The Crown is HEAVY đź‘‘
Take responsibility.
Accept the consequences.
Be misunderstood.
It comes with the territory.
As I’m approaching my golden year, I’m reminded that I CAN do hard things. I’m more than capable of taking the actions needed to give my family and I the life we deserve.
2025 has turned me every which way but loose, and yet, I’m here still showing up for myself. Every rags to riches story I’ve ever heard came with years of frustration and failures until discipline turned the story around. With each obstacle, I ask myself, who said it was going to be easy? Who said I’d enjoy every moment? The joy is in the experience of fulfilling the dream.
The Price of Being Exceptional:
Wanting to be exceptional is the motivation.
If you need some secret sauce that’s gonna boost you up, this may not be the lifestyle for you.
To be exceptional to be willing to do what most people aren’t doing. - Patrice Ishelle
Excuse my arrogance, but that’s all I needed to motivate myself.
Most people aren’t:
Waking up at 5 am before they’re 9-5 to go to the gym.
Educating themselves on what a healthy diet is.
Can’t take the pain that comes with exercising.
Most people can’t do that. And that alone should be all the motivation you need.
You want to be the exception.
It looks like discomfort
It looks boring
It hurts
It takes time and patience
You might have to add more responsibilities to your plate.
Oh well.
That’s the cost of being exceptional.
You can have excuses or you can have results — not both” is often attributed to Arnold Schwarzenegger
Exceptional people don’t depend on motivation because we have already acknowledged that it’s going to feel like shit sometimes but we’re going to show up regardless.
It’s Hard Until it’s Not.
Everything is a muscle.
Confidence is a muscle.
Positive thinking is a muscle.
Making content is a muscle.
The point is: everything you consistently work on compounds over time.
This is an endurance game. Baby steps lead to flying. Start with small efforts every day, gradually build better habits over time, and watch how you transform.
Practical Steps
Working Out
Use light weights.
I can lift 40 lbs now but best believe I didn’t start that way. When I began my gym journey for the millionth time, I had to lift 7 lb weights. That was a major ego death considering I was an athlete in my teens lifting girls for fun. But had I not started with those 7 lb weights, two things would have happened:
1. I would’ve tried to lift heavier than I could and the realization that I couldn’t would’ve bruised my confidence and made me give up early.
2. I would’ve burned out before completing my reps or my workout which means I wouldn’t have seen any real progress over time.
Start small and work on that muscle gradually.
Doing it this way allows you to build more over time without extreme effort. No one can give 100 percent every day but I’m sure you can give 20 percent one day, 60 percent the next, and maybe 100 percent occasionally.
The best way to stay in the game is to avoid burning out by overdoing it too early.
This is an endurance game.
Mindset
Not every thought or memory is going to be positive and that’s perfectly fine.
When I first learned about manifestation and mindset shifts, I was bombarded by books, gurus, and TikToks that stressed constant positive thinking. You want to know what happens when you convince yourself every thought has to be positive?
You end up beating yourself up for every negative thought which creates a cycle of even more negative thinking.
“Ahh, I knew I couldn’t do it.”
I have good news. Negative thoughts will always occur. They are not going anywhere. What can change is how you respond to them. That is the mental muscle you want to build.
Now I can hear a negative thought or see a negative memory but I don’t have to accept it as truth. I don’t have to attach my identity to it. Especially when we think thousands of thoughts a day.
Just let them pass.
Be consciously aware of what you’re thinking but don’t get emotional about every thought.
A simple:
“I’m aware that I’m down today. I’ve been triggered and reminded of bad times but that’s okay.”
This doesn’t make me a sad case and it doesn’t erase my progress. I can acknowledge it and still show up for myself.
If all you have to give today is 10 percent then show up and give that 10 percent.
Because those low energy days add up over time and when you have those 60 percent days where you’re feeling good and full of energy, you’re not using it to start over. You’re adding it to what you already built.
Small wins first.
That’s how you stay in the game longer and that’s how you strengthen every muscle.
Manifestation is what’s on the other side of discipline
2 Kings 3:16–17
“And he said, Thus saith the Lord, Make this valley full of ditches. For thus saith the Lord, Ye shall not see wind, neither shall ye see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, that ye may drink, both ye, and your cattle, and your beasts.”
There is no such thing as gaining something for the price of nothing.
And if it costs nothing, how valuable is it?
Think about it. You don’t just want a new car. You want the freedom that comes from it. What can you do now to align yourself with being deserving of that freedom?
What can you give up now, consistently, to create the momentum that leads to that freedom?
Continue to build the new version of yourself and eventually the old you will fade away. Physically, spiritually, and emotionally, you will become a new person.
The crown is heavy, that’s the price. But the value is strength in dividends.
