I Came for Vibes, Left with a Throat Punch

Time is the one thing you will never get back, and I’m starting 2026 by saying that out loud. After taking a hiatus, I’m back on Four Steppers Only with a real check-in on mental health, self-doubt, and what it feels like when you’re fighting internal battles in silence. I talk about why I shelled off, what brought the motivation back, and how easy it is to question yourself when life gets heavy and the phone stops ringing both ways.

Family sits at the center of this conversation. I open up about the fear of losing my mom, what it means to be shaped by parents and father figures, and how loss changes the way you measure what matters. I also get into fatherhood, custody, and the pressure of trying to lead your kids when you don’t feel perfect or fully healed. If you’ve ever wondered whether you’re doing enough, or whether your “best” is really enough, you’re going to feel seen here.

Then we go straight at trust, masks, and boundaries. I talk about why so many people don’t feel safe venting, how some folks weaponize your truth, and why reciprocity is non-negotiable. We break down fake energy, transactional relationships, and the mindset shift that comes with realizing time is wealth. I close with a challenge: tell me what makes you happy, and what keeps you pushing when you feel like you’re drowning.

If this hits home, subscribe to Four Steppers Only, share it with somebody who needs it, and leave a review so more people can find the conversation. What makes you get up every day?

Transcript

Welcome Back And The Mental Battle

SPEAKER_00 0:00

I always take it like it is what it is. So whatever happened, kinda like making it happen. I kinda kinda like fighting too or what happened. I mean shit. It's been too much, y'all. Welcome to 2026. You never know what kind of things people facing in the dark by themselves. And don't afraid to tell people about it because people are so quick to judge or have they input when it ain't the only thing they gotta do is listen and support me. But I want to sit here and welcome y'all to four steppers only. I'm Jack. Welcome to 2026, y'all. Happy New Year. I mean, we have a lot of internal battles that we fight constantly. I'm not perfect. I've never met somebody perfect. I mean, I took a hiatus because I had a lot of shit going on. But I'm back. I got new motivation. And people been on my ass because I took a little break. But I had some internal shit I had to go get over. I started doubting myself. I ain't even gonna hold you. Was this shit really popping? And then I had viewers hit hit me up, talking about something, bro. Where you at? We ain't heard shit. Everybody that knows me talking about some bro, we ain't heard shit. Where you at? And I tell you, the most valuable thing that you'll never get back is time. Time with your kids, time with your loved ones, and time with everybody

Sponsor Shoutout And Time Reminder

SPEAKER_00 1:36

else. Hey, and shout out to my new sponsor, Dubby. Boy, I got my uh my energy code is four steppers only, all one word. Um shit, my own flavor coming out. Um, so I want to give big ups to Dubby for sponsoring me. Um, but yeah, man, shit. I

Family Grief And Fear Of Loss

SPEAKER_00 1:56

mean, your mental health is gotten admirable. Family is is is major because once they gone, they gone. The influences they had on you is gone. And the biggest thing that I'm afraid to lose is my mama. Because, I mean, like y'all have heard me say before, she's my best friend, my worst enemy, all wrapped in one. Because she ain't gonna tell me what I have to hear, she's gonna tell me what I need to hear. And I appreciate that so much because my pops is no longer here. Not my blood pops. The individual that made me helped me become the man that I am today. I'm talking about from me being a knucklehead to me doing some bullshit, me and being in shit, me fighting all the time, type shit. Um, because I thought everybody needed a reaction out of me. Um and like somebody told me today when I was telling them everything that's going on with me, like, damn, your plate full as fuck. I said, This motherfucker overflowing. But like what I had to like I tell people all the time. I

Faith Demons And Lessons Learned

SPEAKER_00 3:08

mean, a lot of people don't think I'm religious a lot of times because I don't talk about religion. I don't talk about my time in the military and shit like that a lot of times. And the one thing I live by is he does not he will not put you through anything that you can't handle. Let's break that shit down. He cannot, he will not put you through anything that you cannot handle. You feel like you're overwhelmed, you feel like you got on going through some shit, but he is only making you better. He is only giving you enough that he knows you can handle. And I mean, shit, I'm not I'm not gonna hit on religion because I don't know what everybody's religion like, and I don't know what everybody got them going through. But shit, I got my own skeletons, I got my own demons. Sometimes I embrace my demons, sometimes my demons are good because sometimes my demons are necessary, because I ain't gonna let you know for shit. Motherfuckers be trying you. Like I told them, 2026, man, I we want to throw punch the fuck out of some of y'all in real life. Um, because some of y'all sound idiotic, some of y'all sound fucking retarded, some I some of y'all sound slow. Because everything that don't mean to be come out your mouth don't need to be heard. Because sometimes you need to shut the fuck up and sit the fuck down. Because that's what that's what it really, that's what really it comes down to. But I mean, losses are losses, and lessons are lessons. We never consider a loss, we always consider it a lesson. Um, because one of my best friends just lost a mama the other day, and I just sat back and think. Thought, damn, I lost my dad. What would I do if I lost my mama? Because you only get one. You only get one. And it's scary because it's like, man, that's my ankle. Man, y'all gonna talk about something down. I ain't know Jack was a mama boy. I ain't a mama's boy by fall, but my mom, me and my mama would have gone through a whole bunch of shit when I ain't had nobody else. It was only me and her house, and me, her in the house 90% of my my life, and my sister was there. But my sister's 13 years older than me. But it was me and my mama all the time, so I had to learn a lot of shit on my own. My mama tried her best to teach me everything to be a man, and she's still teaching me to this day. A lot of shit I don't want to fucking hear, and uh the same thing with y'all, and it's just like, where the fuck am I at? Where the fuck am I lost? But that's why 2026 is so important to me. And I look back on last year, man, I went through some bullshit from relationships, like with females, with partners, with homeboys, with cousins. And I'm bad about this. Like, if y'all, if y'all don't know shit, I'm a big Leo. Like, like people say they can sit, tell my persona before that I even open my mouth. Um, but a lot of times, even when I'm going through shit, I shell off from the world. Like, I don't want to hear that phone ring, I don't even want to talk to people, I don't want to do none of that shit. And I shell off.

Custody Fatherhood And Self Doubt

SPEAKER_00 6:34

And I and like I was I was telling somebody earlier, I I use my, like, you know what, I'll tell y'all who it was. It was my son. I was telling my son, my oldest son, because I mean, me and him battling some demons right now. Yeah, we got some personal shit going on, some real personal shit. And to hear his insight on certain shit, to hear my insight on certain shit. And it's like, we had a hard time when I got full custody. We ain't gonna explain the ins and outs, but I ended up getting full custody because the best place for his for him was with me. Him and his brother. And sometimes I question that. He doesn't know it, the world doesn't know it. I question my own shit because I'm not perfect, I'm not the best dad, I'm not the best person, I'm not the best person to get advice from because the way I was raised is totally different from the way you were raised. And my expectations and what I what I had to go through to become the man that I am today ain't for everybody's business. Because I'm telling you, if Walls could talk, like I told somebody a long time ago, when I was in my teenage years, man, I did some a lot of fuck shit. And if I would have continued that up down that path, I would have ended up in uh either in dead dead or in jail, to be honest with you. And I'm talking about shit, we talking about elbows, we talking about shit. I was on some fuck shit. And I didn't have to be. But at one point in time and another, shit, shit. I'm the ones that they used to tell your mom, your mom and dad used to warn you about. Excuse me. But

Masks Trust And Protecting Vulnerability

SPEAKER_00 8:21

I I learned to wear masks, even to this day, I wear masks. Um, like I understand how to internalize, which is a bad thing, and I don't talk about shit because somebody said, Oh, well, you need somebody to vent to. I don't trust y'all motherfuckers, I don't trust people in this world to vent to. And I know a lot of my listeners out there can understand because a lot of times the biggest thing that we're afraid to, just coming from a man's standpoint, is for a motherfucker to use what we tell them against us. It's like, man, I I I trusted you with that information, not to use it against me, not to use it as a weapon, not to tear me down more. And some people want to see you burn in life, they don't want to see you win, they don't want to see you succeed, they want to see your life crumble and fucking burn. And it's and it's sad that that there are people out here that want to see your downfall, and when you had the best intentions and you still support them no matter what the fuck they go through, and blah they blah, because you want to actually see the human being win. And that's sad. Because people don't understand that. And like I tell people a lot of times in the world, people aren't fucking genuine no more at all. At fucking all. I mean,

Fake People Money And Draining Energy

SPEAKER_00 9:45

they'll they'll goddamn, they'll rob you blind, like say shit. I was having a conversation the other day about money. Motherfuckers get lost sums of money, man. You you'll you'll start seeing motherfuckers that you ain't talked to in years come out the woodwork and say, hey, what's up, cousin? Remember me? You remember I did that shit for you? Damn, bro. Shit, here you go. And it's your guilty, like, shit, dear, you did look out for me. You did look out for me in this way. You did look out, but will it be returned? And people try to wonder why why people move away from their family, don't talk to their family, don't deal with their family no more. Because we get placed in those predicaments in those situations, because it's like, bro, the energy I put out is the and it's not the energy I got in return. And then people will also call you fucking weird because they they they they they don't understand where the fuck you coming from, even though you don't come from a malicious standpoint, even though they ain't evil, they see you as that. It's like, man, it's like it's like so many times, it's like motherfuckers be asking me, why you ain't dealing with nobody, JJ? Man, because y'all motherfuckers are weird. Because it's like I put you in, I I I bring you in, I invite you into my life, I give you the access to my life, but you don't reciprocate the energy. Then you want to goddamn make these notions and make these ploys and create these scenarios that aren't true. And it's like, where the fuck are you getting this shit from? It's like I'm moving the way I'm supposed to move, I'm being responsible, I'm doing everything I'm supposed to do as a human being. I'm making sure you're good, but you ain't making sure I'm good. I'll give

Reciprocity Test And Closing The Door

SPEAKER_00 11:40

you a perfect example. I was entertaining this female because it wasn't a situation, it wasn't a relationship, it wasn't a situation that shit, man. The shawl didn't even get a dick. I ain't even smelled the pussy. You get what I'm saying? So, you know, we were kicking it a couple, about two, three months. And they say, you know, I got a flat tie. And this this is just a hypothetical situation. This this ain't no real shit. If I get a flat tie on the side of the road and I call you for help, I let you know I'm in a situation. I need to let you know that I'm going through shit. Will you be there to help me? Will you be there to support me? Will you call me, hey, will you try to figure out if I'm good? But retrospect, if that female calls you at any point in time and telling you, hey, I'm going through some shit, can you help me? It's your you you feel in your moral compass to do so. No matter how bad they've treated you, no matter how bad they put you through shit, you're still going to be there to support them. And that's why at this point in time, it's like some people talking about some old motherfuckers are got down this, that and third. Man, it's like my doors are closed off to people. It's like I have an invisible, I'm I am, I have an invisible short force field up. I am the boy in a bubble because it's like, man, I don't even want motherfuckers close to me no more. Because y'all don't know how to fucking operate, y'all don't know how to fucking move. Y'all don't know how to reciprocate energies, and then y'all call niggas weird, or y'all call females weird because you playing them like Geppetto. You treating them like Pinocchio, you treat them like a fucking puppet. And that shit ain't cool, but then when they got them acting like they get to acting off the reservation, like acting all fucking fucked up, or they just ghost you, or they just cut you off, then you tell them they weird. How am I weird when you didn't reciprocate the energy? Because you told them all I want is a vibe. Man, fuck you and your fucking vibe. I'd rather got them vibe over here by myself and not waste the time that I put into you or to show that the interest I put into you because my time is wasted. It's

Time Is Wealth And Hard Boundaries

SPEAKER_00 14:26

absolutely wasted because the one you no matter how much money you get, no matter how much riches you get, that's not wealth. Time is wealth. Because that's the one thing you'll never get back. It's time. And so many people are blind to that. And it's like that's why you hear so many people saying, um, I'm investing into a business that doesn't invest into me. I'm wasting all my time over here. You telling me y'all are putting a dollar stamp on my time, but I'm not putting it elsewhere. It's like even when you hear, when you put your best foot forward and people are so judgmental off you without even fucking knowing you, what do you do? Do you do you do you take it to heed? I did. It's like, what the fuck? Man, I've done everything in my life right. But you still willing to judge me? You still base it off of what? What are you basing this shit off of? What are you, what do you, what is your foundation based off of? And you can't even tell me that. Only thing you can tell me is, oh, you're not a good fit. Or we don't see you doing this. And a lot of times it's in and you don't, and you want me to be like, okay, I understand. Nah. In real actuality, man, that shit gonna be a big fuck you. It's fuck you, fuck you, and the horse you came in with, and fuck everything you stand for. And I know a lot of people say feel like, damn, that's a little harsh. Nah, it's a little bit necessary. Because people don't understand where the fuck we come from and what it is to be let down. It's like, man, shit, this is what I'm trying to achieve, this is what I'm trying to do. But I keep getting shit on, I keep hitting roadblocks. No matter the magnitude of that roadblock, it's still a roadblock. Sometimes we trip and fall, sometimes we get up and we excel, but other times we just go with the motion. As we said, say, it is what it is, it ain't what it ain't. Shit, guess what? We take that shit on the chin, we stand the fuck up, and we push through. I mean, real nigga shit. Because a lot of people don't understand. Like, shit, we all wear fucking masks, no matter whatever the fuck we going through. We wear a fucking mask to just to make it through to the next day. And a lot of people ain't happy to hear that, but that's what what the fuck we do to survive. Because survival is all a lot of all of us are doing right now, is just surviving. I'm drowning over here. I got my head, my my lips are the only thing above the water, and and I'm fucking about to drown. And I ain't got nobody there to help me. Nobody. And you want me to goddamn rely on the next motherfucker to make sure they do? Man, some of the motherfuckers are willing to push my head under the water and want me to drown even more, drown faster. They want to, they they want to say, yeah, bitch, die, bitch, and just um gain off the fruits of my label. I mean, that's real shit. And a lot of people don't don't understand that. It's like this is where we're at, this is what we're going through. And so many people don't know your your your time is ticking. From the day you're born, only thing you're doing is from that dying from that day. So you're fighting to live. You're finding you're fighting to find happiness. That's like I I want to challenge most of y'all.

What Makes You Happy Challenge

SPEAKER_00 18:06

Just do me a favor, put in my comments what makes you happy. What makes you wake up every day? What makes you strive to be better every day? What makes you not give up? I want to hear what y'all got to say. I want to see, I just want to see what the fuck y'all, how the fuck y'all feel and how the fuck y'all gauge it. Because a lot of times, it's my kids that only the only thing they got don't give me motivation to get up every day. Because I know I can't give up and I can't let them see me give up. Because what would it teach them to about life? Oh, that it's okay to give up? That it's okay to not to do X, Y, and Z, it's okay not to do this, it's okay not to do that. What is it? You tell me. What is it? What are you okay with doing? What are you okay with striving for for? And no matter what you tell me, is it okay? So I mean, I just challenge y'all to find healthy distractions and to take every minute of every day and to value it like it's precious. Because you will never get it back. Will I get my 20s back? Will I get my 30s back? I turned 40, 40 this year. And it's like, damn, a nigga getting old. Damn, a nigga been through so much. Damn. How did I make it this far? I can't remember yesterday. I can't remember two days from now. I can't remember the little shit that I did. But I can remember that I I was there for my kids. I was there for my mama. I was there for the people that love me and that value me in life. And I wasn't there for just at the average Joe Schmo or whoever the fuck wanted to be there just to be there, just to waste space, just to waste air. Because remember, a phone works two ways. Because like I tell my son all the time, shit, I stop answering certain people's phone calls. Certain people's phone calls. Because every time you call me, you want something. Bro, why the fuck would I answer the phone for you if I know you don't want shit? But just to just to leech, just to suck the life out of me and take. Not, hey man, how you doing? I'm just tapping in with you. I got a couple people in my life like that. Man, like they used to tell me to fade five. For a fact, no matter what time they call me, what no matter what you got going on, shit. I'm always there. But you got certain individuals that just want to be in your life just to fucking take and suck the energy out of it and waste your fucking time, which is ridiculous. Because, like I've said, through this whole thing, time is the most valuable thing that you'll never get back. And like for the whole 2026, man, it's fuck them folks. Bitch, I want to chop, I want to throat chop you. And just keep it pushing. Just could keep pushing one foot in front of the other and wanted to see the best out of people that want to see the best in me. I want to be I want to be there to support the people that want to see me win in every aspect. Not some, every aspect. And that's all I want to do in life is God don't support the ones that support me. Because everybody ain't meant to be in everybody's life. Some people are there to be temporary, some people are there to learn a lesson from and move the fuck on from. Others, and they just a waste of fucking space and wait. They should have been fucking swallowed. Straight up. You should have been down some drains. You should have been left on some sheets. You should have been goddamn a waste of fucking waste of a good nut. That's what some of y'all are. And I mean shit. And so many people will laugh and joke and ha ha kiki about that shit. But that's some real shit. Some of y'all are a waste of fucking air. And I meant that shit. And I stand on that shit. Because what the fuck are you here for? If you're not here to encourage or see somebody battle, but you here to destroy and tear down. Why the fuck do you exist? Not telling you that you should go kill yourself. But just goddamn take yourself over there and sit at the goddamn um the bullshit table in the corner. The kitty table. Because you're a waste of air. It's real shit. You're a waste of fucking air. But I just

Final Thanks And Sign Off

SPEAKER_00 23:07

want to let y'all look thank y'all for listening to four steppers only. And thank you. A big shout out to my new sponsor, Dub It Energy. And we out. Peace.