Defying Gravity

I am using gravity as a metaphor for societal norms because both are invisible omnipresent forces that our universe relies on for stability.  Both can also be constraining and if not understood could force stagnation

Have you ever wondered why some people seem destined to rise (cream always rises to the top) while others spend their entire lives feeling like something invisible is holding them down?

It’s not always talent.

It’s not always intelligence.

It’s not always opportunity.

Sometimes, it’s gravity.

Now, before you think I’ve lost my mind, I’m not talking about the gravity that keeps your feet on the ground. I’m talking about the invisible forces that shape our lives—forces we can’t see but feel every single day.

My name is Vendarryl Jenkins, host of the Zero to One Million Podcast, author of Zero to One Million and Coaching Keith: The AMASI Technique. My passion is economic empowerment because I believe financial freedom isn’t reserved for a lucky few. It’s available to ordinary people who learn to think differently, act intentionally, and develop the discipline to break through the invisible barriers that keep most people exactly where they are.

Let’s make money while we sleep, I see you, I have been you and now I want to empower you 

Today, I want to talk about defying gravity.

Transcript

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Episode 20, Episode 20, Defying Gravity. Defying Gravity, Episode 20 is the end of season one, so I wanted to do a motivational piece for you. I'm going to take about three months and finish my next book, and then we'll start back up. Make sure you listen to all 20 episodes. Go back in and make sure that you got all 20 episodes listened to. In this episode, I am using gravity as a metaphor for societal norms because both are invisible omnipresent forces that our universe relies on for stability. Both can also be constraining and if not understood, could force stagnation in the same place. Have you ever wondered why some people seem destined to rise? People say the cream always rises to the top, while others spend their entire lives feeling like something invisible is holding them down. Now, it's not always talent. It's not always intelligence. It's not always opportunity. Sometimes it's gravity. Now before you think I've lost my mind, I'm not talking about the gravity that keeps your feet on the ground. I'm talking about the invisible forces that shape our lives, forces we can't see but feel every single day. My name is Vendero Jenkins, host of the Zero to One Million Podcast, author of Zero to One Million, and coaching Keith, the Hamasy Technique. My passion is economic empowerment because I believe financial freedom isn't reserved for a lucky few. It's available to ordinary people who learn to think differently, act intentionally, and develop discipline to break through the invisible barriers that keep most people exactly where they are. Keep them in place. Let's make money while we sleep. I see you, I have been you, and now I want to empower you. Today I want to talk about defying gravity. Not the kind NASA studies, the kind society creates. When I was growing up in the early eighties, space shuttle launches felt almost routine. Schools rolled television in the classrooms, families gathered around their living rooms, teachers paused lessons because America was about to launch another spacecraft into orbit. As a teen, I thought leaving Earth was common. I assumed that rockets simply pointed towards the sky, ignited their engines, and flew into space. I had no appreciation for what it actually took to escape Earth's pool. Then came january twenty eighth, nineteen eighty six. Many of us remember exactly where we were. The Space Shuttle Challenger lifted off from Kennedy Space Center carrying seven astronauts, including Krista McCulliff, a school teacher, Ronald McNair, a black physicist, chosen to inspire millions of students in African American. Man, just seventy three seconds after liftoff, the challenger broke apart in front of a national television audience. Seven lives were lost. The nation stood still. We were all just in shock. The investigation later found that unusual cold weather contributed to the failure of rubber o rings and one of the solid rocket boosters. Hot gases escape, leading to the vehicle's destruction. That tragedy reminded me and the world of something profound. Spaceflight isn't ordinary. It's one of the most difficult things human beings have ever attempted. Leaving Earth requires overcoming one of the strongest invisible forces in nature. Gravity. Gravity is fascinating because you cannot see it, you can't touch it, you can't hear it, yet it affects every single person every second of every day. Gravity is the invisible attraction between objects with mass. It keeps your coffee in your cup. It keeps the ocean from floating into space. It holds our atmosphere around the Earth. It keeps the moon in orbit. It helps create the stable climate that allows civilization to exist. Without gravity, there would be no oceans, no seasons, no agriculture, no breathable air, no life as we know it. Gravity isn't the enemy. Gravity is necessary. And you know what? That's where this metaphor begins. In life we also live under invisible forces, responsibilities, bills, mortgages, car payments, student loans, family expectations, workplace culture, the opinions of friends, the traditions passed down from generation to generation. None of these are inherently bad. In fact, many of them provide stability. Your responsibilities teach accountability, a budget teaches discipline, a job teaches consistency. Just like gravity gives stability to our planet, responsibility gives stability to our lives. But here's the challenge. The very force designed to keep us grounded can also keep us from ever rising. Think about lifting weights. If there were no gravity, there would be no resistance. Without resistance, muscle never develops. Financial discipline works the same way. Saving when you want to spend, investing when others are consuming, studying while others are scrolling through social media, working on your business after working your full-time job, that W-2 to income streams. Those moments are resistance, and resistance develops strength. Now that's one of the reasons why money inherited without preparation is often lost. Researchers found that many families' fortune diminish within just a few generations, not necessarily because wealth disappears on its own, but because succeeding generations may not inherit the habits, the discipline, or the stewardship that created it. They didn't work to get it. The challenge isn't simply obtaining wealth. The challenge is becoming the kind of person who can sustain it. Now I know this next statement may be uncomfortable for some. Many young people today have grown up with conveniences previous generations. They never even imagined. Groceries arrive at the door. Entertainment is available instantly. Information is available in seconds. Technology has removed many everyday obstacles. Those conveniences are remarkable, but they can also make it harder to develop patience, resilience, and perseverance. If we never have to work through discomfort, I always say become comfortable being uncomfortable. Growth still requires effort. Character still requires resistance. The principle hasn't changed. My freshman year in high school, I lived next door to this guy named Benny Garnett. He set out to defy gravity. He wanted to be able to jump over a guy six ten and six eleven, and he wasn't but six one. Every day, in the morning and in the evening, he put weights on his legs and he would do like a hundred jumps on his step with one leg, then the other leg, then both legs. Then after school he did it again. Every day. So one day he told me, he says, Man, I can teach you too. You can become like this, where you can jump out of the gym. I said, Man, I'm 5'10. You think you can get me where I'm dunking and everything? He said, Yeah, yeah. So I started the regiment with him. After a few days, my legs started to hurt and my knees started to hurt. And I said, Nah, I can't do this, man. I'm sorry I wasted your time. He said, Man, don't worry about that. One day you're gonna find something that you're passionate about, like I am about this, and you'll put these principles into action, and you will defy graphic. About a year later, my high school Thornton was playing this school called Bloom. And Bloom had artist Gilmore's younger brother, I think his name was Orin Gilmore. He was 6'11. And my friend Benny, my next door neighbor, he was on the basketball team. I saw them throw the ball up to the top of the square, and I thought they was threw it away. All of a sudden, it just seemed like he just jumped out of the rafters, caught the ball, and dunked it over Oren Gilmore, the 6'11 guy, and he wasn't but 6'1. The crowd went crazy. Just went crazy. And after the game, I went over to congratulate him. And people were asking him about his gift. And he was like, nah, this is no gift. And he grabbed me. He says, hey, tell him about what I do. Tell him what I do. I said, man, this guy works his butt off. He works his butt off to be able to do that. That is not a gift. This is not easy what he's doing. And I was so, so proud of him to see him put that passion in and get to see that happen where he was defying gravity. So how does a Benny Garnett or a rocket do what seems impossible, what seems to be impossible? The answer begins with a man named Sir Isaac Newton. More than three hundred years ago, Newton described three laws of motion that still governs how rockets fly. The third law is perhaps the most famous. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. A rocket engine burns fuel and expels enormous amounts of hot gas downward at tremendous speed. As those gases are forced down, the rocket is pushed upward. The harder the engine pushes downward, the more powerful the rocket rises. The rocket doesn't ignore gravity, it overcomes gravity with greater force. Think about that. The obstacle isn't removed, the force opposing it simply becomes stronger. That's one of the greatest lessons in personal development. You don't eliminate every obstacle in life, and you become stronger than the obstacle that once controlled you. Here's another fascinating fact. A rocket burns an extraordinary amount of fuel during the first few minutes of flight. For many launch vehicles, the overwhelming majority of the propellant is consumed getting through the densest part of Earth's atmosphere and building the speed needed to continue climbing. Why? Why? Because gravity's pull is strongest when you're trying to leave the ground. Doesn't that sound familiar? Starting the business is harder than running it. Paying off the first ten thousand of a debt often feels harder than paying the last ten thousand. Saving your first investment account takes more discipline than watching it grow after years of consistent contributions. The beginning is supposed to feel difficult. That's what gravity does its work. Hmm. Question, what if the invisible force pulling you backward isn't financial? What if it's cultural? What if it's generational? What if it's what if it's the expectation everyone else has for your life? Let's get low with this one. What if economic gravity whispers? People like us don't become millionaires. Nobody in our family has ever owned a business. Just be thankful for your paycheck. Don't dream too big. Stay where it's safe. Those voices are powerful, not because they're loud, but because we've heard them for so long that they begin to sound like truth, yet history is filled with people who refuse to accept those limits. Every inventor, every entrepreneur, every pioneer, every first generation college graduate, every family that broke a cycle of poverty, every person who built wealth where none had existed before. They all had one thing in common. They chose to challenge the invisible force, telling them to stay on the ground. They chose to defy gravity. Gravity isn't evil. Gravity is necessary. It gives us stability, order, and structure, but the very force that keeps us grounded can also become the force that keeps us from ever discovering what we're capable of becoming. Today I want to ask one question. How do ordinary people defy economic gravity? The answer is surprisingly simple. They develop enough thrust to overcome gravity. NASA engineers understand something that most people never think about. A rocket doesn't accidentally drift into space. It is intentionally designed for one purpose to generate more upward force than gravity can pull down. That force is called thrust. Without thrust, the rocket never leaves the launch pad. Without vision, people never leave their comfort zone. Without discipline, dreams never leave the notebook. Without sacrifice, financial independence never becomes a reality. Gravity always wins unless something greater pushes against it. The same is true in life. Think about where most people spend their lives. You wake up, you go to work, you pay bills, you watch TV, you go to sleep, repeat, repeat, repeat. There's nothing wrong with honest work. Work is honorable. Providing for your family is honorable. But many people confuse survival with progress. A treadmill requires tremendous effort, yet you'll never change locations. Many people are running harder than ever financially while remaining in exactly the same place economically. They're busy, but they're not moving. Now that's gravity. That's gravity. The average American household carries significant debt through mortgages, auto loans, credit cards, and student loan. That isn't meant to discourage anyone. It's meant to explain gravity. Gravity isn't simply being broke. Gravity is the collection of invisible forces constantly pulling your financial life back towards zero. With every paycheck that arrives, gravity starts pulling mortgages, utilities, insurance, gas, food, car payments, phone bill, subscriptions, unexpected repairs. Before long, unless your money is limitless, that paycheck that looks so promising has disappeared. Gravity is always working. Now, let me show you what defying gravity really looks like. Imagine a sixteen year old girl discovers she's pregnant. Years later, her daughter becomes pregnant at fifteen. Everyone quietly assumes history will repeat itself. Then the third generation grows up, watching that story unfold. She loves her mother, she loves her grandmother, but one day she quietly says that story ends with me. I will graduate, I will become a physician. I will build a different future for my children. She isn't rejecting her family, she's refusing to repeat its trajectory. She is going to defy gravity. In another neighborhood, at school the teacher asks, the boys in the class, what do you want to be when you grow up? Every boy raised his hand and said MBA player, MBA player, MBA player. Then one young man quietly raises his hand. I want to be the solicitor general and argue constitutional cases before the United States Supreme Court. The room becomes silent. His dream doesn't sound like everyone else's, because gravity always encourages familiarity. Breaking gravity often begins with giving yourself permission to dream differently. Now picture another family. Generation after generation, about the age of twenty seven, the men disappear. Some are murdered, others spend years behind prison walls. The children grow up expecting tragedy because tragedy has become normal. Then one young man says I'm opening up a barbershop. Another says I'm becoming an electrician. Another says I'm learning plumbing. Another says I'm starting an event planning company. None of those headlines make national news. But every one of them changes a family tree. Sometimes defiant gravity doesn't look spectacular. Sometimes it looks like opening the business no one in your family has ever owned. Sometimes it looks like becoming the first homeowner, the first investor, the first college graduate, the first millionaire. History changes because one person refused to accept inherited limitations. But even rockets face another challenge. Drag. Drag is resistance created by the atmosphere, trying to slow the rocket down. Every successful person encounters drag, critics, fear, comfort, procrastination, negative friends, social media, comparison, excuses. People who tell you be realistic. Nobody from this neighborhood becomes wealthy. The higher you try to rise, the more resistance you may feel. Don't be surprised by it. Resistance isn't proof you're going the wrong direction. Sometimes resistance is evidence that you're finally starting to move. You're moving forward. People used to say dogs don't chase parked cars. They chase them when they move it. One day someone in your family is going to tell your story. They'll say, Our grandmother changed everything. Our father became the first business owner. Our mother became the first college graduate. Our grandfather was the one who taught us about investing. Our family tree changed because one person refused to stay on the ground. May that person be you. Let's make money while we sleep. I see you, I have been you, and I want to empower you. I'll leave you with this thought. A rocket is built on earth, fueled on earth, tested on earth, but it was never designed to remain grounded on earth. It was designed to defy gravity and shoot straight up in the air. Perhaps that's true for you as well. You were born into your circumstances. You were shaped by your environment. You were influenced by your past. But your future does not have to be limited by your starting point. Build the vision, build the discipline, build the habits, build the momentum. And when the invisible forces of life try to convince you to settle, smile, ignite the engines, and defy gravity. Thank you. I'm Vendero Jenkins, host of the Zero to One Million Podcast, author of the Zero to One Million Book, and coach and keep the Amasi Technique. If today's message encouraged you, I invite you to continue the journey with me. Join the Zero to One Million Facebook community where we're building a movement around economic empowerment, generational wealth, and practical strategic plans for financial independence. You can also learn more about my work at www.oldgoldconsulting.com.