193 Work Ethic On Purpose

A back that suddenly “gives out” doesn’t just hurt, it humbles you. When you need help to stand up, you start thinking differently about health, independence, and the quiet privileges of simply moving through your day. I open with a personal update on therapy and a painful reminder that your life can change fast if you ignore your body, your sleep, and your recovery.

Then I get into the best advice I can give at any age: build a real daily routine. Not a motivational quote, not a once-a-week burst of effort, but consistent work that compounds. I talk about what “work ethic” actually means, why reading and skill practice matter, and how routines create confidence because you can prove to yourself that you show up. We also dig into tools that sharpen the mind, like chess, and why strategy helps you find a path to winning even when you feel behind.

I also share the habits I’m stacking for long-term self mastery: language learning for better communication, meditation for attention and nervous system rest, and simple bodyweight training so I can keep my body usable as I age. We touch on belief, growth, and why mastering something can protect your future in a world that’s anxious about AI and quick-money fantasies.

If you want the blueprint, it starts with honest effort and a routine you can repeat. Listen, subscribe, share this with someone who needs a reset, and leave a review, what’s the one skill you’ll practice every day this month?

Transcript

Welcome, Therapy, And Back Pain

SPEAKER_00 0:12

What up, though, and welcome back to Um Growing Man. She Man John D in the building. But before I get started on today's topic, I just wanted to share something with you guys. Been going to therapy and so far so good. Nothing really to discover yet, but I am going. I missed a couple times because she's been out of town. So I'll give you another update. I do want to say also my physical status. My lumbar region, the lower part of my back just gave out. Like I don't know. I thought it was the way I was, uh it was my bed, and then we found out it's the way that I'm sleeping. Apparently I sleep in a fetal position and it's causing something to inflame in my lower back. I had to get my son to actually help me get up. Now it was, it was, I didn't care about it as much, but it made me think. Like, because when I got up, there was a pain that I had never experienced before. Like, so I like teared up, like where nothing dropped, but I was like, I could have cried and got away with it because it hurt that bad.

Health, Dependency, And Gratitude

SPEAKER_00 1:24

And the reason why I'm saying this is because it made me think about how difficult these last few days have been as far as the dependency on others. And you you need to appreciate your functions because when they go, that's a that's a tough place to be. Yeah, you gotta appreciate your functionality of your body. And I know you know a lot of you guys ain't got time to think about how serious that is, but your life could change like overnight. You know, I had a few friends, including my mother. They didn't have strokes. Like, so the way that they move through life is different. And then it's like, I can only imagine if the part of you that says, man, I remember I used to could do this and now I can't, because to me, I do believe I'm gonna get my my back, my lower back back, but it could be taken away from you, and then your life changes. So if you are not focusing on your health, you need to focus on your health, and you got to follow through with it. Because people say they don't live with regret, but losing a limb or losing the function of a specific body part, that could make you look at things differently. And hopefully that can be a better example because I was working out and everybody was like, What happened? I was like, I truly don't know. Because when I work out, I just do body weight. So I'm not even here trying to, I'm just trying to stay in shape. I am not trying to win anybody's contest.

The Best Advice: Build A Routine

SPEAKER_00 2:56

But today's episode is about like what's the best advice that I could give to anybody, no matter what age. I feel like I realized that I didn't have a work ethic. When I say a work ethic, it's like a daily routine. Like I think everybody, no matter what age, you should teach your kids to have a daily routine so that they just get into the habit of constantly improving. I know it's very difficult for me to say that now because my kids are grown. But if I could do it all over again, I would get them into a routine of something that they're constantly working to nourish, to develop, to improve. Thirty minutes a day, like they have to read, you know, and they gotta talk about it and we have a discussion. And and the reason why I'm saying this is because when you work on something that benefits you, things improve in your body. The better you become, the more things that open up. The opportunities, the confidence, the humbleness in knowing that you put this effort in and you developed it. Like you know, you know that you're responsible. Think about that. No matter what age you you are, if you can get into a routine of just working on stuff. And when I say working on things, let's say hypothetically, you know, kids typically want to do something that makes a lot of money. And I I truly believe if you worked on your craft from a little kid to let's say 18 to 20, you would get rewarded just like a lot of these professional athletes. But you would have to find something that you work on every single day. So with that being said, it's more difficult as a kid to find what you want to do for the rest of your life. But as an adult, you can pick out the things that you enjoy the most. And when I say pick out things, I mean pick out things that's gonna make you better. And this just is one thing that I pray that I don't create anything. Because I used to have these ideas about what I'm about to say, but I truly believe, like as we get older, we're supposed to do things that continuously challenge us.

Train Your Brain With Chess

SPEAKER_00 5:15

And the thing that I think that should be challenged most is your brain. And I think from just from my experience, that if people started to learn how to play chess, and when I say people, I mean every single person. I think that once you get some type of muscle memory where you're constantly growing, because I feel like chess, it gives you strategies on ways to win even when you're not winning. You know you're not winning. But if you have a game plan, you can effectively win. Of course, you could lose to somebody who's better than you. But I'm talking about somebody on your playing field, because everybody everybody don't make the same mistakes. But when you play this game, it causes your brain to think differently. You know, like I do think that that would help us increase the quality of life as we get older as far as our brain. Because if you really start to enjoy the game, and I'm not saying abuse it to the point where you want to walk away from it, this is just a game where you can enjoy the different combinations that can happen for you to win. You know, and of course, you can't control what the other person does. So you're just waiting for their mistake. So if you could like play this game and reduce your mistakes, because more than likely, the more time you put in, the person in front of you is going to make the mistake where you can capitalize. And that to me would change how we move in life. Because I've picked five or six things that I feel like will make me a better person if I ever mastered these things. And I'll just give you an example. Chess is definitely one of them. That's why I'm a big advocate for that, because I feel like it'll help people use it in other parts of their life. Strategy, I feel like, to find ways for you to win. And I'm not talking about cheating. I mean legitimately winning. Like because you put the pieces in place. That's a different type of confidence because you you know you're responsible for it, but you have to put that work in. So, chess is

Habits For Lifelong Growth

SPEAKER_00 7:20

one of them. Of course, you guys know I do study languages. Uh, I study El Arabia, Espaniola, Deutsch, and Han Guk. I do that every morning, and I do know that I am going to increase the amount of time that I'm going to spend in those languages because I this is what I've learned since I've been studying. There's there's so many commonalities, you know, and you know, you guys know that I work on communication. And this is the reason why I feel like the more languages, well, the uh I don't plan on learning any more languages, but these four languages I think will help me understand why there's such a miscommunication with people all across the world. And even if I'm wrong, I still enjoy the idea that I'll be able to speak five languages fluently and I'll be able to maneuver in and out of the world because I do know this. If you only know one language, you you can't even unlock the part of your brain that when you learn a second language that it does specifically. So when I found out that people who speak two languages is smarter than a person that speaks one language, I wanted to be a part of that. And that it so I didn't go to four to just keep unlocking things. I went to four for different reasons, but I I'm I'm focusing on these languages for the rest of my life. So at some point I believe I will be fluent enough to use all four languages at the same time. And that's some flops and stuff. But, anyways, what else? Meditation. I do I meditate Monday through Friday. I want to do it seven days a week, but I come up with these excuses on the weekends. But I want to do it where I'm giving my body the rest it deserves. You know, a lot of people don't understand that our body is constantly working. And from what I've read, that meditation unlocks other parts of the body also, and it gives it the rest that you don't know how it gives unless you give it give it the chance to meditate. Now, I'll say this. Now I don't I I meditate five days a week, and I've only felt maybe one or two times where I can say, oh my God, that was the experience. And I've been doing this since 2020. So out of these days, and at one point I was doing it every day, and I and I do it like between 20 and 30 minutes a day. And like I said, I've only got the fruit of it twice because I don't know, but I haven't given up on it. And that's something that I feel like if I ever get it, I'll benefit. So it's not hurting me, and it's it's some quiet time. So that's what I do. I also I got this physical routine where I try to do reps of push-ups, dips, squats, lunges, and maybe some shoulder shrugs with some weights. But other than that, like try to just make sure that my body's in shape. Like I don't want to overdo it because I don't I want my limbs to be used effectively. And they say if you don't use it, you lose it. So I don't want to not be able to get up and go when I have to. And as of right now, I can't get up and go because of my lower back that I explained earlier. But not only that, I know I keep saying not only that, but I'm I just want you to know these things that I picked are things that I believe in. And you don't have to believe in it. I just want you to pick something that you believe in. I think growing up the way that we did, it prevents a lot of our being open to being wrong. Because depending on how strong your belief is in a specific religion, you could limit yourself and not know how much more you can be. And I know that sounds so bad because I know how people feel about their religion. But I'm not, I'm not here to hurt anybody. I'm not here to poison anybody's minds. I just believe that if people knew how important they were, they would do more. So this all leads to what advice would I give you?

The Work Map To Mastery

SPEAKER_00 11:27

If you don't have it yet, it's because you haven't worked hard enough for it. And when I say work hard enough for it, people will use my words and manipulate and make it sound like I don't know what I'm talking about. There is a map that takes you to where you want to go. And if you are working hard, you're either on your journey to it or you're not. But only you could truly know the effort that you're putting into getting to this destination. And when I say destination, it's just one stop of many. I don't want people to think when you get there that you just, okay, I'm satisfied. Because once you get there, other doors are open up and you're like, oh, this journey goes to different places. So listen, when you, as you move through life and you achieve or accomplish certain things that you set out, once you get there, there's there's other things that's gonna open up. And it's not like you like, oh, is it another one? Because it's really whatever you want to do. But as you create a routine every single day, you're sharpening your source, you're finding this mastery. Like I said in the last episode. Once you find your mastery, you can't ever go broke unless it's a physical mastery. Like, you know, these athletes, you know, they got a young life. You know, like by the age of 35, you know, they they kind of like, what are we doing now? And if you master something that don't require the your body usage, like your brain, it's like you could stay in your field for the rest of your life and you you would probably master it to the point where you would discover new things that people have not put that much time into yet. And that's the reason why I believe like people are afraid of AI because they believe AI is capable of what humans are. No. AI is only capable of what another human has thought. You know, it's it's hasn't gotten to that point, at least, and I don't think that will. I think humans have this, we have many gifts that we are learning to unlock, but you can't unlock them until you put enough hours in. It's almost like if you grow a plant, put it a seed in, you water it, give it the proper, you know, environment. It's supposed to grow. It doesn't grow overnight. It grows through time. You put more time and more love and affection, more nutrients, it grows, right? So that's the same thing for yourself. You are the seed. You can help cultivate the entire seed depending on the things you want to do. So as adults, you have a lot more freedom on what you can and can't do. And if you're honest with yourself, pick five or six things and just put it in your routine. You don't have to do it like consecutively. It just has to be done every day because if you don't put the work in, there's no reason why you're getting closer to where you're supposed to get. Putting the real work to get you to your destination requires you doing your research. Like, what do you want it to look like? Who's done it before you? And I think the biggest, biggest problem with what we see is people don't understand that when people are just doing nothing, there are other people working on something that they are trying to develop. But you have to really be honest with yourself. What are you doing when you're doing nothing? Are you trying to prevent those times? I know sometimes people say, Oh, you need the nothing part so that, you know, you don't burn yourself out and whatever. But if you pick something that you enjoy and you just do a routine of it, it's just gonna naturally get better. Now, if you go overboard and you feel like you're obsessed with it, of course, I understand that because this message is not for you to become obsessed with anything like that. This is what you can become obsessed with. Improve it. But when I want you to become obsessed, I need you to consider the people that you could be impacting because your speed of growth can affect people, right? So you have to know that a lot of people aren't gonna understand where you are because we're learning to communicate effectively. And the reason why I know this, I had no idea that I would be able to put this much time, like I've seen so many things happen in such a short period of time. Like, that's the reason why I want you guys to know. Like, you can do it too. But you have to make use of your time. You know, there's a a show on YouTube, there's this young white guy who goes around questioning, giving, asking millionaires how do they billionaires, how do they make their money? And you know, I used to start thinking it was dope. And now, and and this is the reason why I'm saying this, because I study people who are great in their craft, and to listen to them, I understand nobody is a master of their craft. These people that's making money, they became obsessed with mastering a specific craft that produced them money. Everybody needs them, you know, or they learn how money makes money and they learn that. Like everybody wants a get quick rich scheme. And when I say that, it's like they think that everybody got a gift. I'm gonna try this. You have the gift of keep trying until you master it, not the gift that you didn't have to like put the work in and get the benefits. Like some people really think like I was just born to do this. No, you're not. Anybody who's getting it, they're gonna tell you that they put all of this work in. And that's what I'm saying.

Own Your Time And Seek Guidance

SPEAKER_00 16:40

You have eight hours in a day that's yours outside of sleep and if you're working for somebody. Like, and that's what I'm saying. Like your goal is to not work for somebody unless the the somebody is you. But a lot of people want to work for people because they don't understand how important they are. I guarantee this though, if people learn to master something, they'll always be needed. Always. And when I say needed, I mean to the point where you don't have to like clock in and clock out. Like you do it because it's just a part of your life. Nobody tells you when to go to work unless you decide to go help others find that mastery. Because I'm telling you, if you can show other people how to do it, they won't need you and they could be better examples for other people. But we have to learn how to communicate effectively where people can receive the message and learn how to incorporate better behaviors and checking off boxes for themselves. And I know a lot of people say checking off boxes is bad. You know, it's just doing this, but it's for yourself. You work on it that much and you know you click in, at some point you're not gonna check boxes because it's just gonna be a part of the day. Like special needs people where they got to have a checklist. Get up, go brush your teeth and wash your face, make sure you eat breakfast, drink some water, all of this. You know what I'm saying? But if you do that, it'll turn into a routine where it won't be checkboxes anymore. So that's what I'm saying. You need to create a list of things that you enjoy. So there would be no excuses. You know, some people say, I enjoy this, but I don't have time for it. You don't have time because you don't want to have time for it. Something else that's taking your time away that you can't even benefit for you. Because I'll tell you this if you're giving a company so much of real time where you're not happy, I'm playing, I'm praying that you're a bot. Because that's a bad example for somebody to enjoy the quality of life. Sure, you get some of the most ridiculous opportunities to travel, to experience things, but it's almost like it's not worth it. And I feel if it's not yours, you shouldn't be working that hard for it. Like you should work hard for you so the people around you can see a better example of how to make things for themselves. Because we go to school to go work for somebody for the most part. And I'm not saying there's anything wrong with it because before I was like, I I've been a boss before, and before I didn't want to do it because I said, dang, if it's mine, everything falls on me. And like the toughest part is like, what, the first two years? And if you can get through that, but looking back, I didn't know enough. I was not prepared for what was to come, but I was comfortable with working with somebody because I was like, I don't want to go through that anymore. But I realized that was tough because I wasn't prepared in the beginning. I was out here doing what I thought I was supposed to be doing. So I'm telling you, if there's a way to get to it, asking somebody for some guidance, some advice, some feedback on what do they think? Man, I seen you do this. How long did it take you to get there? When you get that information, you you reduce the experience you have to go through. And I'm not saying that they did it the right way, but they don't want you to do it the wrong way. And most people who already have it, they don't mind giving that away because they already have it. But the thing that them, I'm telling you, they'll give it to you. But if you don't put that work in, you won't get it. Like, this didn't work. I'm gonna tell you this, this is so crazy. I remember when I first started podcasting and it was on social media and all the platforms, somebody was like, hey man, I've been putting out this content every day for like a year now. Is anybody getting paid yet? And I was like, I haven't got paid yet, but you know, I think we're not good enough yet. And he was like, I think this is a big scam. I was like, at the end of the day, I mean, it's what you believe. And I believe that I just I'm just not good enough yet. Once I start to generate money where I'm like the messages are received, then I get it. Like, oh, I it took me that long to get good. Because at the end of the day, this message that I'm promoting is to just work on yourself. If you work on yourself, everything will come into what it's supposed to do. But if you're not working on something, what are you making? What do you hear? You're just out here lifeing. And life is so much better when you when you're creating something that you're responsible for. So we have to be way more intentional. And I know a lot of people are not there yet, but if you don't focus on yourself, create a routine, and master certain things, you're gonna life for most of your life. And people just don't look happy when they're doing that. So those of you that are single, married, homeless, blind, deaf, anything, anybody that wants to get something, there's a route to get there. But I'll tell you this how about there's some people that may not even gotten there with your conditions. But if you find a way, you'll be the blueprint. And now people don't understand that's probably the best gift you can give to like a generation of people is a blueprint to find something where they can make it theirs so they can create their own blueprints of whatever they decide. That might be the coldest journey that you could ever do when you become the example. We're gonna keep restripping the culture one conversation at a time. Y'all make today better than yesterday. Don't worry about anything you can't control. G A T A, get after that action, or that action will get after you. Be great on purpose. Boom.