Playing it Safe Will Bury You : Stop Waiting, Start Leading

If you keep playing it safe… you’re already losing.

In this episode of Real Shit Let’s Talk Podcast, we break down why comfort is costing you your growth, your purpose, and your next level. Most people wait for the “right time”—but in reality, chaos is where real leaders are built.

This is your wake-up call.

We’re talking about:

Why playing it safe is silently holding you back

• How to lead boldly even when life feels uncertain
• The mindset shift you need to stop hesitating and start executing
• Real accountability that forces results

If you’ve been stuck, second-guessing, or waiting for clarity… this episode is for you.

💥 It’s time to stop sitting on your potential and start today 

Follow the podcast for more real, unfiltered conversations about growth, discipline, and accountability.

🎧 Available on Spotify & Apple Podcasts

📲 Follow for daily accountability and real talk

💬 Drop a comment: What’s one area you’ve been playing it safe in?

https://payhip.com/b/JTu0b     (21-Day Accountability Ebook)

https://payhip.com/b/Mwmsy    (1K BluePrint Start Podcasting)

https://suplmnt.com/?ref=zxmjlcjx  (Thermal Bottle)

https://wealthytrustee.com/home-2975?am_id=david1522    (set your trust up)

https://drivenconsistency.com/

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Hey guys, I've been missing for a little second, you know. Had a couple conferences to attend to, and you know, get it back on track. I definitely was dropping these episodes, but I gotta get back to it. Stay to it to, you know, get to it. So today, I'm JR, your host of Real Shit Let's Talk Podcast. And let's get into the topic of the day, really. Playing it safe will bury you. How to lead like boldly and audaciously out there, right? So sometimes playing it safe, it feels comfortable, but it like kills your growth. You know, it's one of those things that if you are not uncomfortable, you're not pushing yourself to the highest in self. Like you're not gonna, you're not gonna try something different. Or when you're trying something different because it's difficult, you're gonna be like, um, it's too hard, and it's enough. We're in 2026. It's enough of that bull. Here's how to like embrace it and do it the right way without being like reckless, without being in that hustle mode mentality, I've got to just do it, just gotta do it, or trying to do what everybody else is doing because what everybody else is doing is not true to you. You know? So I'm just gonna tell you that no matter what you do, no matter how you do it, we're going to set the tone. And when you set that tone, listen, ain't nobody gonna tell you nothing else to how to do it, when to do it, and all that good stuff. And you know, I've been at it for a while with this podcast, right, guys? And you know, it's been good to me. And it was the one thing also that pushed me outside my comfort zone. I'm talking to a camera or I'm talking on different podcasts, and millions and viewers and are seeing me talk. Listen, that was that pushed me outside my comfort zone. And I'll just say, I made a bold decision, and I'm gonna give you these three tips too as well, but I made a bold decision to stick with it. Even in the beginning, it wasn't making me money. But I knew that I had to do it because not only was I getting to it, I wanted to be true to it. It was like I had to do it, so I did it. So one of the things I say is make a bold decision on what it is you want to do, where you want to go, how you want to be, when you want to do the thing that it makes you feel uncomfortable. You know, as they say, bold decisions beat safe decisions every time. Now, calculated risk creates opportunities that other people miss. So if you are not in a gym putting up between 100 to 300 to 500 to 1,000 shots a day to work on your game, you're just not gonna be good or that good of a player. You need to practice. You need to wake up in the morning and go work out or go for that run. You need to make that goal decision and do the things that is gonna make you better. And that also makes you feel uncomfortable. Number two, lead in uncertainty. What that means is that the people around you, like your team or your your siblings or your nephews, your nieces, they look up to you. You like they watch you and how you act and how you make certain decisions even when it looks bad. And you show the confidence under pressure, and it inspires everybody to say, well, dang, he was under pressure. He did this, he was or she was, and like we'll say, great people like Rosa Parks, she was bold. We'll say, um, what is it? We'll say becoming um a motivational speaker became famous. Let's say Eric Thomas became famous. Um, let's say Martin Luther King, um, we could say a lot of people put under pressure, but there were certain people that kept their loyalty to them because even in the midst of everything, things were going crazy, things were hangwired or things are unclear, but they sure made a decision while being uncomfortable. Now, even when you fail, sometimes you fail fast because you didn't know and you know things didn't work out the way they were supposed to, but you learn even faster what not to do. Not every risk that you're gonna take is going to pay off or is going to make sense. The key is to always extract the lesson from the problem, a situation, the thing that made you feel uncomfortable immediately. Not wait, not to really think about it, but process it in enough time frame that you can actually execute and get it done. Not only will you execute and get it done, but you'll turn around and say, you know what? Guess what? I was uncomfortable when I made the decision and it didn't work out to my benefit whether I didn't get that job. But the next time I apply for a job like this, I know it not to put on that resume. It's I know that I lifted this weight and I hurt my shoulder, and I need to start off slow and then get hired like that. Yeah. I need to read the instructions because I don't know how to cook. Because, but I got to cook for my family for Thanksgiving. Or it's I am in a job that doesn't serve my true gift. And if I walk out on faith of building my own business or, you know, structuring my team because I'm a part of the certain HR department, logistics department, or um, eternal affairs department, whatever. They're looking up to me because I lead. I'm I'm vice president of the company, I'm president of the company. These things help you, you know, shift and like shift you in a way where you can lead. And sometimes it's okay to not know, but you gotta learn fast and you gotta pick up the pieces. Now, I'll give you an example right here. I took a deal that everyone said was too risky. It didn't plan out immediately, but the lessons I learned gave me leverage for the bigger wins. And so that goes to like the stock market, like in the sense of some people said don't do crypto or don't invest into stocks because it's just going to take your money. And I would say that for me, one of the things was like, I have like an M1 account and it does stocks. And it was my mom was like, hey, just put a little bit in there and see what it does. I put a little bit of money in there after everybody was saying, no, you don't need to do that. You're gonna lose your money. But guess what? Either I'm gonna lose the money from the bank, taking all the money, or taking what they percentages of my money that's in the bank out, or I'm just gonna go spend it on, like at that time, like fast food and different things of that nature. And shoot, why not? Why not take the risk and do that? And when I tell you that, like, I would say an example is I put like$25, right?$25. I lost seven other dollars, and then I turn around. Next thing you know, that stock hit, and I'm up$45. Then I went from$45 to$60 from that stock. And that was just one of them, right? But that was a risk I was willing to take. I'll give you another example. Another thing of what I was doing was I ended up starting a clothing brand. And I didn't have no money to really start it. But I knew that I had to figure a way how to do it. And I was making shirts for people and doing things like that in that nature, and I did it. And I went to the flea market because, like, that was the only place I knew where I could really go and make an impact, because that's where I see everybody go every Friday, Saturday, Sunday. I got some shirts made and I sold them. And not only that, but I got a heat press that I didn't, you know, I worked for it, but at the same time, I ended up learning how to use the heat press. I ended up buying the cricket and the cricket too, and I made the shirts and I did it. And I went to the flea market and then I sold out. I made like two, three, four hundred dollars that day within like days. But I believe and I took the risk. Another example we'll say is, you know, I delayed the product launch because I wanted perfect timing. Competitors moved faster than I had adapted on the fly. But bold moves, wins, and chaos. And so I was up late and like I had worked for a job doing dialysis, and we just didn't really work out, you know, left that alone. And I was like, man, what what can I do? What oh my gosh, um I need to do something. And in the moment of delay and despair, I turned around and I was at a point where guess what? I turned around and a family member, friend came to my place and looked at all the stuff that I was working on, and it was like, that's money over there, that's money over there, that's money. What are you talking about? You're sitting on a gold mine right now. You don't need a job to tell you what you can and cannot do. You said you want it bad enough, how bad do you want it? Go make it happen. Man, I sold a bomber jacket, I sold track suits, I sold socks, hats, everything of what my clothing brand was for. And the name of it was Audi 360, which is aiming up to improve. And as I did it, I was like, wow, I made enough money for rent. I made enough money to pay my phone bill. I had enough money to give to my kids. But in the doubt of a moment, I just needed a quick reminder. And the lesson I took from that was don't delay, start today. Do it, go for Augusto. Don't worry about it. And I'll say this, is like the solution into it was I had my my action plan was I identified one area that I have been avoiding, which was will they like it? If it would they buy it, do they think they could afford it? What's my price point? And at that same token, I was like, you know what? It's me. I got something you want. And would I only make you look better, feel better, but when you wear it, guess what? You ain't never worn nothing like that before. That was my approach. Another solution was take a small but bold action within that week. I kept selling. Every time I was going somewhere, I had product in the car, in the sense of my clothes. Or a holiday came up and I let them know that I can make them a shirt or that particular holiday, and I'm ready. I stay ready. So that was the action that I took that week, and you can too. You can take that action now. Don't think about what you gotta do tomorrow or what you're putting off for next week. Get to it. Real players play hard and work hard and get it done. Now, I would also say review the results and learn to reiterate or learn that what worked, what didn't work, and go from there. Because sometimes when you go from there, you get to the next level, and guess what? You're so proud of yourself. You're you're you're resilient, you're thinking about not only what you did, what you didn't do, how you did do it, you're like, I did it. I'm proud of myself. I took the risk, and guess what? I didn't play it safe. I didn't. And because I didn't play it safe, guess what? I'm on a new level. And I would say, in certain cases, sometimes taking the risk is what it takes. You gotta dream big and you gotta be audacious with it. You've got to come outside of that comfort zone of what other people are thinking that other people are gonna do because other people are gonna do what the hell they want to do. People are gonna judge you no matter what. No matter what happens. They're gonna judge you. They're gonna look at you funny. Family members are not gonna talk to you the same. Certain family members you're gonna have to cut off. But guess what? It's okay because you played it comfort too long, or you can't keep it real with your brothers or your sisters or the coworkers. And now there's a way to do it. Now I'm not gonna say just get in a get in their butts about it and just start talking trash. No. Let the people know that you have boundaries and let you let them know that the boundaries that you set are set in stone and concrete. You will not fold. You are bold and audacious. You are beautiful in whatever it is that you do. You make a statement when you move, you make a statement when you commit to something. You have no exception to the game with no excuses. You come with explanations of execution only. And when that happens, that's the type of thing where you're not buried in comfort no more. If you're that athlete that you know that you need to work out or you need to eat better, eat better and work out. Do the thing that need that takes you from being comfortable comfortable and like do the thing until you get jumped, till you get to that next level. You gotta remember that life does two things. It's gonna keep going and pass you by, or you're gonna die and life still keeps going on. I say all that to say that no matter what you do, don't play it safe. Being uncomfortable is the part of the game we're in 2026 where you need to actually step up and step out and do the thing that requires you to be different, that requires you to get outside your comfort zone and do the things that need to get done as far as to life, as far as to living, as far as to being who you need to be. And sometimes it's hard, and sometimes it's difficult, and sometimes the most uncomfortable thing is the thing that's going to get you to the next level. It's putting that, as they say now, uh belt-to-ass mentality. Let's get it done. You know what I'm saying? Don't do it like scarcely or scary. Do what you need to do to get done because only you can do it. And I just say this I would want to always encourage that if you have a mentor or a person that can coach you or whatever, do it. Don't give up. Like I say, with this podcast stuff, man, I was so uncomfortable. I used to drop every two weeks. And before my mentor, you know, shout out Brenda Boyd, shout out Rich, Dan, um uh, shout out everybody, man. Like, but it was at first, Brendan Boy was like, hey, nobody knows you. And I was like, well, I don't know. I I'm I feel like crazy talking to a camera, and I'm nervous because I gotta drop and I don't have anything to talk about. It was like, well, do you want about enough? You sound like you're uncomfortable to me. You sound like you give me excuses. And I just joked and I just did the podcast game. And I'm telling you, it was one of the best decisions I've ever made. It's one of the things that I could say thanks to all the team, the Pod Pete's team, everybody around me, that always still encourages me. And, you know, one of the things I'd say too that honestly made me uncomfortable is the name of my podcast, guys. My name of my podcast is Real Shitless Talk Podcast. And you know how nervous I was about it because it made me feel uncomfortable, but I learned to own it. I wear the shirt proudly and boldly. I need I want you to know about my podcast. I want you to follow my podcast. I want you to listen to me. I want you to hear the wisdom and the knowledge and things that we talk about when I have my guests on and different things. Like, listen, subscribe to that YouTube channel. Go check me out. You know? Go do something different that helps me. But I'm asking you to listen, to follow. I'm about to drop this episode right now, and I'm about to drop the other episode in just a little bit too, and I'm going for it. I'm going for the gusto because I know I want it bad enough. And I would leave you with this, guys, and I just want to say this comfort zones don't create legends. Bold, calculated actions does. Lead boldly, especially when it comes to chaos, surrounds or surrounding you and your situation, you and your goals, you and your ambitions, you and your mission to be better and to be different, that's where you are. And I'd say this, like I said, if you need anything, listen, down there in the comments, and there's gonna be some links down there for you. If you need an accountability coach, and you need also an execution uh coach too, there's a program. I don't know if you guys can see it, but driven program, you got that. And if you need this accountability, there's an accountability workbook that you can do and get done for yourself. There's so many ways at the bottom where you can become better than you were today, right now. Take action now. Click those links, click like, subscribe. Tell me what you think. Listen, this has been JR for Real Shit Let's Talk Podcast. Listen, I really enjoy this. I love this, I live for it, and I thank y'all for doing the thing that honestly made me feel uncomfortable in the sense of I started a podcast. I'm working into my third year, and I'm still going. And I know that if I'm willing to do the work in the midst of chaos, the life's issues, personal and non-personal, and just emotions and different things of that going on, you can too. You will, you can, and you must do it. It's not gonna always be easy, it's not gonna always be the most grandest thing that you want to do. But guess what? When you become a major player in the game, man, I have no choice but to respect you. I have no choice but to let you know that you are great. You will be great. And so listen, don't stop. Keep going. And I would leave you with this idea Stop playing it safe and lead boldly. Code at what you do, be great at what you do and stick to it. And if you need help, and like I said, I lay some tools down there to help you get ahead. Click those links. Become great. Become a lot of people.