WEBVTT 00:16.045 --> 00:20.350 [SPEAKER_00]: Hey, welcome to another episode of the Eugene Hamilton podcast. 00:20.370 --> 00:21.031 [SPEAKER_00]: How you doing today? 00:21.511 --> 00:22.232 [SPEAKER_00]: Hope you're doing well. 00:22.593 --> 00:24.034 [SPEAKER_00]: Hope you're in your family of thriving. 00:24.435 --> 00:32.184 [SPEAKER_00]: Hope that you're not just surviving, but that you're moving every single day to a higher place and a higher level in your life. 00:32.264 --> 00:32.644 [SPEAKER_00]: Check it out. 00:32.664 --> 00:37.710 [SPEAKER_00]: We're going to have an episode today that I think we'll speak to you in a different way. 00:37.790 --> 00:38.230 [SPEAKER_00]: That's great. 00:38.451 --> 00:39.011 [SPEAKER_00]: Let's get going. 00:39.031 --> 00:43.977 [SPEAKER_00]: God, thank you for this time to, to, to, 00:43.957 --> 00:52.015 [SPEAKER_00]: share this time for us to kind of use our faculties to figure out what it is that we should do next. 00:52.055 --> 00:54.921 [SPEAKER_00]: Give us insight for this episode. 00:55.703 --> 00:58.189 [SPEAKER_00]: We ask in your name, Amen. 00:58.429 --> 00:58.790 [SPEAKER_00]: Take it out. 00:58.830 --> 01:00.193 [SPEAKER_00]: What what what is it? 01:01.085 --> 01:06.891 [SPEAKER_00]: about finishing school that gets us so excited, right? 01:07.572 --> 01:29.016 [SPEAKER_00]: Um, there are a lot of people, especially when graduation season rolls around who are excited because there's no more alarm clocks, there's no more hallways, there's no more reports to write, I get it, I get it, people who, I mean, when I finished my master's program, I was like, oh man, I am done with school, right, I'm done with school. 01:29.300 --> 01:40.451 [SPEAKER_00]: Not only did I have to prepare myself to pay back the loans to finish school, I said to myself, man, wow, I get some time back. 01:41.492 --> 01:57.788 [SPEAKER_00]: I get an opportunity to use that time that I use for studying and excuse me for writing reports and for researching, I could use that for something else, maybe a hobby, I don't know. 01:59.624 --> 02:09.148 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, us, us working toward degrees and certifications and diplomas, it's a fact of life. 02:09.368 --> 02:12.295 [SPEAKER_00]: At some point, you will reach what you're working toward. 02:12.817 --> 02:14.140 [SPEAKER_00]: You'll get that diploma. 02:14.390 --> 02:15.272 [SPEAKER_00]: you'll get that degree. 02:15.873 --> 02:17.096 [SPEAKER_00]: You'll get that certification. 02:17.376 --> 02:23.630 [SPEAKER_00]: At some point, you will reach the end of the road as it relates to what she'll work into. 02:24.071 --> 02:33.090 [SPEAKER_00]: However, while school does stop, learning should never stop. 02:34.522 --> 02:39.267 [SPEAKER_00]: When I say, school stops, school ends, you get your degree and you stop. 02:39.568 --> 02:40.869 [SPEAKER_00]: You get that doctorate, you stop. 02:41.089 --> 02:42.351 [SPEAKER_00]: You get that bastards and you stop. 02:42.391 --> 02:43.733 [SPEAKER_00]: You finish up trade school. 02:44.033 --> 02:45.495 [SPEAKER_00]: You get your plumbers certification. 02:45.755 --> 02:46.576 [SPEAKER_00]: You get your age effect. 02:46.596 --> 02:48.798 [SPEAKER_00]: You get your stops and you begin working. 02:49.799 --> 02:50.941 [SPEAKER_00]: Utilizing what you've learned. 02:52.202 --> 02:52.422 [SPEAKER_00]: Right? 02:53.524 --> 02:54.505 [SPEAKER_00]: Wow, school stops. 02:55.686 --> 02:58.369 [SPEAKER_00]: Learning is a lifelong pursuit. 02:59.691 --> 03:01.693 [SPEAKER_00]: And I said, ask you and ask yourself, 03:02.720 --> 03:09.755 [SPEAKER_00]: outside of school, outside of sitting in the classroom, what have you learned about life this week? 03:10.877 --> 03:11.719 [SPEAKER_00]: Take it out, check it out. 03:11.799 --> 03:18.754 [SPEAKER_00]: We were not too long ago and not opportunity to go to the University of Southern California's Book Festival. 03:19.460 --> 03:36.996 [SPEAKER_00]: That's the book festival, there are new authors, there are veteran authors, there are people there that are trying to put on display, their work, their long nights, their scripts, their art has finally come together and they can offer it to the world. 03:38.191 --> 03:47.267 [SPEAKER_00]: And for the most part, as we were at the book fair, and we were going to different vendors and different tables, and so forth as so on, there was one common theme. 03:48.469 --> 03:55.862 [SPEAKER_00]: For every author, for every book, for every writer, for every illustrator, there go was to put something out in the world. 03:55.842 --> 03:59.166 [SPEAKER_00]: that will help people build on what they already know. 03:59.867 --> 04:00.487 [SPEAKER_00]: Don't miss that. 04:01.348 --> 04:03.711 [SPEAKER_00]: They're, they're, they're gold, they're common gold. 04:04.352 --> 04:19.570 [SPEAKER_00]: Was to put something out, to put a product out, to put a service out, to put a piece of art out that will help people get to a place where they understand that this was not meant to undo what you already know. 04:20.491 --> 04:25.697 [SPEAKER_00]: This was meant to build on what you've already experienced. 04:26.268 --> 04:35.164 [SPEAKER_00]: Because in life, there are opportunities every single day to build on what we already know, but are you taking advantage of that. 04:36.595 --> 04:53.097 [SPEAKER_00]: You know, um, growing up in the neighborhood, um, we would often times find ourselves, especially in my neighborhood, we would go to the convenience store around the corner, and we would see, um, what we call OGs, all heads, right? 04:53.438 --> 04:56.502 [SPEAKER_00]: Guys who have been around for a couple of years, they may be on the block. 04:56.822 --> 05:01.849 [SPEAKER_00]: They may be sitting there with a brown paper bag, drinking, uh, 40 ounce, yeah, I'm aging myself. 05:01.869 --> 05:05.674 [SPEAKER_00]: They may be sitting there at the convenience store, um, 05:05.654 --> 05:18.724 [SPEAKER_00]: doing something they had no business doing, but oftentimes there were brothers who would stop us as young guys going to the convenience store to get, I don't know, a soda, to get a honey bun, whatever we're doing, just going to the convenience store, get some now and later. 05:18.904 --> 05:19.826 [SPEAKER_00]: You know what I'm talking about? 05:21.089 --> 05:24.557 [SPEAKER_00]: Some of them were stopping quote unquote give us some game. 05:25.786 --> 05:38.682 [SPEAKER_00]: And games just simply mean they would give us some insight on some blunders and some falls and some pit stops that they had endured a long life along this, this, this thing journey called life that they wanted us to be aware of. 05:39.758 --> 05:43.105 [SPEAKER_00]: They were giving us tidbits on, and young man, you're dating yet? 05:44.248 --> 05:45.130 [SPEAKER_00]: Yes, as an example. 05:45.310 --> 05:46.293 [SPEAKER_00]: Hey young man, you're dating yet? 05:47.335 --> 05:49.600 [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe we'd say no sir, I guess. 05:49.861 --> 05:57.077 [SPEAKER_00]: Well, if you have, or if you're about to, here's what you should always remember, I'll always open the door for that young lady. 05:57.698 --> 05:58.560 [SPEAKER_00]: Just tidbits. 05:59.705 --> 06:04.893 [SPEAKER_00]: Nothing, judgmental, nothing that made my brain hurt because this is too much learning. 06:05.273 --> 06:11.382 [SPEAKER_00]: It was this information that they were sharing because they understood this principle and I hope you do. 06:11.682 --> 06:21.797 [SPEAKER_00]: Life is about continuing to learn, continuing to be open to new information, new knowledge or hear me out. 06:22.452 --> 06:26.116 [SPEAKER_00]: even being reintroduced to things that we already heard. 06:26.156 --> 06:30.561 [SPEAKER_00]: For instance, the example I just gave you, always opened doors for young babies. 06:30.982 --> 06:51.025 [SPEAKER_00]: And now, if I, I'm at the gas station hearing this from quote unquote, what we call an old hit, I'm at the gas station 15 years of age, going in, getting a drink, a gatorade or whatever, after we play basketball, the neighborhood, I'm hearing something and this from a gentleman who was telling me this and it's not the first time I heard it. 06:52.152 --> 06:54.055 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, my mom told me that, years before. 06:54.796 --> 06:56.338 [SPEAKER_00]: My dad told me that, years before. 06:56.798 --> 07:12.440 [SPEAKER_00]: But sometimes a different voice, you know, I'm talking about learning, because sometimes hearing a message or being taught a lesson from a voice that's familiar, gets us to a place where we're in a longer impact us. 07:13.561 --> 07:21.552 [SPEAKER_00]: So sometimes learning requires us to be in spaces and places where we hear the same message from somebody else 07:23.388 --> 07:24.029 [SPEAKER_00]: here's the key. 07:25.110 --> 07:27.052 [SPEAKER_00]: It's all about being open to learning. 07:27.252 --> 07:29.615 [SPEAKER_00]: It's all about being open to leveling up. 07:29.695 --> 07:35.441 [SPEAKER_00]: It's all about being open to knowledge, whether it's old or new, knowledge that's impactful. 07:35.461 --> 07:35.961 [SPEAKER_00]: That's the key. 07:36.322 --> 07:40.626 [SPEAKER_00]: Whether the knowledge is old, whether the knowledge is new, the knowledge is impactful. 07:40.746 --> 07:42.508 [SPEAKER_00]: It's where we should learn for us. 07:44.790 --> 07:47.273 [SPEAKER_00]: So, ask yourself this week. 07:49.175 --> 07:51.117 [SPEAKER_00]: Have I positioned myself? 07:51.569 --> 07:54.113 [SPEAKER_00]: to be open to new information. 07:54.975 --> 07:56.077 [SPEAKER_00]: Have I positioned myself? 07:56.097 --> 07:56.678 [SPEAKER_00]: Have I? 07:56.698 --> 08:02.648 [SPEAKER_00]: Is my mind because, you know, there are some people who get to a place where their minds were open at one point. 08:05.132 --> 08:15.990 [SPEAKER_00]: But they get to a certain place in life and they begin to suffer from what I have her called, closed mindedness. 08:17.287 --> 08:17.528 [SPEAKER_00]: Right? 08:17.568 --> 08:18.169 [SPEAKER_00]: They're mine now. 08:18.209 --> 08:19.472 [SPEAKER_00]: We shut off the new knowledge. 08:19.492 --> 08:20.113 [SPEAKER_00]: They're mine now. 08:20.133 --> 08:24.623 [SPEAKER_00]: They think they know everything or they've gotten all the lessons that life has to offer. 08:24.643 --> 08:26.046 [SPEAKER_00]: Listen, if you're still breathing. 08:27.569 --> 08:33.422 [SPEAKER_00]: If you're still alive, which if you listen to this podcast, you are, then there's still more for you to learn. 08:34.718 --> 08:38.282 [SPEAKER_00]: There's still more, listen, my son, who's now five. 08:38.803 --> 08:40.826 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, time is, time flies, right? 08:40.846 --> 08:43.369 [SPEAKER_00]: I think when I began this podcast, he was three. 08:43.509 --> 08:44.610 [SPEAKER_00]: This dude is five. 08:44.931 --> 08:52.840 [SPEAKER_00]: And we're coming up on the second year anniversary of this podcast, 80 something episodes, check it out. 08:53.862 --> 09:03.173 [SPEAKER_00]: One thing is, I've always said to myself that when I become a parent, because at some point, right? 09:04.739 --> 09:11.045 [SPEAKER_00]: as a parent, you don't want to feel like your child is teaching, or you know, I don't even refer you to that. 09:11.585 --> 09:16.109 [SPEAKER_00]: As a parent oftentimes, you don't want the child to know that they're teaching you something. 09:19.312 --> 09:32.164 [SPEAKER_00]: In fact, we were studying last week, in our Bible class about humility and pride in ego and how people sometimes are so filled with it, they can't learn anything new. 09:32.144 --> 09:49.498 [SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes this parents will full of our sales or the place where we don't want to admit that our kids are actually teaching us things in life, either about ourselves, about our work, about our purpose. 09:51.101 --> 09:52.363 [SPEAKER_00]: So even with my son right now. 09:54.031 --> 09:57.954 [SPEAKER_00]: He's teaching me things that I didn't know about myself. 09:58.995 --> 10:01.097 [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm thankful that initially I wasn't. 10:01.518 --> 10:03.419 [SPEAKER_00]: I was like, many people, right? 10:03.900 --> 10:05.341 [SPEAKER_00]: And this is like, this is a kid. 10:05.401 --> 10:06.422 [SPEAKER_00]: He can't teach me nothing. 10:06.502 --> 10:07.883 [SPEAKER_00]: Now, man, I'm like, woo! 10:10.285 --> 10:13.508 [SPEAKER_00]: He's teaching me that I'm not as patient as I think I am. 10:13.528 --> 10:23.937 [SPEAKER_00]: So if I'm open to learning, if I'm open to ensuring that I have the posture, 10:24.423 --> 10:28.728 [SPEAKER_00]: of someone that is teachable, right? 10:28.748 --> 10:48.088 [SPEAKER_00]: I'll always guarantee myself, that no matter where I go or what I'm doing life, I'm open to learning, open to deeper understanding and I'm open more importantly to that understanding, doing something in my life that would change me for the better. 10:49.029 --> 10:54.295 [SPEAKER_00]: So ask yourself today. 10:55.456 --> 10:56.698 [SPEAKER_00]: closed off to learning. 10:58.019 --> 11:01.844 [SPEAKER_00]: It could have been that the reason your growth in life has been stunted. 11:02.945 --> 11:18.865 [SPEAKER_00]: It could have been that you haven't been as open as you can be to new information or in information that could enlighten your path. 11:21.038 --> 11:26.224 [SPEAKER_00]: See, I'm an in here because we're almost out of time, but I want I want this to land. 11:27.566 --> 11:45.747 [SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes we get hung up on the package, forgetting that the contents no matter what the package looks like, forgetting that the contents are what makes the difference. 11:47.228 --> 11:48.890 [SPEAKER_00]: Have you ever heard somebody say don't kill me? 11:49.050 --> 11:49.832 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm just a messenger. 11:50.432 --> 11:51.274 [SPEAKER_00]: Don't kill the messenger. 11:51.954 --> 11:58.604 [SPEAKER_00]: In other words, hey, I know you don't want to receive this information from me, but this information I'm going to tell you is going to do something as life changing for you. 11:58.844 --> 12:00.947 [SPEAKER_00]: It's going to help you prepare better for the future. 12:01.207 --> 12:04.572 [SPEAKER_00]: It's going to help you do whatever you got to do to be in position to move forward. 12:04.612 --> 12:15.767 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, so oftentimes we are closed off to learning not because we don't need the information, but because of who and where the information derives, 12:18.700 --> 12:19.941 [SPEAKER_00]: Let me encourage you to get over that. 12:21.824 --> 12:27.750 [SPEAKER_00]: Let me encourage you that that you should not be focused on where the new learning comes from. 12:29.592 --> 12:33.116 [SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't matter who it comes from, where it comes from. 12:33.617 --> 12:35.839 [SPEAKER_00]: It could be from something on social media. 12:36.200 --> 12:37.682 [SPEAKER_00]: It could be from a child. 12:37.982 --> 12:41.065 [SPEAKER_00]: It could be from somebody that you haven't talked to in a while. 12:41.446 --> 12:44.269 [SPEAKER_00]: It could be from somebody who you may consider an enemy. 12:45.937 --> 12:46.858 [SPEAKER_00]: Let me encourage you. 12:47.339 --> 12:48.380 [SPEAKER_00]: Let me encourage you. 12:49.081 --> 12:49.962 [SPEAKER_00]: Get over yourself. 12:51.083 --> 12:58.311 [SPEAKER_00]: Get over that mentality and put yourself in position to become a sponge again. 12:59.632 --> 13:05.379 [SPEAKER_00]: Life isn't about just going to school and waiting for the days to end. 13:06.500 --> 13:09.203 [SPEAKER_00]: Counting down until I graduate and I'm done with school. 13:09.303 --> 13:15.150 [SPEAKER_00]: Life is about positioning myself to be a lifelong student. 13:16.818 --> 13:17.819 [SPEAKER_00]: So here's the more learning. 13:19.160 --> 13:20.461 [SPEAKER_00]: Here's the deeper understanding. 13:21.582 --> 13:29.890 [SPEAKER_00]: And here is the ensuring that I avail myself to knowledge that will take me higher and make me better. 13:30.731 --> 13:32.012 [SPEAKER_00]: So I can have a greater impact. 13:32.052 --> 13:35.815 [SPEAKER_00]: Listen, I hope that you were impacted and blessed by this episode. 13:35.935 --> 13:45.424 [SPEAKER_00]: Send this out to somebody who you know is a need of just short, simple word that will help them be open to learning 13:45.404 --> 13:51.310 [SPEAKER_00]: Relerting and to to to becoming the best person that they can become. 13:51.671 --> 14:07.447 [SPEAKER_00]: Don't forget to check out my website More information about things that are coming up that I have to offer Definitely still speaking still doing the things that I can to impact not only schools, but also corporate spaces So looking forward to connecting with you further. 14:07.487 --> 14:08.768 [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you again for tuning in. 14:09.229 --> 14:10.450 [SPEAKER_00]: Don't you forget? 14:10.565 --> 14:17.288 [SPEAKER_00]: And every single day, take opportunities that are available to you, to go, to grow, and to glow. 14:17.308 --> 14:17.890 [SPEAKER_00]: See you next time. 14:18.130 --> 14:18.492 [SPEAKER_00]: Take care. 14:19.074 --> 14:19.495 [SPEAKER_00]: Peace.