Being Gen Z: Finding Their Way

If the internet makes life feel like a race, this conversation is a deep breath. We sit down with three sharp Gen Z voices who talk plainly about growing up fast, protecting identity in a noisy feed, and choosing discipline over hacks. From chivalry being mislabeled as “soft” to the quiet power of staying home to save, they cut through the optics game and focus on what actually compounds over a decade: character, community, and consistent effort.

We explore how comparison creeps in and how one guest solved it by quitting social media altogether—treating the feed as noise that programs you, not a mirror that reveals you. Dating gets real, too: opening doors, paying the check, and staying calm in conflict shouldn’t earn ridicule. Toughness is for the world; tenderness is for the person you love. The group also confronts civic reality—opt out if you want, but local judges, school boards, and sheriffs still shape your life. It’s not about partisanship; it’s about literacy in the systems that touch your street.

When money and independence come up, we challenge the “debt as status” culture. A paid-off car beats financed identity, and living with family to build runway can be strategy, not shame. Budgeting and bills deliver humbling lessons; the antidote is planning, patience, and long-view thinking. Mental health rounds it out with three workable lanes: family-first vulnerability, therapy plus intergenerational circles, or knowledge-as-sanctuary through books like The Alchemist and Ikigai. No single approach wins; what matters is doing the work and refusing silence.

What emerges is a map for the next ten years: curate your inputs, set firm boundaries, pick the right vehicle, and apply what you learn until it sticks. If you’ve been craving honest talk about identity, dating, finance, and mental health—without the clichés—this one will stay with you. If it resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a quick review so more people can find these conversations. What’s one long-term goal you’re ready to commit to today?

Resources Mentioned:

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho / Ikigai by Hector Garcia & Francesc Miralles 

Transcript

Cold Open: Keep Your Own Pace

SPEAKER_07 0:00

But can nobody can take it from you. It's your car. And I think that the details are what everybody's focused on. It's not the big picture. It's the details. Like, how can we make this person more insecure? How can we make this person want something else?

SPEAKER_05 0:12

Damn.

SPEAKER_07 0:13

Want more. And I'm not saying be comfortable. You should always want more, but stay where you're at. Don't put yourself into a bad situation to please the mass. Because I promise you, once you start to struggle, the masses will not help you. 100%. Once they come and get all your stuff, and all you got is your mom's bedroom. That's why a lot of people are going back to living at home, by the way.

SPEAKER_05 0:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 0:30

It's because they've lost everything trying to save face.

SPEAKER_03 0:34

I promised you an amazing show today, and here it is. I know a lot of people my age, oftentimes when we look at the state of the world today, we feel that things are bleak and things are headed in the wrong direction. We don't have a lot of faith in humanity. We don't know what AI is gonna do. But after this conversation today, you will feel the way I felt. Listening to these three young people, all in their 20s, all Gen Z. They give me hope. And I think they will do the same for you. They are super smart, inspiring, poised, beyond mature for their age. And I wanted to know what it's like to be a Gen Zier in 2025. What challenges they face, the approach it with grace, knowledge, and so much wisdom. So if you yourself are from their generation, you will greatly benefit from this. And if you have children that age, you don't want to miss this episode. I appreciate you guys for tuning in.

SPEAKER_02 1:34

Welcome to Man Who It Matters. Let's get to it. What's up, guys? Hello.

SPEAKER_03 1:56

Hello. Yeah, we're back. I have with me a special co-host today, Nai. Hey baby.

SPEAKER_06 2:03

Hello.

SPEAKER_03 2:04

Can't wait for you to start your own pod.

SPEAKER_06 2:06

One day.

SPEAKER_03 2:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 2:07

Coming soon.

SPEAKER_03 2:08

Gotcha. Can't wait.

SPEAKER_06 2:09

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 2:10

And we have Julian in the house and Christian, aka Kiki. Good to be back. Yeah, man. Good to have you. What's up, Kiki? How are you? Good, man. So the conversation today is going to be about young men and challenges that you guys are facing on a daily basis. Cool. Yeah, I just want to know what it's like because it's a different era. I wasn't forced to grow up as quickly. And I feel like you guys have had to grow up a lot quicker than I did. That's the first thing that comes to mind when I think about, you know, like me in my 20s versus you in your 20s. Right. Because I was doing childish things in my 20s. So have you guys uh at all contemplated that and seeing how um how it compares?

Growing Up Faster: Tech’s Push

SPEAKER_04 2:57

I mean, I've personally talked to my dad and a few other adults about their uh young adult days. I'm not gonna put my dad's business out there, but he has told me that he enjoyed himself, at least he was free, enjoyed his time, enjoyed being young. I think we definitely still do that, but you're right, a lot of our generation had to grow up pretty early for it's it's hard to say, but everyone has different reasons, you know. But I think the technology definitely played a part in speeding that process up.

SPEAKER_03 3:30

Yeah, for better or for worse, I kind of feel like it definitely did, right? Because you're thinking about you get to see the entire world.

SPEAKER_04 3:37

Your world is a lot smaller than ours is.

SPEAKER_03 3:39

It was. Let's start with you specifically. So you're a professional athlete. Do you feel that had something to do with it? I guess be your own steward.

SPEAKER_04 3:47

Uh, I would say so, yes. Um, because this was kind of the career path that I was set on for pretty much my entire life, ever since I was a kid. It was just what I was gonna do. There was no other option. There was no plan B. There still really isn't. Which I don't know is if it's a good thing, but you know, the way that I was raised, I've kind of had my mind set on one thing, and that's the thing. Yeah. You don't really change that, you don't detour from that.

SPEAKER_03 4:11

Yeah. You don't want to renegotiate the contract that you set for yourself.

SPEAKER_04 4:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 4:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_13 4:16

Well, me and myself, I'm still looking for what I want to do. You know, I don't have a set path. I'm still discovering, I'm still finding new things to do, different jobs. Just got back into door to door to try that out once again. But yeah, I do have a dream. That dream is to go to school and uh I do want to major in nursing. That's the ultimate goal. I'm not sure if I'm taking the right steps to get there. That's news to me. I didn't know that.

SPEAKER_08 4:41

I was about to say, wait a minute.

SPEAKER_13 4:43

Right.

SPEAKER_03 4:43

Okay. Did you know that?

SPEAKER_08 4:44

Team Julian, no, but I don't.

One Path Vs. Finding Purpose

SPEAKER_03 4:46

How about identity, especially with social media? Do you find that it's easy to still know who you are, or do you find that you guys get lost in the noise a little bit if you're being honest with yourselves, seeing a lot of the lies on social media, because a lot of it is just make-belief, but it still creates this illusion of a race, so to speak, right? Like this is where my peers are. This is what I'm trying to accomplish. These people are already so far ahead of me. Do you guys find that pressure to be something that you care about? Or does it impact you in any kind of way?

SPEAKER_13 5:20

It does impact me a little bit, like seeing, especially friends, seeing that they're where I guess I should be at. They were in college like right out of high school, and they're still on that path to get to their career. So and they're always posting about it. So it does like hit me a little bit, like that's where I could be, but not to the point where I'm like, it's bringing me down to where I should give up. If anything, it's kind of motivational. Seeing them there, and I'm like, I can be that eventually. It's not like something I have to hurry up and get together just so I can get there. Like I have time, but time is also not infinite. It puts a little pressure, but it's also motivational at the same time.

SPEAKER_02 5:58

Okay. I could see that. How about you?

Social Media, Comparison, And Identity

SPEAKER_04 6:01

Um, I think personally I've done a good job at avoiding that because uh it's been a while now, you know. So I've gone like, what is it, two years now? Maybe three years, maybe longer, yeah. With no social media. I learned really early on that comparison is the thief of joy, you know, that's talked about a lot. Yeah. I learned that pretty early on for my parents and just social environments. Yeah. Um for the career path that I had to take, social media will play a part in the future. You know, it helps with brand. But for me right now, I just consider it noise. It just feels like a lot of noise that is quite unnecessary. And I feel like it does a lot of programming, and you know, that's but that's a whole nother topic. I do agree that social media has a certain influence on um I guess preserving your character, manipulating your character to be something that you're not, or to want to be something that you shouldn't be, something that isn't truly you. But yeah, I think I've done fairly well for myself preventing that from even being a possibility of manipulating what I believe to be my true character.

SPEAKER_03 7:02

I think there's gotta be like one less than one percent of people who actually have access and choose not to get on social media. I know one other person like that, and he's in his 40s. He's on social media, but like if you tag him or something, he won't see it for like eight months. He's like, I I'm not even on there. How have you realized that? Have you have you been able to stay away from the distractions, the temptation?

SPEAKER_04 7:26

Uh I'll say probably two things. My parents being one, and second thing, I guess just the desire to do what I want to do. And I know that what I want to do has to come with certain responsibilities and certain sacrifices. I had to deem what was necessary, and I deemed it was necessary to remove myself from that.

SPEAKER_03 7:44

Yeah. For me, it sounds like man, that'd be super hard right now.

SPEAKER_04 7:48

Yeah. Right? You you'd think, but after a while, it feels like nothing's there. It's just gone.

Opting Out: Boundaries And Noise

SPEAKER_13 7:53

How long you don't think about it? Sorry to interrupt you. How about how long did it take for you to like for it to be routine? Stop not to stop itching. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 8:01

I can't tell you, honestly. I don't remember. I I wish I could tell you, but I think I already kind of had a a discontent for it. You know, I didn't really like it before I got rid of it, so it wasn't really that difficult after, you know. It was just like finally done with this. Gotcha.

SPEAKER_07 8:16

When it comes to the young men of this generation, I always want to like poke you guys' brains, obviously, for some of my own benefit. But part of it too is I like to understand the way that you guys think. And I think that this generation has narrowed the perspective in almost every single avenue and increased cancel culture. So I guess is it hard with the identity question? I wanted to tag on to that. Is it difficult sometimes to have your own opinions, speak your mind, set your own boundaries, think this way, but also think this way? Or have you found yourself grouping yourself into one mindset because it is comfortable for our generation to accept you in that way? I feel like the generations before they were allowed to have these ideas, these perspectives. They were allowed to be like mini gypsies everywhere. But for us, it's like you think one way, and if you think this way, this is the way that you behave, especially when it comes to like dating and politics and friendships and how they raise their children. Like everything right now is just so micro like control. Oh, it's sick.

SPEAKER_13 9:23

It's crazy how this generation is.

SPEAKER_07 9:24

It is, it is, and I think that the pressure is more so on the men.

SPEAKER_13 9:29

I agree.

SPEAKER_07 9:30

So how are you guys dealing with that? It's different. It's different, but it's interesting. I would love to hear.

Speak On What You Know

SPEAKER_13 9:35

So I really hope that this answers your question. But at the end of the day, I'm me. I'm Julian. It did take me a while to learn this, I guess, because you know, I did grow up like hearing, you know, if you think this way, don't talk to me. If you think this way, you're this, this, this, and that. But I'm allowed to have my own opinions. I'm my own man. If you don't agree with what I have to say or what what I think, you don't have to be around me if you don't want to. You know, that's with society as a whole. I can still be friends with you if you think differently. That's how things were back then. Why can't it be like that now? Uh that's how I stand on it, you know. I'm me, and then you're you. Kiki's Kiki. My dad is my dad.

SPEAKER_07 10:11

Just set those boundaries.

SPEAKER_13 10:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 10:13

If the perspectives start to, you know, create something where the energy is always gonna be weird when you interact, it's sure.

SPEAKER_13 10:19

If there's tension, then I'll learn to exclude myself, exclude myself from the situation. I don't have to stick around with that.

unknown 10:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 10:24

What about you, Kiki? How are you your own man in this generation?

SPEAKER_04 10:28

I think the best way that I've found is just to not speak about things that you don't know about.

SPEAKER_13 10:36

You just if the world could be philosophy.

SPEAKER_09 10:40

Say it one more time.

SPEAKER_13 10:41

But people in the back.

SPEAKER_09 10:42

With some bass in your voice. Mind your business and speak on what you know about.

SPEAKER_04 10:47

That's that's just the way that I found it to be the easiest. And quite frankly, there's just a lot I don't know about. Try not to speak about anything political, really, because I just don't follow politics. It's not for me. I feel like that's just a world I don't even want to be involved in.

SPEAKER_08 11:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 11:01

You won't have a choice, buddy. That's not how the world works. I understand. Unless you pretty much move to your own tiny little island. Everything other people do will impact you.

SPEAKER_04 11:11

That's the goal, man. I want to be living with the hundred-year-olds in Okinawa and Chipotle. I'll hear you, I hear you. Sipping tea.

SPEAKER_03 11:17

But even then, you'll have to vote for the local governor of whatever is going on there. But I hear you, I hear you. I love that philosophy. So your approach is more of an inquisitive approach. So if you're going to speak on something and you don't know much about it, you ask.

SPEAKER_04 11:32

I'll ask, yeah. But I'm just not gonna publicly go out and say something just because the mass is. If I don't know, I don't know. I'm not gonna say something I don't understand.

Politics Still Finds You

SPEAKER_03 11:40

Yeah. So I respect that, right? Because that that makes a lot of sense. I mean, you just made a very powerful statement, right? If I don't know about it, I won't speak on it. I think that what someone from my generation would say is be involved in a way. And and you're right, if you're going to be a recluse, right, and you're going to live somewhere and have your own little spot, be off-grid, you know, solar power, got your own chickens and whatnot. Yeah, it's possible. But unfortunately, it's a global world. Everything's interconnected. And someone that you have no idea is controlling your fate could be controlling it simply because they have eminent domain. So that little piece of land that you bought, one day they knock on your door and go, Yeah, you gotta sell. You go, No, I'm not. This is where I'm gonna die. And they go, Yeah, we're gonna put a pipeline right through here. So this is what it says, you gotta go. And the reason you didn't know that is because the person you didn't vote for allowed that to happen. Yeah, so politics impact all of us. I used to say the same thing. I don't I hate politics, I don't want to be involved, I don't care. And then I realized it's not just the president, the governor, but it's every single person. You you're not voting for the sheriff for your local sheriff, you're making a mistake. You're not voting for your local judges, you're making a mistake. So wherever you live, you gotta pay attention to what's happening there because the people that are by default are gonna be put in place to run your life without you knowing, they have a huge impact on you.

SPEAKER_07 13:04

Another one for me is how, because I know both of you. I know your hearts, I know how you were raised, I know the type of young men that you are. So, how have you navigated being a gentleman in this generation? Because I feel like um, and this is just from you haven't been on social media much, so you don't know the rates.

SPEAKER_04 13:22

I I I know. But um not that far off.

Chivalry, Dating, And Labels

SPEAKER_07 13:25

Chivalry is not dead, not in my mind, and never will be, but it's definitely not as celebrated, and there are names given to men that are simply just gentlemen. And so, how have you navigated open just everything is something for something? I feel like before a young man opens a door, a young man treats on a date, there's just certain things a young man checks in to like for a sign of life for a woman that he's pursuing every single day. There's just certain things now where it's like, uh-uh, 50-50. I need to be getting something, I'm not paying for this, I'm not doing that, I'm not it's just very strange. And if a woman is expecting to be treated a certain way, a man is called names, for instance. It's called tricking, or he's soft, or he doesn't understand the game, you know, and it's just so strange to me because I don't understand it, and I feel bad for the men that that's just the way that they are, that's just the way that they date, that's just the way that they take care of the lady in their life. They're straight presenting men, so it makes sense.

SPEAKER_03 14:25

So who's calling these men that other men. Oh, other men. So there's men because I'm not p they're not pursuing men, so it who gives a shit.

SPEAKER_07 14:32

No, that's the thing. That's that's what I'm thinking. They might be but well, to kiss that out.

unknown 14:36

Okay.

SPEAKER_07 14:37

But also women though, bitter women. So bitter young ladies that aren't getting the treatment that they want, or they're dealing with men that probably shouldn't be dating at all. They have no business dating because they can't take care of themselves. So then you go and you date this man that's struggling but want ac wants access to you. So then you end up in this horrible situation. Now you're making fun of the good guys. So I see a lot of good guys that are slowing down on being good because they don't want to be taken advantage of. And it's making dating a little bit difficult for them, at least for the male friends that I have. They would be that way. They were taught to date that way, but they're just not interested in either being taken advantage of or just all around looking like a clown. So they're changing their dating style. So obviously, it's very, very different from how our parents used to date back then. Obviously, you guys know that there's a difference.

SPEAKER_12 15:26

Right.

SPEAKER_07 15:26

So, do you think that this generation has changed the way that you date and pursue young women?

SPEAKER_13 15:32

Not personally. I'm still gonna be a gentleman to any girl that lets me. And it is difficult to date in this generation for sure, because they have a lot of expectations that I may not qualify for in their mind. But it's to me, it's just waiting for that girl that will allow me to be a gentleman. Cause I love to open the door. I would love to pay the check, check for signs of life, you know, doing all the stuff that I feel like I should be doing. But it's exactly like you said, like you get called names for doing that. I got called soft a couple of times. More girls.

SPEAKER_03 16:09

Exactly. But girls to call you that?

SPEAKER_07 16:12

Yes, I'm telling you, it's weird out here.

SPEAKER_03 16:13

I'm petty as shit. So for me For me, all I hope is that you find a nigga to beat your head. That's all I'm waiting on, so I can be there laughing. Because I'm gonna find me a beautiful woman that who's understand who's classy and understands what she's worth.

SPEAKER_05 16:28

Meanwhile, because your life meanwhile, you have to get a beat over there.

SPEAKER_03 16:31

It's a hard dude. You know what I'm saying? Because that's the thing. You so you find someone who's a gentleman, you find someone who wants to take care of you, you find someone who protects you.

SPEAKER_08 16:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:39

Because soft would come this way. To me, the only way a woman would call me soft for it to make sense, is if you can't trust yourself to walk down a dark alley with me. If you're like, nah, if we're gonna go to the subway in New York, you ain't the guy, then I understand why you feel concerned.

SPEAKER_07 16:52

Men are approaching me and I'm right in front of you, and you're not saying anything else.

Toxicity As Entertainment

SPEAKER_03 16:55

If you're not saying exactly, you know, it's or I don't feel safe, then I understand. You know, because there's small dudes with big hearts. So it doesn't really matter if you're a small guy. Right. Right. But there's a lot of people who are, you know, not comfortable being in your presence because you're just kind of a scaredy cat or whatever. But if you're not that dude, anything else, because I'm supposed to be tough to the entire world, but not with you.

SPEAKER_13 17:18

Right.

SPEAKER_03 17:19

I'm supposed to be wearing this armor. I'm supposed to have my shield and my sword ready to fight the entire world, but not with you. With you, I put this shit down. That's it. Like what the hell?

SPEAKER_07 17:29

But that's what I'm saying. It's when you're dating and pursuing someone, you can never actually get to the talking and getting to know everybody because everybody's so fascinated with things like social media. It could be very vain. So I do agree with taking breaks from that. But there are some women that believe that that toxicity and that aggressiveness and that pressure is what the man should be doing to show that he cares about you, to show that he loves you. So him not even wanting to go back and forth with a woman because that's just what he knows is that's not the right way to do anything. That's him being soft. Like I hit you with something crazy, you're supposed to hit me with something back, and you're just like, you got it. Yeah, you're not sure. I don't want to do that with you right now. We'll talk later when you're calm. That is soft.

SPEAKER_03 18:08

Shit, I'm taking over because it's too easy for me. Because there comes a point. Here's what I'm used to. So there comes a point. Here's what happens. I'm not sure at what age it hits. Yeah, down to what I wear, down to everything, we just don't care. I won't say things that are offensive to people, right? But I don't care at all about your opinion of me. To me, it blows my mind to know that you have to deal with this. But I'll be honest with you, we dealt with it back then too. It just wasn't as advertised and it wasn't in your Facebook social media. Right. I have talked to women who have said that because they were in a relationship where it was abusive or the guy was really, really jealous, and I wasn't, I don't care enough because I'm not acting all jealous and crazy. I'm like, that's not who I am.

SPEAKER_05 18:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 18:53

So that's a little That shouldn't be who he is either.

SPEAKER_07 18:55

All of you guys need therapy.

Can Gen Z Steer The Future?

SPEAKER_03 18:56

Yeah, exactly. But I'm like, yo, exactly. But that's not a new thing. Yeah. Women who've dealt with abuse and who've dealt with who have accepted it as normal, they want it to be normal for you as well. This is normal in my world. Why aren't you acting as crazy as my ex?

SPEAKER_13 19:13

They want you to change for them. And I don't believe in that. I'm gonna be me. Yeah. Like I said before. And you if you don't want that, then you don't get me.

SPEAKER_03 19:21

Exactly. Christian, you've been quiet, man. What's your take on this whole being a gentleman and being who you are?

SPEAKER_04 19:27

Um, I think again, I'm just lucky that I was raised right. I had a great father, and that's a thing that's missing right now. I think a key piece in why men aren't being men in this generation is definitely fatherhood. You need your fathers, boys need their fathers. They need direction, and unfortunately, because of social media, a lot of male direction is there. Like it's all online. So if they're not learning from their fathers, they're learning for what they see online. Yeah. And that's just swaying the masses as it always does with everything. Yes. What social media does sways the opinions. Yeah. Right. Sways what you learn.

SPEAKER_07 20:03

Things that make sense all of a sudden are being debated.

SPEAKER_04 20:05

But the thing is, uh, again, about this uh relationship and dating, when I had social media when I was 15, 16, around then, what you would see like on TikTok, it would be promotion of toxicity.

SPEAKER_09 20:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 20:18

Like they would be videos where you're laying in bed on your phone at 12 a.m. and it would show you some shit where you should overthink, you should be toxic, it would just be promotion of toxicity.

SPEAKER_07 20:29

Go through his phone, do this. This person doesn't play about this person. It's like Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 20:33

Next time you're on their phone, type this in so you can see this, read this chat.

SPEAKER_07 20:37

Exactly.

SPEAKER_04 20:38

This is what they're probably doing while you're sleeping.

SPEAKER_13 20:40

There's these guys on Instagram now that like they pay other guys to test their girlfriends out.

SPEAKER_04 20:45

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's crazy. That's that's been a thing for a minute, though. That's oh that's wild. Social media room. They're doing what? It's like tests. You you test you ask somebody to test your partner's loyalty. Like they set up a whole program and everything and pay for it. Yeah. Oh my god, that's the business.

SPEAKER_07 21:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 21:01

Yeah.

Discipline Over Hacks

SPEAKER_07 21:02

And their partners are going that easy. Like, if you would go pay, like you paid, you knew. You knew they were going. You didn't have to expose if that's the thing. It's all the same stuff happening over and over again. But before it used to be word of mouth, and it would stay in your little town.

SPEAKER_04 21:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 21:15

Now it's now it happens right now, and it's across the nation in like 30 seconds. It's insane. It's insane.

SPEAKER_04 21:23

Yeah. Nobody has any respect for privacy anymore either.

SPEAKER_03 21:26

Well, we can't get the whole world to do what you do. So, what do you guys think the remedy is to salvage what's left of your society? Because there are discussions being had right now about an older generation saying that this is the last of the humans. You're about to fuck this up. And we won't even have a war. No, not the rapture. Wasn't that last week?

SPEAKER_08 21:50

I don't know. I think it's supposed to be today.

SPEAKER_03 21:52

It's a dangerous, dangerous world because there's so much power with social media. And essentially, the people who control the fate of these nuclear weapons, they're going to retire and die. It's going to be y'all. Yeah. Right. So my question is picture people who are essentially going to be in charge of the entire world.

SPEAKER_08 22:13

Jesus.

SPEAKER_03 22:14

Science is being eradicated.

SPEAKER_04 22:16

You know, the education system is being eroded. But I feel like to be fair, our generation just missed that. I think we'll be okay. I think it's Gen Alpha, the next one after us. That's what I'm in fear of.

SPEAKER_08 22:26

Exactly.

SPEAKER_04 22:26

We're maturing.

SPEAKER_03 22:29

It's gonna be that. Okay, see, when we say your generation, we think anybody younger than we are. So we just put everybody in one giant bucket. So Well, we're Gen Z.

SPEAKER_07 22:38

We still had some outside time. Alpha's after us. What's Gen X?

SPEAKER_04 22:41

Alpha's like 2009s and tens of. Oh nigga me. No.

SPEAKER_08 22:49

We'll do it a minute.

SPEAKER_03 22:50

I don't know if we're gonna figure this out because Yeah, just just ask what's the generation and the age.

SPEAKER_07 23:01

Are y'all okay?

Ten-Year Thinking And Vehicles

SPEAKER_03 23:02

I'm Gen X. Correct. The best generation in the world, Dan. We created all this stuff that you can say. Yeah, like the crack and all kinds of stuff. Crack? How about the internet? The crack.

SPEAKER_09 23:14

That's what we just talked about. What's the problem? What's the internet? Thanks a lot.

SPEAKER_03 23:18

Y'all left us with your problem. We invented the technology. No, no, no. We invented the technology, but just no different than someone who invented the knife and someone who discovered fire. You decide to commit arson. Oh. Don't point at me.

unknown 23:33

Do a circle.

SPEAKER_03 23:35

No, but that's that's actually, you know, the tools are there, right? But you were saying something about your generation. I'm sorry. You were saying that you think your generation, the Gen Z generation, is gonna be perfectly fine.

SPEAKER_04 23:45

Yeah, because we just missed all that AI stuff. Like the ends of our generation, like the 2008. I'm not even gonna go as far as to say the 2012s, because they like us as high schoolers, we didn't have the AI when we were in high school. Right. That came now a couple years ago now. Right. So we graduated correctly. We were cheating. We still had the energy. We all cheated. We all found a way. Somehow, somewhere.

SPEAKER_03 24:13

Yeah, some kind of way. But it wasn't like, hey, my I could just rest my brain, leave it at home on the shelf, and go in some some kind of way graduate.

SPEAKER_04 24:21

But we still had to be creative somehow to cheat. You still had to use some ability to cheat. Now you just type it in chat BGPT, make this the best way possible.

SPEAKER_03 24:32

Do it. And tell it. Don't make it sound like uh chat, by the way. Make it sound like me. Dumb it down. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 24:37

Then you edit it and be like, mm-hmm, nah, one more time. Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 24:40

I go back and forth. Too smart.

SPEAKER_04 24:42

Technology is beautiful, man. Humans are just humans.

SPEAKER_08 24:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 24:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 24:47

No problem.

SPEAKER_03 24:48

Someone said on the podcast too, they said exactly exactly that. So technology is amazing. AI won't destroy us. Stupid humans using AI will destroy us. Correct. It will not be AI that's gonna become sentient and just like ruin the world. It'll be us. What was our generation?

unknown 25:03

Alpha.

Finance, Moving Out, And Culture

SPEAKER_03 25:03

The one after you guys? Alpha. It'll be them. Yeah, for sure.

unknown 25:06

Great.

SPEAKER_03 25:07

Hopefully by then I'm on my little island. Alright. I just spent a little bit of time here on the soapbox, kind of shitting on your generation. Right? Why not? Why not? You know, you can't shit on mine because we're awesome.

SPEAKER_07 25:20

I disagree.

SPEAKER_03 25:21

Okay. I mean, there are books. There's has your generation written a book yet?

SPEAKER_04 25:27

Don't worry, we'll make some in a couple years when we're your age.

SPEAKER_05 25:29

Right.

SPEAKER_04 25:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 25:29

Chat GPT.

unknown 25:31

Chat GPT. Therapy.

SPEAKER_03 25:34

But like the question is, you're being told a lot. I know there's a lot of pressure on you guys. You know, figure it out, figure it out. Know what you want to do, get it accomplished, get it done. When I was your age, I was doing X, Y, and Z, and you guys aren't doing enough, etc. And maybe not you personally, but I'm sure you guys are familiar with that narrative. Right. But I don't see a ton of guidance for that to be a fair chastisement or any kind of uh request, so to speak.

SPEAKER_07 26:00

A lot of unsolicited advice, I think. But not no steps. Like, okay, yeah, I hear you. You're telling me from your perspective that I shouldn't be doing this. Okay, great. But like what should I be doing? I'm I'm doing life for the first time, as you are. But what's next? Like where do I go from here? I'm just I know what I shouldn't be doing, but knowing what I should be doing is kind of where I'm at. And I think that you get a lot more advice from the people that you don't really want to be like.

SPEAKER_03 26:26

That one's easy. I always found that why would you want to take directions from them because they haven't been where you're trying to go? Right. So don't listen. But at the same token, is it fair to say that you're not getting guidance? I know I just said it, but is it fair to say that you're not getting it when there's so much of information available on the internet? Like whatever you want to do, whatever you want to be, you have more access today than anybody in the world's ever had for free.

SPEAKER_13 27:01

So it's just like I guess a live and learn type of thing. Try it. If it doesn't work, try it again and then try to figure it out the right way. Or try to find someone that has been or is where you are trying to go and listen to them instead of listening to some bozo that isn't where you are or where you want to be.

SPEAKER_07 27:18

Can I be honest though?

SPEAKER_13 27:19

Please.

Stay Home Or Prove Yourself?

SPEAKER_07 27:19

I think the one thing that our generation lacks that yours does not. So your point is that our generation lacks discipline in every sense of it. Because you've said this to us so many times. It's not the information on how to be a millionaire is out there. It's not a big secret. You don't have to join a secret society. There's no pledging. It's out there, it's free. You can buy it for$19.99,$40, you can go to a seminar, whatever you want to do, it's out there. You just have to do what you need to do and apply how you need to apply to become one. And the 1% or less than does it. So it's the same thing with us, I think. It's the good advice is there. The shows are there, the seminars are there, the people are there. If it's a couple you, you know, want to start getting mentorship from, or if it's someone in your profession, or if it's anything like that, it's out there. It's just going out there, finding it, doing the research, being disciplined, changing your lifestyle. And I think that's the hardest thing for us because we again, not to blame social media, but everybody's falling into this fake reality where you can just change your mind every 15 seconds and be-I mean, you can be who you want to be, but there's always going to be work behind everything. But I think everybody just shows the beautiful side of everything and not the work that goes behind it. They don't show the hours that you're grinding, the frustrations, the one idea failing, and the next one starting back up. Like nobody's really pushing out the real anymore. So you don't really know what advice to take because you don't know how much of it is genuine. So I think staying away from advice, but more so sticking towards research and plans and short-term goals and long-term goals and business plans and accountability partners, and that's more so where your mind should be and not just listening to advice.

Mental Health: Three Paths

SPEAKER_03 29:05

Yeah. Do you think that also everyone just wants the rewards a whole lot quicker? Oh, yeah, for sure. Everyone's looking for like what do you call it? It's um dopamine. Yeah, no, they when they're looking for that hack. Everyone needs a hack, right? Like the shortcut, you know, yeah, exactly. Like get rich quick. Give me this play so I can go run it real quick, and then boom, I can make a ton of money. To your point, what they're seeing is the guy who's already done this, he's only showing you the success. Right. He's not showing you when you go pick up a book, for example, and you decide to read someone, you know, like a book by any one of the greats, and you watch and you go 10, 15 years of failure, and they explain all this to you and they break it all down. These guys are not about the internet. They are not like, oh, look at me, look at my lifestyle, look at my private jet. Now they'll tell you this is what happened. They tell you, like, look, we were doing this and we were failing. And we win again and again and again and again. Number one, know what you want to do, know what you want you want to accomplish. And then, but you also have to understand that most people they overestimate what they can do in one year, but they all underestimate what they can do in 10. You know, again, you have to have the right vehicle. You don't want to get into something where you're just like, I don't know, I'm gonna sell pet rocks and give it 10 years and see if it works.

SPEAKER_10 30:23

I'm really into it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 30:25

You still have to pick the right vehicle. It has to make sense, it has to be your need, you have to be solving a problem, etc. But at the end of the day, if you're not gonna stick to it and you're not gonna work hard at it for most of a decade, if it's your own dream, your own passion, I think that's what's missing. So if I were to say, hey, what are you gonna do in the next 10 years? It's 2025, you've got your 2035, what does your life look like and how you're gonna get there?

SPEAKER_07 30:50

Dirty is not that far away, guys, just to let you know. You blink and then you're almost there.

SPEAKER_04 30:55

Yep.

SPEAKER_07 30:56

Very close.

SPEAKER_04 30:58

I mean, me and him, we just got here. It's our first day. I don't know. First day of 2020.

SPEAKER_02 31:03

Just turn 20.

SPEAKER_04 31:05

The image has changed due to certain things over the years, but I mean the the bigger picture's always kind of been the same. You know, like I said, it's always just been one thing and one thing only. It's still gonna be a part of my life, then even if I'm not playing, it's still gonna be a part of my life. But no, I don't have the full picture yet. But I have an idea of who I want to be, and I think right now that's more important to me. I like it. I think I'll figure out eventually where I want to be. But for now, I think the identity is is real important. I think I must obtain that first. Yeah. My strong willpower would be the core that kind of pushes me to continue being a good man, a good soul. I think I would say because of my father, I'm very spiritual, so I want my soul to be clean. I want to be a good person on this earth. So I guess everything that I do kind of goes towards that. That aligns my decisions, that aligns the path that I go on in my life. So wherever I end up, I just want to make sure that my soul feels right. Dang.

SPEAKER_09 32:10

What's yours? Yeah, like but it's not about your soul being good.

SPEAKER_13 32:16

That's a part of it, maybe. No one knows where they're gonna be in ten years, but I would like to help people not only as on a personal level, but as a um, you know, as a career. As I said before, what I really want to accomplish is being a nurse, and that's been a thing since I was a kid. I've always wanted to help people in any way, shape, or form. So just to have that opportunity and be able to share that with a lot of people in that field specifically. That's cool, man.

SPEAKER_10 32:46

I'm gonna cry. One wants a good soul and the other one wants to help people.

SPEAKER_04 32:50

Yeah. I think also what's pushing me too is just this this generation. I feel like a lot of us are not gonna be good souls. We need help.

unknown 33:04

Yeah. Yeah.

Books, Ikigai, And Meaning

SPEAKER_07 33:04

We're losing. I agree.

SPEAKER_03 33:06

All right, let's talk about finance for a little bit.

SPEAKER_07 33:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 33:08

Moving out at 20, having your own, buying a car, doing all these things. Is there pressure to do that? Or how realistic is that today in your world?

SPEAKER_13 33:16

Well, I mean, it's realistic if you want to do it. You can get a job, save up, and get a car, save up and move out. It's not easy, but it's possible. And it's when you see that expense list that it gives you a really big reality check. That's when you're like, oh my God, yeah, maybe I don't want all that.

SPEAKER_03 33:35

So are people your age staying at home a little longer now, as opposed to because I couldn't wait to move out?

SPEAKER_04 33:42

I think I'm a special case because for me, I've this sounds bad, but I've been looking to move out since I was like 15. Who doesn't? But that was just because I had to grow up really early. You know, I I went to Portugal by myself for three months. I lived there alone, and I had to grow up and live like an adult for three months. Three months sounds short, but for a 14-year-old who was you know basically pampered his whole life, that felt like an eternity. But it changed me. And then after that, like through the out the years, 15, 16, 17, I was I was used to it. I was used to being alone. I was used to living alone.

SPEAKER_03 34:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 34:17

So I would just go out to wherever I was and especially since then since I've been playing in academies, I've just been away from home. So being at home actually feels uncomfortable to me. I'm already past that point.

SPEAKER_03 34:30

What about yourself, Julian? Would you prefer to live on your own, or do you feel that it's more economical and makes more sense to stay where you are while you build, considering how expensive life is?

SPEAKER_10 34:42

Julian can't cook.

SPEAKER_03 34:43

And I can learn.

SPEAKER_13 34:45

Internet.

SPEAKER_10 34:46

He needs people.

SPEAKER_13 34:47

Anyways.

SPEAKER_10 34:48

Huh?

SPEAKER_13 34:49

Rice cookers and air price, that's all you need.

SPEAKER_10 34:51

Oh.

SPEAKER_13 34:51

That's all you need. Period.

SPEAKER_08 34:52

He'll survive.

Fears, Hopes, And Next Decade

SPEAKER_13 34:53

Life is good, so there you go. Right. So um in the in the current state that I'm in, I think it would be roughly the same if I just get my own place. So I would I would like to get my own place because I'm already paying rent. And then on top of that, I'm paying for insurance and other bills. And groceries and phone bill and all that I'm already contributing to the house, so I feel like if I got my own place, I already know how to do certain things. Now, I'm terrible at budgeting. Once I take care of the necessities, I'm like Well, the first time you get kicked out of a of an apartment, that'll solve that problem. I really hope I don't have to get to that point, you know. You learn to budget real quick. Um, but yeah, uh, I would I would like that sense of freedom because that's what I got. I think um when I first went to university, just being alone was like, this is great. I don't need anyone to wake me up. No, I did have to wake up, but it was like I don't have anyone telling me what to do. I can just be my own person. And you also said, do you see a lot more people staying with in their houses, like with their families? Was that part of the question?

SPEAKER_03 36:04

Yeah. Is that something you guys are seeing now with your generation, with your friends? Are they are they celebrated? Yeah, or is moving out like a thing. Because in some cultures, you don't leave until you're married. They stay in the house, you know, they participate, they contribute, they help, and they do all that stuff, and you know, hell in the Haitian culture, it's like that, you know, in Haiti, not here. It was a normal thing for a 34-35-year-old man who was unmarried to still live at home, but he was working, he was paying the bills. He basically became the man of the house. Sometimes that would, you know, dad was retired or whatever, but that's the guy, that's the man, right? But he was still living at home, and they were bills that he did just didn't have because he stayed there until he got a wife, and then she moved out, he moved out, then he went and got their own place.

Closing Gratitude And Playful Outro

SPEAKER_07 36:50

That's what I'm saying. Like, our generation celebrates weird things. Like you have to have increased debt. Like you're made fun of if you don't. Like, if you can live home with your family, you have your own space, you're not bothering anybody, you're not having to pay certain bills, you can save, you can invest, you can do all these different things. Usually, if you live home, that's the setup. And you're able to do that, and you can stay there until you graduate or you're in your career, you're married, or whatever it is, then that makes sense. But now it's like he don't have his own car, or he does have a car, but it ain't no note, you know. He it's one of those cash cars. Like, what since when was owning your car like a vet? Are y'all okay? And then it's the same thing with living at home. Like he doesn't have his own spot. Why why does he need to be paying rent somewhere if he has his own space? You know, as long as he's not sharing a room with his mom. Like, who who cares? It's it everything pushing them out.

SPEAKER_03 37:44

Not sure if you guys would know this, but is this more of a black thing? Because I gotta tell you, like, the average millionaire wears regular clothes. You've seen the way Bill Gates looks when he goes out, right? And he's not a millionaire, he's a multi-billionaire. They're not showing up for anybody.

SPEAKER_05 37:59

Right.

SPEAKER_03 37:59

And I'm not saying that the black ones are, but I'm wondering with that young generation, if they're looking at social media and they're feeling that that's the way it should be. Man, black people got a lot to correct culturally.

SPEAKER_04 38:14

We got a lot, yeah.

SPEAKER_07 38:15

Too impersonable. It's just not knowing better. It's I think it's just everything is very surface level and you have to look the part. And it's because that confidence is not there, that maturity is not there. I'm not gonna say it's lack of intelligence. I think ignorance is just it's such a bad word that it's okay to be ignorant in a certain subject and then want to learn and want to progress. And I think that you just want to look the part, right? You want to drive a nice car, you want to have your own place that has all the lights everywhere, you wanna have a great job, you wanna have all this money that you can flash around. It's like it's just looking the part. Nobody cares if you're emotionally mature, if you're healed, if you're spiritual at all, if you're a good person in any capacity, if your family even likes you, like those are not the things that are celebrated at all. But if let you be a 24, 25-year-old man and you're still living at home and you drive a car that you might have to roll the window down, but can't nobody can take it from you. It's your car. And I think that the details are what everybody's focused on. It's not the big picture, it's the details. Like, how can we make this person more insecure? How can we make this person want something else?

SPEAKER_05 39:21

Damn.

SPEAKER_07 39:21

Want more. And I'm not saying be comfortable, you should always want more, but stay where you're at. Don't put yourself into a bad situation to please the mass. Because I promise you, once you start to struggle, the masses will not help you. 100%. Once they come and get all your stuff and all you got is your mom's bedroom. That's why a lot of people are going back to living at home, by the way.

SPEAKER_03 39:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 39:38

It's because they've lost everything trying to save face.

SPEAKER_03 39:41

Well, so good thing they lost it early, right? Because they 18, 19, they move out, they go do all this other stuff, and by 21, they lose it all and they go back home. Which is fine, because you're still just 21. Exactly. Right? At that point, it's like, oh, you maybe you've maybe you've learned, yeah. And then you could do something a little bit differently.

SPEAKER_08 39:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 39:56

We're just pushed to want more of the wrong things.

SPEAKER_08 40:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 40:01

How about your mental health and just your mental stability, masculinity? I guess one of the first questions that I have is do you feel safe talking about your struggles, whatever those struggles may be? Depends on the person.

SPEAKER_13 40:15

Like I can talk to immediate family easily. She's waiting for a shout-up.

SPEAKER_09 40:20

Your two besties are sitting right next to you. So I'm trying to figure out do you not feel safe?

SPEAKER_13 40:24

No, definitely around family for sure. But once it gets to friends, I wouldn't even talk about stuff going on at home, stuff going on with me if there is anything going on. Because depends on your surroundings.

SPEAKER_08 40:38

You don't have good friends.

SPEAKER_13 40:40

I agree.

SPEAKER_08 40:41

Okay. That's why.

SPEAKER_13 40:43

But I don't need them to talk about what I go through. I have family, and to me that's enough because I feel like they can understand what I'm going through than anyone else. Like this circle right now, I can talk to all of you about what I'm going through, and that's enough. That's all I need. How about you guys?

SPEAKER_07 41:00

Mental health is a little bit different for me. I've been on like a fast track to just getting better every day, being better every day. Part of it is mainly because I had kids young. So I just don't want to create any more damage than I'm already destined to. You just can't ever be the perfect parent, but at least I want them to know like mom tried. Mom was able to have conversations through a difficult season. Mom can take constructive criticism. Mom can have hard conversations. Mom can express when she's having big feelings. And so I'm I work through my mental health by parenting, which is insane. I'm also in therapy. I'm a part of as many groups as I can be a part of with different age groups. So I have one group of women that I deal with that are peers, we're all the same age. And then I have a different group where I'm the youngest. And I think the oldest is somewhere in her 50s. So I try to surround myself with people that I can learn from. And so when I struggle mentally, which I do, I definitely do therapy is not going to fix it all. I'm able to either get myself together quickly or just take a mental rest, or I can reach out to someone and just say, hey, I'm feeling wacky. What's going on? But I don't, I definitely feel like I've created that safe space. And I think that feelings are not something that should be avoided. Like if you're feeling something crazy, somebody else somewhere has felt that one thing. Just don't suffer in silence. Say something to somebody. But good counsel. Don't just start talking to people because there's someone standing in front of you. It needs to be someone that can teach you something. Someone that's not going to repeat that information back to you when it's, you know, to their benefit. Someone that will actually retain the information and give you good counsel back, and if nothing else, at least just hold you when you need to be helped.

SPEAKER_04 42:40

So that's that's good stuff. Yeah. What about you, Kiki? I feel bad in saying this now after both of their takes. But absolutely not. Absolutely not. That has been one of my uh most difficult things to conquer. Um, it ties in with how I was raised, but for me, I feel like my safe place has become knowledge. Like I don't I don't do therapy, I don't really talk to anybody. I feel like to figure out my problems and to feel okay, I seek knowledge. I just read. I read, I go watch videos, I go learn about something that seems similar to my problem, but I struggle really bad with talking to people about it because I think it's a number of reasons, but I think one of the big ones is because in my mind I've already deemed people incapable of helping me with this problem. And that kind of ties into what you were saying earlier, and what you were saying as well is like not taking advice from people you don't feel are suited for, they're not in a position you want to be in. And I already done my whole evaluation of this person. I know this person.

SPEAKER_10 43:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 43:47

So I put two and two together, and I'm like, this problem doesn't really seem suited for this person, so I'm just gonna go figure it out the way I know best. I would say that's probably my problem. Another one would be more of like uh I'd say probably just this this happens to more than just me. I know this is like a generational thing, but the way I was raised, I was basically raised like an only child. Okay. I had two older brothers, but they are my half-brothers, they weren't always around. They were nine and eight years older than me, so the relationship wasn't really there. Right. So I was basically an only child because they left really early too. And my parents were not people I could communicate with. And a fun fact about me is I've been homeschooled since third grade.

SPEAKER_08 44:26

That's kind of dope.

SPEAKER_04 44:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 44:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 44:28

I've experienced the world a lot differently from people very, very differently. Very differently. Very differently. I've experienced different cultures and different countries. Like I've been around the world, I've seen a lot. Yeah. Still so much more to see, still so much more to learn and experience, I know. But yeah, for where I'm at right now, the safe space, communication, I've deemed it just to be my temple. Me. I am my safe space.

SPEAKER_03 44:54

That's interesting. What are some of the books that you read, or that you've read rather, that help you realize that this path you're on is the correct path for yourself? The Alchemist. I've read it too. Love that book. My favorite. I've read it f six times. Pablo Coelho. Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_07 45:11

Do you have it here or is it on Audible?

SPEAKER_03 45:14

Everything that I have is on Audible. I might have the actual physical book. I'll see if I have it. I'll have it.

SPEAKER_04 45:18

Another one by him that I love, though, is The Pilgrimage. It's a great one. Not yet. I'll check that out. You should read that one. It's a great one. Similar to The Alchemist. This book called Ikigai, I actually got it tattooed. This is what this means on my arm. It's like uh it's a Japanese philosophy, which means your reason for being. And it's also why I said I want to go live with the hundred-year-olds in uh Okinawa in Japan, because they talk about a village where that's like literally their philosophy, that's their belief. They talk about the importance of community in your life and how that expands your life and just your well-being, your health, your overall physical and mental health. I talk about finding a purpose in your life, whatever it may be, just something that gives you a reason to live, that guides you so you don't feel lost. It just it's it's a beautiful book. It teaches you a lot. And I read that when I was 16 or 17, because at 15 I was still a little problem child. And what's it called? Ikigai.

SPEAKER_03 46:13

Ikigai.

SPEAKER_04 46:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 46:14

All right. Send me that so I can just add it to the show notes.

SPEAKER_04 46:17

We'll do.

SPEAKER_03 46:17

It's interesting because there's you know, three different takes here. There's the I've got people to talk to and I trust and I share my struggles with them. Then there's the I definitely have peer groups and other groups and there's therapy, and then there's the I'll solve it myself because I'll find knowledge because I don't trust that the people that I would go to have the resources to help me. Yes. I think all three are valid.

SPEAKER_07 46:42

I'll extend an olive branch. I might not have any advice, but if you just need to call and curse, you can call. I'll mute myself and mind my business, and then you can just hang up right in my face.

SPEAKER_04 46:51

Okay. Okay. Don't worry.

SPEAKER_07 46:53

There's that.

SPEAKER_03 46:53

We'll hang out.

SPEAKER_07 46:54

Okay, perfect.

SPEAKER_03 46:55

All right. As we wrap it up, what are your greatest fears for the next five to ten years?

SPEAKER_07 47:00

That I'll waste another five to ten years. Ooh. That's it. I just want to keep going. I want the train to go and I don't want it to stop. Like, I it's okay. I don't mind the trials. I don't mind struggling. I don't even mind starting over. But I just don't want to be like, damn.

SPEAKER_03 47:14

Ten years went by.

SPEAKER_07 47:16

And I'm not doing nothing but getting older.

SPEAKER_03 47:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 47:19

And my back is getting wider. I'm starting to get closer to menopause. Like, think I'm I mean, it's not funny, Julian.

SPEAKER_02 47:25

You get like 20s, man. You're just talking about menopause. You need to chill. I think you got a little while to go.

SPEAKER_07 47:31

You know what I mean? You start thinking about different things in different decades, but I just I don't know. I just don't want I want to be proud of me then. I don't want to look back and be like, okay, I still have more life, God willing. Like, I'm gonna keep going. I want to be proud of where I'm at. Proud of my progress, I'll say.

SPEAKER_13 47:46

Very nice. Uh pretty much on the same boat. I don't want to wait. Stop copying people's shit. You're gonna depend on it.

SPEAKER_10 47:53

Wait a minute.

SPEAKER_13 47:54

Don't even let me finish. What I was going to say. I'll say this. Basically piggybacking off of that, but I don't my biggest thing, and I said this on the last podcast I was on, I don't like disappointing people. You know, that kind of that brings me down once I know. Only to immediate family though. I don't really care about what other people say, but just hearing like you not to say you're disappointed, but just kind of getting around that area that kind of brings me low. So doing something or getting to the end of that five to ten year run and then just not being where you know the expectation was, I guess, except for myself. I'll set my own expectations, not get there, and then not only am I not happy with where I am, but other people share the same feelings.

SPEAKER_04 48:40

So you want your family just to be proud and happy of where you are.

SPEAKER_13 48:43

Yeah. That's that's the ultimate goal. I would like my family to be proud of where I am.

SPEAKER_04 48:49

Well, you're also happy where you are. 100%. Yeah. Same thing, man.

SPEAKER_03 48:54

Other than the little island moving and you don't know where to find those guys.

SPEAKER_02 48:57

Like, where'd they go?

SPEAKER_04 49:01

I just I just don't want to lose myself within these next five, ten years, I guess. I just want to make sure I stay on my path. Mm-hmm. Stay me. Yeah. Because I know it's very easy for man to lose his way.

SPEAKER_03 49:13

Very easy. Or to go off track, and by the time you come back to the track you're supposed to be on, 10, 15 years have gone by. Well, yeah. Or you come back and it's all overgrown and you can't see the path anymore. What are you most hopeful about?

SPEAKER_08 49:27

Most hopeful.

SPEAKER_03 49:28

No, Julian gotta go first or you're gonna copy somebody's shit.

SPEAKER_08 49:31

You're right, Julian go.

SPEAKER_03 49:32

Wow.

SPEAKER_08 49:33

Tell us I'm gonna piggyback. Yeah.

SPEAKER_13 49:37

See that? Wow. As a man and as a as an individual, continue to learn, continue to find knowledge. As you always tell me a million times, knowledge isn't power. The application of knowledge is power. So not just finding knowledge, but applying that knowledge to myself and to continue to grow as a person and as a man.

SPEAKER_04 49:59

That's what's up. Yeah, I'm gonna pick you back up. I think I'll say within the next five to ten years, the thing I'm most hopeful for is making everything that my parents gave to me worth it. They've both given me a lot in different ways. So it's gonna be pretty hard to make that happen, but I think that's what I'm looking forward to the most. Nice.

SPEAKER_06 50:24

I want to be stable in my nannying nest.

SPEAKER_03 50:27

In your what?

SPEAKER_06 50:28

Nannying nest. That's what the nest is my my jam.

SPEAKER_08 50:33

Guys, my dad doesn't know about my businesses. I bet he's gonna cut this out too.

SPEAKER_07 50:37

So I want there to be something stable. I want to have an actual center by then. I want to be able to homeschool as well. I want to teach my children. I want to teach a lot of children. So I'm more hopeful in finally choosing me this year and choosing to start over and struggle and thrive and it just be for me. My ideas, I don't want to do it for anybody else anymore. I don't want to be under anybody's team. So I am hopeful of just being successful alone with my team.

SPEAKER_03 51:11

I've given you guys a lot of shit about, you know, how our generation sees you, but for the most part, that's not. That's just me teasing. The reality is if anyone has a bleak outlook on things, it's probably people my age. But listening to you guys and talking to you, every generation faces their own battles. Yeah. But listening to you, seeing your outlook on life, seeing how you guys are, tells us where the world is going and it's going to a good place. So I thank you for being on the show. I love you guys.

SPEAKER_06 51:41

Love you.

SPEAKER_03 51:43

So as we wrap up, someone has to do the outro.

SPEAKER_08 51:48

I don't have it. I don't.

SPEAKER_03 51:50

And uh we have to pick someone that you're going to be. Are you ready? You're mini mouse. Go.

SPEAKER_01 51:56

Hey friend. Please support us by following the show. Leave us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts. Thank you so much for listening. We'll catch you next week when we share conversations surrounding real issues we deal with every day. Manhood Matters, we're out.

SPEAKER_02 52:11

A little voice.