I'm Cheryl Swoops. And I'm Tarika Foster Brasby.

And on our new podcast, we're talking about the real obstacles women face day to day.

Because no matter who you are, there are levels to what we experience as women.

And Tee and I

have no problem going there.

Listen to levels to this with Sheryl Swoops and Tarika Foster Brasby, and Iheart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find us on the Iheartradio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

Hey, y'all. Nimminy here. I'm the host of a brand new history podcast for kids and families called historical records. Executive produced by Questlove, the story pirates, and John Glickman, Historical Records brings history to life through hip hop. Get the kids in your life excited about history by tuning in to Historical Records.

Listen to Historical Records on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hey, friends. I'm Jessica Capshaw.

And this is Camilla Ludington. And we

have a new podcast. Call it what it is. You may know us from Graceland Memorial, but did you know that we are actually besties in real life?

And as all besties do, we navigate the highs and lows of life together. Big or small, we are there. And now, here we are opening up the friendship circle

to you. Listen to call it what

it is on the Iheartradio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Every day I wake up, I'm 1 day closer to death. So what you gonna do with the time you got left? 1 of the biggest blessings is going through a time where you are feeling at your lowest or depressed or whatever the feeling is because that is just confirmation that you're not in alignment and that you're meant for something different, something greater.

What's the difference between attracting energy and chasing energy?

Oh, boy.

The number 1 health and wellness podcast.

Jay Shetty. Jay Shetty.

He won. The only Jay Shetty.

Hey, everyone. Welcome back to On Purpose, the place you come to become happier, healthier, and more healed. 3 things that are so important to the human condition. Today's guest is on for not the first, not the second, but a third time special. Yeah.

1 of your favorite guests. 1 of your favorite interactions. We both hear about it all the time. I'm talking about my dear friend and incredible artist, Big Sean. Grammy nominated rapper, songwriter, friend of the podcast, and now a first time author.

His new book is called Go Higher: The 5 Practices for Purpose, Success, and Inner Peace, which combines his insights on self care with actionable tools set to release in January 2025. Now despite his achievements, he has been open about his struggles with anxiety and depression, turning to spiritual practices to find balance. Through his music and now his writing, Big Sean inspires others to overcome their own challenges, and reach their fullest potential. Please welcome my dear friend, someone that I believe is so inspiring, deeply insightful, philosophical, a guide, a teacher, a leader, Big Sean.

Man, brother thank you for having me. You know Of course. First of all I just gotta say Jay though, I'm so proud of you, man. Even I mean, since our first interview, like, of course, you did you sparked the idea of me writing a book, but not I'm not making it about me, bro. You've interviewed the president, man.

You've entered like, the you have gone to the moon and back. There was a part of the book where I said, like, the mental health space and, you know, like, that that space is dominated by a certain crowd, bro. You are dominating this space, and I just gotta say it's it's deeper than that. It's wellness. It's all of it.

And I just gotta say I'm super proud of you, man. Like, very, very proud of you. I know, like, where you come from. I know your journey. I know how you grew up.

You know? I know the household you came from. And I just gotta say, man, I'm very proud of you. And I see I see, like, so much for you. And you're still so young, and you're still so have so much to offer.

So thank you so much, man.

Oh, man. The feeling feeling is mutual. And, honestly, it was people like yourself who came on the show so early and trusted the space, opened up and made it a safe space for so many that followed you as well. And so I have to give you a lot of credit back because you came on the show when it was so much smaller. We were starting out.

Mhmm.

But it

was people like yourself who who trusted me, trusted the space, and were able to create it.

And Yeah. Look at this. And look at this, man. Come on.

Yeah. That's Radi's genius. She's, she's she's super smart when it comes to figuring out how to help people. But no, I'm so proud of you for putting this book together because when I met you I noticed very quickly that you were already a philosopher and that was rare. Most people live life and then gain wisdom and you through your mother, through your own learnings, through your own curiosity had so much insight and wisdom when we met.

And I remember mentioning like, oh, 1 day and the fact that we're sitting here with the book in

our hands Yeah. Yeah. You told me.

It's pretty special. And you reminding people to go higher is is so powerful. But let but let's dive in because I'm sorry. You were gonna say something. I don't

know. No. I was just saying, like, yeah. You really gave me the confidence. You know?

Soon as the cameras cut off, you were like, yo. You gotta write a book. You know? And I was like, wow. I didn't write it for any, like, vanity purpose.

I didn't write it for, like, that time for me to write a book. I literally wrote it because it was pouring out of me really, essentially. You know what I mean? And it was like, there are so many people who, like, trying to figure out how to get to how to just maneuver through life, and I've dealt with my, like, ups and downs and maneuver through things. So it's just like, sharing always can help somebody.

You never know how you're impacting somebody, how you can change somebody's whole trajectory. You know? I was lucky enough to have these, like, guardian angels in the form of, like, my mom or the form of my family members or in the form of friends or you know, the the alchemist the book The Alchemist really taught me to pay attention to the omens. You know what I'm saying? So through a song coming on through any any aspect of my life, and it was just like you know, it was a true pleasure to be able to just put, like, what has worked for me in a way that can people could come back to it, that people can apply to their lives.

And, you know, I've gotten a chance to not only sit and talk to you, but sit and talk to so many of other people that I respect in the wellness space and just an inspiring space, you know, from Deepak to Sadhguru to and just my idols, you know, growing up in music. So I apply a lot of things that I've learned into this book, and hopefully it helps people.

It will. It will help people for sure. I wanna I wanna stop asking you. You know, you've manifested success. And when I spend time with you today, and I see you with Janae and I see you talking about Noah Mhmm.

I also feel you've manifested happiness. Mhmm. And I think those 2 things are very different. And so I wanted to ask you, what's been different about manifesting success? Mhmm.

Career, profession, and then manifesting happiness?

1 of the things about success is you have to define what your idea of success is. You know? I don't think if, like, say somebody had a $1,000,000,000, I wouldn't say that he's more successful than me. I would just say he has more money than me, and I think that's the power of separation. We tie so many things into definition.

Right? Success to me is a feeling of it's an emotion. It's something that when your purpose is activated and you are impacting people in any way, shape, or form, there's so many ways to impact people. Right? Now there are byproducts of success.

Like, money can be a byproduct of success. You know? When you do something and it you create a supply and demand, you get paid for it. But I don't think because you make money that you're successful. You know what I'm saying?

And I don't think, you know there's a lot of things that you could tie to that. Just like I don't think just because if your life isn't going the way you are, that doesn't mean that you let that make you unhappy. Those are 2 separate things. It's really the power of separation. So for me, success is a feeling, and it's when my purpose is activated.

So I remember I did an interview and they asked, you know, successful talking about success. And I said, well, I'm not the most successful person in the world. And I was like, well, maybe I am actually because I love so many aspects of my life, and I'm living in the the life that I've always dreamed of. You know? Times 10.

I I only wanted to have a song on the radio and, like, a platinum song, and, bro, I've sold a 185,000,000 records or something crazy. I've, like, taken care of my mom, my dad, a lot of people, and lived 10 lifetimes already. So everything has just been sprinkles on top. So to me, success is really activating your purpose, and happiness is something that you can choose instantly. Your happiness is something that you could choose instantly, and it's something that I learned the hard way.

Because when I have fallen into, like, a dark time you know, we all go through these ups and downs. When I've been down bad and, like, the depression comes in, the anxiety comes in, the self sabotage comes in. And you can hold on to these things, and they'll they they will stick with you your whole life. You have to decide to let them go. And, and that's 1 of the things I talk about in the book.

A lot of people don't may not know how to do that, and there are a lot of ways. But 1 of the first ways is to choose how you feel. You're in control of that. And it's easier said than done because when things aren't going your way, you're pissed off at everybody. You're, like, blaming everything.

Well, first of all, you have to quit blaming everything else and realize that you're a magnet. You're magnetizing your whole world to you. You know? So if that's the case, obviously, you switch it to an emotion that resonates with you more of how at least how you desire to feel. Right?

And you can choose that. And I'm telling you, your whole experience will change. So happiness is something you can choose immediately.

Yeah. 1 thing that stood out to me listening to you was the power of separation.

Mhmm.

I've never heard it like that before. Yeah. And I really like that term because we have to learn to separate society's views and our views. We have to learn to separate, as you said, our definition of success and other people's definition of success.

And separate what you control and what you can't control.

And how so how do we develop the power of separation? What what does it take to cultivate that within ourself to have that ability? Because I feel most of us don't practice the power of separation.

It's being it's just the recognition to me. 1 of the biggest blessings in your life is growing pains. 1 of the biggest blessings is going through a time where you are feeling at your lowest or depressed or whatever the feeling is because that is just confirmation that you're not in alignment and that you're meant for something different, or you're meant for something more, something greater. You know, if you were satisfied with where you're at, then that's just is what it is, and, you know, you probably wouldn't even be depressed. But because you are, because you feel a certain way or, like, you're not all the way there, that is just confirmation that you are truly, truly meant for more or something different.

So to me, I think that when you recognize, okay. You know, once you start recognizing things of that nature, you could say, okay. What's the first step of getting out of this? And so that's part of the book I say, you know, accepting where you are. That doesn't mean you have to, like, you have to, like, stay there.

That just means accepting the blessings and all the things that come along with where you are to open up space for more. And you're letting go of all the baggage that is is holding and weighing you down. I used to be like that. I used to be like, when things don't go my way, terrible. Oh, this doesn't happen the way I wanted it to or the way I saw it.

You know, my whole mood is shot. Right? And I'm not not to say that things don't affect me when they don't go my way, but I have the armor on now. I know how to deal with it. I know how to get over it and get back to it.

Mhmm. That's how a lot of my heroes deal with things too. You know, when you think of, like, Denzel Washington, like, say he has a new movie out. Say the movie does amazing and it's incredible and he wins a Oscar, say the movie comes out and it bombs or it doesn't do as well, he he's not gonna give up and quit. It's not gonna ruin his life.

He's gonna move on to the next thing and and and use that to the power of separation to me. You know? That's a real thing.

Yeah. I you reminded me of I love Denzel too.

So Yeah. I know.

You you you reminded me of

I can't speak for Denzel. That's just like an example.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Of of what you're perceiving.

Yeah.

I remember my football coach growing up gave me this piece of advice.

Mhmm.

And it stayed with me ever since then. He would say to us, if you lose, cry for a night.

Yeah.

And he goes, if you win, celebrate for a night Mhmm. But then get back to training. That's right. So if you lose, cry for a night, but then get back to training. And if you win, celebrate for a night and get back to training.

It was always about getting back to training the next day.

Yeah.

It was like you can't just sit there and cry for a week Mhmm. Or cry for a month. And you can't, in the same way, celebrate for a month. You can't just live off your past success.

That's right.

Get back to training, and I love that mindset. Someone was asking

me Kobe mindset almost. Right?

Yeah. Yeah. Fish go on.

You know, I know you got a chance to talk to Kobe before, and, I have actually got a chance to talk to him as well. And, you know, he's he's incredible, and his mindset was something that I admire so much. And I I got a chance to talk to him literally a few months before he passed, and he was just telling me about how he meditates and what it does for him. Right? And I've just resonated with that so much.

It's really it's really cool because we all are reflections of each other, not just me and you or whoever. It's like everyone that's in your vicinity, in your environment is a reflection of a you or a part of you, even if you like them or don't like them. You know? And it's something to recognize that we are all interconnected after you go down to the layers of it. Right?

You get past the singularity of, like, career, the, you know, family, house, this and that. We're all you go really deep inside, and we're all very similar. We're all the same. We we we have the same system of order of operations. You know?

And it's really a a true testament of we all are everything physical is made of that same I don't know what you wanna call it, prana or love energy. And as I've gotten older in my life, I see the similarities. I have friends that are in their sixties, seventies. You know? I have friends that are all races and things, and I see myself in all of them.

And I think that's something to recognize, in such a world of separation. Mhmm. I know that kinda is, like, a far reach from talking about the interaction with Kobe, but it's just it's just crazy how in everyone that I've been meeting lately and even just from growing up that I've seen it's like a mirror almost in a lot of ways.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, talking about Kobe, I think what resonated with me most about him is that he was at peace in retirement. Mhmm. And athletes who are retired

I know.

Don't always find peace because, naturally, it was so important to be on the field. Right.

Right.

And so no judgment towards anyone, but it's so hard to not be on the court anymore

Mhmm.

And not miss it. I wanna be there. And he had found a new purpose. Mhmm. And that's the most interesting thing is that you don't get to peace by pursuing it and you don't get to peace by trying to pursue more prizes and more wins.

Yeah. You get to peace by finding your purpose and that's what he did. Mhmm. And so I wanna talk about in your book because you really give people these 5 practices. Yeah.

Yeah. And I wanna give people a game plan, a roadmap today in our interviews so that when they read the book Yeah. They can kinda connect the dots between things you've said today. And I want everyone to go out and grab a copy of the book because I really feel it simplifies.

Mhmm.

I feel like so much of this space is like mystical, compressed.

Yeah. Yeah.

Like and and it can take a long time. But what you've done is you've really demystified in Go Higher your book the pathway to get there. Yeah. And and I love that you start at accept. Mhmm.

Because I think even though it's a hard step, it's such an important step. This idea that your journey only begins when you accept that where you are is your starting point. Mhmm. That your experience have made you exactly who you're meant to be with the skills, the talents, the gifts. So if someone sitting and listening going, Sean that's so hard for me to accept that I am where I need to be because my life's just been full of, you know, the worst, horrible, difficult things.

How do I accept and start from there? Mhmm. What would you say to them?

I would say that I I understand some people's lives are not ideal. I'm someone who has seen that, experienced that, can relate to that firsthand, and what I can say is that when you accept it, that doesn't mean that you are giving up. Those are 2 different things. Accepting it just means, okay. I'm ready to go somewhere else, and I'm thankful for all that that all that this has taught me, all that this has brought me.

I accept where I'm at, but I know I I'm made for something else. I know I'm made to go to go higher. Right? But no. But, really, I'm made to to be somewhere else in the world.

Some you know? And I think that until you accept that, you can't move forward because you're just in the middle of it. And I think when you accept something, that's how you get ahead of it.

Yeah. Yeah. I I agree. I feel like it's the resistance to acceptance

Mhmm.

That blocks us.

Exactly. Right?

It's like when we're fighting yeah. When we're fighting, we're going in the opposite direction. It's like it's telling you it's going in this direction. Mhmm. And you're trying to force it to go in the other direction and that's what's causing tension.

And accepting it means, like you said, not that you're giving up, but you're like, alright. Well, I'll just do what you want. It's going, no. This is how it's flowing. Mhmm.

Now what am I gonna do?

There's always a, like, thread of where you are to where you desire to be at. No matter on what situation, there's never not a way. Or else you wouldn't feel it, or else you wouldn't be have a desire for it. But it wouldn't even be in your consciousness. Mhmm.

You know what I mean? Like, I don't have a desire to go to Saturn because I'm that's just not in my thing. Right? But I have a desire to the things that I've had the desire to, I always knew that there was a way. So always know that no matter what opportunity you're in, against the impossible odds or against odds you know, whatever it is, you always have your way to get to where you are.

There's always a thread leading you, and there are maybe multiple threads. So never be down and out and think that it's impossible. It's really not. I mean, Mission Impossible is is a movie that where he defines impossible missions. You know?

But my point is is, like, there is nothing that's impossible for you. It's all meant for you. Yeah. And it's it's up to you. You know?

1 of my favorite quotes is, every day I wake up, I'm 1 day closer to death. So what you gonna do with the time you got left? It's like, understand that this is our time right now. The moment is now. These moments, we only have the moment.

So a lot of us live in the future and a lot of us live in the past, and that's something that we have to get out of the habit of. And I think when you accept where you are, you're kinda letting go of that and making an action plan to putting your attention on your intention. And you of course, you have an idea of where you would like to be, but god doesn't always give us what we want. God gives us what we need. And sometimes those are the same thing, and sometimes they're not.

Yeah. And, it it it all works out. You know?

Yeah. For sure. What what's the, you know, when you're manifesting as we're talking about this, like, finding your path Mhmm. What's the difference between attracting energy and chasing energy?

Oh, boy. Attracting energy and chasing energy. Well, like I said, when you're chasing something, you're already implementing the energy of it running away from you. You know what I mean? And I just say you can't get it, but it's a lot of effort to chase something.

It's like even police on a high speed chase is like, they might have to crash into other cars, and they're chasing you. And when you attract something, it's, you are using the powers that have been granted to you from God, universe, whatever you call it or believe in of it magnetizing to you, and you have that power. It's been the power that's been you know, we use it on a level on small levels every day. Even if you just said it and say, hey. Today, I need to take a shower.

That's literally you've set a goal. You did it. It's done. You can do that on a scale of anything that that happens. And some things may take a lot more time than others.

You know? We all we have these ideas and expectations we set for ourselves, but that's on us.

Mhmm.

You know? That's our ego sometimes. That's our our, you know, wants and desires, and our mind sometimes getting the best of us. And I think that things do take time, but there's always a way. And, you know, it's you can never count yourself out.

I'm Cheryl Swoops, WNBA champ, 3 time Olympian, and Basketball Hall of Famer. I'm a mom, and I'm a woman.

I'm Tarika Foster Brasby, journalist, sports reporter, basketball analyst, a wife, and I'm also a woman.

And on our new podcast, we're talking about the real obstacles women face day to day.

See, athlete or not, we all know it takes a lot as women to be at the top of our game.

We wanna share those stories about balancing work and relationships, motherhood, career shifts, You know, just all the shit we

go through. Because no matter who you are, there are levels to what we experience as women.

And Tee and I,

well, we have no problem going there.

Listen to levels to this with Shirl Swoops and Tarika Foster Bradsby, and Iheart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find us on the Iheartradio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

Hey, y'all. Nemeny here. I'm the host of a brand new history podcast for kids and families called Historical Records. Executive produced by Questlove, the Story Pirates, and John Glickman, Historical Records brings history to life through hip hop. Each episode is about a different inspiring figure from history.

Like this 1 about Claudette Colvin, a 15 year old girl in Alabama who refused to give up her seat on the city bus 9 whole months before Rosa Parks did the same thing. Check it. Get the kids in your life excited about history by tuning in to historical records. Because in order to make history, you have to make some noise. Listen to historical records on the Iheartradio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

What's up, y'all? This is Questlove, and, you know, at QLS, I get to hang out with my friends. Show Steve, Laia, Fontigolo, unpaid bill, and we, you know, at Questlove Supreme, like to nerd out and do deep dives with musicians and actors and politicians and journalists.

We give you the stories behind all your favorite artists and creatives that you have never heard. I'm talking about stories behind their life journeys and their works of art.

I love QLS because of the QLS team supreme. They're like a second family to me. You're a

fan of deep diving into music, everything, almanacing your musical history, and learning things about hip hop artists and things you never thought, then you're a lot like me. But you're also a fan of Questlove Supreme.

1 of the things I love the most about this show is that we get to learn from the masters. I look at being on this show as my graduate program in music.

Listen to Questlove Supreme on

the Iheartradio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

Supreme. What's been the most difficult thing you've ever had to accept?

The most difficult thing that I've ever had to accept is that, the things that I can't control.

Mhmm.

I used to let the things that I can't control control me.

Give me an example. Like

How someone perceives your art.

Mhmm.

As an artist, like Erykah Badu says, we're emotional about our shit. You know? I think she said something like that. Yeah. That never changes, but you can't control how someone perceives you.

You know? All you can do is put first of all, to make something, to write something, to have an idea and it actualize it is, like, that is really the win for real. I'm not just saying that. Like, that is, like, come on. You know what I mean?

You literally manifested something. How people consume it, if you impact anyone, you that's literally a a bonus to it. You know? That's why we do it, but that's that's you literally changing the world. So the 1 1 thing I've had to accept is, like, yeah, how people like, I can't control what people think of me, their perceptions of me.

And when I try and control that, it takes me off of my path that I'm on where I need to go. Yeah. You know? So that's been it that's that's that is something hard, and you have to separate. Like I said, that power of separation of, doing what you love to do and not tying it into how people perceive it.

Yeah. Those are 2 separate things.

Which is so hard.

It is.

It's so hard, isn't it?

It is.

And and I loved what you said that when you get fixated on what other people think of you Mhmm. You're just getting distracted from your path.

Of course.

Because now you're placing energy on. And then you might even shift what you're doing to try and appease them and then they still won't like it. Mhmm. And that's the craziest part, right? You do what you want and they don't like it.

Yeah. And then you do what they want and

they still don't like it. That's right.

And then you don't know who you are anymore, and no 1 likes it, and you don't like it either. Yeah. And you end up not liking yourself trying to get everyone else to like you.

That's where you don't wanna be at.

And that's where you don't wanna be at.

And then you're kinda, like, back to a square 1, you know, position of, like, okay, having to reestablish yourself and, you know, you gotta be right with yourself first. So you you you nailed it right on the head, man. It's like, you know, you can't you can't really do live your life for other people. I always say that's a business you'll never be successful at is the business of trying to please everyone. And then when you do please everyone, it's like, are you pleasing yourself?

It's a hard it's a hard lesson as well for people because we all naturally wanna make the people around us happy. And and our childhood has so much to do with that.

Mhmm.

You know, we were speaking a bit earlier and I was talking about how, like, I was the peacemaker in my family. I was the mediator.

Yeah. I

was the person As

a young 1.

As a young As a 10 year old.

Wow.

And so I was always trying to keep the peace Mhmm. And listen to people and understand them and Mhmm. Understand what was going on. And so I always had to read in between the lines and always had to have a great sense of when something was gonna kick off and how did and I wasn't trying to make peace in the sense of, like, everyone just gotta get along. Mhmm.

I was always trying to get to the root of it and go Wow. What healing's needed here? And I don't know. I just always did that. And

You know what's you know what's special about that, man? It's that, I think that we choose our parents before you know, I think as spirits, we choose our parents. This is what I believe. Right? It's just a concept that I believe.

And some people would be like, well, that's I was in a family where it wasn't easy. This I would've never chosen that. But you don't understand that, you know, to be 1 of the 1,000,000,000 of sperm that make it into the egg and conceptual you really fought to be in this world. Right? And I truly believe that god doesn't give you what you want.

God gives you what you need Mhmm. 1st and foremost. And you don't know how the development there are some people who need a nurturing family that's perfect. Right? And then there are some people who actually learn maybe even more and become more of a of a positive force for the world to change it by learning of what not to do from their parents directly all the time.

Or not all the time, but, like, in certain situations. You know? So I just think that, you know, you being the mediator, you you were you were on a course. You were learning at such a young age of things to apply or what not to apply to your marriage. And the fact that you were that, because we talked about it off camera, the fact that you were a mediator, the fact that you were that for your family at such a young age, it's just incredible because look at the path that has led you to.

Man, you're impacting everybody, man. You're impacting, like, the world, you know, and me and families. And you're really changing it with, like, the the person you are and the heart that you have have. You know? So wow.

I'm just I just gotta pay my respects to you.

No. You're too kind, man. I I got lucky. I met good men I feel like important people we've talked about in previous interviews when you've come on about your mother's role in your life.

Oh yeah.

And and how pivotal she was. And for me, my monk teachers you met Radhanath Swami

Yeah.

When when he came to us Amazing. He came over a couple of years back.

Amazing.

And you met him and meeting him was so pivotal to my whole spiritual journey. Mhmm.

I was

gonna ask you, I mean, talking about kids picking their parents, Noah picked you? Yeah. He did. Talk talk to us about how fatherhood has transformed your views on the learning experience of what you've learned from fatherhood Mhmm. That you couldn't have learned from anything else.

Well, when you have a kid and you see them and they look like you and they look like their mom, you see that they smile like you or smile like her. How you know, you see all these things and you realize, okay. And then they kinda look like my brother, and they kinda look like her granddad and her you know, all these different family members. Right? And you're like, this is really crazy.

And he'll do something that is, like, reminiscent of what you used to do. Right? So then I realized that, okay, the DNA is like a computer. It's information that gets passed on on and on and on. Right?

So you're really the culmination of a whole lineage, right, in in you. So 1 of the things that I learned from him because there are times in my life where I'm like, man, I wish I could talk to my grandma. You know, my grandma was a female black captain in World War 2, man. She was crazy. She was incredible.

And, like, I'm or my granddad, they met in World War 2. Right? Or, like, I wish I could, like I'll be like, man, I wish I could, like, speak to them or, like, get advice from them now. You know?

Sure. Wow.

I only known them as a little kid, and then I realized that the information is already in me. All I have to do is just go deeper within and really connect with that. And that's something that I learned from my son being born. Somehow that clicked is like, he is the culmination of our lineage. All the DNA from my side, from his mom's side, and so on and so forth.

And he's he got he's got something special going on. So that's 1 thing I learned. And another thing I learned is to go back to the simplistic beauties of life. When we're on walks out in nature, he's so fascinated with, like, the flowers and the birds and, like, just like, oh, the this or that or bug b. You know?

He's like and it just it's it gave me a whole new excitement for that. Yeah. And I really appreciate him for teaching me. I feel like he's teaching me as much as we teach him. I feel like he's teaching all of us a lot as well.

And he's also teaching all of us that, like, hey. We can be happy right now. He's he's, like even if he's, like, distraught or something, he'll go do something and be happy right there. He chooses it, and I love that.

Madam, so glad I asked you asked you that question because I knew you'd have such a deep answer for it. Like, your answer, the first part of it, The idea that your child has all of that within. Like you were just saying, you wish you could talk to your grandparents. Yeah. Which I wish I could interview your grandparents.

I mean that sounds like a phenomenal

Yeah. Thank you.

Journey and story to hear about it. And And I wanna know how much more you know about what they did or Yeah. How much you don't. Mhmm. But I love the idea that we actually have it encapsulated within us.

Mhmm. Like it's coded in us.

It is.

And even if we're unaware of it and I was talking to a researcher the other day. I was doing some research for my next book and she was talking to me we were finding this research that was talking about how when kids are told their ancestral stories

Mhmm.

They have a much deeper sense of belonging. Yeah. And so the reason why so many of us feel so lost today

Mhmm.

Is we've never been told deep stories Mhmm. About where our parents come from, where our grandparents come from, what they went through. Not in a way to make us feel like a victim or a feel at a disadvantage, but to hear a story from the perspective of this is your heritage. Yeah. And then you feel like you belong to something so much more bigger and beyond you.

Mhmm. Whereas most of us are just like, oh, yeah. I'm from West Hollywood or whatever. Right? Right.

It's like it's such a light. Yeah. Right. It's like a it's like a temporary residence.

It is.

But, like, when you know you belong to something eternal, like, I was talking to the researcher. I was saying that in my life, the things that have helped me the most when I'm going through a tough time, a difficult time, a real low Mhmm. Is recognizing that I'm part of a 5000 year old tradition. So when I'm repeating the Gita, which is a 5000 year old scripture, which is the text I learned as a monk Mhmm. When I realize I'm connected to that lineage, I feel unstoppable.

Yeah.

Because I'm like that survived for 5000 years. I'm gonna be alright. Like I'm gonna be okay.

Right.

Whereas when you just think like oh, man, I've, you know, I've just been on the planet for, like, 30 years, and I'm trying to figure it out. It it can feel quite uncomfortable. Facts. And so I love what you're saying that, actually, inside your son, Noah, there is the coding Yeah. Of his grandparents.

It is. And all of us. It's like time traveling. People always try and figure out how to preserve themselves. You know, there's the expression, oh, I'm living through my kids or I'm living that's real.

I've I realized how much power these simple expressions have.

Tell me more. I like this.

Like, communication can save a nation or, like, you know, but, like, yeah. I really feel like we always try and think like, oh, there's not enough time. There's not enough time. There's a real real real truth to I'm living through my kids or whoever or whoever you choose to. I I don't even think it has to be your kids.

I think that your blood, your lineage, it's like you really are you really do time travel. You know? A 1000 years from now, there may be some, descendants that look like us.

Mhmm.

You know? Or, like, slight you know, you'd be like, oh, you you know, I I look like my dad's dad.

You do? Yeah. Yeah.

I've never met him. You know? He unfortunately passed, you know, when I was super little, and I never even met him. But he's a part of me too. And I think that's also why it's important to work on yourself and to heal certain traumatic experiences because with all this information we pass on, you also pass on the the good and the bad.

You know what I mean?

So said.

You know, you you heal things health wise, and you heal things traumatic wise, you know, or trauma wise. And, you know, you it's really important to work on yourself physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually because you pass on all of that Mhmm. As well.

Yeah. For sure, man. I mean, that's what's so interesting. Right? Like, within you, you have the coding of the greatness Yeah.

And the heritage, and you have the coding of

Yeah.

The unhealed generational trauma that keeps being passed down. Yeah. What was what was something you had to look at in your background and past generationally, traumatically that wasn't healed? That you were like, I'm not gonna pass this to Noah? Like, this has to stop this time.

Wow. So many things. So many, like, worry, 1 thing. I used to worry so much, create all of these scenarios in my head. And I think that's, like, a double edged sword.

You know, when you have an imagination in your creative, you create. Right? So you can create good. You could create bad. But they're they're the 1 of the experience that life has taught me is to never worry.

No matter what, you're gonna be fine. You know? I think 1 of my biggest fears used to be, like, what if I lose everything? Right? What if I have to go back to, you know, growing up in Detroit and the hood, blah blah blah.

And I and then it's just like, well, I was I could I was happy there too. Like, I shouldn't be scared to lose any of this stuff because this stuff is conditional. And it's like, I'm a be good wherever I'm at. I remember when I talked to Sadhguru, I was like, where's your favorite place in the world? He's like, wherever I'm at.

And I was like, damn.

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. You know? So it kinda goes back to that that, like, that's 1 of the things I don't wanna pass on to me. So you never have to worry. You know?

And, you know, you could you could be fueled. You could let something inspire you to be greater. You could let something light a fire under you, but, like, don't ever worry because you have what it takes to to get to wherever you gotta get to. You know?

Yeah. Yeah. How how how do you kind of imprint that in a young child? Like, how how do you You do.

You imprint that in a young child by building up his confidence. Mhmm. And that's 1 of the things I love about my boy. It's like he's so confident. He's like you know, I never am like, that's something that I wanna keep feeding him.

Even on the song I wrote about him on my album, I said, I see my inner child in him is still the remnants. Will he lose it to the world as an imminent, or is it something that me and his mom have instilled in him? And the confidence you lose, you could build again. Oh, so It's like

So good.

Yeah. And, like, I would just wanna water that. I think that when I was a kid, my my mom and my dad came up in, like, a civil rights moment in the country. Like, my mom had to drink from, like, a different water fountain. You know, my my family has been through a lot.

My mom's great aunt who was like a old woman, my mom would go visit her in North Carolina, was born a slave. So that just goes to show you how close that that lineage is too. Right? It's like it kinda feels like it's so far away, but it's not. She was a old woman and my mom was a baby, but my mom is alive now.

So the connection of that is, like, few and far between. My point being is that, my mom and my dad did the best that they could, but they came from a era where they had to really be don't be too loud. Be controlled. Don't do but get out of line. Like, you know, my mom would be like, when you get pulled over, like, make sure your hat is off and, like, you because they see your face and you be respectful.

And and I think there was a lot to that, but it was it was coming from a little bit of of a fear based place sometimes. And that's something that I recognize, and that's something that my mom has helped me recognize too through all of the knowledge she's given me and my dad. But, like, 1 of the things I wanna pass on to him is that, like, be confident in who you are because you have what it takes. He has you you get to already tell he has a great heart. He has a great spirit.

He loves making trying to make people laugh. You know? Not even at 2 years old, he was like before, like, 1 year old, like, telling you know, trying to, like, make you smile, and it's just, like just wanna keep watering that confidence in him, you know?

Yeah. Yeah. And and that confidence kind of talks nicely to the second practice in your book. You talk about strategizing.

Yeah. Strategizing.

And I love that you went there because I think a lot of people see spirituality and strategy as opposite opposites. Or they separate them.

Right.

And I know we've always vibed on the fact that, to me, they go hand in hand.

Absolutely.

Because strategy is just intentionality in action. We're sorry. Like, that's that's what it is.

Strategy is intentionality in action. Right.

Yeah. So you have intention, and then you get activated around an intention. And that's how you strategize. But I think often people think strategy has to be conniving or, like, some sort of manipulation. Right.

But but that's not what you mean. So when you say we need to get strategic Mhmm. How do we build the skill of becoming strategic, and what does it mean?

Well, I think you recognize, like you said, is this, strategy to me is the key to getting is is 1 of the keys to move from where you are to where you, have to be because you identify where you desire to be because you identify so much, and you get to you get to research. You get to plot and plan. Nothing, you know, nothing that is really amazing in life is, doesn't come without a plan. You know what I mean? There are a lot of spontaneous things, and I do believe in the energy of spontaneity.

And, like but, strategizing to me is so important, and there's so many ways to do it. You know? You could, like, study someone from afar. That's kinda 1 of the beauties of the Internet. It's like, you can kinda study and know someone you really respect, or you may have someone in your family, or you may have someone in your neighborhood, or you may have someone.

But even say someone from across the world that you really respect, you can study a lot of their, what they have put out in the world. Yes. And sometimes that's all you need. There have been times where when you get to know someone fully, you might get let down a little bit. Yeah.

It's like because you have all these expectations and you meet them, and it's like, wait. What? You you know? But I think there comes again the power of separation. Like, you gotta separate that.

And, you know, so I know I'm talking a lot, but

I do know it's good.

Yeah. I do think that, like, strategizing, is a real key to, happiness. You know? And it doesn't have to be, like, a deep thing. Strategizing could just be as simple as writing your intentions down, strategizing your day.

How are you gonna approach this? I always, like before I get into a studio session or anything, I always, like, meditate, and I write down what I would like to experience

Yes.

In the session. You know? What am I what would I like to get done? How would that feel? And I kinda lock on to that feeling before I go and do do what I gotta do.

Yeah. I'm glad that you pointed out that strategizing is starts with studying. Mhmm. Because then it becomes you study something and then you apply it. Mhmm.

And that's what strategy is. You study it first and then you apply it. And and and I was thinking about it as you were saying like strategizing your day. I was thinking about if you think about New York, it's a grid system. That's a strategy.

That's a strategy.

It's a strategy. Like that's what it is. If you look at if you travel to Europe, you'll see there was a strategy in how towns were built where like the church would be in the middle of the town. Exactly.

There would

be a river flowing through the middle. There would be a bridge over the river. There was a strategy in how it was built in order to create an experience of the city. And I feel, you know, that's what it is. It's thinking about your life and thinking, what are the pillars and priorities in my life?

Yeah. Like like, what are the things that, like almost like building a city.

Exactly.

Right? It goes, okay. Well, a city needs a fire station because sometimes there's gonna be a fire.

Right.

It needs a school because I need to learn. Mhmm. It needs a hospital because sometimes you're gonna get ill. Like, what does a city need? And you gotta look at your life in the same way and go Exactly.

What does my life need?

And sometimes that's exactly what your life needs, a structure. Yes. You know, when you feel like you're all over the place and things aren't happening, sometimes you just need a little bit of structure and strategy to jump start it and build the foundation to build on. You know? So that's a perfect analogy.

Yeah. What was the best strategy you ever built to achieve something in your life? What example would you give from your own journey? When were you most strategic effectively?

Mhmm. There have been times where I was very strategic and times where I wasn't. And, 1 of the times in my life where strategy really helped out was just like, I would say, securing my first record deal. I always knew I would get a record deal. I would talk about it frequently with my friends in 8th grade.

I would talk about when I hey. When I sell out the this, the this the when I when I sell out the, Palace, Auburn Hills, all these things that I did ended up doing later, I just knew it was gonna happen. I just didn't know how. And you we all know that, like, you can make plans and god laughs at it, but I really feel like when your heart's in the right place and you have the intentions and you put a little bit of strategy to it. Okay.

Like, 1 of the things that I've always wanted to do is, like, okay. How can I get on the radio? You know? How can I be how can I how can I be on the radio? Then I, you know, did some homework, and my friend, oh, there's a radio show where you can battle rap and end up rapping on the radio.

You know? And people would okay. That's a way to get on the radio. So how do I get down there? Okay.

Oh, so I need a ride down there. I would, like, plan out every aspect. I need to make sure I have a ride to get to the radio station to be able to battle rap. Okay. I need to plan I need to write a rap for the when I get on the radio so I have something to rap over.

You know? And so it's like you strategize every aspect of it, and it can be fun. Strat it doesn't have to feel like homework. It don't gotta feel like schoolwork. None of us wanna do more work.

In fact, when you strategize, you probably are eliminating a lot of work, a lot more work. Don't get fooled thinking that, like, you're getting ahead by not doing the work. I'm telling you, when you strategize and plan things out, you're eliminating hours of work. So that is the reason you know, a lot of us may not have time to read this book, you think. Like, I don't have time to read a book.

I'm telling you, like, reading a book, not just my book, but a book that impacts you saves time. It doesn't take time.

Oh, I I'm I'm so glad you said that because Yeah. That's all it does. All it does. When you're learning, all it does is save time. It stops you from making mistakes.

It helps you avoid the ones that someone else made before you. You'll probably make some new mistakes for sure.

Yeah of course.

But but but you'll avoid so many. And I loved what you said, the way you broke it down. Like, ultimately strategizing is building steps to that goal. And you're trying to break it down to the step that I can do today Yeah. And now Yes.

That is small and easy Mhmm. All the way up. And I love the way you work backwards where it's like, alright. I wanna be on the radio. Yeah.

Alright. Let me break that down. Wait a minute. That means I need to go this, that means I need to do this, that means first I need to do this. Okay.

That means right now I just need to do this. Yeah. And I think sometimes we live on level 21 of where we wanna go, but then we haven't got the elevator down to level 0 to go up. Right? Like, we're just Exactly.

Our mind is in level 21.

And we get mad that we're not on level 21. Exactly. And I'm and I'm and I'm a victim of that. And I think that, you know, I've I've gone through experience I'm not a victim. I have done that before.

I've experienced that. So I know how frustrating it could be. But don't let it stress you unless you let it unless it's eustress. There's distress and then there's eustress, and that eustress can motivate you. It really can.

It could light a fire under you. You go through it. Distress can kinda weigh you down. So you have the power to take any aspect, even depression, and let it either weigh you down or let it fuel you. You know what I mean?

So, yeah, I think that I know there's a lot of people frustrated. I get frustrated still. I'm nowhere near perfect. I'm not talking to you as an expert in any way, shape, or form. I'm literally talking to you as a reflection of you and someone who has gone through these experiences and have just, like and and given the game that I've learned, you know, in straight black and white and examples of how I've done it.

You know? So yeah.

For sure. What you've gave us an idea of when you were strategic. What was what was the time when you were chaotic? Alright.

So there are times where, yeah, I've let things go. I didn't strategize. Like, there's always things you haven't thought about Yeah. That you gotta come back to later. Like, when I had a fell out with some family members, like, even my mom, our relationship got tainted for a long time.

And it was like, I was not calling her. I was not checking in. I wasn't doing anything that a son and now having a son, I really feel the the the depth of that. You know what I'm saying? And I didn't I could've strategized that better.

You

know what I mean? I could've strategized a lot of things better, and you always have 2020 in hindsight.

Totally. Totally. Totally. No. And and I agree.

It's it's just good to know because, yeah. It's the same for me. And I love how you said that strategy is also sometimes with people. Mhmm. You know, like, we we say the wrong thing at the wrong time.

Mhmm. Or you say the right thing but at the wrong time. Or you say the right thing but in the wrong way. Or you say the right thing but in the wrong place or

Yeah.

You say the right thing and, you know, to the wrong person. Right? Yeah. It's like it has to be strategic.

It does.

Because otherwise, it's not digested. We just think as long as I'm saying the right thing Mhmm. Everything will be okay. Yeah. But if you say the right thing in the wrong place, to the wrong person, at the wrong time, in the wrong way Mhmm.

With the wrong word, the wrong language Mhmm. It doesn't matter how true the thing you said was.

Right.

And that's what strategy is is going, wait, how do I make sure this lands?

Wow.

Like, what what is it what is required for this to actually have an impact on someone and to serve them and help them?

Yeah. And that's what we're here to do is to serve, really, in every aspect. It's always comes down to being of service. You know? And anything we put out there, in any interview, in any book, in any song, it's really of service to whatever the moment, it relates to.

You know what I mean? So yeah. Yeah. And that yeah. You you're right saying the right thing to the wrong.

And the thing is, you're kinda the only 1 who can dictate you know, right and wrong is so opinionated depending on who you talk to.

For sure.

You know? There are a lot of people who think that you know, any anything that we could think is wrong, somebody could argue how it's right. You know? Even, down to black and white, somebody can argue that this text that says the exact same thing means this thing and or this means that thing.

Mhmm.

You know? So I think it's important to come from a place of understanding. Mhmm. And this leads to something else I wanna talk about because just because you understand something doesn't mean you have to accept it. Oh.

Just because you understand it, and that's something that I had to learn the hard way. I thought that I was being this spiritual guy by if I get into a disagreement with someone, understanding where they come from. And then, ultimately turns to me not respecting myself. Mhmm. Because I understand where they're coming from.

Be like, okay. Like, I get it. But the the fact that I still get it, it doesn't mean that I can't express myself and I'm not valid.

Yes.

So I wanna make sure that everyone knows that because I think that that was something that I learned is to set boundaries. And that's like that big b word, that's like the biggest b word there is is boundaries that I've learned this year, and, like, that has really, really, really changed a lot of dynamics with people and changed, a lot of, it's it's really created a lot of happiness in my life.

Hey, friends. I'm Jessica Capshaw.

And this is Camilla Luddington. And we have

a new podcast, Call It What It IS. You may know us from Graceland Memorial, but did you know that we are actually besties in real life?

And as all besties do, we navigate the highs and lows of life together.

And what does that look like?

A 1,000 pep talks, talks. A million I've got yous. Some very urgent I'm coming overs. Because, I don't know, let's face it, life can get even crazier than a season finale of Grey's Anatomy.

And now here we are opening up the friendship circle.

To you. Someone's cheating? We've got you on that. In laws or in line? Let's get into it.

Toxic friendship? Air it out. We're on your side to help you with your concerns. Talk about ours, and every once in a while, bring on an awesome guest to get their take on the things that you bring us.

While we may be want us.

While we

may be a license to advise, we're gonna do it anyway. Listen to Call It What It Is on the Iheartradio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hey. I'm Gianna Parente.

And I'm Jame Jackson Gadsden. We're the hosts of Let's Talk Offline, a new podcast from LinkedIn News and Iheart Podcasts.

When you're just starting out in your career, you have a lot of questions. Like, how do I speak up when I'm feeling overwhelmed?

Or can I negotiate a higher salary if this is my first real job? Girl, yes.

Each week, we answer your unfiltered work questions.

Think of us

as your work besties you can turn to for advice.

And if we don't know the answer, we bring in experts who do. Like resume specialist, Morgan Sanner.

The only difference between the person who doesn't get the job and the person who gets the job is usually who applies.

Yeah. I think a lot about that quote. What is it? Like, you miss a 100% of the shots you never take?

Yeah. Rejection is scary, but it's better than you rejecting yourself.

Together, we'll share what it really takes to thrive in the early years of your career

without sacrificing your sanity or sleep.

Listen to Let's Talk Offline on the Iheartradio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

In a galaxy far, far away.

No, babe. That's taken. We're in our own world, remember?

Right. In our own world, we're 2 space cadets and totally normal humans. Sure. Totally normal humans. Embark on a journey

across the stars discovering the wonders of the universe 1 episode at a time.

We'll talk about life, love, laughter, and

why you should never argue with your copilot. Especially when she's always right. Right.

And if we hit turbulence, just blame it on Mercury retrograde.

Or Emily's questionable space piloting skills. Hey.

Join us on In Our Own World for cosmic conversations, stellar stellar laughs

And super corny dad jokes. Listen to In Our Own World

as a part of the My Cultura podcast network available on the Iheartradio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And don't worry. We promise to avoid any black holes

most of the time.

Why did boundaries become so prominent in the last year as you said?

I think I was trying to be a hero in every situation I was in. I'm such an empathetic person, so I love to I I really can feel when people are going through something. Even when the world is going through something, it's like I kinda really have to, like, really protect myself energetically because I take on a lot of people's problems.

You know

what I'm saying? Right. I can't help it. And it's not a good I don't look at it as a bad thing. I just look at it as how I am.

You know? Do I wish sometimes that I could just cut things off? Yeah. But it it taught me that I can. I just have to set boundaries on what I can and can't accept.

And this year, yeah, there are a lot of things that I was tired of feeling uncomfortable in certain situations. I was tired of letting people walk all over me. And just because I understood or I get it, I'm not respecting myself. And I didn't realize that I wasn't respecting myself in that. You know, there are times where, yeah, I need to I can't go to this thing.

I can't do this. Or you know what? I can't go here. I can't go to Dubai and do this show because I have to be here for my son. I gotta take my son trick or treating.

You know, I had to set some of those boundaries that may have cost me 1 thing, but I gained another. Mhmm. And 1 of the most important things I gained, back from setting boundaries is the trust in myself. Mhmm.

You

know? The confidence that I feel like I have been building up so Yeah. For so long.

Yeah. And I think we're scared of setting boundaries because we are scared of what we lose when we do.

I know.

And it could be FOMO. It could be, you know, the fear of becoming irrelevant. The fear of becoming insignificant. The fear

of losing a person.

The fear of losing a person. Mhmm. But I I learned that too. I remember a time in my life where I had so much compassion fatigue, where I just felt like I was there for everyone else.

Mhmm.

But I had no and when I say income, I don't mean financially. I mean, there was no Yeah. Energy income coming in.

And you were just a piece of you. You were just a part of you at that point.

Exactly. And you're just and it's what you just said. You're trying to be a superhero and you're trying to be the guy not in a egotistic way. No. You actually just care about people.

For real.

But I've realized very very quickly at that time that unless I was full rested complete, you know, I wasn't actually able to help anyone. I was just giving people my leftovers Yeah. And not the best of myself.

And how to enjoy it. And you gotta enjoy your life too.

Totally. Yeah. Totally. And and I just found that what what really helped me was remembering that I didn't have enough to give anyone else if I wasn't in a good place myself.

Period.

And that didn't mean I wanted to get to a good place just for myself. The reason I wanted to get to a good place is so I could give more good to others. Mhmm. And therefore, there had to be a structure. There had to be an order of alright.

Well, I need to take care of myself.

Right.

I need to be full. I need to be ready, and then I can extend myself. But if I keep extending myself to everyone else, chances are I get bitter at them. I'll get mad at myself.

Yeah.

And then I won't have anything to give.

Yeah. That's right.

Right. Yeah. And it just it's it's an interesting 1, boundaries, because I feel like I think we also think we set boundaries for other people, but we do it for ourselves. We do it

for ourselves.

Because people always been, oh, this person keeps breaking my boundaries. And I'm like,

well, no.

You keep breaking your boundaries.

Exactly. Right? No. Yes. It's, you know, it's like the boundaries, forgiveness, they're not just they're for you.

You know? Forgiveness is for you as well, and boundaries are for you as well. Yeah. It's been tough. I think that I grew up letting people walk all over me.

I think I grew up by letting people take advantage of me straight up. You know? Just to be real. And I saw that in my parents, especially my dad. He let he would let people take advantage of him.

He was a very nice guy, and there's nothing like I said, right or wrong, it's an opinion. You know? It's just a perspective. So it's I'm not criticizing him or saying he was wrong in any way. It's just the kind spirited hearted person he is.

But along with that, you do have to set your boundaries and respect who you are because you will lose a sense of yourself by trying to take care of everyone else. You will lose a sense of yourself if you don't set these boundaries. You will lose a sense of yourself if you don't take the time out to keep connecting with yourself Yeah. Even if it's something you love. I lost, like, the passion of, like, watching anime.

I remember while I was working so hard, it's like I hadn't sat and watched anime. I love watching anime. I love Dragon Ball z. I love, like, My Hero Academia and Demon Slayer and Evangelions and all these things, and that's just 1 thing that I love. Right?

So it's like, I have to take time out to do that because it is really important to me. Yeah. So I know all of us have demands. Some of us have family. Some of us work 2 jobs, 3 jobs.

Some of us and you say it's impossible, but I'm telling you, if you make that time, you will create more time to be the better version of yourself in any of those situations. I promise you.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. The other thing that really helped me is a boundary, and this doesn't apply if something's life threatening or urgent.

Mhmm. But sometimes someone would call me up and be like, oh, I had a fight with my wife. I had a fight with my husband.

Mhmm.

And my natural inclination was to, like, fix it. So, like, yeah, let's jump on the phone. I'm gonna help you through it

right now. Because that's how you were

as a 10 year old. Because that's

how I was as a 10 year old. Yeah.

And so on and so forth. Yeah. Go ahead though. And then I realized that actually my new response started to be, yeah, let's talk in 3 days. And the reason was a because maybe I had stuff on and I couldn't run to it.

Like I said, it doesn't apply to life threatening.

Of course.

Of course. Of course. I like that.

If someone calls me and goes I go to the hospital obviously I'm gonna be there. Yeah. But if someone's saying, hey, this happened that happened. I realized I may not be in a position to quit everything in my life to go and be on this call. And those 3 days that person actually had to do some processing

Exactly.

For themselves. Mhmm. And when I was just jumping on the phone with them trying to save and solve their problem, I was actually just enabling them to not have to process it themselves. So most people in 3 days would say to me they text me and go Jay actually I think I figured it out.

Exactly.

And I'd be like great I'd love to hear it let's jump on a call. Uh-huh. And now they talk to me like, look I thought about it. You know, they said this, I said that, but I've you know, and it's it just showed me that so much of the time we think we're saving people Mhmm. We're actually just enabling them.

Mhmm. And every time we think we're gonna solve their problem, we're actually just creating more issues for them because everyone needs to learn to process Mhmm. Mentally and emotionally themselves. Wow. And so sometimes, like jumping in to help someone, you actually end up hurting them.

Wow. Because because That's a big 1.

Yeah. Because they need to do it themselves. And so sometimes I just set that boundary with myself. Mhmm. It wasn't like I don't wanna be there for my friend or a family member.

I just realized being there for them meant not being there right now. Mhmm. And they didn't know that, but then when I saw them benefit from it Mhmm. I realized that actually space sometimes gave them what they needed more than my words could.

Yeah. Because it goes back to, like, we were talking about a lot of the answers are in you. Mhmm. You know, a lot of the re the the things you're looking for, the resolutions, they are in you. And sometimes it may take a little while to rise to the surface, and sometimes they'll figure out.

But 1 of the worst things you could do is impact somebody in the moment of them being emotional or in the moment of rage or in the, you know, influencing them. It could it could you could really ruin something, you know, because you're feeding off of their emotions. It's like

yeah. Yeah. After the the the you

should just leave. Yeah.

You should just leave. Like, oh, instead of just being like, hey. Take some time Yeah. To, you know, talk through it. You know?

It's really that's a that's a real important great lesson, man.

Yeah. It's it's helped me a lot.

Mhmm. That's a great way of, like, of, of exercising boundaries.

Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. What have what are the daily habits? You talk about journaling and meditation in the book, and I wanna talk about both of them.

Mhmm. Because I think they talked about a lot today, but I wanna hear about your deep specific habits Mhmm. And how it's become such a ritual for you. Mhmm. So let's start with journaling.

Like, obviously, you're a writer.

Alright. Anyway Doesn't Doesn't make it easier, I

would say. Yeah. Yeah. I was gonna say, like, what's different about writing music, writing the book versus journaling? Like

Oh, completely different. So music, I don't even, like I kinda just I or when I get in the studio, I kinda just let it flow through me. You know, I learned that from, like, Kanye and Jay z and Common. Now there are a lot of people who do write on pads like Eminem. You know, it was amazing to me.

And a lot of people I know, but how I do it personally is I just kinda, like, feel through it and let it stream to me, and I, like, go on a mic and, like, not necessarily freestyle it, but, yeah, just piece it together. You gotta come for a session 1 day, but then

I'd love to.

When it comes to journaling, that's my time where I put, like, my sword. You know, your pen is like your sword to paper, and you are setting you're strategizing and you're setting your intentions of, you know, things you may would like to experience, but I also like to do, like, gratitude. For some reason, gratitude just seems to magnetize more of the things, that I'm thankful for in my life. I've seen it work in a lot of ways, and that's my belief. You know?

So the things that you are grateful for, you have to let the world know that you're grateful for it because houses are gonna know to give it back to you, you know, or to bring it to you or to to the people around you. And, it also is a great way for me to you know, and I I practice I am with so much power. So I am grateful. I am this. I am happy.

I am confident. I am happy that I get to sit down and talk to my friend Jay today. You know? I'm I'm happy I get to whatever the case is. Right?

So that's what I do. And then at the end of it of the the journal of the when I do the gratitude stuff. And there are times where I write how I feel, not as much. I also speak out loud by myself. You know, there are a lot of processes I do.

But when I do that journal, I sign it at the at the bottom of it, like a contract. And I, like, I sometimes I put it is done or I put, like, so be it because it's a declaration Oh, I like it. When I do that. And I sign it because it's that important to me. I have to sign my contracts.

I have to sign things that will be upheld as an important thing, and that's how the level of importance even more that I hold that to. So I sign it every time.

That is so good, man. I've never heard that before. I'm gonna start doing that.

It's powerful.

Yeah. I've never signed it. That's dope.

It's powerful. And, Jade, is everything I write down come to fruition? No. Sometimes it does. A lot of them do.

And then I realized that I'm also on god's time. So the things that I've always wanted and things that I've desired, it may not just be the right

Yeah.

Moment in my journey for that. But that's the beauty of it, man. I'm like, I'm still here. I'm still able. I'm still inspired.

I'm still passionate. You know? Beautiful. Yeah. Yeah.

So that's how I that's how I do my journaling. I also have, like, a there's a book I have of, like, poetry too that I, like, write poems and stuff. I've only I only write a few a year, honestly, but, like, I'll, like, fully write and draw around the poem and, like, it's really like a beautiful art. It's just some something I do for fun. I I haven't actually I've only written 1 this year, and last year, I wrote a few.

So maybe I'll maybe inspired me to write 1 today, but that's kinda all it is, but I don't spend too much time on it.

Mhmm.

Takes me about 5 to 12 minutes

That's great.

Max. And then I meditate after that because it kinda like it's kinda like a good transition to, like, the energy is set for me to, like, to meditate. Because when I meditate, I feel like I'm attracting these things more and giving myself the best shot of being the most productive, the most, impactful that I can be.

You

know? So that's that's kinda the first thing I do when I wake up if I can. Being a dad, though, there are times where I get I've been woken up, and I have to go immediately. You know? And so I come back to it later on.

It's not preferred that way, but it's a good trade off.

Yeah. Yeah. And what does your meditation look like? I love because I've learned so much Mhmm. Just in how you journal.

I've never heard so be it, it is done Mhmm. Or or the signature at the end. I'm gonna start practicing those 3. I like those a lot.

Because it's that important.

I That that is beautiful, man. Like, I get that. Like, what you just said about so we sign contracts, sign checks. Like, there's very few things we still sign.

Exactly. Right? And they're

They're very important things.

Yeah. They're important documents, and that is an important document too.

I love that. And then so what about your meditation? What does your practice look like? For me?

It depends. I love doing guided meditation sometimes. I love doing I kinda have my own process where I, like, visualize the light of creation, like, the the light of the sun, and it, like, really filling my whole body up. And literally everything that doesn't align with that, anything that isn't that light and bright, you know what I'm saying, immediately leaves my body and goes back into the earth. And, like so, you know, there are times where I I if I'm not in nature, I imagine myself in nature and, like, things going back into the earth and I, like, surround myself, you know, from my I forgot the word, the esoteric body.

I think it's like 1 inch off you, then your emotional body, then your mental body. And, like, I just do the same thing. Like, it's like a shower of light. It's like hopping in the shower after you work out, like, a bit of light. And whatever it is, I kinda, like, cater to how I'm feeling.

So from there, I'll, like if I have, like, something wrong with my stomach, I'll, like for some reason, I associate green with healing energy. Right? And this comes from years of, like, practice or I associate royal blue with power, you know, the power of the universe. I associate, like, red with the love of the universe, the love and support of the universe. And, like, I represent, like, the violet flame of Saint Germain, like, to cleanse things that are holding me back.

Wow. Right? So I do I have, like, quite a process, and I break it down in a book. And afterwards, I feel just it really makes a big difference. And, you know, I read this book, The Hidden Messages in Water, I believe it's called.

And it talked about, you know, there's, like, itty bitty microscopic crystals in water. And they 1 of the part of the book they experiment of, like, how positively when you speak to water, like, hey. You're amazing. I love you. Keep going.

Like, you're beautiful. And then they had another, water a glass or container of water where they said, like, you suck. It's never the you know, real negative. And you look at the crystals, and 1 is like a beautiful snowflake looking crystal, and then the other 1 is, like, distorted and all damaged. And we are 70, 80% water.

So these things, when you write these affirmations down or when you say them out loud or when you journal, these things have a real effect on you tremendously. Like, scientifically, it's not even like a woo woo type of thing. It's not even like it's not even up for debate. You know what I'm saying? It's literally scientific for the people who are more, you know, need the proof as opposed to, you know, more analytical than, like, opinion based.

So I just wanna stress the importance of it. It really is. And by the way, the most the most honorable people that I've met and, like, what I consider to be successful and I don't mean riches. I just mean successful in, like, the impact, what they're doing, how they are. Yeah.

They meditate. They all. You know? From my favorite rappers down to my favorite down to you, you know, down to anyone who I just really admire.

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. And and and and and you can meditate in your own ways. They're like, I know, like, Janae does different meditations, you know, through sound healing or mirror meditations. I know people who do shower meditations, walking. There's no wrong way to meditate either.

That's another misconception. There's no wrong way to do it. The fact that you take the intention out or if you focus on your breathing, the fact that you take the the time out to be that conscious of yourself over time, you will get more and more into it. It's like anything you do, and it will you will see the effects of it.

Yeah. What was, what was have you ever meditated with another rapper that was interesting or anything like that?

Like Meditate with Eminem.

That I had an interesting practice that I wouldn't know about? Does Eminem meditate?

You know what? I have never meditated with Eminem, but he is a very, Eminem is a very, like, amazing person, so I wouldn't be surprised. I know Jay z does. Wow. I haven't meditated with him, but I know he does.

Yeah.

And, you know, there are all different ways and forms.

Of course.

Yeah. Sometimes just sitting and visualizing and, like, seeing these things is a form of meditation. It could be your way. So you have to find out these ways that work for you. Yeah.

Just like therapy, it's like, I can't I can tell you how therapy worked for me, but you may go to a therapist that isn't right for you and be like, oh, therapy is wack, but that's not that's just, you know, my specific situation. A lot of times, therapy for me has pushed me to the edge of realization and has been the extra push that I needed to sometimes I already knew the answer, but sometimes I needed to talk it through, and sometimes I needed to really exercise. And sometimes I deal with something new that awaken the truth in me, through therapy and having someone that I could confide in that wasn't a family member, that wasn't a best friend, that wasn't a that I wasn't in a relationship with and was able to apply it to all of those other relationships in a in a very successful way.

In a galaxy far, far away.

No, babe. That's taken. We're in our own world, remember?

Right. In our own world, we're 2 space cadets And totally normal humans. And totally normal humans. Sure. Totally normal humans.

Embark on a journey across the stars

discovering the wonders of the universe 1 episode at a time.

We'll talk about life, love, laughter, and why

you should never argue with your copilot. Especially when she's always right. Right.

And if we hit turbulence, just blame it on Mercury retrograde.

Or Emily's questionable space piloting skills.

Hey. Join us on In Our Own World for cosmic conversations, stellar laughs

And super corny dad jokes. Listen to In Our Own World

as a part of the My Cutura podcast network available on the Iheartradio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And don't worry, we promise to avoid any black holes

most of the time.

Hey, friends. I'm Jessica Capshaw.

And this is Camilla Luddington. And we have

a new podcast, Call It What It Is. You may know us from Graceland Memorial, but did you know that we are actually besties in real life?

And as all besties do, we navigate the highs and lows of life together.

And what does that look like?

A 1,000 pep talks, a million I've got yous, some very urgent I'm coming overs. Because, I don't know, let's face it, life can get even crazier than a season finale of Grey's Anatomy.

And now here we are opening up the friendship circle

to you. Someone's cheating? We've got you on that. In laws are in line? Let's get into it.

Toxic friendship? Air it out. We're on your side to help you with your concerns, talk about ours, and every once in a while, bring on an awesome guest to get their take on the things that you want us.

While we may be a license to advise,

we're gonna do it anyway.

Listen to Call It What

It Is on the Iheartradio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

Yeah. Yeah. For sure. I mean, in the book you talk about how I think it was like in 2016. Mhmm.

You said you nearly got addicted to Adderall when you were touring with Rihanna. Uh-huh. And I was thinking like, how do you stop yourself? Like, in that moment, like, what was the habit or the tool or the practice? Was it therapy?

Was it meditation? What was it that helped you recover from that?

Man, so first of all, Adderall is, like, synthetic. You know? I don't know. They say, like, heroin. All these things.

Right? Like, there's just a lot to it. And I'm really into eastern medicine personally. You know? I I used to have heart a real bad heart problem that I fixed through literally taking magnesium and some other supplements that a doctor told me that I had to get surgery for.

They told me they had to cut my heart open and put a pacemaker in it. You know? So when I started taking Adderall, it's because I was putting myself on a clock that didn't exist. I was putting myself under pressure, and I was living in a fear based way. And I started taking Adderall because I wanted to accomplish more.

And it was very what? It worked, but at the expense of so many things. I honestly, the expense of, like, my, like, affecting my soul and changing the person that I was and depleting my body. It shut it off. It it creates synthetic dopamine in your brain.

So it creates all this dopamine, but your natural dopamine that is responsible for your happiness, for your inspiration, or your creativity, who makes you who you are, it shuts off. It shuts it off. And after a while, you're kinda relying on this synthetic dopamine only. And I remember as time went on, I would go in the studio, and I feel like I couldn't do anything without it. And that's when I knew I had a real problem with it.

So I went cold turkey, and that is like that was probably the second bout of depression in my life that I went through that was, like, re that's when I was, like, wanting to kill myself. Like, I was just like, my mind was playing all these tricks on me. Right? And it didn't matter that I had, like I would had a big ass house in Beverly Hills. It didn't matter that I had 1,000,000 of dollars in the account.

And it didn't matter because as great as a lot of those things are, they're still separate. This I'm wearing a Lincoln Park shirt through, you know, Chester. I I can't speak for him. God rest his soul. But, like, who would think that, like, oh, that someone, you know, who's 1 of the biggest rock stars in the world in the band, regardless of, you know, what they talked about in their music, like, would do that.

You know? Or this the elite, you know, Kurt Cobain. You know, all these things. Right? So it's because it's all separate.

You know? And I'm not saying that money can't make you happy, by the way. I don't like when, like,

people be

you know, I don't like when rich people get on camera and be like, money isn't everything. Like, it isn't everything, but it's a lot. It's a it's a it's a resource that is very needed in every in anything you need to do in this world.

I agree.

You need it. So it is important. It's very important. I'm not gonna, like, sit in here and say it isn't, but it was separate from what I had to deal with at the time. So, yeah, it was, I went cold turkey, and that's when I stopped everything I was doing.

And I called my mom who we weren't on great terms, and she came out and was in in my house with me and entry my mom has always shout out my dad too. My dad is with me today.

I know. It's so nice to meet you.

And he's like, man, make sure you shout me out too. Like, yeah, I'm a shout you out too. Like, my dad is great. But my mom at that point in those certain points in my life, just a few key points, she knew what she had a solution to offer me always. And I really appreciate that.

Something I hope to do for my kid and kids. And she was like, introduced me to you know, she was who put me on meditation. She She just would always introduce me to certain things. Try this, try this method. And then I started realizing how connected physical, mental, emotional, spiritual are, and I started working out.

I started prioritizing myself. It started putting me first. Started reconnecting with things I wanted to do. Started trying new things, jumping out of planes. I was doing going to the gun range.

Just trying things out that I was like, hey. That's interesting. Let me try it. And it really helped me reconnect with myself. I started watching anime again, and then, you know, I had to take a break from the studio because I wasn't I couldn't think of anything.

And then I finally got back in and was inspired again, and life is the greatest inspiration. But what I can say is to people who are addicted to Adderall and, like, other drugs that that synthetic high is is very temporary, and it's at an expense. And it's different when people who have ADHD who necessarily need it, but there are even other ways to deal with it. I and I guarantee you, they will take less of your body. You know, these things, like, when these prescriptions, they mess up your kidneys, your liver.

And as simple as that sounds, these your liver or your gut messing up your gut, the your gut is your second brain. It could dictate so much more than we've been led on to know. I think that's why Roddy is so Yeah. You know, into the food because it's not just food. It's like, it's it's it's so much more than that.

Mhmm. So I know I'm running on and on, but my point is is that it was very tough, but you can get through it. And you there on the other side of it, you you you come out as, like, a true champion, and you're the source of it. Yeah. And there's no better drug or high than being high off life.

There is no better thing because you're the actual drug. You're the actual source of it. It's not something you have to take to get to there. It's like you are it, and there isn't you'll be you could soar. You mean, you go go higher than ever.

You

Yeah. Yeah. Go higher. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. For real.

How do you feel your grandmother would feel reading this these pages?

My grandma was 1 of the first people to give me a book of, it was a book about, King Solomon, and that book changed the my life, and it talks about the strategies of King Solomon, how he had his ran his business, how he strategized, how, you know, how King Solomon he didn't he wanted wisdom. That's what he wanted, and that's why he was granted everything else. That's why he was the richest man who ever lived is because that's not what he saw was saw he didn't he didn't seek the power. He sought the wisdom to help people, and god gave him the resources by making him the richest man. Right?

So, anyway, you know, so my grandma, she was, like, 1 of the first female black captains in World War 2. She was 1 of the first, like, female police officers, a teacher, a counselor. She was incredible. Right? Her and my granddad met in World War 2, and she was the example of hard work, the example of nothing is something.

She lived on the street called Outer Drive, which was a that's where Marvin Gaye used to live when he lived in Detroit. It's like a real prestigious street, and I can imagine that that was, like, 1 of her proudest accomplishments. So I really got love for her. I think she would read this book and be proud. You know?

I think so. And I think that, you know, as a scholar, she would probably be, like, correcting some of my grammar and work and, you know, things of that, but she would be very proud. She was very strict in a lot of ways, and she believed that education going to college was a way to a better life. And I went a different way. I didn't go to college.

I was like, when instead, I went to the music. And she know I had respect for her because I always had good grades. But even when I chose the exact opposite of what she wanted me to do, she supported me wholeheartedly. And I spent all the bonds. She saved up all the money.

She saved up for college. I spent it all on studio sessions. And I can't imagine how mad or how pissed off that might have made her. But through it all, she supported me, and I just appreciate she just shows me how much she valued family. And I was able to buy a house for her and my mom before they passed.

She actually saw the music pay off, and we used to watch all these westerns and Jeopardy and all these things, and I remember she was watching Jeopardy, and I was actually a question on Jeopardy. And, you know, I talked to her on the phone, and she was so, like, wow. Like, you know? And it used to it used to tear me apart when things weren't working out, and I was spending her money on the studio sessions. And we would have Sunday dinner every Sunday, and I would have to go and sit there and she'd be like, well, what's going on with the music?

You know, you need to why don't you just apply to community college? Like, you coulda been halfway with a degree by now. It's been 2 years. It's been, you know, all this time, and it broke my heart every Sunday. And I did give up.

You know? At 1 point, I did give up. So at 1 point, I was over it. I was over music. It wasn't going anywhere.

When was that?

That was after I met Kanye.

Yes. You rap, and then he didn't get in touch with you for 2 years after

Yeah. And it was like a blank you know? And I turned down my scholarships I had to college. I graduated school with, like, a 3.7 GPA. I was like, you know, I had, like, a lot of academic scholarships, all these things, and I turned it down.

And then I I was it was nonresponsive, but in hindsight, I look back, he was blowing up in his own. Right? He was busy. You know? It's not the same you you only see things from your perspective, especially when you're younger.

And, yeah, I just was like I I felt like I tried and gave it all I had, and I gave up. And my mom, you know, who is a teacher as well, she was the only 1 who was like, yo. What are you doing, man? Come on. You know?

You you know, you're you're registering for come on. You got it. Like, just keep going. You got it. This is this is this is what you're meant to do.

This is what you believe in. Do it. And literally months after that, that's when things started picking up. So it's like you can keep digging and digging and digging. And before I struck the gold, I gave up.

And that's what I mean. I had those guardian angels around me to keep it going.

1 thing you spoke about that, you know, I'm really sorry you had to go through it because I had so many friends who've actually gone through it recently, which is why I'm asking. But you suffered a miscarriage

Mhmm.

With your name. Like that Mhmm.

I

was talking to so many of my friends who are trying to have kids right now.

Yeah. It's super common.

Yeah. Super common. But it's, like, that doesn't make it any better.

Right. Right. No. It doesn't.

But, yes, so many of my friends have had it this year, literally, in the last 12 months.

Wow. And they're like and Sorry to that.

And yeah. And it's and it's hard because

I hear that.

They're going through a loss. Their partner's going through the grief. Mhmm. But it's and and like you said, it's super common, but that doesn't make it any easier Mhmm. Or any better when it happens to you.

Right.

What was something that really helped you through that experience Mhmm. That you think could help others? What what was it that helped both of you? Because it's a 2 way thing. It's not just about you.

Yeah. A lot

of our problems, we're just processing ourselves.

Well, every situation is different. Right? So to someone who is experiencing miscarriages and I can only speak from a man's perspective. I can't speak for a woman who really their perspective is the most traumatic. But I can say that, first of all, you're worthy.

I don't want you to think you're not worthy. I don't want you to I don't want people to think that because they have a miscarriage that they're inadequate or that they're broken. I think that this life is complex, and there are things we do and don't understand. And I think there's beauty in everything that's meant for you. And instead of trying to control exactly how you want your life to be, accept that it's gonna be the life that is meant for you, And you may get blessed with a child later on.

You may get blessed with a child that comes into your life a different way. You may get blessed with you have to keep your sometimes we get so set on a goal, we don't keep the rest of the of our of our doors open of how the universe could bless us in that way to not only fill that void, but even make it even greater. So I just wanna, you know, keep a open mind. But you to anyone who does experience such an insufferable loss, like, did you know, go through it. Like, express yourself.

Deal with that grief, but don't let it consume you. Yeah. You know? Sometimes you gotta go through it just to get to it.

Yeah. For sure. No. I appreciate that, man. I think it's gonna help a lot of them.

I've got 2 last questions for you, Sean, before we wrap. Mhmm. How do you personally find the light in really dark times? Like, when you feel distracted from that spiritual light, what do you do to reconnect?

Well, to find the light in really dark times, sometimes you have to realize that you are the light, but sometimes you gotta embrace the darkness. You ever notice how when you're in the dark for a long time, you start to see better and things actually get lighter?

For sure.

I think that it's a natural human instinct to, like, go into

a So good.

A a mode of, like, fear based, and it's like, I need the light. I need the light. Where's the light? Instead of just accepting that you are you are for certain. You are you you not only are you the light that there are is a darkness to you too that's beautiful, and that you have to accept all aspects of yourself.

So, you know, once you do accept it, I think it is easier to find the light or be the light. I think, you know, once you really are comfortable in your environment, you, will find and see the way to wherever it is you're trying to go.

Absolutely. Great answer. Last question I wanna ask you. 1 of my favorite things you ask people to do in the book Uh-huh. Which I want everyone to do when they get the book Uh-huh.

Is list 5 miracles.

Yeah.

That they've experienced in their life. I love this idea. Mhmm. Because when I read this, I was just like, oh, my gosh. If you actually stop to think about the miracles that have happened in your life Mhmm.

And to really take them in and to really, like, embrace them and let them pervade your entire being. Mhmm. You start believing in more miracles. You start living in the miracle because often it's so easy to live in the negativity and to live in the toxicity and to live in everything that's the opposite of a miracle. Mhmm.

What what gave you this idea? Where did it come from? And how do you live in the miracle every day?

I mean, what I did came from, like, when you highlight when you really recognize the miracles and you're kinda supercharged in them and you're you'll always see more miracles. There are so many miracles every single day. The fact that the sun is at the exact right place and the moon is at the exact right place, and the oxygen is at the exact right the thing that that the fact that we are orbiting is a miracle, bro, for real, if you think about it. Because 1 slight thing, everything is gone. You know what I'm saying?

Everything is gone as shit as fast. So that's 1 thing. But for me, when you list the miracles that you experienced personally that impact you personally, I feel like it breathes more. So for me, man, being on a pursuit of happiness and being able to actually see my dreams come true to a level is a miracle for me. Having this is in order, by the way.

Having a son is a you know, that's a mere that's for real a miracle because that's, like, creating something out of nothing. Being able to, man, waking up is a miracle. Everyone don't get to wake up, man. Being able to set goals and and pursue them, you know, not even necessarily check them all off, but pursue them. Being able to eat food and let it give me nutrition is a miracle, bro.

Yeah. Yeah.

You know? So I'm not trying to just sit up here and, like, be preaching positivity in that sense, but there are so many miracles that happen there. That I remember 1 time I was down at the fireworks in Detroit and somebody was was firing a gun, and I saw it. And it looked like I saw it, and it went past me, and it was a miracle I didn't get hit by any bullets. It was a miracle that when I got into a car accident and totaled my car when I was 16, I was able to climb out of the window.

I couldn't even open the doors, and nothing was wrong with me. I had a little bruise on the side of my pinky. That was it. It's a little like somebody died in there. There are miracles that happen every day that you may not consider miracles that you have to recognize, and you don't even have to question it.

That just shows you, bro, that you're here. We are in we are in it.

I love that, man. That was 1 of my favorite activities and practices, and I hope everyone has been listening and watching today. If you do 1 thing, it's do that.

Yeah. For real.

Spend time just mapping out your 5 miracles. The book is called Go Higher. Mhmm. 5 practices for purpose.

And thank you for writing yeah.

In a piece.

And thank you for writing a Ford. Of course. It was beautiful. No. Just congrats to you, man.

I'm really proud of you.

Oh, come on, man.

I know I was just at your house, like, a few days ago. Days ago. 4 days ago.

We loved it.

Eating some amazing food. You really are an amazing person, not just on camera, like some people. You really are amazing on and off camera, man. Your heart is big. It's very inspiring.

We have these in our fridge.

You're the best. You know,

I have all your books on my shelf. I've read them. And, you know, just thank you, man. Thank you for being a outlet. Thank you for being such a connection, especially between all of these amazing people and being able to open up and be vulnerable.

What I can say is that to everyone watching, you're a product of your environment, and you are the you are the chemist of your environment. You have the power to change it in any given time or moment. You know, if you're unhappy with where you are, realize that you have the instant power to change it. It all starts with the mentality first and foremost, and that is, like, the key ingredient to making anything amazing. You know?

So, I hope you guys realize that we only have this moment. Anything you've done in the past, you have to let go of. Anything in the future can change, you know, that you have a idea of how it should be. And that, what else? You know, what are you gonna do with the time you got left?

It's up to you.

I love that, man. Thank you for writing this book. Yeah. The book is called Go Higher, everyone. Go grab your copy.

Share it with your friends, your family, people in your life who are looking for really insightful, simple wisdom that can create shifts in your life. Practical advice, practical stories as well. Sean, I'm I'm really glad you've done this with your platform because I think that, you know, it's very rare these days for people to see what masculinity means. And I feel like with you, the strength and the vulnerability which in 1 sense are the 1 and the same but I also think Mhmm. They are different in that.

I think there is a need to be strong, set boundaries, be Mhmm. To stand up for yourself. These are all strength as well. Yeah. And then at the same time, the softness, the courage, the bravery, the vulnerability, that is too.

And so I love how you put those both together. It was an honor to write the foreword for this book. Thank you. A a real honor. Like Yeah.

You'd ask me to do that was I was very touched. You could have asked anyone. And, I I genuinely, genuinely hope that people are gonna pick this book up. And I I've I think people are gonna hand it to their friends, their family, people in their life. If you want this year, 2025, to be a great year Yeah.

You gotta go higher.

Yeah. That's right.

And so I'm excited for you. I'm excited for this next chapter in your life.

Mhmm. Thank you.

And I'm excited for how this book for many, many years to come will have an impact on people. Not just now, not just this year, but for many years to come, people will look back and say, I loved all the music he wrote, but I also loved that book he wrote.

Thank you, man. That means everything. And, yeah. Thanks for that allowing me to communicate. Always.

You know, communication. I always say the communication is the bridge to salvation that God is holding our hand to walk across. And just like any other bridge, you can't skip a step to get to the other side. So thanks for allowing me to communicate, and thank you for communicating so well in your life. It's very inspiring.

And, yeah, I'll see you soon, man. I'll I'll come back over for dinner soon.

I can't wait. I can't wait. I appreciate it. Thank you so much.

That is

part 3 over.

Part 3.

Part 4 coming soon.

Yeah. Part 4 coming soon. Thank you, man. I love it. You're the best, man.

Thank you, brother. Thanks for being such a dear friend. If this is the year that you're trying to get creative, you're trying to build more. I need you to listen to this episode with Rick Rubin on how to break into your most creative self, how to use unconventional methods that lead to success and the secret to genuinely loving what you do. If you're trying to find your passion and your lane, Rick Rubin's episode is the 1 for you.

Just because I like it, that doesn't give it any value. Like, as an artist, if you like it, that's all of the value. That's the success comes when you say, I like this enough for other people to see it.

Captain's log. Start date, 2024. We're floating somewhere in the cosmos, but we've lost our map.

Yeah. Because you refuse to

ask for directions. It's space, Gem. There are no roads.

Good point. So where are we headed?

Into the unknown, of course. Join us on In Our Own World as we uncover hidden truths, navigate the depths of culture, identity, and the human spirit. With a hint of mischief, 1 episode at

a time. Buckle up and listen to In Our Own World on the Iheartradio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Trust us, it's out of this world.

Hey, friends. I'm Jessica Capshaw.

And this is Camilla Luddington. And we have a

new podcast, Call It What It Is. You may know us from Graceland Memorial, but did you know that we are actually besties in real life?

And as all besties do, we navigate the highs and lows of life together. Big or or small, we're there. And now here we are opening up the friendship circle

to you. Listen to call it what

it is on the Iheartradio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

What's up y'all? This is Questlove and, you know, at QLS, I get to hang out with my friends, Sugar Steve, Laia, Fontigolo, unpaid Bill, and we, you know, at Questlove Supreme, like to nerd out and do deep dives with musicians and actors and politicians and creatives. People that we feel really deserve that attention. We learn, we laugh, we fall down rabbit holes. Listen to the course of Supreme on the

Iheartradio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you feature podcasts.

Supreme.