TrueLife - Tukay - Love & Sip Hop

Episode Date: June 12, 2023

One on One Video Call W/George https://tidycal.com/georgepmonty/60-minute-meetingSupport the show:https://www.paypal.me/Truelifepodcast?locale.x=en_US🚨🚨Curious about the future of psychedelics? Imagine if Alan Watts started a secret society with Ram Dass and Hunter S. Thompson… now open the door. Use Promocode TRUELIFE for Get 25% off monthly or 30% off the annual plan For the first yearhttps://www.district216.com/https://youtube.com/@LoveAndSipHopLove & HipHop with the one & only Tukay One on One Video call W/George https://tidycal.com/georgepmonty/60-minute-meetingSupport the show:https://www.paypal.me/Truelifepodcast?locale.x=en_USCheck out our YouTube:https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPzfOaFtA1hF8UhnuvOQnTgKcIYPI9Ni9&si=Jgg9ATGwzhzdmjkg

Darkness struck, a gut-punched theft, Sun ripped away, her health bereft. I roar at the void. This ain't just fate, a cosmic scam I spit my hate. The games rigged tight, shadows deal, blood on their hands, I'll never kneel. Yet in the rage, a crack ignites, occulted sparks cut through the nights. The scars my key, hermetic and stark. To see, to rise, I hunt in the dark, fumbling, fear. Hears through ruins maze, lights my war cry, born from the blaze.

The poem is Angels with Rifles. The track, I Am Sorrow, I Am Lust by Codex Serafini. Check out the entire song at the end of the cast. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the True Live podcast. I hope everybody's having a beautiful day. Hope you got to wake up next to the person you love. Hope the birds are singing. The sun is shining.

The wind is at your back. Got a great show, great guest for you today. 2K talks with 2K he's an entrepreneur a father a content creator host of his own rapidly growing immersive digital show love and sip hop he's got quite a large repertoire of guests he's fun to talk to and we got him here today 2K thanks for being here today man hey man I'm happy to be here how you doing bro I'm good man I'm good I'm still out here in the 808 in Hawaii I know you were out here for a while but what you took it back to texas uh yeah I am in texas right now actually Me and the family, we should be in Hawaii in probably two weeks.

What? Yeah. Yeah. Are you coming back out here to stay? You coming on vacation? Oh, no. To stay. My wife's parents are, they from, my wife is originally from Hawaii.

Okay. So all her parents and stuff still there. So, you know, for the summertime, you like to pack the kids up and let them go out there for the summer. Yeah, it's hard to beat the weather, man. Oh, yeah. Right? Yeah. Yeah.

It's interesting. You know, I was, before we got started on the show, we were talking just real briefly about this world we live in is, it's a crazy time. It seems kind of scary, but it's also pretty beautiful, man. Both you and I are content creators, man. You're doing it full time.

You're making your own way. I was wondering if maybe you could share how that happened, man. Maybe you could inspire some people with your origin story. Well, so to just start out, I'm a people's person. I love people. People is my passion. Like good people, bad people, all people, I just love people. So when I was staying in Hawaii, I was doing like festivals, like big events.

And so this was like from 2017 until 2020. And I'm pretty sure you know what happened in 2020. Yeah, so everything comes to a halt. And now I don't have no money. Like everything is just slowed up. it's hard to pull in income. So I just get on Facebook live

one day and something I used to always do anyway, but now it's just a lot of people with nothing to do. So I'm seeing my views go from 30 people to probably like 300. I'm like, what in the world going on? So

they were like, you need to do this more often because at the time when nothing on TV, like it's just everybody bored. So I just, I just, started doing it every morning and then I say you know what I love this I love it I absolutely love it so I just invested into some equipment and um I've been doing it ever since and we'll do it probably for the foreseeable future like for free for pay for whatever I just love it yeah you're good at it you have a really good ability to kind of anticipate how people are feeling and that's tough

to do when you're on the other side of a screen it's one thing when you're in a group and you can get the vibe from somebody, when you see their eye twitches or their mouth curl up, you can sense what they're feeling about. But it's tough to do when you're trying to reach through the screen. We've got any tips or tricks. How do you manage that, man? Is it just words or are you catching a vibe from the tone people use?

Or what's your technique? The technique is probably lazy. But it works for me. So my technique is, despite what your mood is, don't let you change my mood. My mood is always I want to be comedic. I want to be serious, but it got to be

somewhere we can laugh at this. You know what I'm saying? And so I'm always looking for the next opportunity to crack a joke to lighten up the, like even in the most darkest stories, there's always a smile somewhere. And I'm looking for that one smile, even if it's one. So that's my goal.

Always to look for a smile. And then once you break that ice, Oh, it's up. Let's laugh. Is that a philosophy you use, like, in your natural relationships as well? Yeah, I take playing very serious. If they make any sense, life is way too serious to be serious. So I like to take playing.

I like to take playing very serious. Like, let's have fun. Like, it's going to be serious with or without. Like, let's laugh. Let's crack a joke. Yeah, I agree. Life is so, it's so tricky, man, especially, you know, when you're, when COVID came or when, you know, people are stressing for money or your family's got you down or something like that. But there's always, like, I think life just dishes you that, that ping pong ball where it's going to serve you up some humor if you're willing to hit it, you know.

And sometimes that thing comes at you, you hit it out of the park. Sometimes you whiff it, you know, but having the courage to be able to laugh at yourself, laugh at people and laugh at a lot. authority is something that served me well, man. Would you agree? Yeah, I think that word started. Once my audience found out that, hey, the same dude that's laughing at me will also crack the joke on himself. Yeah. That's when they understood that this is just a safe place for laughing, for having fun. Like, if I have to be the expense of the joke so you can smile, so be it. You know what I'm saying?

Like, let's just have fun. Let's just laugh. Yeah. Yeah, I agree. You know, another thing, too, it seems that I was watching through some of your clips and shows, and it seems like there's been a few times where you've got to be the mediator in there. I know for me, when I'm in there and I got two people that are kind of going back and forth a little bit, it's interesting because you want to hear both sides, but then you hear people get a little bit heated.

How do you know when the right time to do you, you know, when the right time to, to, jump in that conversation. Is it is something you would do in real time as far as on air as well? Are those things similar? When I'm in that mediating role, it's simply to hear out what this person is saying and hear out

what this person is saying. So even if it do get it like a little jumpy and it get a little hostile, I have to remember all us are on the internet. So we aren't together so I can like let it play out just a little bit longer with if we was

at person, I have to be stepping in between so it don't escalate. Yeah. So, I mean, loud conversations make for interesting answers. But it gets the job done, though. So for the most part, I just let the people have it out. And then when I come to a conclusion or when I hear something, I'm like, hey, hey, now you said this and you said that, why would you do that? And I, you know, try to piece it together.

Yeah. Yeah. And I think you do a great job of bringing like some clarity to the conversation too, because you do bring about this. Wait a minute. You said this and then this guy was talking about that. And a lot of the times you'll see people be like, oh, yeah, yeah, I did say that. You know what I mean?

Yeah. Whereas if it was at a party or if you were to family gathering, maybe, you know, all of a sudden, sometimes you're not allowed that. You're not allowed that moment of clarity where you can, even though you could step in between them, at least digitally, you can silence them for a second and bring about some clarity there. man. On some levels, I love that about the digital world, but on the flip side of it, it's kind of a trip to not have that felt presence of the other. You know what I mean by that? Like, sometimes if you're around a group of people, like we've all been around like a girl or a guy,

oh, that person likes us or that person doesn't like us. Like, you can really feel that when you're around people. And I miss that when it's not in real life. But can you, you think you can ever, we'll be able to bridge that gap, you think, between digital and actually being there? Well, I'm so well-diverse with humans that I can understand the wordplay. So I might can't feel it. Right. But I can understand. Like, you can understand what somebody really trying to come to a resolution versus somebody really just want to drag it out. Like, just using words.

So maybe I'm blessed with that ability to just like understand. in that moment, but I know for a lot of people, like, you know, they just don't get it. Like, you know what I'm saying? Yeah. Yeah, so I get exactly what you're saying. You know, I've learned that, like, I feel like I share some of that same quality. And I wish I could say, sometimes I think I'm, maybe some people are born with it. But to me, it seems like it comes from tragedy, man.

Like, for me, I've had like a lot of, and I'm sure a lot of people listen to this have had the same thing where maybe you have like I came from a my parents got divorced when I was younger somewhat of an abusive relationship and as a kid when you look at that you're able to intuitive things like oh man look at that look on my dad's face things are coming down the line right now or man my mom is devastated man I can see her about to cry her eyes are glassy and when as kids we don't have that verbal skills but we do have that emotional skill where we look at them and we see it and then when we get older we're able to see those things in other people man do you think it's is that is it literally Learned behavior is the ability to mediate between people something we learn or is something we're born with or both? It's both. Okay. But more than more than everything is your ability to want to understand another person. I like that. A lot of people don't care to understand at all.

Like, hey, I'm the victim. I don't care about what you're going through. No. Like I have, I like to sit back and I like to get it from both. Now, I might not agree, but the understanding is key to me. So once you get to see all these verbal signs, we tend to take it to other situations. Like, okay, I remember that look. My dad used to look like that when my mom was chewing them out.

You know, so we, you know, we mentally law. That's why I say you have to be able to want to understand. A lot of people don't care to. That's a great point. It does come down to wanting to understand. And like you know there's a problem and you want to solve the problem. You're not trying to win. You're like, let me figure this thing outright.

Why? I care about these people. Let me figure out what's going on versus I can just drop this one line on them and crush them. They crush them. Yeah. I've seen it. I don't know about you, but I've played both those roles. And as I get older in my life, it's so much more fulfilling to be in a relationship with someone you love,

whether you've got kids or a significant other. You know, it's hard sometimes, but if you can become the listener and the person who wants to solve the problem, I think that you can have better relationships throughout your life, right? Right. Me having a wife so difficult. By far, one of the most difficult things in the world, but, you know, we have a goal. We have kids that we need to raise. Right.

And without that communication is important. to me understanding is the be-all. Because I can hear what she's saying, but if I'm not understanding what she's going through or what she might be mad about, we get nowhere. I learn nothing. So having that understanding going to, you know, it'll take me a long way.

And even if she might say, hey, I want a divorce. Well, I also can use that same understanding to understand how she feel. Like, okay, maybe I pushed it too far. I understand it. So understand. I like to find the good and all, but understand it.

Like, when none of that be possible without understanding. Yeah. I love that word, man. Like I, I zook out on language all the time. And when I think of, like, the word understand. I think of me or you walking in like a basement and looking up and understanding like the foundation of it. Because that's how it is, right?

It's like when you're in a relationship or you're trying to solve a problem you're understanding it, like you are seriously looking at the situation and trying to figure out, okay, well, how does that relationship fit there? Why is that board underneath that platform right there? And when you do it, when you look at it from that angle, all of a sudden you take like the anger out of it. You take the emotion out of it and you're able to hear that other person. And on top of that, you know, it took me later in life to figure this one out. But the way we interact with our wives, like that's the same way my son's going to interact with his What? It's the same when my daughter is going to interact with her husband, man.

Right. I wish I would have known that when I was younger, man. Yeah, it's crazy that you say that because it's so true. So, um, like the little, like, my dad wasn't really around when I was growing up, but the little interactions that I did have, I remember how he handled situations. Even like, I'm talking about these probably were like 5% of my entire childhood. But I remember exactly how he handled situations with my mother. Well, it was, okay, I'll take this from there to do this or don't do that, don't do this.

So these times are extremely important even when you got them like this. So what you're saying is like 100% facts, man. We are our parents. We are our parents. Yeah, I was, I do a lot of, I talk a lot about, or lately it seems that I've been kind of finding myself in like this world of mental health. Maybe it's because I'm in Hawaii and I'm surrounded by like the soldiers out here. Maybe my dad was a veteran and I kind of grew up in like this PTSD and kind of environment. Or maybe it's COVID, man.

Maybe everyone's kind of, you know, you see the way in which people were. sort of battered around or subjected to this weird kind of authority. But yeah, man, I've been doing a lot of thinking about mental health. And this conclusion that I came to is kind of what we're talking about. Like, it seems that a lot of the problems we have, whether you're George or 2K, or a lot of the problems our parents have. And if we don't, if you and I don't solve those problems, then our kids have to solve them, man.

It's a weird thing to think about that as a generational level, right? It's kind of strange. Yeah, I was speaking about mental health yesterday. And I came to this conclusion that a lot of people didn't agree with. Oh, what's that? Let's hear it. The mental health is basically us feeling sorry for ourselves. I'm not speaking about mental illnesses.

Right. But the mental health aspect is us in our own way. So the minute I, because I suffer from mental health, but the minute I rearrange the way I thought. Right. And then I started telling myself, it can always be, worse. Yeah.

That's when stuff that started to get better. Like, I'm sitting here and I'm dragging myself down about this, and this person right here got it 10 times worse. Like, who am I to complain? Like, let me stop. And the minute I adopted that mindset, all my mental health issues, they was, like, they was tiny. It was nothing.

Because I wouldn't even go through the worst variation of what I was going through who am I to complain about that so that changed my outlook on mental health i think forever like seriously so i always tell people like i know it's kind of hard at first but if you if you start to look at it like that and get out your own way you'll notice the mental health problems become like nothing nothing and i am a veteran i i did serve and you know i suffer from PTSD but i still have to get out my own way. And that helps. Yeah, man.

You know, it's, I remember, there's a saying that people use sometimes. I use myself, too, it's all in your head, whether it's good, whether it's bad, whether it's sad, it's all in your head, man. And you can change the way you see the world by changing the way you think, man. And I love the way you said it. Like, it's, it is mental health. Here's how I break it down. I look at mental health as like,

the patterns of language we use in our own mind. Like if they say depression is being trapped in the past, oh man, I can't believe that happened to me. Man, I can't believe that chick left me, man. I know what if I just would have done this thing, it would be so much better right now.

That's depression. Yeah, exactly. And they say anxiety is being trapped in the future. Oh, I don't know what's going to happen, man. What if that goes over there, you know? But like you said, it's all in your head. You can't change the past, man. You can't.

You can't worry about the future because he ain't there yet. You don't know what's going to happen. But those two places will stick you there and you'll be paralyzed. Yeah. You know what I mean? You just be stuck. So it's when I think about mental health with the people that I speak with, I always try to come across and let them know. Look, man, you've got to have healthy language patterns.

And those language patterns begin inside your own mind. How are you talking to yourself, man? Yeah. Hey, George, you're looking beautiful today. George, you're handsome. Hey, George, you know what? You messed up, but you'd be better next time. Because that happened, you won't do it again.

Yeah. These patterns, right? Yeah. it's kind of like a negativity is a vortex. Yep. Yep. You start saying one bad thing right here, then it leads to another one,

and then it just starts to spiral out of downward out of control. The minute you stop yourself, you're like, hey, you can do it. You got it. Could be worse. Keep going. Things start to get better. Like, you start to take off.

And, man, a lot of people aren't taught. to be resilient. Like, that's, that's a big thing. So I preach resiliency in this household a lot because you will follow. Everybody will. Yeah. It's how you react to you father. You know, when you're on that ground.

Are you thinking about what you're going to do when you come back up? Yeah. And, um, yeah, so a lot of the mental health thing, I blame on us, not mental illness. I know that it's two completely different things. Um, but mental health, I feel like a lot of, can be alleviated if we get out our own way as people. Yeah, I agree too. I, you know, it kind of brings up this idea of addiction.

You know, I think sometimes we get addicted to that victim mentality, you know, like all of a sudden people start giving us attention because something bad happened to you. You start seeking that attention, you know, or, you know, it's interesting how, how those things can affect us, you know, and you spiral downwards and it's crazy to think about. What would you take on addiction, be it with drugs or like a mental addiction? The best thing I think I ever done as far as addiction-wise was not starred. Okay, so I never smoked marijuana. I did any drugs.

I did drink once I get in military, but once I felt myself slippery, I still had the wheelpower to catch myself. But I do see what addiction has done to my community, my friends, loved ones. And like, it's something that's hard to shape. You know what I'm saying? I look at it like it's effortlessly because I've never started it. I might just stop, but I don't know what you're battling at this moment. So I really can't speak a lot to addiction, especially when it comes to drugs. But I can only imagine what it does to the body.

Yeah. Yeah. How you feel about it? Well, be brutally honest. I love it. Yeah. Well,

I think that it is on some level, I used to think it was weakness. You know, I used to think like, oh, this person is not mentally strong enough, man. They're just weak.

But as I... You kind of have a point with that. Yeah. You know, but I took it one level deeper, too, Kinaw like this. I went,

man, that's a pretty bold statement for me to judge someone. like that call them weak when I don't even know what they're going through. So I went from that that person's weak to like, well, how do I know they're weak? And then it kind of made me think, well, it seems like they can't control themselves. And then it kind of hit me like, oh, man, you know what? I'm just judging myself.

Like, I'm weak. You know, the only way I can see weakness in other people is I recognize it. So when I'm like, that person's weak, what I'm really saying is that like I recognize weakness in them in me. I know that's kind of like, it's kind of meta, but like, I used to think that people that were addicted were weak. But now I think it's maybe that no, they don't, it's more of a lack of courage in a way. And I know that sounds kind of mean. No, it's a lack of courage. I think you're hitting right on the head, Joe.

Yes, yes. You have to understand, like, okay, me and you, I think we kind of like I got my daughter with me. Beautiful, she's beautiful. We kind of handle problems the same. same way. All right. Go back upstairs with my mom, okay? We can't handle our problems the same way. We like to meet our problems, you know, you're half-wake, head on. But the minute you start looking for substitutes, like, let's say marijuana. Okay, you would rather get hired than

face and conquer this problem. That is a sign of weakness. I get exactly what you're saying, because instead of manning up and handling this problem, you're looking for a way out. You're looking for a coping mechanism. Right. So what you just said when a time around get all, but that is a fair observation of what you would see as weakness. And I agree.

Yeah, it's like, you know, and in some ways, like, it's hard to explain, but in some ways, like, when I see other people, I see them as a mirror. So when I see someone that's weak, it's like, oh, man, I see this person run into this thing because they're scared. I've been scared and I've wanted to run before. Because I saw that person, maybe I shouldn't do it because now you can see other people and understand the outcome of your actions. Right. Look at it from that angle.

That was, you know, that was one of the biggest reasons I never tried marijuana. Okay. I got seven, eight, nine, ten examples right here on why running. to marijuana didn't work. Okay. Like, it is marijuana not a horrible drug, but it do do something that I don't think that the rest of the drugs do. It calls complacency.

And I feel like complacency has killed more dreams than probably a lot of drugs. So with everybody being so complacent, I got to see firsthand on what this drug, could do to me. I got the same what alcohol could do to me. And so it was, you know, I'm like you. I can look at other people's situations and see what effect that this have on them and not want to do it at all.

Because I know some of the people that these drugs was overtaken was greater than myself. Like I held them in higher statute than myself. So if they can do debt to them, I better not mess with it. Yeah, I've been not Do you think it was the drug That did that to them Or did they just do it to themselves

With that drug They definitely did it to themselves Oh And once a point of time Their drug wasn't a part of their life Right They made it apart Right

So the first time you You know you chose to try these That was you introducing this To your life Yeah So I can't necessarily Blame me on the drugs Because you was the one

They tried it Yeah, it's interesting to think about those relationships Because I know some people that like they turn to some dirty drugs man And they end up living a dirty life And I also know people that turn to some drugs And do they got a healthy relationship with them You know what I mean? Like okay they they

And that's a weird thing to think about too Because you know when I was growing up there was like this dare program Or then we got the this is your brain on drugs They show like egg in there You know what I mean You know And then you see somebody that's like eat magic mushrooms or maybe someone that smokes weed

and they're performing at this level up here and you're like, wait a minute, how can those two things be the same? You know what I mean? So that's when I started thinking like, okay, it is while drugs can be bad, anything can be bad, but what is it about this individual that's making them spiral down? Relationships are so fascinating to me, man. Yeah, everybody don't have the same drive.

Right, right. So, you know, this drug, it's going to, it gonna mix with your body a different way than they do from there. And I just wasn't willing to take that risk to see how it's gonna mix with mine. Yeah.

So I agree. I do know some people who do excellent on drugs. I mean, a functional, functional weed head, functional coke heads. And I can't blame. I mean, do what you need to, bro.

Yeah. But everybody don't take well to them same drugs. So, you know, do what you can handle, I guess. It's like sometimes like I think power or money can be like a drug too, right? Because you can see some people get twisted in those same habits, the same way they get twisted in drugs, right? Yeah.

Especially greed. Yeah, that'll get you, man. Yeah. I tell people all the time that the greatest, how can I put this to make it make sense? The greatest thief of joy is comparison. That's deep. I like it. That's like me looking at you and I see your paycheck.

Let's say you leave your paycheck on your draw. I see it's say 50,000. Oh, you made 50,000 and I made 20. And I get mad because you made 50 and I made 20. And I made 20. You made 30 more than me. Instead of me being like, oh, he's, making more money than me. I need

to ask myself, what did you do to obtain this other 30,000? Am I willing to do what you do or did to make the extra money? See, that's what a lot of people don't do. They see you, they see themselves

and wonder why. It's a difference why Michael Jordan was the highest playing basketball player and this person wasn't. Because Mike stayed at the gym, eight hours, hours of days shooting freetos working on this game and you went home at the practice were you willing to put in that work no so um yeah comparing yourself to somebody else situation causes them type of things like um greed and money addiction and powers addiction and that's that's terrible bro i always try to stay grounded always always yeah that's a great point man i'm gonna i gotta write that down i comparing yourself to other people,

especially using money as a measuring stick, man. It's such a false barometer. It's such a false measuring stick, man. This is hard for anybody to listen. This is hard to do. But if you can think outside of money, like what do you love to do?

What do you want to do? That's the thing you got to do. That's the thing. Money will come, right? Listen, every time I have tried to work a job for money, I made no money. Anytime I have done everything that I love with this podcast there, or was it doing the events in Hawaii, I made, I mean, boo-cools and boo-cools of money.

It's like, it just fog on my lap. Like, hey, he goes on money. And I tell people all this time, I listen, do what you love. Do what you love is like you're doing nothing. Like, I can be down here easily eight hours a day without me knowing. Because I'm loving what I'm doing. This is never worked for me. Never worked.

Never. Yeah, but I tell people that all the time, man, please do what you love, man. Stop doing what the dollar amount say because you're going to be always working. You're going to be a slave to that dollar amount. That's really well said. I know because I lived it, man. I was a UPS driver for 26 years, man. And it just, you know, and it's so easy to fall into that rhythm of like, you know,

what really got me too k was like a lot of people myself included like i became what my job was you what i mean by that like people identify who they are yeah what they do it's like oh you're a truck driver okay just in period stop like wait a minute no i'm way more than that i'm a father i'm a i'm a husband i'm a dad i'm a son i'm a brother i'm a friend i'm all these other things but too many of us get caught up in that one thing that people see us as they want to put us in this box and if you go out and you do something you don't like you're putting yourself in that box a lot of us get caught in there

think about what a man wants the most of woman now when you meet a woman the one but I almost before she even asked you your name the number one question after that is going to be what do you do so you always

want to be when somebody asks you what do you want to have something that can wow her or that can secure her in a form to be attracted to you. So I know people right now who, one of my close friends, he's a lawyer. He hated. He hated. He hated.

But he loved the wow factor and the perks of being a lawyer more than he loved the job. So that what he, I feel like this is what he going to do his whole life and he's just going to retire. I'm not, I want to say miserably. But I know for a fact he's not doing what he loved. Yeah. And that's really eating them up. It's like relationships, man. If you're with someone and you don't love them, what are you doing there?

If you get up and you go do something every day, what are you doing this? It's the same thing, man. You're going to be in a house or something you don't love. Like, that's your job, man. Yeah. It's easy to say when it's hard to do. Like, if you got a family, you got a mortgage, your kids in school, kid needs shoes, need braces.

Like, it's really tough just to walk away from a paycheck you're getting every month, especially if you're living paycheck to paycheck. Oh, yeah. I don't fault anybody for it. I was smack dab in the middle of it. But I've learned, and the reason I bring this up is because if there's a younger George or a younger 2K listening to this, I would hope that you would face the fear before I did at the age of 48. Because if you begin facing the fear, if you begin walking towards this thing you're afraid of, your life will open up for you. But you've got to have the courage to do it. Yeah, I got lucky, George.

Okay, how so? I got... So, my wife, she, you know, she, like, all the guys are babysitting. The kids and all the women are going out. So it's like six of us. And at this time, I'm younger. I think I'm 25 at this time. So, you know, all of us, we meet over here.

So it's kind of like a guy's night in while the girl's night out. So all of us over here. and these are way older guys than me. So they got to talk them to me. They was like, hey, man, don't never settle, do what you love, I always have fun. They was telling me exactly what they wanted. And I couldn't believe it.

I'm thinking like these guys are, you know, like successful. They family men. And all they could think about was they regrets. And I was thinking like, when I'm their age, I don't want to be thinking about the stuff that I could have done. Yeah. And if them men would have never set me down and talked to me, I'm pretty sure that was my future.

So when I said, I got lucky and I echo what you just said, don't wait until you 48, don't wait until you later on in life, go forward now. Now, ain't nothing stopping you but you. Go for it now. That is well said, man. And I, in some reason, do you think that maybe that's what in spot, like, that's why you're doing what you're doing now. In some ways, you're doing what you love, but you're also kind of giving that same speech those men gave to you, but you're giving it on a daily. Oh, yeah.

I was always kind of ambitious. But I didn't, because my father wasn't ridden around, I didn't know what a father was. Right. So my perception of a dad was everything I seen on TV. I thought I was supposed to have a nine to five job. Come home with the kids. get yelled at, drink a beer. And, you know, just, you know, like, that's really, that's what I really thought being a dad was.

And I had to figure that out that everything is not cookie color. Like, it don't have to be like this. So that's when I started to make decisions. A lot of them the wife didn't like, but once she seemed to pay off, she was on board. Yeah. Yeah, so it was cool. but yeah, I always echo them sentiments. Like, you know, go forward, bro.

Go forward. Yeah, it's interesting to think about, you know, I like the idea that you brought up about cookie cutter. Like there's all these preconceived ideas that you can have that society will give to you. You could be a lawyer. You could be a doctor. You could be a truck driver.

They have all these things they pre-made for you. But the best things are the things that you want to do. You know, and it's just weird how, you know, if you just have the courage to go outside that box and I think something too is believing you can do it that's a hard one man believing you can do it right

it's kind of hard George when you think about it like we got to school all this time and like school to me need to be reformed here here man because like you got to think about it like school has been the same way

since literally for how long now like everything has moved on but the education system yeah i feel like we need to stop trying to force all these subjects like me like no matter how much i do math i'd never be good at but when it came to something like public speaking or social science i needed the teacher to be like hey this is your strength yeah you're still going to work on the weaknesses but your strength is this so you're most likely to succeed in this and that's what they uh tailor my curriculum or at so i can really be

successful in life versus trying to put these cookie cutter ideal in me. And I feel like if school was to have a reform, we'll get more productive citizens their way. Yeah, that's really well said. There's a famous study by this Russian guy. His name was Pavlov. And what he did is he trained these dogs to salivate. So he would put food in front of them and then he would blow a whistle.

And he kept doing that until one day he wouldn't even have to put the food in front of the dogs. He just blow the whistle and the dogs knew it was time to eat so they start salivating. And those same methods that that guy used are used on kids in school today. Wow. We train them, man. Like, think about it. You go and you sit in a class and you have an authority figure stand up in front of you.

And what happens? Bells and whistles, man. Hey, okay, go to your next class. Go to the next one. Oh, you need a pass to go to the bathroom. You better ask authority if you can go to the bathroom, you know? Wow. And so, like, no wonder why the kids today aren't performing at their best.

No wonder they don't believe in themselves because they've gone through 12 years of this conditioning practice where you have to do these things a certain way. And I think it speaks volumes of why. There was a saying with the school I went to, like the A and B students make great managers. But the C students, the C and D students, those make the best leaders.

Because those are the kids in class that were like, this is bullshit, man. I don't believe any of this. You know, I'm going to do this other thing over here. But somewhat like a doctor in. God rest them. I love all the doctors out there. But a doctor goes to school from the age of like four to 27. If you just sat in a class for 27 years, what do you learn except how to take orders, man?

You don't think critically. You know what I mean? It's kind of crazy. Yeah. And I wholeheartedly agree with you. Like, I was a C, sometime D student. Right. And it wasn't because I was dumb or couldn't obtain information.

I was just uninterested. They just weren't for me. Like, I get what I understand. but this is not interesting. Now, when you put something like history, I love history. I love history. I love social and political science. So when it comes to

stuff like that, I was all in. A student, don't worry about it. I got it. But what you said was exactly right, man. I feel like you almost being literally trained from school to work. You know, you do the eight to five

and then you start getting for work. You go to work. at eight and get off at five and like oh my god so yeah it's ironic that school is eight hours a day and work is the typical work uh day is eight hours so yeah yeah yeah so i'm glad you say that i'm gonna have to look into that uh that study yeah like the obedient workers is what they're training you know what i mean they're training the obedience into you and the critical thinking out of you, man. They want people just smart enough to listen to all the instructions, but not to question them.

Not to question them. Right. Yeah. They always say that, oh, when I used to work, they make, they pay us just enough to make it back to work. Yeah. Pay us just enough to make it back to work. Yeah. Yeah. I've always had a problem with authority. Not that like I didn't respect people that were in leadership positions. Not that I didn't have respect for people. that know what they're doing, but just someone telling me what to do without explaining why it's the right thing to do, you know, and like, I'm all for working together. I'm all for collaborating, but, you know, I want to seat at the table, man. I think I've earned that.

Right. You know, I think, and that goes, when I say me, I think, oh, it's like, everybody that's participating in something, hey, look, your voice should be heard. I don't care if he's right or wrong, that person's voice should be heard, right? Right. Right. I understand, especially, um, That's why the military wasn't a long-term thing for me. It's crazy because that what made me successful in the military. Sure. My defiance. I was a great team leader because of my ability to think outside the box while being in the field.

But on the flip side, when we're in Garrison, so Garrison, we call it, that's like the workplace. Okay. It's like the office. So when we get the office, the same thing that made me good while we was in the field keeping the people alive, they hated it in the office because why are you questioning us? It wasn't that I was questioning the door to, like, no,

I'm questioning you because I feel like it's a better solution for what you can do. Right. And even if I am wrong, like you should want to be voiced or you should want fresh ideas to, you know, be coming to the table. So I'm with you I don't like authority but I'm not disrespectful to it I always feel like it could be an easier way

Yeah and I think I think that there's something to be said about You know If there's a problem and the person below is asking you a question Like that that person should be somewhat celebrated Because that person cares about the outcome You know what I mean like they're not trying to cut you down Or say you're dumb or question and your authority like, hey, what about this?

Oh, that's a great point. I'm glad you brought that up. Otherwise, we would have failed, you know? Yeah. I think it speaks volumes of the character of the leaders that, that try to squash that. Like, they don't want that in there. I just, I don't know. I go off on those tangents sometimes where I had a, I'll give you an example.

I had a recent sit-down meeting with some people when I was a UPS driver. And we sat in this meeting and we're in there talking. and they showed me these different set of numbers. They said, you know what, George, here is your performance numbers of what happened. And I'm looking at them and they go, you know, you're just not performing at the highest level that you should be. And I'm looking at their numbers and I go, oh, you know, it seems to me that you guys didn't measure all the variables. You know, like you've got three columns you have like the stops per hour, the amount of time I was out and the break that I took. But what about the road conditions?

What about how heavy the boxes were? What about the traffic that was out there? Shouldn't those be in the equation? Yeah. And they just stare at me. And they know a lot of the reasons that's kind of them saying they don't care. That's exactly what they're saying. And that's what I was saying back to.

I'm like, yeah, I know you don't care. Yeah. What are you going to say to that? You got nothing. You asking all the right questions. But yeah, I'm knowing this is why. time, George, this actually made me quit one of my favorite jobs. I was working retail, and I love retail because once again, it's people.

Right. So my manager pulled me in the back, and she had a worksheet of my production from the previous year. And so I get to see how much I made the company. I made the company over $1 million in sales. She was like, hey, you did such a great job. We're going to give you a raise. The race was one quarter. I said,

yeah, I'm putting in my two of the owners. I made you a million dollars in sales, and the best you could have did was a quarter. So recognizing self-worth. Yeah, great point. Recognizing self-worth, but not overvaluing yourself neither. Because a lot of folks were overpriced, they sell way too fast. So I always try to check the market.

And my way with checking the market was looking at my other coworkers. And they weren't even, they was like barely $100,000. And I was like, man, I can be making this money for myself. Yeah. Yeah. So it was cool. I love that job. I love that job so much.

But, you know, I had to want more so I can do more. And that's exactly what it happened. Yeah, so sometimes I think that these examples we're talking about are like a good introduction into like self-awareness. Like, because we wouldn't even know, you wouldn't even know you made that company that much money or I wouldn't even know that those guys were rating me on a scale that was lacking, you know, columns unless we became aware of it. Oh, look at this thing. Oh, man, I didn't even know that. You know, and sometimes that self-awareness is what allows you to be free or, or taking it back to the beginning of our conversation, allow you to not have. have that negative loop talk in your mind.

You know what you start becoming aware of what is possible. When you start becoming aware of what you've already accomplished, man. Like, what is your take on self-awareness? Oh, sometimes, man, like, you be so caught up in the moment. Yeah. Or you're so caught up in the grind that you don't take that time out to you. Recognize yourself. That's a really hard one.

Because even now, I still kind of do that. I'm aware of who I am and what I can do, but sometimes I don't understand what I'm doing until a peer. Who in the same field tell me like, hey, man, I don't know how you do this show. Like you're working all the boards and you doing this and you the talent and you talking to this person and that person. I didn't know it was that hard until somebody who tried to do it told me.

So self-awareness, a lot of times, come from other people. So I'm still trying to get a gauge on self-awareness. I really can't speak too much on it right now. Yeah. Yeah, sometimes, you know, the way people see us make us aware of who we are. They talk about our traits. We get back to that idea of our relationships being like a mirror of who we are. And that's a huge compliment when someone said, like, man, how are you doing all this?

Like you're talking to everybody? You're trying to anticipate the content. listening, you're anticipating, you got your kid over here, you got, you know, you have 12 things going, how you do that? And you're like, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I've never even noticed it. Right. But then all, but at that moment, then you're aware of it. You're like, yeah, I am doing all that. Man, I could probably do four other things on top of that. And all of a sudden, it's like, it's like when you, when you're ratcheting something, you get that last click, like click and it boom gets right into place. You're like, oh, okay,

Now I figured it out. I am doing this. I am a podcaster. I am a professional now. I was the whole time, but now I realized it. And that can have a radical shift on the way you see yourself. When you get to hear other people talk about you in a way like that, it can change. It can be like a paradigm shift, man.

Right. Yeah, no, it really was because you don't, like, it's a lot of stuff behind this camera. Like I got a three camera set up, a board. and when I have talent on, you have to listen, and I have to talk and be funny, and then I got the comment section. It's so much happening,

and I'm just going with the punches. I'm just thinking this is what it is. But when, you know, when somebody makes you aware of what you're doing, you just don't like, oh, wait, dang, this is kind of a lot. Yeah. Yeah, so it's crazy.

And it is a compliment, you know, once you get told it. Yeah. Sometimes I think it's, like, dancing. Like, you know, when you're just out of place, you dancing by yourself and then you're paying attention. And then all of a sudden when people start looking at you, you're like, oh, man,

better watch my, better watch this move over here or something, you know. Get all embarrassed. Oh, shoot, man. People watching? But yeah, man, it's interesting to think about. But I don't know. 2K, I'm coming up on an hour right here, man. I got to say, I love talking to you.

And this has been really fun. I hope we can do more of them, man. Oh, yeah. Like, anytime. This is all I do. Okay. It's all I do. Anytime you need me, I'm here for you, man.

Okay, man. Before I let you go, though, where can people find you? What do you got coming up? And what are you excited about? I'm excited about waking up tomorrow. Just living life, man. Seriously, I am, man. I just take it one day at a time, bro.

And that's just my goal, just to be happy. But if you're looking for me anywhere, you can find me on all social media, love and sip-hop, L-O-V-E and sip-hop everywhere. And I'm pretty sure I'll pop up. Yeah, I got the YouTube link down below, but he's also got Instagram, Facebook. He's on all the major socials. Check out his show, man.

Last time I checked, you were running at least two a day. Is that still true? Still true. Sometimes three, sometimes four. You just never know, man. It's a lot. So today, this is my second show today. Okay.

I know for sure it got one. more tonight. All right. Awesome. Well, ladies and gentlemen, hang on. 2K, I'm going to talk to you for one second after this, but I'm going to hang up with the audience right here. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much for hanging out on the True Life podcast today.

I hope your day is going amazing. I hope that you choose to see yourself for the beautiful person that you are and know that you can conquer anything if you're willing to have the courage to try. So that's all we got for today. Ladies and gentlemen, aloha.