“If you’re trying to achieve, there will be roadblocks. I’ve had them; everybody
has had them. But obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t
turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it. Go through it, or work
around it.” Michael Jordan
In the streets a player has to be flexible. To remain rigid could mean life or death. The best thing to do is adapt to whatever comes at you.
If stuck up kids cause the block to get hot, have another hustle that is more legit and will keep a steady stream of paper flowing to your pockets.
The best people that are able to adapt to changes in trends and not fall prey to the whims of a fickle public are usually musicians that have been in the business for over 20 years. A few examples are; Madonna, Jay-Z, Sean “P. Diddy” Combs. These people just reinvented themselves time and time again. They don’t get locked down by the culture that propelled them into stardom.
I know a few of you Kats are reading this and saying to yourself, what the fuck you are talking about? What can an old ass white lady teach me about anything? A lot actually. Madonna has been able to outlast countless performers that came out the same time she did. Also she is still able to kick the ass of a lot of the new young talent today. Her secret is that she stays coming up with a new gimmick. At one time she was America’s bad girl. She was just singing and having fun. She loved to drink and party. Next thing you know she was all about being a sexual revolutionary. She came out with a book where she was naked. She was all out there and proud of it. She dated bad boys like Sean Penn and Dennis Rodman. Then she had a child and became the chastened motherly figure. All wholesome and shit. The public and her fans ate that shit up. When that shit got real old, she started trying to be an actress. Anyone remember a little movie called Dick Tracy? I wish I couldn’t. Then she made her way into kabbalah. So religion based on Jewish mysticism. Every time this happened, her album sells had a little breath of life back into them. She stayed culturally relevant. Hate her or love her, but she knows how to play the game and keep adapting to the marketplace that has chewed up and spit out many before and after her.
Here is a real life example that has happened to all of us at one time or another: You lose your job. It usually comes as a shock. The company is downsizing. Moving jobs overseas, getting rid of departments that it thinks is obsolete. After you got over the initial shock and feeling of loss, what did you do? I bet you picked yourself up and back to work of looking for a new job. After a while I’m willing to bet that you came to the realization that your old job sucked and wasn’t where you wanted to stay in the first place. Losing it was just the push you needed to go back to school or go after that job in another industry.
In this modern world the idea of having a stable long term employment is becoming a thing of the past. Our mothers and fathers might have worked at a single job for 20-30 years and retired with full benefits and a nice gold watch. But that isn’t the reality of today. The average person is going to have about 10 jobs over their adult life time. Most of these jobs will pay shit and be at a low level in the company. You will always be living check to check and a few missed meals away from starvation. The best thing you can do for your self is follow a couple of simple steps next time a situation calls for you to adapt to it.
You are human and it is totally natural to go through feelings of pain and loss. We are taught early on as little boys that it is not OK for guys to cry or to feel hurt. This is dumb. It is this kind of thinking that leads to men of today being emotionally retarded. It is actually healthy to experience things like sorrow and loss. Those emotions exist for a reason. Your body and mind need to expel them so it can replenish and go back to the best of surviving it this harsh world.
Try to look at the situation as a golden opportunity to prove you can overcome it.
Sometimes in life we won’t do anything until we have to. A drunk won’t seek the help they need until they get pulled over or cause the death of someone because of their drinking. We need a little or more often than not, a big push in the right direction. Think of it as life giving you a call to action. Will you answer the call or stay home and cry like a little bitch?
Start making a plan for how you are going to come out of it.
Now, that you have gotten over the emotional blow of the situation now it’s time to make a plan to come out of it better then you went in. Start by writing down a list of goals big and small, short term and long term.
Set a time frame for the goals that you have come up with.
Next you are going to want to give yourself a reasonable amount of time to accomplish these goals. Be realistic. The easiest way to fail at this is to try and do too much too soon.
Finally you have to realize that life is an ongoing process full of ups and downs. You have to rise to the occasion and defeat every challenge that gets in your way.
Peeping Game Tip #6
Always have an exit plan worked out. If you are going to a new place and you feel you might be exposed to any dangerous elements; take a map with you and have multiple ways to get in and out of the area.