Welcome to Real Talk with Reginald D. I'm your host, Reginald D. On today's episode, I'm going to talk about understanding the process of elimination when it comes to your life. Let me ask you a question. What do you think is one of the most valuable and powerful things you can do when trying to achieve your dreams or desires? Is it hard work? Is it adding positive things to help you get there? Is it adding people into your life to help you achieve your dreams? Check this out. It's neither. The most valuable and powerful thing you can do when you're trying to achieve your dreams and desires is to start eliminating things out of your life. I need you to understand that the reason you're not achieving is not because some of you are not putting in the work. It's because you need to eliminate things in your life that's hindering you. Start eliminating things that's in your way, man. I need you to know that elimination is part of the process to success. Your mental capacity is linked to what you eliminate. If you keep allowing a bunch of unhealthy things and people in your life, you will always be torn down. You have to understand that you have to elevate every aspect of your life. See, there's a secret about you that you don't know. This is a critical piece of information about you. The less you got, the more powerful you will become. The less unnecessary distractions you got, the more powerful you will become. Eliminating distractions will instantly give you clarity and insight. That's how the mind works. You realize all the ways that you are wasting your energy. Some of you making $50,000 a year and should be making $500,000 per year. And the reason you're not making $500,000 a year is because you won't eliminate the distraction that's taking the other $450,000 away from you. Distractions are costing you. Eliminate them. See, I think the reason people don't eliminate things out of their life is because they are confused on if it's supposed to be there or not. You're going to have to learn to know the difference when it comes to certain things that's in your life. Some of you are in a relationship right now thinking that the person with you loves you, but in all reality, they are just giving you attention. Attention is not love. There's a difference. You got to keep giving yourself what it's supposed to have. If you give yourself what you're supposed to have, you will get where you're supposed to be. It's as simple as that. Do more than you will be more. Stop doing minimum. Bare minimum is not effort, it's failure. Quit saying that you are trying and start saying I'm achieving it. I remember when I mentored this young man years ago. This kid didn't have anything positive in his life. From his parents to the neighborhood he lived in, his whole surroundings was nothing but failure. So I started mentoring this kid. One night I got a call about 3 a.m. telling me that he had been shot at a nightclub and he was in critical care at the hospital. I was blown away because what is a 13-year-old doing at a nightclub that time of morning? Matter of fact, what is a 13-year-old doing at a nightclub, period? So I went to the hospital and stayed there until he got stable. Once he recovered, I told him he was coming to live with me for a few months. His mom agreed with it. So when he was living with me, he said I was the toughest person to live with. He said I was an a-hole to live with, but he said the whole word. So I took it because I knew it was a culture shock for him. All I was doing was teaching him discipline and responsibility because I knew discipline would open up doors for him further along in his life. I taught him yes sir, no sir, yes ma'am, no ma'am, and thank you. Where he came from, he wasn't even taught that. I had him cutting grass and washing the car and everything. I even taught him how to cook. I always made him understand in life you got to earn it. Nothing is going to be given to you. Fast forward 20 years later, I went back home to my hometown and met up with this young man for lunch. He has a great job, he's married with kids, and own his own home. He thanked me for teaching him discipline and responsibility. I looked at him and said, being that a-hole that you called me worked out for you, didn't it? The crazy part about it, he remembered calling me that 20 years ago. But he asked me this question. He said to me, did you ever love me? I said, have I ever told you I loved you? He said, no. I said, did you feel like I loved you? He said, yes. I said, then I loved you. I told him that my mission was to get inside of him and change him so he could have a chance to be who he is today. When I look back on it, this young man took the tools that was given to him and applied it to his life and has done very well for himself. You've got to apply what you have to be great in your life. You don't become great just because you are talented. You become great when you put grind with your talent. You become great because of the 2 a.m. mornings. You become great because of the 4 a.m. mornings. You become great when you start sacrificing your dreams and your desires. I know it's hard to see yourself coming out of the situation. And the reason you feel this way is that you have been in this situation way too long. Now, it's messing with your mind. Your situation got you believing that this is it for you. The place you're in right now in your life is it. But I come to tell you that it's a lie. Listen, I need you to get tired. Get tired of being at the bottom. Get tired of being stuck in this thing called life. Because once you get tired, then you will start. You will start going against everything that's holding you down. You will rise up against everything that says you can't. Give yourself the benefit of the doubt. You might not believe in everything about you. You may have doubts about yourself, but you still got to trust yourself. Trust that you have enough to accomplish your dreams and your desires. You know who I don't get the benefit of doubt to? It's other people. I believe you are what you show me. Let me ask you a question. Why is it so hard to eliminate things and people in your life that's not aligned with your assignment? Why do you allow them to be so close to you when they don't even know or understand your dreams and your desires? All they're going to do is keep distracting you simply because they don't understand you. See, people need to understand who you are in the spirit and not the flesh. Stop being afraid. So you want to eliminate some people because you're afraid of what they're going to think. Let me ask you a question. Is your dreams and desires worth the sacrifice? Are you worth the sacrifice? Elimination is part of the process of success. When are you going to be legit? When are you going to become the real you? When are you going to become the real deal? The only way you're going to become who you really are destined to be, you're going to have to remove everything in your life that's fake. You have to remove everything in your life that is constantly bringing you down. Every doubt, every fear has to be eliminated. If you keep allowing distractions in your life, you will never start your day off right. The odds will be against you every time you wake up and hit the floor. You got to understand that you are the light and the flame of your life. Convert your pain into fuel. Every person that has hurt you, every person that has given you some sort of pain, convert that pain into fuel and not revenge. Because if you go out to revenge, you will be fighting a fight that is totally opposite of the fight that you want to have while trying to achieve your dreams and goals. Revenge will be nothing but a distraction. Let it go. After all, they say success is the sweetest revenge, right? It's time for you to close the gap between pain and promise. It's time to start doing things that's going to get you closer to your promise. It's going to take toughness when it comes to your life, but you can take it. Just eliminate all the extra that you don't need. You will find yourself being a lot stronger. There is more in you. You may be hurting and it feels like you are dying inside. But I'm here to tell you that there is more life in you. Life got so much more to offer you. If you can feel the pain, that means you got life left in you. Rise up and be who you're supposed to be in this world. Think about it this way. You are holding everybody up that is going to be blessed through you. All because you're carrying too much baggage while trying to pursue your dreams. Other people can't get to their dreams until you achieve yours. Eliminate the extra baggage. People are waiting on you. I'm going to leave you with this. Science says we need four basic elements to survive, and that's water, air, food, and light. But the Bible describes Jesus as the living water, the breath of life, the bread of life, and the light of the world. So, science was right. We need Jesus to live. And always remember, The race is not given to the swift, nor the strong, but the one that endures to the end. Keep winning. Thank you for tuning in Real Talk with Reginald D. If you enjoyed listening to Real Talk with Reginald D, please take a minute to rate or review the show on Apple Podcasts. See you next time.