The Street StoicDramos takes a quote from Kid Kudi talking about making music with a purpose and combines it with a quote from Seneca that highlights the importance of doing things that are consistent with our vision.
Yes, Yes, I am Dramas and this is the Street Stoic.
Podcast, bring you your daily dose of timeless stoke philosophy remix for the hip hop generation. Now, with that in mind, let's get things started with your daily shot of inspiration. Now today we are going to be focusing around the idea of living with intention, right, and this is something that The Stoic's really a huge foundation of all that they talk about, right, the idea of intentional living. And I pulled a quote from just one of my favorite artists in general, Kid Cuddy, and it really just speaks, I think, to this this whole idea. And he says, my whole thing is just to put out positive messages in the music, give people something that can change their lives. And I think this is powerful on a number of levels. But for me, it kind of speaks to the idea that we as humans are always sort of in search of purpose, right, whether we admit it or not. And I think this is a natural thing, right, It's it's kind of like the age old question of.
Like why are we here?
Right, and that is sort of the search that we innately have as human beings to be a part of something that feels bigger than ourselves, right, And I think having a reason behind everything you do, you know, like a real reason is you know, the start to kind of scratching that itch right to feeling like you are living a life of purpose and just living in fulfillment, right, understanding that you are a part of something, right. And I think that's why things like community are so powerful in church and all these different things, because they make us feel a part of something that is bigger than just ourselves. And again, I think that's just inherently human, you know, so much so that generations ago a bunch of old white dudes, we're talking about this, and Seneca, one of the Stoics, says, filling our life with activities that lead us nowhere is destructive. They just make us agitated and restless. We are always busy, but we have nothing to show for it. Focusing on actions that are consistent with our vision as opposed to activities that keep us busy, will avoid these problems. And there's a lot being said in sort of that small statement right there, right, But it's the idea of making sure that the things that you're taking action on.
Actually have some sort of deeper value to.
You than just the present moment, right that anything that really has no weight to it, that is not adding any value to life, or is not bringing you closer to the vision that you have for yourself and your life. Like, all of that is just a waste of time. And I think so many of us we live restlessly, right bouncing from one thing to another, you know, just doing a bunch of random things to mindlessly past the be it, you know, shopping.
Sprees or sort of this refusal.
Spend time alone with ourselves, and we're doing anything to sort of block out that feeling that we're not living with any sort of purpose or direction, right, We are constantly just trying to fill the time with random things that are really just kind of surface.
Levels, superficial parts of our lives.
And again, I think it is our effort because we feel like something is missing, it's our effort to sort of fill that void. And I think that's why so many people feel unfulfilled or empty, because they're not slowing down and really taking inventory of what they are, sort of spending their time on what they are are really you know, prioritizing and how it aligns with what they want for their life. You know, and I think for me, I've sort of had to really have a lot of discussions with myself around this, right, because I'm somebody who's like a serial you know, business starter or a serial like just idea person coming up with new ideas and running with it. And every time that I have a new idea or a niche, I've sort of now begun to force myself to ask a question, right, and that question is what is the deeper purpose behind it? Beyond just a surface level enjoyment that I might get out of doing this activity this, you know, this business idea, this creative project, What on a deeper level does it do for me?
You know, where is it taking me?
Right?
And before that, you know, before I began to kind of slow down.
The process and develop that sort of mindset of asking that question, I would get wrapped up in an idea and I would go down the road one hundred miles an hour, spending money, in time sometimes you know, bring other people into the fold, only to realize that that thing didn't actually make me happy, and then I would just kind of abandon it altogether, right, And it's like a very destructive sort of path to kind of continue down and listen. I think a part of it is my creative process of trying things, but I also think, you know, forcing myself to have to answer some of those questions has also allowed me to avoid wasting time or wasting other people's time. More importantly, right, even with some of the things that I loved for a long time or things that were like my pri I'm very focus, like something like djaying, I had to eventually sort of revisit that and understand what place it would have in my life now, right, So I had to change it from being my focus and sort of the main thing I was putting all my energy and time into to now treating it as a hobby right and recognizing that the only place that it has in my life right now for me that aligns with what I want for myself in the long term is in this role of hobby. Sure, I enjoy doing it, it's some great extra money, but I can't dedicate any more extra time into it than it's worth because it, again is not something that in the long term aligns with how I see my life playing out right, and I think that is living with purpose, that is making decisions within intention in mind. Right now, we have heard words from Kikuti, you have heard from one of the stoic Seneca. I've given you some insight into my own life and this whole idea of living intentionally have applied it to my life. Now let's talk about how you can make it your mantra for today. The first's take a quick break and then we'll be.
All right.
So we're focusing around the idea of living with intention. And we've heard the words of Kid Cutti, you know, sort of talking about his music and always making it a goal to have a positive message within it. You've heard the words of Seneca talking about why so many people feel restless and empty in this life because they're just filling their time with activities that truly don't matter nor align with the long term vision they want for life. And I've given you some insight into my own life about how I've begun to sort of have a vetting system to make sure that everything that I do has a rightful place and I'm not putting more attention than is needed in something that really just does not fulfill me in the long run. So now with all that said, let's talk about how you can make it your mantra for today. And I think at the end of the day, like the easiest way and probably the starting point should always be asking why, right, why am I doing this? What is my intention behind it? What is the greater purpose that it is potentially a part of?
Right?
And I think once you begin to have sort of a set of questions you ask yourself before dedicating your time to something, before investing in it, I think it allows you to begin to weed out the things that are just there to kind of feel time and space right. And it's obviously perfectly normal as a human to want to belong to something bigger than ourselves. And I think rather than sort of suppressing the emptiness we may feel around our lives currently, right if we are sort of living without what feels like a purpose, rather than sort of suppressing that and just filling it with nonsense, I think taking the time to really spend that time alone with yourself and get to know yourself a bit more right and figure out what would actually bring you purpose in your life, what actually would be a good sort of way to spend your time that would be valuable and align with the way you see yourself living in the future. The life that you want for yourself. Right Again, it all starts with asking questions and taking that time for yourself to really get to know what you're feeling and what you're longing for at the end of the day. Now, to summarize what we're talking about here, the idea of living with intention. You have Kidkati whose main focus is music, right, and he's also said he's not just making music, but he's put a purpose behind the music that he makes, right, saying that his music, he wants it to have a positive message. Right, So he's setting an intention for every single piece of art that he creates. And when we talk about Seneca, one of the stoics, right talking about not just being busy for the sake of being busy, but being busy with things that actually fulfill you and actually bring you closer to your purpose in this life. And even for myself again, having to slow down, ask myself a series of questions and then also take inventory of things that I'm currently doing and adjust and say this no longer fulfills me, so it can't be a focus of mine anymore. Right, I have to move it to another another part of my life. Right, it has to be taken down a level to where it's appropriate, right to where I now can sort of put it in autopilot and focus my attention on the things that are going to bring me closer to the life that I'm dreaming about. Right and again, it all starts with that internal conversation about what you really want and listening to that voice in your head rather than sort of just blocking it out with the noise of everyday life just as a means to pastime.
Now, with that said, thank you so much for checking out the Street Stoke Podcast. Do your best to.
Apply these concepts that we've discussed, and see you everyday life, and I'll catch you next time. The Street Stoke Podcast is a production of Iheart's Microtura podcast network
