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Happy Father’s Day and Happy Juneteenth tomorrow for all who celebrate. I continue the discussion of the Repressed Warrior Paradox by explaining the key principles and steps in terms of self-care and mindset that activists, entrepreneurs, and other unlikely high performers need to follow if they are experiencing the puzzling combination of being fought as the biggest threat ever while being ridículed for their weakness and called things like whiny or lazy, and feeling defeated, kicked when you’re down. There is hope, if you choose to train and embrace your inner warrior the right way. Listen to the prior episode to know who these ideas are most important for.
But briefly, the Repressed Warrior Paradox is where those with strong potential are held down and being fought back against out of proportion with what they expect, and they don’t realize that is because of their extremely strong potential to create both social change and personal victory. Because they don’t see their own potential, they will back down or be blindsided and are prepared to be the kind of fighter they need to be, and are on the inside, to ultimately achieve their potential for unexpected victory.
Episode Notes:
Notes are always rough and may contain errors/typos.
Don’t go into a fight blind and untrained.
If you Internalize Repressive Ideas, you lose their ability to create change and can destroy your potential
Those with potential in oppressed populations have this happen more often, so if you are a POC, LGBTQ+, disabled, it’s more likely
The actions of those who are oppressed to seek political or economic power most frequently fall in that category. For example Black Lives Matter is seen by some conservatives both as weak cry babies and the greatest threat to America of all time.
Why are conservatives so scared of “weak and lazy” leftists?
You may be strong but viewed as excessively sensitive
Even (and sometimes especially) when you were at your weakest, worst moment, they see you as a threat
You may not be able to rely on the normal systems so you have to be very prepared and stronger than normal, even as people perceive you as weaker or you are in need.
From a policy perspective, safety nets are designed for an average person and with other interests in mind, largely conformity and capitalism (sometimes real estate and community nuisance/NIMBY too)
The workplace can far too often be more about abusing people to give bosses a rise than it is about productivity
Won’t be able to work yourself up the ranks. you have to leap
You may need to consider entrepreneurship (but also consider unionizing/organizing your workplace for better conditions)
This is why you need to especially make sure you are financially prepared to not have a job, if you have to quit or become unemployed otherwise, and not have to rely on a bad boss at a low-wage job you’re forced into by necessity or manipulative “welfare to work” systems
Make sure you maintain more than adequate savings. I have other episodes on high yield savings accounts and using CDs to make sure you don’t spend your savings
Listen to The Uncertain Hour from NPR for more on the ills of the so-called “welfare to work” system: https://www.marketplace.org/shows/the-uncertain-hour/season-6-the-welfare-to-work-industrial-complex/amp/
You may get ridiculed by comparison eg. someone saying “I have seen people with worse disabilities do really well under the conventional way.”
You’re not going to be the “model minority” or “model disabled person” etc. per se
The people who keep commenting on my TikTok video about the disabled person being kicked out of her mom’s house. A bad case of “generational warfare” in the comments section but also a case study of people demeaning young people living at home as a threat but also weak and lazy.
You may be the exact opposite of a tailored high performance lifestyle or the stereotype of a “successful person” who needs one.
Things will look different for you than the hustle culture Huberman Lab obsessed Tech Bro
You may have difficulty with compliance. It just means you have to do so in a different way.
Analyzing the statement “This is a ruthless world and you must be ruthless to cope with it.”
Should it be this way? Absolutely not.
Maybe you can’t get away with things the way normal people can.
How you do it will be more unique and perhaps stricter than others, or maybe less strict.
It could be that nothing less than peak performance works for you because you have more to overcome
- What to do:
Embrace it and know that’s who you are. Just knowing can help you not become hopeless when you see all this negative stuff happen. Stop fighting yourself.
Most important is to know what works for you and stick with it!
Become who you’ve dreamed of being. If you don’t, it will blow up inside you.
Ignoring it or trying to make yourself feel better about your failure only makes things worse. Being weaker makes it worse. Accommodate and care for yourself but don’t succumb to weakness.
Don’t let their imputation of weakness become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Focus on key practices and knowledge. Care for your physical and mental health. Be trained for high stress. Know when to back out.
Getting beaten up before you can get up creates a death spiral. Victory, not submission, is the only remedy.
The right environment that allows you to be you is key, not trying to make you something you aren’t.
Hard to get the right resources to perform well with a unique personality when you’re oppressed
Invest in yourself when you can
Avoid excessive judgmental rhetoric, but don’t avoid all difficult things
Take control of your own development. They want you to stay weak and easy to beat up, so the threat is neutralized. Systems may not help you how they help others.
Focus on results and what you uniquely want, not on behavioral compliance
Remember your nature is to fight behavioral control, though some people do well with harder rules sometimes if they are aligned with them.
You can burn out far more easily as well, so you may not be able to be constantly working really hard. It’s hard to find an environment that will allow you to use your value and not hurt you.
You have to find the balance between not being demeaned, shamed, or burned out, and being pushed to be better. Other people may respond better than you to typical tactics.
Be vulnerable and kind, but don’t let yourself be knocked down
Preparation is key. You may have to work a lot harder because you have strength and capabilities you don’t know you have. Be prepared to share your expertise and toot your own horn.
Be more diligent and careful than usual.
Get The RIGHT mental health care – you need to consider a provider with a mental performance approach if possible rather than only alleviating symptoms or sedating you
Your warrior side can come out at the absolute worst possible time in the worst possible way. Be prepared and try to avoid those kinds of situations. Take some time to think and back away for a moment.
You have a lot more power. Easier to hurt someone with a 90 mph fastball than a 60 mph fastball. You need to have more control.
Fighting too hard at the wrong time especially can be your downfall.
You have to be more disciplined than normal but it can be harder to do so in a “normal” way or a rule-bound manner
But know this can make you worse as well. Know what works for you and stick with it
Regular health and psychological screenings by a qualified doctor (ideally one trained in performance)
are imperative
Again sadly challenging to get the right care for those with poor socioeconomic status
You have to find what is exactly right for you and stick with it, whether it’s more or less structure or discipline.
Policy change is needed to create a more inclusive world that doesn’t require extreme level of victory to survive it.
Use your power and unique strength to create social change while also improving your own life and achieving your victory. This is your special opportunity to not only help yourself but also others. Take this opportunity and do it.
Don’t be afraid to seek help but choose the right help that gets your values, your ideas, and your personality. You may need to offload some things.
Contact Off Speed Solutions for support with your advocacy or business goals with communications strategy and implementation, including social media, content marketing, digital and traditional media, and cultural analysis, and a variety of other business support services! OffSpeedSolutions.com
Just because you are not perfect and haven’t had the love/support from others or haven’t had the victory or success, doesn’t mean you aren’t capable of great things.
The fact that you were feeling this way, the fact that you’re seeing this opposition, means that you can have success beyond what you imagined.
These are just a start. More ideas to come. Follow for more.
Got questions or comments about this episode? Is there another political or social issue you’d like me to cover? Are you realizing you are a repressed warrior seeing how opposition indicates you have more potential than you think and want to tell your story? Have you faced oppression, have a story about bad bosses, a corrupt company, or another injustice you want to vent or spread the word about? I’d love to hear from you! Call in and leave a voicemail any time, day or night, toll free at 844-477-PUNK (7865)
Or submit your question by email:
greyson@offspeedsolutions.com
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