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Black Men Book Club
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The value of books is immeasurable.
But the most important thing is in application from them
Some of my favorite ones are biographies
I find reading about the life and times of influential people as a glimpse into how to incorporate what they know into my own life.
2 of my favorites I actually read as a teenager and recently revisited them as I’ve worked on Black Men Book Club
I’ve found so much wisdom from them, and I wanted to share it with you
So here are four lessons on grit I learned from Malcolm X by Alex Haley and Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
- Opportunity Can’t be Ignored
One day in the 60s, Alex Haley—the writer who would finish and release Malcolm X’s autobiography—took a ride with Malcolm through Harlem.
He enjoyed being amongst the people, eyes constantly peering out of the car.
Out of the blue, Malcolm slammed his foot on the breaks during the ride. Startling Haley.
And before he could react, Malcolm jumped out of the car.
At this point, Malcolm was receiving death threats regularly, and its persistence made Hailey immediately nervous about his safety.
No guards, just the two of them on the rough streets of Harlem.
His voice was reaching the apex of controversy.
But Malcolm, never afraid, didn’t hesitate.
In front of a library, he began to scold three young black men he saw outside of it.
Haley is quoted that Malcolm said, in a raving, angry voice
“Beyond these doors is the greatest collection of information on black people in the world and there’s other people in there studying about you, but all you can do is sit outside of it and shoot craps against the door. You should be ashamed of yourselves.”
Haley continued, “Anyone else who would have come up to a group of school skipping teens in 60s Harlem may have had their throats cut right there. As pride is a high price to be lost on the streets.”
But it was Malcolm.
They felt ashamed. And it got to them.
Out of all of the things Malcolm left us with, it’s his voracious desire to learn as much as possible that I think seals his legacy to history.
- You’ve Gotta Be Crazy Enough to Believe you Can Change the World
It’s no secret that Steve Jobs was hard to work with.
Stories abound of Steve firing people on the spot
Removing products from Apple’s lineup he thought was useless
Having an intensity that moved mountains with just stares.
But through all of that, he left us with the greatest product of the 21st century.
The iPhone.
His madness was poetic, and the results speak for themselves.
But it didn’t start in a boardroom or an MBA degree.
It started in a garage with a maddening idea.
That Apple would make computers personal.
Sometimes you’re gonna have to bump up against the walls to create something in the world worth remembering.
“There’s a Wayne Gretzky quote I love, we skate where the puck is going to be, not where it is” - Steve Jobs
- Integrity Above All Else
It was a time of massive change.
And Malcolm, as usual, was at the center of it.
The Civil Rights era was in full swing.
And many Black People were forming ideas about how to fight for the rights of Black People.
Malcolm, who had represented the Nation of Islam fervently, was eager to spread the message.
He had spoken all over the country and stirred up all kinds of fervor.
But there was something behind the curtains he couldn’t hold much longer.
A terrible rumor about the Nations leader, and a correctly suspicious Malcolm, who was at one point in total admiration of the man.
Malcolm left the Nation in disgust, traveling to Mecca and becoming closer to all races.
When in all reality, things like that had happened, and did happen, and continued to happen behind the scenes with powerful men.
But Malcolm refused to bend his beliefs.
Because they were above a man
They were from God.
His integrity, in many ways, not just from his lapse with the Nation of Islam, cost him his life.
But the message reigns supreme.
Integrity above all else.
- Stories Are the Glue
When Steve Jobs returned to Apple, the company was in shambles
Lost were the glory days of the Macintosh
Lost was the innovative company he founded.
He threw it all out and started fresh.
One of the most potent things about Steve Job’s story is how he intersected technology and creativity.
He knew that the way people feel about what you do matters a whole lot more than what the thing is.
So it was important to him that not only were they going to change up the products they were selling at Apple.
But they were going to change how they marketed it.
“To me, marketing is about values. We’re not gonna get a chance for people to remember much about us. And the way to do that is not to talk about speeds and fees. Not about how we’re better than Microsoft. Customers want to know who is Apple, how do we fit in this world? We’re not about making boxes for people to get their jobs done. Apple’s core value is we believe that people with passion can change the world for the better.” - Steve Jobs before revealing the Think Different advertisement
We don’t have much time together, even with you whose reading or listening along.
And our values and message are the only things that resonate.
These two books changed my life in very different and very similar ways.
Please check them out and more biographies the club loves here at our book store. Every purchase supports keeping the club free forever.
But I want to toss it back to you, what’s one book you’ve read that changed your life? Reply to this email, comment on substack.
I truly do want to know.
I wish you all well, and Happy Holidays
Jordan
Subscribe at blackmenbookclub.substack.com
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An Introduction To The Bardo
“I don’t know what white people see when they look at the Negro anymore. But, I do know very well - that whatever he was looking at, it wasn’t me. It wasn’t me. It was something he was afraid of. It was something ti which he was attrracted, or even which he found repulsive - but it wasn’t me. I was not a man. This image, has something to do with a absolutely bankrupt morality that we are all suffering.” - James Baldwin, 1960
Before we get started - I want to reiterate a few points to you all.
Black Men Book Club is built on its tenets. It’s our foundation.
We’ve received praise, hate, racism, banning, ridicule, and respect.
But I want to be clear at why I, Jordan Coin Jackson, dared to start a club like this.
There are many external reasons I could rattle off about why it was founded.
It was the Black Lives Matter Movement that spurred me to think of the name.
Or a dissolution with Obama’s administration and conversations with him while he was in power that left me ungrateful for him.
Maybe it was the people around me, the successful black men in tech, who wouldn’t hesitate to read any and everything to master the world of Silicon Valley.
All of those sound nice, but honestly, it’s all not true.
I started Black Men Book Club for the little boy in me.
The one that was shy to fighting, who avoided conflict.
Who was praying for a way to live in the world outside of the violence I saw, and the emotional abuse I experienced.
I didn’t make Black Men Book Club to be the next Mark Zuckerberg.
I made Black Men Book Club so young boys and young men could look into a space and see a reflection of a possible future that was endless through the simple act of reading.
Our next three newsletters will be titled Panthers In The Bardo, and was inspired by two books - Lincoln in the Bardo and Collective Essays, by James Baldwin.
I’ll leave you here with the introduction and an invitation.
I’m going to be opening up our clubhouse and spend some time in it. I don’t have any set dates, but you should check us out, and we’ll update you so we can chat about books, blackness, and manhood.
Anyway, here’s a snippet of the upcoming essays. We are looking forward to hearing from you soon.
Bardo /ˈbärdō/ (in Tibetan Buddhism) a state of existence between death and rebirth, varying in length according to a person's conduct in life and manner of, or age at, death.
In America, where everything is for sale, the protractive nature of justice hopes to recoup that pain with lady justice.
The hottest commodity has always been blackness. It has been bought in sold for free at one point, with lost generations whose souls dance on the waves of the Atlantic.
Some of African descent sell their own blackness for a higher price nowadays. Sometimes for millions if not billions of dollars.
Some of white decent stole blackness, appropriated it, chatted it, and marketed it as their own. And some Africans and whites work together to create a caricature of the beast. One that may be the most profitable of all the ways of capital markets.
Black people created the entertainment industry. Long before the Hollywood sign was risin from the pavement, long before California was a state.
We don’t have all the data for an exact date; the greatest entertainment monopoly started on July 1st, 1776.
Thanks for reading, Check us out on Instagram, leave a comment, or a like to keep the convo going.
And most importantly, keep reading.
Jordan
Subscribe at blackmenbookclub.substack.com
Power is Corrosive
This world is no fantasy.
America reminds me of a set of peaks and valleys.
You land high enough on entry you never know how far down it goes.
You land low on entry you’ll never see how big the world really is.
The soul of America lies bare in the pain of its people.
George Floyd was an innocent man
murdered for no reason other than being another number in a broken institution that has now created cells of anarchy across the entire country.
The revolution has been at play since Rosa and Martin, Malcolm and Owens, to John Lewis—
We’ve been here before and it all makes the pain run deeper.
People are tired.
The Minneapolis police department has a record so grossly consistent with terrible behavior it is ripe for deep changes to get the police to work for the people for once.
But what can we do again, wait for change?
I remember back during Furgeson, Tamir Rice, and Trayvon Martin.
I remember waiting for a good day in court to have all the evidence laid out.
“A riot is the language of the unheard”
— MLK JR
I remember where I was when I learned no one would be held accountable, no matter how much they say they are willing to do.
Where do you go when you're surrounded by conversations of looting, pain, and black lives cut down in a thousand ways.
We have to change the conversation.
We don’t destroy our own communities, set them on fire. That doesn’t work.
We can be in the middle and be for progress.
But we need to watch who walks among us.
Who isn’t really for us but talks of how to help destroy the house we sleep in and not theirs.
We can bring those that are for our cause but there is something in the air that needs to be addressed.
Something I’ve written about extensively on my personal blog.
Not everyone is an ally.
Not everyone that smiles has good intentions.
Racism is a white problem and a white disease.
Across the board, period.
There are people that believe they know what’s best for the world we live in.
And their arrogance blinds them to their foolishness and delusional belief that they are anointed to save the black race.
They are helping destroy our own homes.
How can we feed the evilness?
We must resist the temptation and illusive power of the mob.
We can create what we need for ourselves by focusing on each other and boost the conversation.
So I wanted to ask you directly, I’m running a poll on twitter to see what people think is the most effective way for change.
It’s a tight list so it’s for sure not everything but any comment or vote would be amazing. It would be interesting to see how the club feels as a whole.
At Black Men Book Club we work to create an environment of learning and growth for black men and all that have a thirst for knowledge, success, and health.
Our new product—The Collective:
A top list of self-submitted books from club members, will be looking for black stories about experiences that changed their world from literature to startups.
We’re really looking forward to sharing some of the amazing books we’ve gotten submitted.
If you like, you can submit your own story here in advance to get updates on the launch directly.
We don’t really have a book this week to promote but I’m currently listening to Kevin Heart’s new book on audible.
Have you checked it out?
It’s something you can knock out on the weekend in a few hours and have some great energy going into the week.
Something we all need to keep us sharp and ready.
Check it out on Audible here
Embrace, extend, and extinguish
The largest collection of startup pitch decks
Create a magic notebook for exploring data and thinking with code
Kevin Hart on Joe Rogan Experience
Killer Mike Speaks on our Collective Pain
Transcript:
To control our money, food, and energy is the true way to get the government to listen to what we have to say. Our generation does have to do it differently. We have to start earlier and stay up later.
We don’t act as though the world will give us everything we want, we know the truth.
I want us to be ferocious in life every single day as a result of this.
I want to channel that build-up and energy.
I want it to be channeled into the great thing you’re working on. Or that interview you’re planning for, the assignment you're stuck on, or the relationship you’re trying to fix.
Any enemy knows that the best time to attack is when they are distracted and off-balance.
Moments like this force our hand. We must tighten the ship.
We must double down on our lofty, crazy, billion-dollar dreams.
Because if we don’t, the ones hungry for learning, reading, tech, science, history, the arts, culture, how can we look to a man that doesn’t know of what we know and expect it from him?
We have to lead the pride.
We have to king ourselves.
The fog from the battlefield may be tight. But my conviction is strong and my heart is pure. Keep charging along, you’re on the right path.
That’s all I’ve got today, see you next Sunday.
Jordan
✌🏽
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Author: Grant Cardone
Get the book here: https://amzn.to/2Tx5B3N
Written by Rodney Gainous
Edited by Jordan Coin Jackson
To Sell or Be Sold is to win out in the realm of ideas. In the world of commerce being bought and sold is happening nearly all day. As technology has monopolized our awareness and advertisers know every trick in the book to get us to purchase. We are always being Sold.
I want us to Sell more.
If you're apart of this Club and are listening to these words now I feel confident that you want to too.
There's a few things you must understand to get your way in business and in life. Most sales are lost about unspoken concerns. It's almost never about the price.
You have to get your buyer to want your product more than he wants his money. We must bring value to our buyers.
Because they'll themselves this before buying - Is the right product? Will this company take care of me? What will people think of me when I get this? Am I better off with the money in the bank? Will this be a mistake?
Most people at this point, especially early on in their journey to make money outside of a system is to offer low prices. Don't offer a lower price to solve the problem / objection.
Does this mean you push people away? Become snobby and distant? Charge crazy prices and keep a paywall up? NO! Always agree with the customer, always.
Give away free memberships to your biggest advocates.
Give discounts to those who say they can't afford it.
You must take care of your customers.
But.. Customers aren’t always right though. Customers are most interested in you agreeing with them then the facts. So agree first, then sell. Once you agree it’s easier to suggest alternatives.
Remember that not everyone will be a buyer today. "I'm not buying today" is sometimes uncomfortable words to hear about something that's your baby. But it's never personal.
Focus on increasing credibility. Take full responsibility, always assume the buyer doesn’t trust you enough yet. Relationships grow over time. Every person who interacts with you and your business is a seed you have to tend to. These are people on the other end!
People love to see that you’re prepared, have facts, and believe in your product
People want to believe you, you have to help them
Provide clients with multiple options and over deliver.
Do these things and you'll be in a world full of opportunity and people enthusiastic about it.
Let's build greatness together, thanks for listening.
Get the book here: https://amzn.to/2Tx5B3N
Get the book here: https://amzn.to/2LygmOB
At 27 years old Frederick Douglass authored a groundbreaking autobiography on his life as a slave.
Born into slavery, Frederick Douglass endured an amount of pain and suffering not many could withstand. Beaten and abused, left for near death and afraid for his life on a daily basis.
But something about Douglass that was special. A keen eye. Aware and always listening.
At 8 a wife of his slave master began to teach him how to read, until the slave master found out. He still learned just enough about the alphabet to figure it out from there. He taught himself and became one of the most powerful speakers in his time.
And when he couldn't take it anymore as a grown man Douglass refused to be whipped and instead beat his master.
Cunning, brave, and resourceful. He fled for his freedom, married, and moved North and set himself at the center of the abolition of slavery debate. He fought his entire life for the freedom of all peoples.
But to be honest, to understand Frederick Douglass and the struggle he fought you must understand that it's important to note that the philosophy that Frederick Douglass wrote and spoke of about freedom is the same republicanism ideal of the Declaration of Independence.
The profoundness of the connection is something whites in the North including Abe Lincoln, who famously looked towards the Declaration of Independence as probable reason, legally, to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation and later to abolish slavery in the south.
A linkage that engraved his ideas in the foundation of America. Born a slave but more American then the entire lot.
A true founding father of the country.
Get the book here: https://amzn.to/2LygmOB
Authored by Rollo Tomassi
Link to book: https://amzn.to/2xRki9q
These notes were written by Rodney Gainous and edited by Jordan Coin Jackson
So what is a "Rational Make' in 2020? To Author Rollo Tomassi many men are sleep. it's all about Opening your eyes.
The world is as nuts as you think it is, the pain you feel is real, the eyes looking to you - as a man - are real.
The world softens us up when we're a kid. Isn't it true that those around us tend to keep us under their control? As If we're hulk or some sort of monster that needs to be caged up?
Real power is the ability we have to control the direction of our lives
We've had the keys to our prisons our entire life, fear stops us
You can't negotiate desire.
You don't want a woman to feel obliged to have sex with you. You want her to desire it.
Any relationship should be based on genuine desire.
Experience teaches harshly but it teaches the best.
There's no better teacher than being burnt by a stove.
If you want her, or you want something, you have to have genuine desire. If you fail? Learn from it.
As Men, we want to be attractive to women. No doubt.
But we shouldn't be fake to get their attention.
Play to your strengths.
You're the one with options.
Get rid of the fantasies in your head and come back down to the solid ground.
Because The cultural "solution" to masculinity has been designed to keep the mind in a female mentality. And the same mothers who made the men of this generation are surprised their daughters aren't married.
There are trends in the world that are unseen but all around us.
But wake up. Come see the world in it's truth.
Link to book: https://amzn.to/2xRki9q
By Ryan Holiday
Buy it here: https://amzn.to/2IM548b
If you're new to Philosophy this book is perfect for you. It's all about weaving wisdom from all eras and ideologies into a rabbit hole of truth.
A strong mind in a strong body. This is the goal of Stillness is the Key. Why do we suffer without being in pain? Why is it that we can't sit still and always are on the move.
Peace is when we realize victory and defeat work on the same spectrum.
Showing heart isn’t showing emotion. It’s tenacity and grit.
To be lost in the forest is the standard nature of a creative.
You can't solve it
You can't control it
You have to be above it
Stillness is about being in zen
Floating. Natural. Above the clouds if you could say.
I recently had a conversation about relaxing in stressful times. Being workaholics and not having an off button. Stillness is more than about not working. Stillness is about being in tune with what you need.
Mind
Body
Spirit
To live "The Good Life" requires escapes that don't involve distraction. Games, TV, and social media are not a way to wind down they wind us up.
For Peace you must be in constant contact with what is inside of you. We want to build lives we don't have to escape from.
“It is a painful crossroads...
We try to ignore the existential crisis that is boiling to the surface piling on top of them meaningless consumption, more ambition, and the delusion that doing more and more of the same will eventually bring about different results.” - Ryan Holiday
Being still and quiet, alone, at rest. These are not weaknesses to shun away from. To unlock yourself like a chest you must give up the things you think will help you become still.
Stoicism is all about being at one with the moments we have every day. That any option is on the table and all options are A-Okay. Stillness is the key follows that same idea, and gives you a pathway towards a balanced mind, body, and soul.
Buy it here: https://amzn.to/2IM548b
Written by Jim Collins and Jerry I. Porras
Get the book: https://amzn.to/391H1gY
These notes were written by Rodney Gainous and edited by Jordan Coin Jackson
What does it mean to build to build fast and break things? The common Silicon Valley phrase has been used over and over again describing the fast life of founders on the run. It usually doesn't have the best feeling attached to it.
Do you think Quick? Fast? In-Out? I think most people would. That's not my goal. I don't think it's yours either. We want to built to last. I'm from Detroit, I don't like superficial things. I like how when a car is built the metal bends. I like when I turn one object into something else. It got me into software, and it brings me here today.
Companies that last have a bigger purpose than money. Most times, companies can only fake greatness for 5-10 years. You can only play the game for so long, economics is like that. But if you're a great company, you can come back from struggles even stronger than before.
Resiliency over perfection.
Those who make a lasting contribution to society make more money over the long run. To be built to last, you must be built to change. To Build to Last you must always return to the core. It's what stimulates progress and is the motivation to doing the thing to begin with. Only visionary companies are built on strong principles.
The primary accomplishment of true visionaries is building the company, not being a great story teller, or having the right idea for the right market. Many founders don't start with a great idea, for example Mr. Walton… He started Walmart. It was a single store he ran himself. There was a sea of competitors around him and no one would bet on him. Step by step building leads to natural evolutionary insights. Sony, the company that makes playstation, started off as manufacturing rice cookers. That product failed. Iteration is the only way to know the truth.
Remember: Visionary companies are less likely to have initial success
Luck favors the persistent, as Jay-Z has once said "You only need to be right once".
Always be prepared to kill an idea but never kill the company. Ideas come and go, but that vision has to keep clearing up day by day. Don't get lost in charm. It's a myth. Most are far from it and put people off.
It's important to note, visionaries are not defined by the visual only. Think of it like this: You aren't telling time or showing something like a show, you are meticulously architecting a clock. Piece by piece, gear by gear. Moving springs into place, removing debree and clearing the path. You are creating a beautifully architected masterpiece.
Stick with your principles, be outrageously persistent, and keep your purpose above your profits.
Get the book: https://amzn.to/391H1gY
No More Mr Nice Guy Written By Robert A. Glover
Get the book here: https://amzn.to/2vYbEF8 The world isn't what our mothers told us it would be. I remember growing up thinking that being nice is the way to receive respect and praise.
A world based on kindness. A childish believe. Nice guys finish last. Ever wonder where the quote comes from?
When we were kids, we were the center of the universe. There's no fault in a child's joy and fearless travels into the world. The world is open and free. Free from pain, free from sorrow, free from responsibility.
When I was younger, I grew up in a single parent single child home. My father was not apart of my life. I was showered in the way of compliments about how I was special, how I would be something special. That me being kind was my power. It was a lie. A sweet lie like a candy sucker or refreshing like a cold glass of water on a hot day. It felt good, but never lasted.
Nice guys grow up being told these things, not realizing that when they face any type of abandonment they act out. Being alone, given unrealistic expectations, being shamed, all made me not let people know of my problems, but internalize them. Build resentment, hate, anger. A deep anger that it has taken me years to mature out of.
Do you really wanna be the good guy?
You have wants don't you? You have things within your grip that may ruffle some feathers. So what. What if you went and got it?
The fear that is kept in nice guys is that if someone gets close and can unravel the fake skin they'll see the truth below the layer of lies. The weaknesses revealed, the nice guy feels naked and ashamed. Like a little boy begging for his mommy to come clean up his diaper.
Nice guys build walls to keep others away. Wimps are afraid of conflict and hide from it. It's a natural response from those ill-equipped for combat. Don't hide in fear, face life with courage.
I was once a nice guy. And it nearly destroyed me. Keep your circle honest with you, seek help, be vulnerable, be courageous, adapt, and unleash your alpha energy onto the world.
Get the book here: https://amzn.to/2vYbEF8
1:30:20, 1.53 PM
https://amzn.to/37tXf0J
By Dr. Robert Lusting
There is a crisis in culture. It comes down to a mistake in interpreting pleasure and happiness. Many believe these things are the same, but they are totally different.
Pleasure is short lived, happiness is long lived
Pleasure is visceral, happienss is ether-real
pelasure is taking, happiness is giving
pleasure is substances, happiness doesn't need substances
pleasure is alone, happiness is with people
Extream pleasure creates addiction, you can never be too happy
Pleasure is dopamine, happiess is seratonine
These give us a framework of understanding about what we're up against.
Pleasure with dopamine desires you to take bigger and bigger hits until eventually the biggest hit you take brings you no feeling. That is what we call tolerance
Seratonine produces contempment. Zenning out. A feeling of oneness with the world.
The only thing that reduces seradoin is dopamine. Happiness is reduced in the pursuit of pleasure.
los vegas, Wall street, Silicoln valley, Washington DC have confused and conflated happiness with pleasure. So you can buy happiness and buy their stuff. It's created the biggest economy in the world. We are driven by pleasure not by happiness.
So what's hacked? The brain doesn't get hacked with computer code but false information.
The sugar indsutry in the 70s conspired with reguators and universties to push processesd food diets and sugar. It's now come to forition as america is the most overweight and unhealthy country in the world.
Tobacco industry as well said that nicotine and addiction is not real. They lied blatently to push their own narrative
Socially, pleasure is a feeling that tells you it feels good and you want more. Happiness is contentment. You don't need to keep playing the game's at the casino, happiness doesn't need to hit the slots over and over agian.
You can't buy happiness, but you can buy pleasure.
The Keys to happiness
- Connect - eye to eye connection actives empathy, and lights up different parts of the brain that creates contemepment. Relgiion dervives from this. Interpersonal connection is critical.
- non personal connection - like facebook - creates the opposite. Dopamine rises and variable rewards cause you to increase your actions to access more likes and attention.
- Contribute - contributing to society and life around you and not within yourself
- Cope - To reduce stress we need to focus.
- Sleep has been distorted by the phones.
- Mindfullness - the practice of meditation and find out that 2.5% of the population can multitask. Be mindful.
- Exercise - This tamps down dopamine
- Cook - For yourself. You don't know what you're eating if you don't cook it. Triptafane is the rarest but most important part of creating saratonine. Fish is heavy in it. Sugar is the biggest addition in eating out. Avoid it. Fast food you're eating alone, you don't know what it is, and there's added sugar.
So how did pleasure and happiness get confused in the first place? How did we end up living in such a confusing backwards way?
Dr. Robert Lusting says the declocartion of independence is what set it up. Life. Liberty. And the pursuit of happiness.
Life expentincy has been dropping in america
Liberty is based on where you're born and how much money you have
And the pursuit of happiness was distorted to be based on the things you buy and not the experiences you have with people you care about.
Until we address the problem of diet, pleasure, and happiness we will not see a improvement in health in our own lives and the countries well being.
https://amzn.to/37tXf0J
1:30:20, 11.21 AM
Buy the book here: https://amzn.to/2uy3jYr
Note on the author
Having apprenticed under Robert Greene, who wrote The 48 Laws of Power, Ryan Holiday went on to become director of marketing for American Apparel. He was a marketing genius and build enormous reach for big brands and authors alike. But recently his focus shifted a lot.
Since then, he’s published three books about Stoicism, lives a humble life in Texas and spends a lot of his time writing. Looks like he’s learned how to keep his ego in check. Let's learn from him.
Ego Is The Enemy describes a tendency to believe the world revolves around us and us alone. It holds us back from living the life we truly desire and how we can overcome it and become the greatest version of ourselves.
Aspire
Success
Failure
Live without wasted time - Detroit Red was a criminal mastermind, robbery, ran numbers, sold drugs, pimped, and a little bit of everything else. That was until he was caught and booked for 10 years. Detroit Red had lost himself and found himself in a hole in the ground with no way out. Robert Green has said there is two types of time in our lives. Alive time (learning, acting, and utilizing everything) and dead time (passive and waiting).
Every moment holds the choice for us, alive time or dead time.
Detroit Red choose to be alive.
And be reborn into Malcolm X.
Reading became his obsession. History, relgiion, philosophy, classics.
They would ask him later on what his alma malder was. He replied, Books.
Books granted Malcolm X the freedom of the mind. Acceptance, humility and strength are the pilers of combating the ego.
Turn shit to sugar.
Don’t let a stubbornness make a bad situation worse
Success is peace of mind - self satisfaction - because you did the best to become the best
Ambition ties your wellbeing to what others have to say or do
Sanity means tying it to your own actions.
Do your job. Let go, and let God do His work.
The world can show you the truth but no one can force you to accept it.
You need to clear out the baggage and return to the real you. The greatest enemy is ego and It's sidekick is denial.
Hitting the bottom is the worst thing. But immersing and living it creates a strength
Even Steve Jobs was fired from Apple. His ego out of control Steve sold all but 1 share of the company he helped founded.. But something happened was that he was humbled. Steve had to prove himself again and did. The Steve we know now is the iPhone creator and a new renaissance of consumer tech. He was only able to do that because he recognized this error and removed his ego.
If we don't take control of ourselves there's only one thing that we can guarantee. Ego will seek out failure — it's true north. Push through with strength not ego and you're unstoppable.
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