“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” – Frederick Douglass with Teach Different

Transcript

Steve Fouts (0:10)

Well, welcome everybody to the Teach Different podcast and we have another quote this week by Frederick Douglass, who obviously is a famous African American around the Civil War. He was a thought leader, he was a confidant of Abraham Lincoln, and of course he was a big proponent of the anti slavery movement and has always come up with really, really interesting, profound ideas and was a very, very good speaker as well. We’re going to start African American history month a little early, all right, with this quote. And we’re going to have quite a few in February. So, we’re looking forward to this quote. Of course, we’ve got Jarvis Funches as our guest again. This is actually our fourth podcast with Jarvis. And in case you’re interested into why we would have four podcasts with one person, as we’ve mentioned in our other podcasts, Jarvis is a big reason that Teach Different is here and is trying to have better conversations and trying to get people together and, you know, exchange these big ideas so that we can all get mentally healthy, and get better as a society by just talking to each other, right? Get off your phones and have a real conversation, right? So Jarvis, it’s great to have you again. Jarvis was actually one of my students when I was a history teacher in Chicago. So, this is where we’re kind of connected and there’s a big story behind how Teach Different started. You know, maybe we’ll reveal a little bit of it at some point, but we want to get right in with the quote.  Of course, like we always do, and this is how this works, were going to share the quote. I’ll share it a couple times and then we’re going to go into the claim of the quote. We’re going to talk about what the quote means, come up with some different experiences, hopefully that can support it, come with different angles. And then we flip the switch and we go to the counterclaim and we basically disagree with the quote on purpose. But not really to have a debate. It’s more to just make sure we’ve explored the different side of the truth because the truth is multifaceted, right? And that’s what Teach Different reveals with this conversation method. And then throughout, we’re going to have some questions that are going to come up naturally. We’ll get some at the end and we’ll go from there and that’s how we roll here. Anything, Jarvis, before I read the quote? Anything to add?

 

Jarvis Funches (02:55)

I just want to say thank you for having me back on the podcast. This is such a very helpful thing to me and even to the watchers, the viewers, the listeners, man, I hope you guys can tune in. I hope anything that me or Mr. Fouts can say today that can encourage you guys and make you guys feel welcome to come, or even just help you out with your daily activities. This is a place of sharing, a place of freedom, and this is just a place where we come in, you know, we just let it all out on the floor. So I just thank you for listening, you know. 

 

Steve Fouts (03:23)

Yes. Yes. And Jarvis, we’ve talked about how we’re going to look into some organizations in Chicago that we can come in. You’re going to get me to come into Chicago. We’re going to have some real life conversations with people in the community because this is what it’s about, right? we all need it. So let’s kick it off. Frederick Douglas. If there is no struggle, there is no progress. If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Jarvis, why don’t you just, it’s so short, right? Kick it off here. What do you think?

 

Jarvis Funches (04:00)

First I would like to start off in my personal way, like I always do. I mean, going through a struggle, it teaches you adversity. It builds character. It shows you things that you allow and you don’t want to allow. It shows you how to be a monster in a good way and in a bad way. It’s good and bad. But I really do love the fact that Frederick Douglass said that, you know, you have to struggle, which is a true thing because without struggle, where are you going? You’re not learning anything. There’s no adversity. There’s nothing holding you back. You know what I’m saying? And life is a teacher itself. So, life is going to give you struggles. It’s going to throw you obstacles. Just in school, you know, everybody’s not booked smart. I would like to use school as a term right now because I struggled with my school. I struggled with grades. I struggled with reading sometimes, you know, and it was a struggle, but that adversity, that struggle made me want to go harder. So I learned how to read and I learned how to do math problems and I learned how to break things down. So I feel like it’s a good and a bad thing at the same time, but it’s nine times out of 10, it’s a great thing to struggle. It really is. What do you think about it? 

 

Steve Fouts (05:15)

Well, life is a teacher. I heard what you said there. I mean, it is a teacher and you know? I just, these are huge words of progress. When you struggle, why is it progress? There’s something about, you know, you come up against something, you get frustrated, you know, you turn into a monster, like in a good way to get over something, because there’s an obstacle in your way and you’re kind of force to really, um –

 

Jarvis Funches (05:50)

You’re forced to go head on with that situation, and that’s what I mean by it builds adversity and it builds character. Because sometimes during a struggle you can really lose yourself. You can feel that you’re not good enough. Sometimes you can feel that the struggles that you’re going through have the best of you. Or sometimes you can just feel like, hey, I just feel like giving up. But the truth is that without a struggle, you don’t build your character. And without character, you know, you’re not going to get too far in life, you know what I’m saying? 

 

Steve Fouts (06:20)

Go with that. Go with that, Jarvis. Go with that idea of struggle builds character, because character is starting to feel like progress to me. 

 

Jarvis Funches (06:29)

Yes. 

 

Steve Fouts (06:30)

How does struggle build character? 

 

Jarvis Funches (06:33)

Struggle builds character? Okay, let me go a little deeper into that. Like they say, doing the same thing is insane, right? Okay, so if I’m doing the same thing over a struggle, which is giving myself to people, loving people, keep on dishing out, giving, giving, giving, you know, that’s, you’re in a struggle right now. And I say you’re in a struggle because you’re being taken advantage of. And until you realize that you’re being taken advantage of, you don’t know that you’re going through the struggle, but the struggle is going to let you know that you’re being taken advantage of because you’re going to realize that, hey, why is it so hard to get over this obstacle? When I had it in my brain that it was easy. That’s because it’s something that you’re missing on your way. And that’s why it’s good to struggle because as you struggling, you’re learning how to pick up things as you go, you learn how to pick up, you learn how to drop things and it builds your character in a way of that you’re going to get to a certain standpoint in life to where you’re, you’re strong enough, to where you’re going to believe that, hey, listen.

Adversities build character. So as I’m building my character, I love to go through the negativity. I love to go through the pain. I love to go through the heartaches because at the end, it’s building me. I’m stronger. And when you get that mentality, it does build your character. You’re undefeatable. You know what I’m saying? It doesn’t matter what comes your way or what, what’s standing in your way, you’re undefeatable. And that’s why I feel like, me personally, going through the struggle was a great thing for me because it built my character. I will not allow anything to break me because I understand what it feels, you know?

 

Steve Fouts (08:07)

I’m seeing what you’re saying, this idea that you can get blindsided by things if you’re not aware that you’re being taken advantage of and you think that life is supposed to be smooth or you’re not being challenged and you’re getting into your inertia and your habits, but you’re not making progress if you’re not struggling a little bit, you’re not vigilant, people can take advantage of you and you’re not ready for it. So, I didn’t think of it that way, that it kind of does keep your antennas up and it gets you ready to correct something and get better at something. And I’m going to say one more thing about weightlifting. Why do people sit there for no reason really, and take a bar and go back and forth and just break their muscles down and go – 

 

Jarvis Funches (09:11)

‘Cause it builds discipline.

 

Steve Fouts (09:13)

There you go. That’s progress. 

 

Jarvis Funches (09:16)

And I say, when you build discipline, this one also plays a part in a struggle. And that’s what I kind of missed, probably, in explaining it. But discipline is a big part of your struggle because once you keep going through something, even when you’re doing something that you don’t want to do, it builds discipline, which builds your character. It has your ego built. You see what I’m saying? It makes you walk a little differently because you understand now what it takes to be you. These people in the gym every day, bench pressing a hundred pounds, who said they really want to do it? It’s not that they want to do it. It’s that they’re building discipline to do things that they don’t want to do. And then they’re getting the group. They’re getting the pleasure. They’re getting great rewards for it. Like I once heard a bodybuilder say, hey, everybody can buy a Mercedes Benz. Everybody could buy a mansion, but everybody can’t walk around with guns that you built. He has a point there because guess what? He had to go through the struggle to get those muscles. He had to go through the heartaches. He had to go through the pain. He had to go through being tired. He had to go through not wanting to get up and go and do it. But guess what? When he didn’t want to do it, he did it. And guess what? It all paid off. So that’s why I always say struggle is always good because you’re going to learn the discipline. You’re going to learn how to get that grit, that tenacity about yourself, and you’re going to learn how to just run with it. So without struggle, you really feel like life is a land of flowers. 

 

Steve Fouts (10:43)

Struggle builds discipline, builds character. S D C. I’m just remembering it. They’re all related. That discipline thing is new here. I didn’t see that in this, but that, I really like that as a way to understand why struggle becomes progress because I think there is a counterclaim to this that we’re going to go into. We’re going to naturally go into this but I think that that discipline part, when you struggle, if struggle results in a discipline to your character, I think that is what puts you on another level.

 

Jarvis Funches (11:26)

Exactly. Just hear me out right here, okay? Going through the struggle, right? Anybody can go through the struggle. The struggle, let’s not put a specific label on struggle because the struggle could be in various things. School, work, your lifestyle. It can be something that you’re going through in your personal brain. It could be something that’s internal that you’re struggling with. So, I would not, I don’t want to put no title on struggle. So struggle could be various of things. But what I mean by discipline is when you’re struggling, you learn during the struggle. Okay, I’m struggling because of this. Okay. And that’s what comes into acknowledgement too. So not just discipline, but acknowledgement, it goes through the struggle too because you have to acknowledge what’s making you struggle. Once you acknowledge what’s hindering you, you can clip it, but if you don’t know what’s hindering you, hey, you’re just flying around as a burden. You see what I’m saying? So the discipline comes in and it’s okay. I acknowledge this is why I’m struggling. I’m in poverty because I have bad money management problems. Okay. I see the problem. I’m in poverty because I can’t manage. Okay, cool. So the problem is managing. Now I can address this problem head on. I have to have discipline to conquer management, right? So it’s gonna be a struggle with me trying to conquer this management because guess what? It’s something new to me. But as I’m going through it, I’m learning how to be disciplined about the situation because when you struggle so many times, like I said, it becomes insanity if you don’t do anything about it. But once you do something about it, it becomes discipline because now you know its boundaries. Hey, I can’t do that because I’m trying to go here. 

 

Steve Fouts (13:13)

So now I’m gonna do this. It’s turned into SADC. Struggle, acknowledge, which is more of like knowing, you realize something, then you do the discipline to fix it, and then your character gets built. It’s like there’s first, there’s the mess. The struggle. Then there’s the mind ideally that thinking, wait a minute, I got to work on this. Then there’s the discipline with the daily routine and regimen to change your life. And then other people see the product of this and your character. 

 

Jarvis Funches (13:56)

And your character and now you become a trophy and now people want to know your story, you know, why? Because discipline made you a monster. Why? Because the struggle made you a monster. A lot of people have a problem with being realistic with themselves. So when I’m not being realistic with myself, guess what? I can’t acknowledge the problem. So I don’t have discipline. So now I’m going to struggle even more because guess what? I don’t have the acknowledgement I don’t have the discipline and I just feel like hey, that’s too much So that’s why I always said just like the Frederick Douglass said with the great philosophy of that You know, you have to struggle you have to because when you struggle, I really truly do believe that it builds character 

 

Steve Fouts (14:44)

There you go.

 

Jarvis Funches (14:44)

Nobody wants to suffer constantly, constantly, constantly. Even the great King, Mansa Musa, he suffered. He struggled. His whole kingdom was poor until he found the resolution. Let’s dig deeper. There’s something that we can do better, and they found gold. 

 

Steve Fouts (15:03)

Yeah, that’s good. And look, we’re in a way, we’re preaching to the choir on this one. Cause I’m close to this one. I think you are too and now we get to push against it. And if you want to start with something, if you want to start with a counterclaim here.  

 

Jarvis Funches (15:23)

I counterclaim it by saying this. The struggle can very much traumatize you. So let’s just put that out there. The struggle could, would not always be, you will not always receive the greatest rewards out of struggling without being traumatized. I will say that because with struggling comes trauma because you’re already struggling. Not let alone struggling, but being new to a struggle. So now it’s traumatizing you in ways that forces you to learn how to be disciplined. But I would say that my struggle traumatized me because now I live my life from a certain point of perspective. I don’t see the world as a, like everybody else does because I’ve been traumatized off of my struggle. So I do see and I do react and I do feel different ways than other people do because of my situation and my struggle. But like I said, I don’t want to put a title on it because everybody could struggle in a different way. But like,  I would say to a person that’s struggling in a brain, you would traumatize yourself to believe that certain people are not fit for you because of the way that you traumatized yourself with your own struggle. You know what I’m saying? Like, and let me just put in an example, okay? You’re my best friend, you traumatized me in a way of not being my best friend, backstabbing me, doing a lot of crazy things, okay? Now, I find another person that’s very genuine, like you were before, but I don’t trust this person because I’m traumatized off the wound that you left before.

 

Steve Fouts (17:04)

Woah. Woah. That is profound because I think that’s what really the problem with being traumatized is. It’s the future people you meet that now have to suffer because of someone else’s injustice towards you because you’re looking at them like you’re just going to be the same thing as this other person, and that’s the opposite of progress, right? Because you can’t get to know people. If you can’t trust and have faith in people, you’re going to be so limited. And you know, no one wants to get taken advantage of, right? You don’t want to be a punk. 

 

Jarvis Funches (17:53) 

So you always got your guard up. So that means you’re never growing because with your guard up, you can’t see what’s in front of you. And that’s what I always mean by that. Like, you know, and being in the struggle, it very much does traumatize you. ‘Cause like me man, you say, I’m still projecting my trauma off on future people that I don’t even know, but based off of my past. It’s just like beating the dog. I’m beating the dog so much and then I give him to you and you raise your voice one time and you see the dog just go utterly because you like, but you’re like, whoa, what’s going on? He’s traumatized because he’s used to something and now he don’t know if he’s going to get it or not. Like, so it’s traumatizing. So that’s why I say it traumatized me. 

 

Steve Fouts (18:36) 

Well, and I, you know what, Jarvis, as you know, I can speak to that because I got to know you when you were 16 years old. You’re what, 22 now? 

 

Jarvis Funches (18:47)

Yes sir. Yes sir. 

 

Steve Fouts (18:48)

And when you were 16, I got, you know, a young man coming into my classroom. That had things going on, you know, and it was very clear. I immediately, we’ve talked about this. I immediately saw your intelligence. I immediately saw your charisma. I immediately saw how other students looked up to you. And I immediately saw someone who had something happening to them where they weren’t always there. They were fighting something. It seemed like you were fighting something because you wore your heart on your sleeve. You still do it. That’s why, you know, I love you because your spirit is here and you’re like world, this is me. And so I saw that in you and again, you weren’t doing, as in my opinion, you weren’t succeeding as much as you could have because of that in class. Like you would just be like, okay, what are we studying? And you could handle all the work, no problem. So I saw that I saw your struggle is what I’m realizing. 

 

Jarvis Funches (20:00) 

My struggle, it traumatized me because, like I said before, just even coming into that environment where you made me feel welcome and you made me feel that passion to open up, it was new. It was new to me because I had already built that barricade of being in my own, you know, my own dungeon. I built that barricade that I didn’t want to trust anybody. You know, the one person that I did trust that, the world was taking from me. So now I just felt like the whole world was against me. So at a young age, I built a barricade and then like, just, you know, coming into your class and you showing that love and you shining that light in my dungeon, it made me come out of the shell. Like, you know what? It’s a risk. It is a risk, but maybe this risk is worth it. I mean, it’s worth it. And I mean, I really do thank you for putting up with that because I was a knucklehead, but I really much appreciate it even more that you saw the struggle in me and not just a knucklehead. You saw that it was something haywiring and this kid to act like this man, this kid is not just hot wire like this. It’s something going on. 

 

Steve Fouts (21:06)

I mean, this is crazy. This gives me goosebumps just thinking about this because when I took you out into that hall that one time, last like five minutes, all I could come up with was, what’s wrong? That’s all I could come up with because I was so frustrated and I was ready to say, you know, why are you doing this? I’m trying to teach and why are you doing it? And I was just like, what’s wrong? And then that’s when you opened up. I mean, it’s so powerful. You know, you see it in people and you know, you do, I wish you could fix everybody like overnight, you know, you see it and you just say, hey, you know what, sit down for a second. Let’s talk about something. Let’s get you on the path. But it’s such a process, right? And I wanted to give you this kind of angle on it and tell me what you think as kind of another angle on the counterclaim, and tell me what you think of this, if there is no struggle, there is no progress. My thought is this, if the whole world is struggle, all the time, you’re reacting. You’re not thinking proactively about your life and about the plans you want and you’re not getting ahead of other people and yourself and you’re not, you know, you don’t have that lighthouse that you’re going for. You’re just struggling and you’re like, you know, taking arrows and you’re always reactive. I would argue maybe, sometimes there’s progress. But you need peace in order to progress, right? You need to settle yourself. You need to have a place where you can go, where you can, you know, think clearly, rationally, not let things bother you. Go with that thought if you can. If you have any thoughts about that. 

 

Jarvis Funches (23:08)

I mean, in that standpoint, if we could do it like that, then like I said before, that plays a part in acknowledging, like you said, if we could just go to a place and just sit down and just think for a minute, first you have to acknowledge that place to even go sit down and think, and what I mean by acknowledge that place is that you have to realize that, hey, it’s not going right. People around me can’t fix this. I need some time alone. And I mean, when you do separate yourself away from things and you do take that time out to just think, I feel like sometimes you could be prospering without struggling because in a way you’re at peace and you’re acknowledging the things that you’re going through. So I feel like you can. And it’s shocking that you said that because you honestly can progress without struggle sometimes, you know what I’m saying? And it’s crazy that you can, but it plays a part in acknowledging. Truly it does to me. That’s how I feel. It plays a big part in acknowledging because if I can’t acknowledge what’s going on around me and I can’t be realistic with myself, I can never be at peace. You know what I’m saying? 

 

Steve Fouts (24:17) 

There you go. It’s related to that acknowledgement part. 

 

Jarvis Funches (24:20)

Even right before you’re struggling, if you’re just, like you said, just sit back. You don’t even have to go through the struggle fully. I mean, something could happen to you one time and you could just literally sit back and analyze that situation. Like, I know people that have been incarcerated one time because they sat back and analyzed that situation. Like, yeah, this is just a bump in the road. This is not, this is not nothing. I’m struggling with that. This is something I know I do not want to do. This is something I know I’m not coming back to. So this is not a struggle. This is not a bump. This is just a lesson learned. That’s it. So, and that is progress because they progressed in a way of learning that that’s not something that they want to do and they progressed in a better way of life. So, I do feel like you can, it’s just you have to acknowledge things. You have to, when you go through stuff and it’s your first time, don’t just look at it as, hey, shit happens. Look at it as let me learn from this experience, okay? I may not want to sit back and just acknowledge the situation because of how bad it is, but you have to, you have to face it head on. So you could get that full throttle of it. And then that way you can, you know, not go through it again. Like me personally, I’ve been through things one time in life and I sat back and analyzed the situation. Like, you know, this went wrong. I could have done this better and I don’t want to be in this predicament anymore so I’m just going to take A and B procedures not to be in this procedure. So, I mean, that did cut my struggle short. Yeah, it did. But I also feel like, you know, back to the counterclaim, like you need some struggle. You gon’ need it. You need some experience. I would like to say that. Let’s say we experience struggle. Not even the struggle. You would just need to experience just a tad bit of a struggle and then you can, you know, manipulate it to your best ability. But you for sure can’t not struggle and proceed. 

 

Steve Fouts (26:22)

It’s almost like the perfect mix. 

 

Jarvis Funches (26:25)

Yeah, like you can learn from other people’s mistakes.

 

Steve Fouts (26:28) 

Exactly. Exactly. And another thing I just thought of as you were talking there, there’s a lot of things that people struggle with, but they keep struggling with it. And sometimes it’s just trivial, like you’re picking a battle in your life and you’re struggling with something that isn’t going to get you any further in your life. And I’m trying to, if you can think of an example, like pop up with one, but I’m just thinking of something like, you know?

 

Jarvis Funches (27:01)

I would think of a relationship. You’re struggling, you’re in a relationship with this person, you’ve been struggling with this person for 10 or 15 years, you keep getting the same results, you try A, B, C, D, E, F, G plans, you keep getting the same results. That is not progress, that’s also insanity, but that’s also you, that’s also you being content and being comfortable with your struggle, and that means your struggle has defeated you. 

 

Steve Fouts (27:31)

You know what? You’re right. It’s become like wallpaper. You think that life is that. 

 

Jarvis Funches (27:38)

You just learn to live with it, and that means your struggle has defeated you in a way because, like I said, the acknowledgement, you know, that this is not gonna work. You know that you put 15 years into this marriage, you know that you tried everything that you could try, it’s still not working. At that point, it becomes insanity and it becomes that your struggle has defeated you. You let your situation defeat you. And now you have become content with it. Now you’re okay with living with it. You’re okay with being miserable. You just think this is the way of life when it’s really not. You let your struggle defeat you. So I would tell those people. And any type of nature, not even in that nature. Just learn how to acknowledge your situation before you get defeated by your situation.

 

Steve Fouts (28:25)

Beautiful. Because without that acknowledgement, you don’t have the mental –

 

Jarvis Funches (28:31) 

You don’t have the choice. You don’t even have an option. You don’t have an escape goal because you’re not being realistic with yourself. 

 

Steve Fouts (28:39) 

That’s right. 

 

Jarvis Funches (28:39) 

Like, that relationship, you know you put 15 years in a relationship and it’s not working. You’re not being really realistic with yourself. You know that is not working. You just don’t want to take that accountability of saying, hey, I know it’s not working. I know it’s going to hurt me sincerely to let this go, but I just can’t take it anymore. I have to let it go. See, people are not going to be realistic with themselves And that’s what I mean by being defeated by their struggle. Because guess what? You’re not being realistic with yourself. So you’re not going to ever acknowledge this situation. Because you’re not being realistic with yourself. So with that, you’re not acknowledging the situation. Now you’re suffering. Now your suffering has just, it’s just defeated you. Now you’re walking around like a zombie, you know?Llike I know I would say a nonchalant person. Now you’re being a nonchalant person about what you’re going through. And it’s sad to say that it’s a lot of, I would say probably like 50 percent of relationships that’s like that, you know, that people are just content with.

 

Steve Fouts (29:41)

Designation, they’re used to the pain and struggle and they’re not thinking it can get better. It should get better. They’re thinking this is life. You just made me start us with an essential question. See if you can build on this, or maybe you got another one in your mind, but mine’s very simple. How do you know if the struggle is worth it?

 

Jarvis Funches (30:07)

Wow. That’s a mind blower.

 

Steve Fouts (30:10) 

Right? Because there’s some struggles that you just need to let go, but there’s some that you should never run from. You need to, you know?

 

Jarvis Funches (30:23)

You said it was simple, but that’s quite tricky. That’s a tricky question, but it’s a good one. One thing that I can really like, man, because it’s tricky because you would never know if a struggle is worth it or not because – But I would say if you, okay, I will put it like this, in so many terms, if you, okay, if I know that I’m trying to save up to get 20, 000, but I know it’s going to be a struggle to get 20, 000, but the bigger picture is greater getting 10. Let me say this. So if I see that I’m wanting 20, 000 and I’m saving up to get this 20, 000, I would say that the cost of not getting 20, 000 will be greater than then getting 20, 000. So I would say that that struggle would be worth it, but on a term of relationship or a term of something that you can’t really see a clear goal of. I don’t really know. It’s tricky, but I mean, if you could say that, hey, I want to get a new car and I know it’s going to take some time and it’s struggling to get the car, then it’s worth it because you know that it’s a greater price at the end, but relationship wise, or man, that’s, man, that’s tricky.

 

Steve Fouts (31:46)

That’s a tough one, right? 

 

Jarvis Funches (31:47)

It’s mad tricky. 

 

Steve Fouts (31:48)

I guess you could, you would reframe the question and say, how do you know if this relationship is worth it? I mean, you know, that’s how that would be right. It’s like the same and that’s struggling in a relationship. But anyway, that’s my biggest one. 

 

Jarvis Funches (32:05)

I would say to that question, to answer it like even to the podcast listeners and the people that’s viewing this, just to clarify if you have a clear picture and a clear goal and you know that this goal is going to cause you to struggle a little bit I mean then go right ahead and enjoy that struggle because you’re going to gain something at the end, but I mean, if you don’t have a clear picture or a clear goal and you’re struggling, man, look, cut it off because if it’s not, if it’s not a clear, if it’s not clear at the end, you just have to cut it off. You got to trust your gut at that point. 

 

Steve Fouts (32:46)

And acknowledge that you need to sit with some peace and really think about what it is you’re struggling with and whether it’s just stop yourself and ask the question. 

 

Jarvis Funches (32:58)

Yeah. And I would tell the listeners, please stop. Please. If you’re struggling or you don’t know what it is, listen, please go to the car, go in the room. This is what? 20 minutes and just sit down and man, listen, think real hard on the situation. For real, meditating is very useful. I’m telling you, if you sit and you meditate, your brain will answer a lot of questions that you’ve been roaming an answer to. I’m telling you. 

 

Steve Fouts (33:26)

Yes, it will. You have, this is why, Jarvis. This is why I love this method because we started out basically in the same boat with Frederick Douglass. I still am. You know, you still are, I’m sure. If there’s no struggle, there’s no progress. And here we are at the end, asking these big questions and basically we’re done. We’re giving some advice maybe to people like if you’re in this struggle and it’s been going on forever, you need to sit down and ask yourself some really deep questions. 

 

Jarvis Funches (34:03)

Real questions, man, it’s going to get serious. Hey, that 30 minutes is going to get real serious, but it’s worth it. It’s worth it. Man, that price is greater than paying the price that you’ve been paying for 15 years. I mean, hey, listen, you have to acknowledge it, man. We got to be realistic with each other, and I love this podcast and that’s what we are doing, you know, pushing out to the listeners and to the viewers, man. Look, it hurt to be realistic with yourself, but man, listen. When you try to be realistic with yourself, it’ll be a greater price that you didn’t pay. 

 

Steve Fouts (34:38)

That’s the beginning, right? And then if you want to keep struggling, you do it, but you’re doing it with a purpose, right? 

 

Jarvis Funches (34:43)

At that point, if you decide to keep struggling, you’re doing it at your own cost. But at least you know that you’re doing it at your own cost. Don’t, man, please, to all the listeners, if you’re struggling, and I hope this Frederick Douglass quote could help you guys, if you’re struggling, please just take that 30 minutes out, man. Notify if this struggle is worth it, or if this is just another bag on the boat, please toss it off.

 

Steve Fouts (35:10)

This is perfect. 30 minutes, that’s about how long we spent on this quote. I love where we went with it. We definitely gave oxygen to the claim and the counterclaim on this. And I do think about this, you know, essential question at the end that that ultimate question, whatever you’re struggling with, you got to decide whether or not it’s something you want to continue or something you want to let go, you know, and I think that that in itself is something that everybody can take with them. 

 

Jarvis Funches (35:43)

Key claim of today’s quote to all my listeners and all my viewers. Acknowledge. Acknowledge. Acknowledge. The key thing to struggling is acknowledgement. Once you acknowledge what you’re struggling for, then you can understand if the price is willing to be paid. Please, acknowledge. Sit back. It’s very uncomfortable to sit with yourself for 30 minutes. Trust and believe me, I know, because your brain is your greatest critic. But man, listen. Get through it and let’s get to it.

 

Steve Fouts (36:17)

Love it, man. Thank you. Jarvis. This won’t be the last one and I’m coming up to Chicago soon. All right. Okay. Take care of everybody.