“Iron Sharpens Iron"

“A candle loses nothing by lightning another candle" — James Keller

Back when I was younger, my parents went through a divorce. I never went into the logistics of what happened but what I do know, those events changed my life forever. It was a painful time for me but what always made it better was being in class with my people. I made decent grades, but I wanted to be the light in the room. All the hurt that I felt, was transmuted into being the class clown. The one always talking knowing that the teachers had every phone number my mom had. I swear, some even had her on speed dial because everybody would be like, “who’s mom is that in the window?” Of course, I played it off like I was doing imaginary math but the act never sold.

Looking back at those times made me realize that from an early point in my life, it was destined for me to be in the field that I’m in. As early as I can remember, I’ve always wanted to be that cool dude that everybody loved to be around. I wanted to be the person that at the end of the day people would say, “aye, you remember that guy from earlier we were talking to, he is pretty cool". That’s always been my angle and it’s allowed me to connect with some amazing people. Within this connection, I always try to add value with the people I come in contact with.

Adding value to someone doesn’t always mean monetary value. It could be giving a stranger a compliment or acknowledging a friend’s progress on their weight loss journey, supporting their business, congratulating them on trying and succeeding in their mission. Doing anything positive to someone or having a positive reaction towards someone’s actions add value to a person. When we acknowledge our peers and people we don’t know on their victories, we may not know it but we are lifting them up. Maybe they’ve had a rough day and going through an array of situations/emotions, your positive comment could be the difference maker for their day.

When we begin to share our light with others, we are being the change that we want to see in the world. What they say is true, positive energy is contagious. It is contagious in a sense that we tend to “pay it forward" because someone did it to us. Now we are in a situation where we have a lot of people doing good things not because they have to but because they want to.

It costs nothing to build someone up. It costs nothing to give someone a pat on the back. It’s free.99 to be there for a friend when they need an ear to listen to them or someone to help motivate them to find their way back to themselves. Being generous, kind, thoughtful, being trustworthy and etc are all characteristics of who we are busting our ass to be: WINNERS!

When I set out on this journey many moons ago, I set out with one purpose: to be the person I needed when I was growing up. The Role Up Podcast is a platform where everyone can come and get inspired. It is a platform where everybody from every walk of life can come to and feel like they are seen and respected. It is my job to motivate you to chase your dreams and push you to be the best version of yourself. Together, we can make change and that’s exactly what the world needs right now.

As we set out on our daily missions, let’s take a moment to lift someone up. Send them a motivational quote, or a simple, “hey, you got this!” And watch it go a long way. As Mother Theresa’s quote says, when we meet somebody, they should always see how happy we make them feel while also making them better. We should always leave a room better than it was before we got there.

May we speak positive words over everyone we meet and use our light to help them along their way. Amen.

• SB