STAND UP FOR WHAT YOU BELIEVE IN

Alright, I’m going to write down my first thoughts and see where this takes me.

On August 31, 2018 Eminem dropped a surprise album Kamikaze with no previous warning, marketing, or announcement. And just as the title suggests, he crashed into the industry with a vengeance.

Since Eminem first appeared on the public scene in 1999, he became known for dissing and criticizing other celebrities and musicians. In fact, this angry and merciless “Slim Shady” persona is what made him famous in the first place.

As years went on, a lot of shit happened and Eminem grew older and grew up. He dealt with some personal shit, got clean from drugs, and changed the tone of his songs. In 2017 he dropped Revival, an album which was heavily criticized by the music industry… especially a lot of his fellow rappers in hip-hop. This didn’t sit with him well.

Less then a year later, Kamikaze enters the scene. The entire album is basically a response to critics of Revival, in which Eminem fires off rounds of verbal attack against… well, everybody. Surprisingly, most of hip-hop ubiquitously praised the album, especially for the raw, rugged and direct raps Em became known for when he entered the scene — only this time, they are much more profound.

Why am I telling you this? You either already know this or you don’t care. Well, because you’re going to do the same thing (in a sense).

BECOME SHAMELESS

All of us have certain values, i.e. notions we care about above everything else that guide our actions and behavior. Or so we’d like to think.

The truth is, most of like to think we’re hot shit, but when the time comes, we don’t stand up for what we believe in. We don’t speak up for fear of being ridiculed, getting fired, or being rejected. We blend in with the crowd, even if we hate everyone in that crowd.

It’s a human thing. We want to be liked and respected.

Without a proper backbone, this can go too far. Instead of choosing your battles, you just quit the war. You don’t stand up for yourself or your beliefs. You don’t speak up when someone disrespects you. You don’t stand up for others who cannot defend themselves.

Are those really the traits of a strong person who should be respected?

This can, of course, be a double-edged sword. If “who you are” is someone with low-quality values, then being unapologetic and refusing to change will really make you unlikeable. But if you are aware of your flaws and you have defined your values, then you should never feel bad for acting on them.

I’m writing this to tell you to do something which is going to put the proverbial hair on your chest (yes, you too ladies). And the way you’re going to achieve this is by losing your sense of shame.

Become shameless: Meaning, never go against your values.

Shame is an emotion you feel when you believe you did something you shouldn’t have. As a result, you feel humiliated and embarrassed.

I mean, you’ve felt ashamed more than once, right?

At its core, you feel ashamed when you act against your values. This doesn’t just mean doing something stupid, it also means not doing something you should have. If your value is “stand up for myself” and when the time comes, you don’t, you will feel ashamed for not acting on that value.

In fact, defining your values and standing for them is such a big deal that they comprise two of the 12 Rules of Mental Strength.

The term “shameless” is often used for people who are out of touch with reality and disregard social norms without regard to the consequences of their behavior. Clearly, this should not be your goal. But if you look at how shame is defined, being shameless isn’t actually a bad thing.

If you look at the world, people who are shameless in their approach are oftentimes successful and make big waves of change. Sometimes they are positive (like Rosa Parks), sometimes they’re not (like Kanye West). The ethical burden is on you, to make sure that the values you act on are worth it.

In any case, shameless people make an impact.

Those who stay in the shadows, who never speak up and run away from conflict… they are never heard. They never make a change. And they are eventually forgotten.

HOW DOES ONE “BE” SHAMELESS?

Good question. Since I like to talk about myself a lot, here’s a personal example:

In 2014, I was an overzealous 22-year old kid who was fed up with bullshit being fed by the self-help industry. Having been the sucker myself, I wanted to voice my opinion and debunk all of the bullshit ideas that are constantly paraded around in self-improvement.

So I started Mind of Steel to give the world a piece of my mind. And it was a sharp piece.

Worry, I will bite.

Nobody was safe. Think you can’t do anything? Fuck you, that’s a bullshit excuse. Oh, you think you’re fine the way you are? Fuck you, no you’re not, work on yourself you prick. Oh, you got problems? Fuck you, everybody’s got problems so stop complaining.

Nobody read what I wrote. Fuck it, I kept writing.

Some people started reading. Then I got a few comments. Then more people, more comments, more emails, and soon it took me weeks to reply to everybody.

Over time, I started relying more on the psychological aspect of what I was writing about rather than telling people the harsh truth. On one hand, that’s good because I’ve matured in my writing and my expression, and research-backed facts are worth more than j