The Inner Gatekeeper

Welcome everybody to another episode of Halftime Talks. My name is Rahim Rasul, and you’re listening to the podcast that recognizes that in the middle of our game of life, whether up by 10 or down by 20, we all need halftime talks to uplift us, inspire us and challenge us to bring that level of performance you and I both know it’s gonna take to win the game. Saw you and him walking in the ring. So we’re back for another episode of halftime talks. I’m glad you guys have gathered round. And if you’ve been here before, you know we begin with appreciation. In today’s appreciation, I want to gather your mind so that feeling of Sunday, I know you’re acting like what was Sunday so special, but that we’re about to begin a new week.

We’re about to be able to paint on the blank canvas of the week, a concoction, a masterpiece with the brushstrokes of possibility. I appreciate that feeling when there’s so much road ahead of you, more ahead of you than there is behind you that you’re living, breathing, existing in this virgin territory where the clay can bend to your beck and call, and each moment, each week, each month, is an opportunity to fashion the world and the image constructed within your mind, and I appreciate that Sunday feeling. So we’re back. It’s another episode. We got some ideas. This one is straight off the presses. I’m really excited about this episode. It’s something that came to me over the weekend as I was deliberating not just my path forward, but my path in general.

I thank you guys for showing up. Week after week, episode after episode, in whatever numbers decides to come join me as I dance in my zone and in that one beautiful thing that I love to do, and that’s not only just think, but share. So thank you. I really appreciate it, and in the infamous words of great poet, MC Hammer, I know you’re waiting. Let’s get it started.

Here we go.

When I say that, this is fresh off the presses, literally, this weekend, I found myself journaling on this here topic, it’s something that is very similar to previous episodes where I was talking about democratization, and democratization is one of those things we didn’t see coming, similar to the French Revolution, where they freed the prisoners of the Bastille, and they were tired of the Royal aristocracy, that class getting to call all the shots, and everybody dictating what other people did at The various levels of society, and they rebelled. They uprise. They kicked the monarch class out and started a democracy. And so that’s where we find ourselves in the 21st century, 2019 the age of democratization.

And we’ve seen it. We’ve seen it happen throughout history, when the voiceless feel empowered and they want a seat at the table and they want to be heard, they want to be able to express their life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness without the feeling that there’s something, somebody, someone standing in the way, muffling the ability to aspire and reach toward those dreams. So we’ve seen it in our society. We’ve seen it with the rise and fall of technology, the rise of technology, and also the fall of a lot of industries that we’ve grown accustomed to. The bookstore has shifted the record industry. Has shifted.

The movie industry has shifted how we consume media. Has shifted how we create media has shifted. So what we have now at our hands are a lot of institutions, and these institutions are like castles, but nobody is standing guard. There’s no flank of archers ready to cast arrows down upon you as you try to enter the gates. In traditional business, there is no Secretary that you have to beg and please and shuck and jive and dance to make your way into the room. We now sit at a time in human history where if you want to go into the castle, go right ahead, do your best.

There is this facade of American meritocracy where the best shall rise, and for the most part, the exceptional find a way to stand out with nobody at the gates. In some instances, a lot more people come out to play. But the bulk the essence of what I’m here to share in this episode is a realization that even without the gatekeepers, there are areas in our life that we are afraid to enter, and those gatekeepers stood there as a representation through a person, that we were scared we are still scared to enter, and that fear comes in the form of self condemnation. Am I enough? Am I worthy?

What if I fail? What if I don’t succeed? What if who I thought I was isn’t as good as I’ll actually be. And these inner narratives, they pollute the waters. They make it so murky that we can’t even see a reflection from the face of the water. We can see ourselves as we truly are. We’re capable of being, or capable of even becoming, understanding that every venture is a series of progressions, hypotheses and experimentation for us to truly become that person we will eventually be, because the path that that you’ve carved to this moment, The intersection of right here and right now, was not something that stood under the spotlight of certainty.

So as we look at the castles that we want to enter in imma, draw back to a quote I may have said in a previous episode recently, but Elizabeth Gilbert proclaimed so so strong in one of her podcasts about what a teacher had told her, what are you willing to sacrifice? What are you willing to sacrifice to go after what you pretend to want your life to be so bad. Obviously, I may have butchered that, but that gatekeeper was an excuse, and now that the excuses are gone for why you can’t be a recording artist, why you can’t be a actress. Why you the technology right now enables us to either confront that you’re going to do it, or you’re not going to do it, that you’re going to be it, or you’re going to talk about it.

We find so often a lot of people just want to say they attempted. They want to try. They want the veil of the rejection to define why they succeeded or failed. I was good, but they didn’t see it, using others, these gatekeepers, these intermediaries, as as a valid reason why they didn’t continue, they didn’t see my talent. We live in a time where it ain’t even about talent. It’s about the clarity of intention, the conviction, the resilience, the grit, the fortitude, the tenacity, the drive, all of those things. Without the gatekeeper, you’re confronted with the fact that the this right here is within your hands, and as we take that responsibility, as we take that as an opportunity to truly express who we are by spreading our wings and finding that balance between the air and the left we fly or fall, but for the most part, the attempt, the discovery, the understanding give us, gives us more information to play off of.

So in the age of the gateless castles, where the drawbridges are down, and there’s an invitation on the road that says, If you truly wanted to pursue this, come here. Now we are at a phase where we can acknowledge that the gatekeeper that we’ve always feared has only been in our mind, and as we give ourself that modicum of permission, who we are transforms instantaneously into more and more of that possibility, something to think about. There’s been another episode of Halftime Talks. My name is Rahim Rasul, make sure you get to iTunes, subscribe, rate and review. Make sure you tell a friend. The more who knows, the more we grow and until next time. Man, just enjoy your life. Man, this is the one we get. Might as well do with it the most we can peace. You.