For Steppers Only: Raw, Uncut, and Unedited
Welcome to the For Steppers Only podcast—the spot where real ones from all walks of life link up to chop it up about everything under the sun. We’re talking relationships, careers, education, sports, the supernatural, sexuality, personal growth, entrepreneurship, family vibes—you name it. With a mix of laughs, raw conversations, and deep dives, this podcast is all about learning, leveling up, and hearing voices you might not come across every day. Pull up and vibe with us as we break it all down and celebrate the journey of life from every angle. Let’s step into something real together.
For Steppers Only: Raw, Uncut, and Unedited
Motivational Mondays : SUPPORT
What does real support look like in a world obsessed with likes and follows? Today, we're diving deep into the true meaning of support and why it matters more than ever.
Support isn't always financial – it's the energy and belief you direct toward others when they need it most. Whether it's sending an encouraging text, sharing someone's content, or simply being present during their darkest moments, authentic support can transform lives. Too often, we withhold our endorsement until someone has "made it," waiting for external validation before offering our own. But those who support you before fame arrives, who believe in your vision when it's still forming – those are the connections worth cherishing.
The contrast between hearing "I told you so" after a failure versus "I believe in you" marks the difference between crushing someone's spirit and planting seeds of resilience. Most creators and dreamers are already their harshest critics, analyzing every detail and questioning their worth. They don't need external voices amplifying their self-doubt; they need allies who see their potential even when they temporarily lose sight of it.
From supporting local businesses to lifting up aspiring artists, each act of encouragement reinforces the interconnected web that allows dreams to flourish. As I prepare to launch a new platform showcasing artists, poets, and content creators, I'm reminded that supporting others isn't just about helping them – it creates a community where everyone can thrive. Because at the end of the day, nobody succeeds entirely alone, and nobody is meant to walk this journey in isolation.
hey, welcome to motivational monday with your host, jack. I'm a little late on this monday it's raining, but I mean, let's tell you shit, even a little rain got done can flood your plans. Even a little things can derail your trains. But here on motivational mondays, I'm sorry I'm a little bit late. It's like three o'clock in the afternoon. I know I'm supposed to get this shit out six o'clock this morning, but I didn't have the motivation to talk about this shit. But I do. I had to get up. You know, drink me a little oj, cook me some and, you know, get the ball rolling.
Speaker 1:Support that's what we're talking about today. Support how you support those that support you. So people think a lot of times that support comes with money. Support don't come with money. Support just comes with the energy that you put towards helping somebody, and no matter what light that they're in, no matter whether it's like they down on their luck, they need help getting to work, or they just need encouraging words, or they just need you to spread to the masses that this person got a podcast, or they just need you to like and review or some shit like that. Support comes in numerous ways.
Speaker 1:Um, I'll tell you a little, a little story. Like my homegirl called me this morning. I told her the other day, sometimes it's just good to tap in with those that fought with you, um, and too many people under don't understand this like she was goddamn freaking about out about her son playing soccer and I was like what's so? What's wrong about it? She said, jack, it's cold outside. I said is this what he wants to do? What did he tell you to get? He said, mama, I just need some long sleeves. So I told her. I said get him what he wants, just to support him, to show him that you're behind him and it'll be okay. He got a mouth. He can tell you if he don't feel good.
Speaker 1:So a lot of times you just have to support those, even if they want if, even if they're about to fail in their aspects, you don't tell them that they're going to fail or that you don't believe in them. You let you. Let you let the shit run its course, because it's never a loss, it's always a lesson, and people have failed to realize that, because a lot of times people are so worried about they want to protect you from everything and not let you fail, but support even in the darkest days, even in failure. I don't need a. I told you so. I need a. I believe in you. Because I believe in you go so much further than I told you. So, because a lot of people don't fucking understand how like. I don't need to hear that I told you that. I don't need to hear that bullshit. I need to tell you shit. I believed in you even though it's, even though it didn't work. What can we do to fix this? Or what can we do to make it better? Even though it didn't work? What can we do to fix this or what can we do to make it better? And a lot of people don't realize that Because they're so used to the social media shit Thumbs up, thumbs down, type shit. Instead of I believe you, I'm pushing you to become better. Don't push the negative narrative on me, because I'm already hard on myself. I don't need another motherfucker being hard on me. Also, I need somebody to grab me by my goddamn arm and say, hey, you got this. I believe in you, you're gonna, you're gonna make it through. And even I I got a couple of people that got down do this to me all the fucking time.
Speaker 1:Like um, I get text messages from my cousin, monique, up in dc. I get like some awesome. Um, she listened to the latest episode. She was fucking with it she did. She gives me like high critiques on the shit. Um, and I want to give a shout out to monique um, pete mo, is that what they call her? Um, so hey, I just want to let y'all know shit. Hey, if y'all know monique shit, she rocking with me 100 brand um, even when I first bought the cases and I put them out there, she told me she ain't asked me the price and nothing. I told she said she wanted one in a specific color, the pink one. Um, and I told her what the price was, she said oh my god, I would never pay that much for a case, but just because it's for you, I'll pay it, just to support you. Then I got another partner Shit, that big V, that's my sir. Like shit Till the wheels fall off. No matter what I got going on, no matter what I post, she's always heartening and it goes so so, so far.
Speaker 1:But a lot of people don't like like. They say you all the time people won't fuck with you until the world fucks with you. But those true, those truly genuine people will do like anything to just to see you succeed, because your dreams make you a better name. It's something that you enjoy. So don't knock the next man's dreams or aspirations or anything. Support they. So support their businesses, support their dreams, support their clans.
Speaker 1:Um, like my boy, lamborghini Drew, um, I want to go get a haircut from the other day. Um, and we was just sitting there talking like we we have on on um off the line talks and he picks my brains about certain things and ask me questions about things I've been through, um, that aren't for typical for the masses and I give my true, honest opinion and sometimes we like what we hear, sometimes we don't like what we hear. Um, and long story short, he was asking me about my like the fragrances I wear. I told him, man, I don't, I don't do fragrances really, I do oils. He bought one from me.
Speaker 1:Next thing, you know, he was back the next day to buy some more. Next thing, you know, he posted something. Next thing, you know, he got down. He, like he done, had like three, four folks hit him. Tell him on some.
Speaker 1:Yeah, man, shit, where can I hit support. And I even told him. I said, man, I really ain't pushed to make it into a full-grown business. I just mean I gotta select people to ask me for shit and they enjoy the experience. They just don't enjoy the ride. They enjoy the experience because you got to understand when you take care of yourself and you feel good about your fragrance or your oil or the smell, that you will you're, it's a confidence booster. It's to, it's to it. We ain't gonna say build your ego, because that shit, like, like your ego, is already there, but the confidence in it because if you, if you know you got a clean cut, you smell nice, you're going to be more productive and a lot of people fail to realize that.
Speaker 1:So support, support those that have dreams. Support those that have dreams, support those that have goals, support those that have a vision, because the world is already already out here hard on them and they're already hard on themselves, so they don't need. They're gonna need a little support, because even in my podcast around shit man, a lot of times I look at this shit like. This shit is hard, this shit is. I don't have the drive to put towards something and I get a random text message from some you got this, I'm waiting on my next episode. You slacking To me though those. That's. That's somebody applying pressure to me that cares about me, because they don't want to see me fail in this aspect. They want to see me grow. When I tell somebody I'm in school, how much longer you got Boy, you got this. It's that support.
Speaker 1:Everything does not have to be about monetary value or investing in somebody's dream. Just telling them you believe in them Isn't investment enough. And you got to understand that. Because Investments? Because those people remember that Every time they talk to you, this motherfucker believed in me. When I didn't even believe in myself, they believed in me. So why not give somebody somebody that you actually fuck with a true belief? But this is this the catch-22. Be careful, because sometimes that support might turn into jealousy, because they see that you getting too big for them and they don't know how to. They don't know how to? Um, honor that and keep that same emotion up, because a lot of times people turn to jealousy because they're jealous of what you have going on or something you have and they're not. They're not aptitude or aptitude. What the fuck is aptitude? Uh, they're not adapt in life. Um, that means like you, they change. They means like they're not adapting to their culture, they're not adapting to their lives, they're not transitioning to something greater. Um, that's like shit.
Speaker 1:I'll go ahead and tell y'all a little sneak peek of what I got coming up Artists, poets, content creator, comedians I got some shit coming To where, like my videos coming. That's what one thing that y'all got to realize. I got a video coming, so y'all be on the lookout for that. But instead of them just sitting down on a couch, they're going to do a performance and before the cameras even like start rolling, they're going to be doing a performance of their music or their tracks, or do a rendition, or they're going to tell a skit, a little 30 second skit for y'all, just to get you to know them. That's my way of giving back, that's my way of showing them support.
Speaker 1:Because, if y'all haven't realized, even when I break down, like certain songs or certain music or whatever, whatever, whatever, or I have a certain guest on there, I put all their links under the description If you scroll all the way down to the bottom, to their social medias, to their YouTubes, wherever, wherever they're at their Apple Music, wherever. Because that's my way of saying thank you and I support you, because there's no telling how many people have come from my podcast just to go fuck with their music or fuck with their emotion or they like something that they hear. Um, like, I got a couple guys that sing. I got a couple guys that do autotune. I got a couple beat makers coming. I got a couple djs coming. This is this is my way of supporting others to give them a platform to showcase themselves. So support comes in many different fashions. It's not just a one way street, it's a.
Speaker 1:I say two ways because that's like my boy, landon Beginner Drew. He asked me the other day would I ever get back into shooting movies and shooting videos? I told him I don't know, because that train has sailed for me, because I don't. I didn't receive the same support for me doing the work and me putting all the effort into it. So it was.
Speaker 1:It was like they posted one time they don't share it. They don't because it takes a lot of work and a lot of brain power to to organize these videos and to come up with plans, to come up with uh, screen treatments. It's. It's a lot of work, but when I just do a running gun and you just want a hold of a pistol and this, that and the third, and then you only share it one time and think it's supposed to go to a million views. That's not the way. That's not the way the world works, sonny boy, you have to push. That's why I continue working with one artist. There's only one artist right now that, well, two, I get two, that I would actually pick my camera up back up for, um, well, I take that back. Three, three, um, because just because you want to shoot a video, I don't like just shooting music videos. I like.
Speaker 1:I like going back to the early 90s type vibe, the rap city, the basement type vibes, to where you want a story behind it and not just a video. Just because you just say you shot a video, it has to be a process behind it. I'm sorry, I had to take a drink, y'all got a little thirsty, but it's. It's a process behind it, because I want somebody to tell a story with their music. It's a process behind it, because I want somebody to tell a story with their music, not just, oh, I can do it, just because I want to do it, and I'm sorry, that's small minded, but it's how it. Like somebody told me one time, but they still would. You still get paid for it. It don't matter.
Speaker 1:I see your shit bigger than what you see. I see a movie aspect to it. I see a movie aspect to it. I see a groundbreaking aspect to it, to where you're exposing yourself to the masses. You just don't want to be. No, um, one pony show and that's the way it goes. Um, and and it's hard to wrap your heads around it, because it's like I want you to sit there and we're like man, this, this shit, is a movie, it's not just a scene, it's not just a video. Bro, this shit a movie. This shit got meat to it. It got meat and potatoes to it. It got character development, it got this, that.
Speaker 1:And a third, because a lot of movies, when we watch them, like I tell y'all one of my favorite videos of all time, that's dmx, heights going down and the way you look at that video. He's telling you the good, the bad and the ugly, and you don't get it until you open your eyes to the shit. That's like Biggie Pac, that's like when Brenda's got a baby. He's painting a picture for you. So you ain't even got to go nowhere else and look for it.
Speaker 1:That's what I enjoyed about videos from the 90s and 2000s, because they told a story, they told an aspect of it, they told every rendition that you could. It's like you didn't have to sit there and guess what they were talking about. You actually saw it they. They drew this picture for you, they drew this masterpiece for you. It don't matter if it came from the director, it don't matter if it came from the artist. You got the idea and you got the gist. That's like um, like it's. It's just a feel that you used to get off that shit.
Speaker 1:But it also came with a different type of support that we don't have nowadays. Like you don't have an mtv jams anymore, you don't have a rap city in their basement, you don't have a 106 in park, you don't. You no longer have that support aspect. Only thing we have now is youtube, youtube and other video streaming apps to where we can go and watch these people's videos, because we can't turn on, uh, the tv at four o'clock and you see rap city, the basement with big tigger. You can't see. You got down 106 and park with aj and free. You can't see yo mtv raps. You can't see trl, you can't see these different shows that were out there to where we.
Speaker 1:That's the way we got exposure to it and that's the way we show our support, because we used to got knowing, like I show y'all, tell y'all, look like this. We used to hear music, we used to hear songs that we fought with extra hard. You put that shit on your voicemail, hey, man. Yeah, you know the vibe, you know the tunes, blah, blah. And you hear this song coming in you talking over it. Hey, leave your voice at the beat, beep and and that's the way you that you show the love for that song.
Speaker 1:But do we, do we support each other's dreams and passions like that? Like your local artists, your local podcasters in the area that you live in? How many people actually support those? Until the world supports them? Like your local, some of your local people around you will talk shit about you and talk and like shit. Man, I don't fuck with God. Man, that shit wackacking for that shit lame before. But as soon as you see the world fucking with it, so you see the masses fucking with it, that's when you want to show your support. Man, that's some shit, that's some fake shit, but I guess that's what that like it's. It's.
Speaker 1:It's so mind blowing to where you realize, like if I poke something on social media, I get 13 likes, and most of those likes come from people that don't even know me. I see people share my shit. They don't even know me. I show people, see people that's doing renditions of me. They don't even know me Before my own people do, before my own family does. And what does that show you? Does your family really support you? Or do they really support you when you get that bag? Because they're going to come with their hands out? Support me now, when I'm broke, versus when I hit the big time, because the only thing I would do is, god damn, show you how to get your bag. Also, because, like man, shit, this shit harder than y'all think.
Speaker 1:It is the whole aspect I'm saying. I'm talking about the countless hours of learning, the countless hours of research. What am I doing to make myself better, to make my, to make myself grow to where I'm sitting down watching an hour-long video how to, how to be better, a better podcaster, how to be a better father, how to be a better, better parent, how to be a better spouse and people fail to realize that because you got to understand, like a lot of times that we see, we see so much negative shit in our lives is where we can't go past, like the front door of our house. It's like why would I go outside these doors if everything's negative? Until you get that one phone call saying, bro, I listen to your shit, I'm proud of you, I needed to hear that shit. So lift your fucking head up, go to that fucking job, do what you gotta do, because guess what, scared money don't make money, and so, and remember, slow motion is better than no motion.
Speaker 1:Because a lot of people fail to realize that on this road to riches, where we're always struggling to get up that dirt mound and we keep sliding back because we we get bad footing, we lose our grip, we don't, we were unmotivated. So sometimes it takes things outside of us, outside of that one person, outside of ourselves, to help lift us up. Because, like I say, I say multiple times in the world and a lot of people know this, but they won't help. The individual that's making all the content is your, is your biggest critique, or your biggest critic, because we're hard on ourselves and we feel like we can do so much better, we can grow so much more.
Speaker 1:And it's like we were having a discussion the other day about somebody supporting somebody's music. I was like, ok, shit, did you do this, did you do this, did you do that? Did you share? Did you shoot a video for it? Well, I gotta have this, I gotta have it. I understand that, but where is the drive behind the support? Because you, the support ain't gonna come from nowhere, the drive ain't gonna come from nowhere. So a lot of things that we do in life are not just in the midst of nowhere, we're in the midst of growth and supporting each other.
Speaker 1:Because you got to look at the different ethnic backgrounds and the way certain shit works and certain shit moves. We gotta we gotta change that stigmatism to say we don't support our own. Because in the military we're taught this one valuable phrase we, um, we take care of our own. And that aspect is like we take care of our brothers. No matter what branch you come from, no matter what struggle you come from, you are are my brother, because I've been in so many instances where people will see color and think, oh shit, they don't look alike, they ain't brothers. Nah, brother, that's my brother, because we've gone through the same shit. We've sat down, shared a beer or two together and that goes so much further than what y'all think it goes. Because a lot of people don't realize that. Because just because I say you, my brother's shit, through the trials and tribulations like you might, even got down like my homegirl got a new car, she wrecked her shit and total her shit out. So she was out without a car and she was saying people were going out of their way just to make sure she got to work, like driving 30, 45 minutes out of their way just to make sure she got there. That's somebody saying they support you, that you didn't know that you had a support from Support.
Speaker 1:People fail to realize how much, how much individuals in this world need support from each other, because without one another we're just alone and nobody is built here to be alone. I know I'm talking in circles. I'm talking in circles. I'm talking in circles. I'm sorry. I just want to let y'all understand that without your support, everybody is nothing. Everybody is individuals. Stop supporting bigger businesses and support your mom and pops. Support these guys doing individual lawn cares.
Speaker 1:That's like the little man that came to my front door asking me for 70 to cut my grass. I didn't give a damn what he was going to do with the money. I supported him because he had a dream and he had put a vision to work. Because you, without me having faith in him, or yeah, you might make a little bump here, mump there, but guess what? I still support you and I'm asking Are you going to come back in two weeks? I got you you come back in two weeks. That's to show him that that his services are needed and that I support his dream Because he's giving me a service that I need Because if I'm not, my HOA will be on my ass. But we all need support. That's all I got to tell you. But thank y'all for joining me on this late afternoon. Motivational Monday I'm Jack and I'm out. Peace.
