean in farther to go deeper into the vulnerability of the piece. Because you've detached your ego from your body. So you don't care what the result is. Right. And then sometimes it's a grind and it comes in and it comes out and it comes in and it comes out. And I could sit here in front like that doesn't happen. But what good would that do? How does that help my process and being vulnerable as an artist? I was talking to somebody the other day about heroes in general. And they were saying that because of privacy and technology, they were

saying that there are no heroes anymore. And i was saying the definition of a hero needs to change the hero shouldn't be invincible anymore if you think your celebrities are invincible you're crazy dude we're all just trying to figure this out nobody really knows why we're here all we have is our own truth and our own experience which is constantly changing you know so it's like all you can really do is like show up and i think that as a hero or as somebody who's in the public eye you should be honest with with your faults and allow people to see that mirror so they they can kind of go farther in themselves um and and raise their own vibrational level you know right i think it's important to think about for sure do you feel like

over the next five years as this technology continues to open up and people are going to get caught messing up or being you know not perfect all the time or being invincible do you think this definition will change i don't know i mean i i know that some of the heroes that we've had in the past wouldn't be heroes in this age we love to build people up and tear them down yeah you know so i i mean i don't claim to be perfect man yeah i love my flaws i love working through them you know and if anybody is going to look up to me for anything it should be for that you know um and and trust i'm looking up to other people in the process

and i'm always looking to learn from the moment you know and whoever it is I'm dealing with because there's a reason I feel like I co-created it I'm here for a reason you know and it's a give and take you know and that's the other thing I think celebrities

in general there's this like you know society makes them bigger than everyone else and sometimes they buy into that and they're not man nobody is any better than anyone else like you know and I think if we all had that mentality and we realized we could learn from each other no matter what I just think it would be more of a human shift. Yeah. Now, do you think everyone should open up and be vulnerable all the time in their business and their life and just lay it all out there?

Or is this sense of personal branding, building a perception around your image, does that have some valid to it as well? I definitely think it does. I'm probably the wrong person to ask because I'm not really good at building my brand. And that's why I know what my brand is. I know who I am. But I've actually had to bring other people in now to start to do that for me because that's not the way that my mind thinks. And I think it's probably unrealistic to walk around, you know,

floating on a rainbow all the time. I'm not saying you should do that either you have to connect to what's actually happening there's dangerous shit in the world there's people who are an obscurity of the divine that could definitely threaten and all of that stuff

but I don't walk around and operate from that place and if someone's playing chess with me they're playing chess with themselves because if i don't walk around and operate from that place you know and if someone's playing chess with me they're playing chess with themselves because if i don't respond that way right then they they're not they're literally there's no interaction here other than their own sure um and i'm getting better at that and then there are times when i you know slip up i think you would have to ask somebody who does branding for a living. I think they would probably say that branding is very important. And I agree with that. Right, right, right. Let's talk about poetry in the business world. How can someone apply poetry to,

I guess, marketing, copywriting, applying it to their business to attract more customers? What do you think? Any thoughts on that? Can I say one more thing, actually, before I go into that? Yeah. I just had a conversation on the way over here where I was talking to somebody, and the business relationship had shifted. And so we were having that conversation, and it was a good conversation. And in the end of the conversation, he said that he's had to reestablish certain things in different parts of his own business. And he said that those relationships were shifting as well. And he said, some people can't hear the word no. And I said, how people take no determines whether or not I want to work with them in the future.

He said that? No, I think I said that. But I think we were on the same page when we were discussing it because- How people take no. Yeah. It kind of determines- If you want to work with them in the future. Whether or not I want to work with them in the future. And I think that the same thing goes to the vulnerability thing that we were talking about

a second ago, which is like, personally, I want to work with people that I can be real with. Right. I'm not going to cry to somebody. I mean, that's not what I'm talking about a second ago, which is like, personally, I want to work with people that I can be real with. Right. I'm not going to cry to somebody. I mean, that's not what I'm talking about. But be real about what's going on, what I want, where I want to take this, you know, what I think the obstacles are.

And I want to have like an open communication with whoever I'm working with on the other side, you know, and I want them to feel like feel like you know they have an open door to say whatever they need to say rather than feeling like there are land bombs you know every other step or something so i think that's important as well yeah yeah i like it cool so on the business side of things sure how can someone apply poetry or tap into their poetic How can someone apply poetry or tap into their poetic creativity when they're in business? As opposed to just being so straightforward all the time, do you feel like this poetic language could benefit someone? I think language is really important in general. I always try to choose my words carefully. I always try to think about what I actually want to say.

I want to express, not impress, which is an interesting balance sometimes because sometimes you really do want to impress. But even within that, you just got to make sure you're saying what you truly mean, you know, check in with yourself. And I think clarity in business is good and i think i think creating open lines uh to talk about real things and real connection with whoever it is that you're working with can lead to a better business and a better product um and i think poetry helps to do that you know what's poetry talking about life just pay attention pay attention to everything that's going on around me

what's going on going on inside of me and uh trust my instincts you know and um also i think it goes back to what we said before, which is everybody's going to die, man. Don't be scared. Don't be scared of anything, man. Or you're going to have fears, but don't operate from your fears, man. Just challenge yourself.

Go farther. Dig deeper. When you were learning to hone in on your poetic skills yeah and performance skills which i still am right right let's just say 10 years ago when you started learning about these things what were some lessons you learned from some of the bigger poets at the time who were better than you at the time what were some lessons you learned from their performance or their structure or their vulnerability? I would say I learned the most from a guy named Shihan. And what did he teach you or what did you learn from just watching?

Well, I had never really thought about doing longer shows. And I had a lot of material, but I didn't know how to put it together in a way that would be entertaining. material, but I didn't know how to put it together in a way that would be entertaining. And a lot of people perceive poetry as like a three minute art form. And it's really, it can be digested in that way. But I don't think that that's the best platform for it. And so what I do now is I take the different pieces that I have, and then I string together like stories about my life that give you context to why I wrote the piece and what it's about. For example, the bird piece that I did earlier, the reason that I wrote that was because I was coming home from a show and I was on a plane

and we were delayed and I looked out the window and there was a bird, like one single bird, and there was a bird like one single bird and he was literally looking at the plane and he was just looking back and forth at this plane like he was jealous and i thought that's a bird that wants to be a plane and that's where that poem was born out of and i think that when people have context to who i am and what my life is it allows them to connect to my poetry in a more deep way, you know? And so I think that's what Shihan taught me is watching him, going on tour with him, different colleges and stuff like that. I would see how he would incorporate stories about his life and his family and how he would use humor. And, you know, he's one of my best friends. And so it was easily adopted into my own style. Sure.

Interesting. Yeah. I love it. Well, I'd love to finish with a poem if you have something. Sure. I have to think about what I would do. Something that brings it all together. If you have a story you want to talk about first feel free to add that as well that's funny

you know what i'll do a new poem perfect the thing that's impressive about you is you memorize all these poems i do majority of them which are six seven eight minutes long correct some of them are longer yeah that's a whole other conversation about how you memorize these long stories i think it's like anything else you know you just do it long enough and then you know you break it down piece by piece memory memorize each piece or no i just it's weird i don't even really think about it anymore memorization is the the least thing that i that i think about it's amazing i more think about the next line and making sure that uh it's saying what the poem wants us to say, basically. It's delivered the right way.

No, just even written in the right way. Ah, I see what you're saying. In the creation of it. But I guess delivered too. Yeah. Yeah. We are all mirrors, co-creators of this human experience.

So this is not my voice that you're hearing, it is ours. I'm here as a reflection to remind you of your inner power. In my next life, I'll be a sunflower. See, we belong to the world. It's not the other way around, but it's hard to keep your head inside the clouds and your feet on solid ground. The stimulus is infinite in and out. It's easy to forget what this is all about. What is this all about?

If all that counts is the numbers in our bank accounts, happiness cannot be found by having an amount. It's what we do that counts. It's who we are to the people that we care about. It's who we are to the people we don't care about. Because everyone could be someone you could care about. What if humanity had grown up in your parents' house? What if everyone you see is family?

Think about how much you love the people that you love and love the people with the same capacity. Compassion is an action. And actually, so is atrophy. It takes as much effort to create as it takes to pass your time passively. Yesterday is the future. Tomorrow is the past. This moment is an instant. It's over in a flash. Our bodies turn to ash, recycled by the dirt. The only thing that really lasts is the energy on earth. Because when we breathe out, plants breathe in. Then the plants breathe out and the cycle starts again in a human chess match

against the constitution. I used to focus on my problems. Now I'm open to solutions. Technology can be the catalyst for revolution. Community is as important as an institution. I am my own pollution. 85% of me is water and the other 15 is an illusion. We're only using 5% of our brains. The other 95% is in hibernation, a snooze button nation, waiting for a dreamer to come wake us up. This is not about me. It's about us. But it's comfortable inside the comforter. Wrapped up in insecurity blankets, pretending someone else will be the one to change. The truth is we're the only ones here. See, I'm trying to be clear, but I'm only a mirror. And I don't want to write a

poem just to make a crowd cheer. I want to write a poem that will make the crowd share, stand up on their chair, scream into the atmosphere. Life is not fair, but at least we're here. We could be anywhere and anywhere would still be here. Do you hear? Are you here? The people aren't over there, over where? There is only here. The map is not a square, rain dancing in a storm, trying to drink God's tears. What we are doing now is the next hundred years. So ask yourself if you're prepared to operate from fears. I dare you to be beautiful, but first be aware. However you perceive is the way that you appear. you perceive is the way that you appear. We don't have to make money or make change.

See, we can make both. We can take the blame and transform it into hope because I have faith that our mistakes will be our greatest growth and we are so close. So close your eyes and visualize the ways that you can give. Now open up your mind and live the life you're meant to live. Open up your heart and live the life that you were meant to live. Open up your soul and live the life that you were meant to live. Open up your cells and live the life that you were meant to live. Open up your eyes. It's right here in the present tense. It's a great finish.

Thank you, man. When did you write that one? Maybe three weeks ago. Wow. That's powerful. I appreciate it. Where can we find you online right now? You can go to Twitter,

INQLife, INQLife. I'm on Instagram, INQLife, Facebook, INQLife. Everywhere INQLife. Everywhere is INQLife. I N Q life in Q life. I'm on Instagram and Q life, Facebook in Q life, everywhere in Q life, everywhere is in Q life,

but you spell it. I N dash Q. I N dash Q. That's the name, but I N Q life. That's it. Amazing. I appreciate it. And,

uh, when's your next show going to be? When can we, when can we watch you live performance? You did Cirque du Soleil once, right? Yeah, I'm doing Cirque next year.

Okay. I'm doing Cirque at the Mandalay Bay in March and gonna do shows in LA and New York haven't figured out when we just did a run in Venice that was amazing sold out awesome awesome vibes

so we're gonna recreate that hopefully in New York again in LA and then Miami and then I travel around you know so you can always go to the website and check out where I'm going to be next. In-Q.com, right? In-Q.com and then just INQLife on all the social media. Appreciate it, brother. Thanks so much.

Thank you, man. It's a robot. And there you have it, greats. I love getting to know people like this and really diving into their heart, their soul, tapping into their creative talent and bringing it forward to you guys on this podcast. So if you enjoyed this episode, please share it with your friends

over on Facebook or Twitter. And you get all the show notes back at lewishouse.com. You'll see Adam's info there on the show notes. Some awesome videos actually of him performing live. If you want to watch him actually perform, go back to the show notes and watch a couple of the videos. And really, again, share it with your friends if you enjoyed this. Subscribe on iTunes and SoundCloud and Stitcher if you're liking the show.

And it means a lot to me. I've been getting so many positive feedbacks from people lately. I spoke at an event a couple weeks ago, New Media Expo, and so many people came up to me and said specific things in specific episodes that really inspired them and motivated them to take action in their business, their life, their relationships. really inspired them and motivated them to take action in their business, their life, their relationships. So keep sending your information my way over on Twitter, over on Facebook, or shoot me an email through my website at lewishouse.com.

And I've got some big episodes coming up in the next few weeks. So again, stay tuned for that. Make sure to subscribe on the newsletter at lewishouse.com so you are always up to date on the newest episodes. And you guys know what time it is. It's you are always up to date on the newest episodes. And you guys know what time it is. It's time to go up there and do something big today and make it great. It's a robot.

That's when that little cashless plate from Louisville, Kentucky came up and stopped Sonny Liston, the man who annihilated Floyd Patterson twice. He was going to kill me. But he hit harder than George. His reach was longer than George. He was better boxer than George. And I'm better now than I was when you saw that 22-year-old undeveloped kid running from Sonny Liston.

I'm experienced now, professional. Jaw's been broke, been knocked down a couple times. Bad. Been chopping trees. I done something new for this fight. I done wrestled with an alligator. That's right. I have wrestled with an alligator.

I done tussled with a whale. I done handcuffed lightning, throw thunder in jail. That's bad. Only last week, I murdered a rock, injured a stone, hospitalized a brick. I'm so mean, injured a stone, hospitalized a brick.

I'm so mean, I make medicine sick. Man, dude. Man. Fast. Fast. Fast. Last night, I cut the light off my bedroom, hit the switch, was in the bed before the room was dark. Incredible.

Fast. Incredible. And you, George Pullman, all of you chumps are going to bow when I whoop him. All of you. I know you got him I know you got him, dick But the man's in trouble I'm gonna show you how great I am you