The "WE" That We Need

Encouragement

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:26

Let's go. Warriors. How you doing? What'd it do? Huh? I don't know where you're at in your life right now. Whether you're feeling good in your neighborhood. Or whether you're feeling sad or feeling mad. But if you can hear the sound of my voice, that means you're on a positive trajectory to getting your blessings. Yeah. You are in a positive motion right now. If you can hear this, let me tell you right now, warrior. You're in a safe place. You can take off your armor for a moment. You can drop all of your weapons for a moment. Yeah, you are among friends right now. So if you've been having a difficult time, I just want to remind you, as I always do, you have gotten through a hundred percent of the things that was meant to destroy you. Let me repeat that. You have made it through a hundred percent of the things that were sent to destroy you. Yeah. So what does that mean? That means that you are already a winner. Wow. I know some of you may not look at yourself like that right now. Maybe your situation does not dictate that you are a winner. But warriors, things can change for the better. So quickly that we can't even prepare for it. Yeah. I know this for myself. I've been around for a minute. No, I'm not gonna tell you my age. But I've been around for a minute, and things can change for the better. We just need to be prepared. So when that good thing comes, we will drop in line so that we can receive a great blessing. So, warrior, one of the things that has stood out to me going through this life and battling things, going through struggles, is that for me, I always had others in my circle. Always had a why I do things, not just for me, but also for others. So today I wanted to touch on the fact that when we have a we to depend on us, it gives us certain things that we need as warriors to move forward. They say a warrior without a cause is just a bully, and real mental toughness is fueled by a desire to protect, provide for, and lead others, right? See, for me, it's not all about me. Most of the time, it isn't me at all that I do the things that I do, even doing this right now, speaking to you. This is for those of us who need encouragement. Those of us who may not have someone in their circle that can say, hey, thank you for what you did today, thank you for just being you and encouraging you. But you have come to the right place today. Because I would encourage you to continue to be good and continue to be great and continue to fight. See, historically and conceptually, having a we is where the thug and the mercenary branches off from the true warrior. A thug uses strength for personal gain, dominance, or ego. A warrior uses strength as a shield for others. When you remove ego from the equation and replace it with a cause, your capacity for mental toughness expands exponentially. I like that word, exponentially. That means a lot. Here is why service beyond yourself is the ultimate fuel for your human psyche as a warrior. When you do something purely for yourself, your brain rewards you with a hit of dopamine, a short, sharp burst of satisfaction that fades quickly. But when you fight, build, or endure for the sake of your family, your team, or a mission greater than yourself, your brain releases oxytocin and serotonin. These chemicals don't just make you feel good, they increase your pain tolerance, lower your cortisol or stress levels, and builds long-term resilience. I like that word too. Resilience, baby. Yeah. Oh my. Oh my, that word resilience. That's why you're here today, Warner. That's why you still continue. That's why, even when someone you trusted hurt you, you continue. That's why when a family member did something that you didn't think was possible against you, you continue. Your resilience, baby. Yeah. See, if you are only working for your own comfort, your brain will easily convince you to quit when things get difficult. See, your brain can say this. If I stop running right now, nobody cares. I'm just a little tired, I'll hit it tomorrow. But if you come from the we perspective, you can say, if I stop running, my team loses. If I fail to provide, my family pays the price. If I drop the ball, the people relying on my leadership are left in the dark. Oh my oh my oh my. You can negotiate with your own standards. You cannot negotiate with the faces of the people who depend on you. Oh my my uh. Yeah, that's true. When you operate with a mindset of service, you become bulletproof to petty insults, workplace politics, and external criticism. If someone criticizes a project you are doing just for vanity, your ego gets bruised and you want to quit. But if they criticize a project meant to protect or uplift others, your focus remains locked on the mission. The noise doesn't matter because the shield of your intent is too heavy to move. I'm sure many of you have experienced this, right? But if you really looked at the situation, you would see that the person trying to minimize you has their own limitations, right? But see, if you are cognizant of who you are, you understand that a person cannot minimize who you are. Only you can minimize yourself, right? I believe right now that I am talking to a vanguard, and what is that? In ancient warfare, the vanguard was the leading unit of an advancing army, the ones who took the first hardest hits to clear a path for the rest behind them. In the modern world, being the vanguard means being the person who absorbs the stress so your team can focus on the execution. Being a vanguard means staying late so your family can have security. Being a vanguard speaks up against the toxic culture so others don't have to suffer through it. You endure the friction first so that those behind you have a smoother path. That is leadership. That is the warrior's purpose. You endure the friction first so that those behind you have a smoother path. That's leadership. That again is one of the warrior purposes. Yes, how many of you have taken a hit for others and then seen how your actions presented great fruit, not only for the person that you protected, but it came back to you, right? Huh. But this world is so oppressive right now, and I know that it's hard to maintain. I know that it's hard to maintain a positive perspective with so many things coming against us. But I want to encourage you, and I hope that I have encouraged you thus far in this message, right? So I would like to speak again on the why we as warriors want to have a team. If you feel your mental toughness is slipping, it's usually because your why has shrunk back to a me version to expand your why again. Name the people. Who are you protecting right now? Define them clearly. Is it your children? Is it your clients? Is it your team? The community you serve? And two, before making a hard decision, ask yourself, how does this choice protect or elevate the people I am responsible for? That's a part of your legacy. Three, a warrior in service of others takes a hundred percent of the responsibility when things go wrong, but gives a hundred percent of the credit to the team when things go right. This builds an unbreakable loyalty and trust. I think I need to repeat that one, right? A warrior in service of others takes a hundred percent of the responsibility when things go wrong, but gives a hundred percent of the credit to the team when things go right. This builds an unbreakable loyalty and trust. The warrior protects the village because without the village, the warrior has no purpose. The village supports the warrior because without the warrior, the village has no future. This is where I come from. This is the age that I come from. I came from a village. So who is in your village right now? When you look at the challenges you are currently facing, who exactly are you in enduring your challenges for? Huh? Who are you going through what you're going through for? Is it just you? To a warrior, the village is not a collection of people or a geographical location, it is their North Star. It is the very reason they train, endure, and fight. Without a village, a warrior is just a dangerous weapon with nowhere to point. With a village, their power transforms into purpose. Oh my. Oh my. Oh my. So warrior. Even right now, if you're going through a difficult situation, even if your village is going against you, this is where you have to grant grace. Take a step back. Look at the situation. Think about different angles that you may be able to come at the situation that could better suit not only the village but yourself. So that you can proceed in a way where positive things can come to fruition. See, we have enough enemies externally. We have internet bullies, we have office bullies, we have people in positions that may be over us at the moment that don't know half of what we've forgotten already, right? But we have to keep moving. We have to grant grace to ourselves and say, okay, this doesn't feel right. This doesn't look right. How can I move forward? How can my village move forward? Well, that's when you collaborate. That's when you exhibit accountability. That's when you say to yourself, hey, I need input. I can't do this by myself. Even though I'm an expert at what I do, my knowledge by myself is limited. But my knowledge, when I combine it with the village, it's unlimited potential. Unlimited potential. And that's what we need to tap into sometimes, right? Being a warrior doesn't mean that we have to walk alone all the time. Sometimes we have to collaborate with other warriors that have like-minded situations that they want to conquer, and that they have motivations and they want to achieve certain things that you may have an interest with as well. So, warrior, as I close, love on your village, and they will love back on you eventually. Sometimes it may take a moment because some people don't like change, right? But you still have to do what you have to do if you have a vision and you are protecting and you are leading, you have to grant yourself grace and grant those under you grace as well. So, warrior, grant grace to yourself, alright? Everything's gonna be alright, and as I close, always remember, baby, you matter, and you are important, yeah, you matter, yes you, you matter, yes you, you matter, hey, and our important, yeah, never forget that you matter, and our important until next time, it may be the best time. Keep your head up, don't lose faith, and grant yourself grace until next time, boy.