I want you to
see what happens when you stop letting people tell you what you can't
do. Who am I? I'm some 1983 breakdancer from a little town in the north
part of San Diego County, now grown and transplanted to the Midwest.
And if I had kept that mentality, it would have been a shameful waste of
talent and ability. I could have continued to work at LCI or any
number of other places that are here. After all, this is the RV
manufacturing capitol of the WORLD! At my last job, I used to joke with
my coworkers when they would complain about work. I would say to them
"HEY! As long as Jason Lippert gets to buy that new yacht this year,
then I'm happy! That's what we do this for! Keep your heads up, lads!!"
And we would all laugh (I was going to tag Jason in this, because I
actually respect him in spite of my joke, but it wont let me).
I had a thought just the other day. I NEVER
cared for Kanye West until today. It occurred to me that the problem with
Kanye, the problem with ME, the problem Mr. Lippert, the problem with so
many that I associate with is this.....we're extraordinary people. Of
COURSE ordinary people don't understand us. They only know how to think
ordinary thoughts. They are too busy reading the numbers, when we're
talking in COLORS. Local brains simply can NOT think globally. The
opposite is also true. Those of us who are extraordinary can't wrap our
heads around ordinary thinking. Listen, I'm not bragging when I call
myself extraordinary. I am acknowledging who I am, and frankly, some of
you need to acknowledge this same thing about yourselves. Stop feeling
bad when you're not understood. Recognize that you're dealing with
average people, and they can only see through average eyes. If they
dislike you, it's actually their unhappiness with their own choice to
not live up to their potential. They're scared of their dreams, so they
don't like seeing you reach out for yours. Now, if you allow them to
stop you, then it still comes back to YOU have a problem, no one else. I
am learning that even when my loved ones, family members, etc. don't
understand my methods or reasoning, it's because they're not supposed
to. They're average, everyday people with average, everyday thoughts.
My mother said to me not long ago "You're coming off like a conceited ass, lately", because I posted on Facebook that the reason I work 70-80 hrs a week, the reason that I am getting an average of 4 hrs of sleep every day, is because one must pay the cost to be the boss. I will rest down the road, but for now, I have to keep on this grind, to get where I want to go and be successful. I replied to my mom "I'm baffled that you of all people, only got THAT out of what I said. YOU'RE the one that instilled in me that you have to work hard to get what you want. That is the whole message". The problem is, my mother worked hard her entire life...for another man's dollar. I loved working at Lippert, because they showed incredible care for their employees, and they earned my respect for that. But the fact is, as long as I was there, I was earning another man's dollar. Sorry, I need to earn my own, until someone else is earning my dollars for me, and *I* can get this year's newest yacht.
I asked one of my mentors in the music industry "do I sound like I'm getting a big head?" His answer was "No.... you sound like you took off the bib. When you were a baby in this industry, you were SUPPOSED to sound like a baby. But you're an 'adult' in the music industry now, and you're thinking and speaking like one. You don't sound conceited. You sound mature". I'll never forget the day I learned a valuable lesson in the industry. Grandmaster Dee (DJ for legendary rap group Whodini) invited me to go with him to the Zulu Nation Anniversary Party. I was to meet him there at 7. Well, the line for the party stretched about 4 blocks, and so I got in line. About 7:30pm, my cell rang. It was Dee. "Where are you?". I said "I'm holding a spot in line for us". He said "I'm at the door. Get up here" and hung up. So, I walked up to the several blocks to the door and there was GMD. He said "We do not wait in lines!". He then went to the person doing the guest check in and said "Grandmaster Dee of Whodini". The check in person looked and said "I'm sorry, you're not on this list" to which he replied "Then write it in. Grandmaster Dee plus one" looked at me and said "Come on" and turned and walked in the door without so much as waiting for a reply. In we went. No line, no list, no nothing. Dee explained it to me very simple. "We're NOT THEM! THEY wait in line, THEY buy tickets, all that. We MAKE this music. How do we look waiting to get in?". Another conversation that I had recently was after the event I put together for Kangol Kid's baby-shower. What was said to me after the rather successful event was, "Your days of ratty t-shirts and blue jeans are over. You can no longer leave your house looking like anything less than who you are. You represent names like Chuck D, Kangol Kid, Daddy-O, and many more. You can't look like crap, because you then make them look like crap and no one will take you seriously." That is why if I so much as run to the grocery, my jeans and shirt are pressed, my hair is styled, my face is shaved and I look good. I've lost 70 lbs and quit smoking. I look good, feel good, smell good, and guess what, kids? My thoughts are now healthy, along with the rest of me.
Know this about me. I'm not meant to be ordinary. I'm not an average person. Yes, I put on my pants one leg at a time like everyone else, but i'll be damned if I'm going to not chase (I started to say "dreams") the reality of who I am, just because someone else is scared to chase theirs.
"Who do you think you ARE?!" you might be thinking. I'm ME. I'm an extraordinary-thinking person, and I can't understand how YOU think, EITHER. Who do I think I AM? Here's a better question...why am I doing this and you're not?! No No No...I'm not saying that. You're thinking ordinary again. Stop it. Get outside of that box. What I'm asking you is this....is what you're doing ALL you're worth? Look, if you're happy coming home from work covered in car grease and you just want to take a shower, eat dinner with your family, and watch a little TV before you go to bed, so you can get up tomorrow at 4am and get back under another car, then salut. I'm happy for you. Continue with that average everyday life. But don't hate me for not following suit.
Lastly, I'll repeat myself. If you disagree with me here, if you think "you're head is getting too big", I will simply smile at you. I get it. You don't understand, and you're not supposed to. But the extraordinary, above-average people who read this, will.
My mother said to me not long ago "You're coming off like a conceited ass, lately", because I posted on Facebook that the reason I work 70-80 hrs a week, the reason that I am getting an average of 4 hrs of sleep every day, is because one must pay the cost to be the boss. I will rest down the road, but for now, I have to keep on this grind, to get where I want to go and be successful. I replied to my mom "I'm baffled that you of all people, only got THAT out of what I said. YOU'RE the one that instilled in me that you have to work hard to get what you want. That is the whole message". The problem is, my mother worked hard her entire life...for another man's dollar. I loved working at Lippert, because they showed incredible care for their employees, and they earned my respect for that. But the fact is, as long as I was there, I was earning another man's dollar. Sorry, I need to earn my own, until someone else is earning my dollars for me, and *I* can get this year's newest yacht.
I asked one of my mentors in the music industry "do I sound like I'm getting a big head?" His answer was "No.... you sound like you took off the bib. When you were a baby in this industry, you were SUPPOSED to sound like a baby. But you're an 'adult' in the music industry now, and you're thinking and speaking like one. You don't sound conceited. You sound mature". I'll never forget the day I learned a valuable lesson in the industry. Grandmaster Dee (DJ for legendary rap group Whodini) invited me to go with him to the Zulu Nation Anniversary Party. I was to meet him there at 7. Well, the line for the party stretched about 4 blocks, and so I got in line. About 7:30pm, my cell rang. It was Dee. "Where are you?". I said "I'm holding a spot in line for us". He said "I'm at the door. Get up here" and hung up. So, I walked up to the several blocks to the door and there was GMD. He said "We do not wait in lines!". He then went to the person doing the guest check in and said "Grandmaster Dee of Whodini". The check in person looked and said "I'm sorry, you're not on this list" to which he replied "Then write it in. Grandmaster Dee plus one" looked at me and said "Come on" and turned and walked in the door without so much as waiting for a reply. In we went. No line, no list, no nothing. Dee explained it to me very simple. "We're NOT THEM! THEY wait in line, THEY buy tickets, all that. We MAKE this music. How do we look waiting to get in?". Another conversation that I had recently was after the event I put together for Kangol Kid's baby-shower. What was said to me after the rather successful event was, "Your days of ratty t-shirts and blue jeans are over. You can no longer leave your house looking like anything less than who you are. You represent names like Chuck D, Kangol Kid, Daddy-O, and many more. You can't look like crap, because you then make them look like crap and no one will take you seriously." That is why if I so much as run to the grocery, my jeans and shirt are pressed, my hair is styled, my face is shaved and I look good. I've lost 70 lbs and quit smoking. I look good, feel good, smell good, and guess what, kids? My thoughts are now healthy, along with the rest of me.
Know this about me. I'm not meant to be ordinary. I'm not an average person. Yes, I put on my pants one leg at a time like everyone else, but i'll be damned if I'm going to not chase (I started to say "dreams") the reality of who I am, just because someone else is scared to chase theirs.
"Who do you think you ARE?!" you might be thinking. I'm ME. I'm an extraordinary-thinking person, and I can't understand how YOU think, EITHER. Who do I think I AM? Here's a better question...why am I doing this and you're not?! No No No...I'm not saying that. You're thinking ordinary again. Stop it. Get outside of that box. What I'm asking you is this....is what you're doing ALL you're worth? Look, if you're happy coming home from work covered in car grease and you just want to take a shower, eat dinner with your family, and watch a little TV before you go to bed, so you can get up tomorrow at 4am and get back under another car, then salut. I'm happy for you. Continue with that average everyday life. But don't hate me for not following suit.
Lastly, I'll repeat myself. If you disagree with me here, if you think "you're head is getting too big", I will simply smile at you. I get it. You don't understand, and you're not supposed to. But the extraordinary, above-average people who read this, will.
BECOME YOU
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