Shine Box Revelations: Inviting All Parts of You to the Self-Improvement Dance

Shatter the chains of destructive self-improvement myths that claim personal growth demands self-annihilation. Embark on a revelatory journey with us as we debunk the belief that to evolve, one must 'kill off' parts of their identity—a misconception that can lead to a spiral of repressed anger and depression. During our exploration, we dissect a chilling scene from "Goodfellas," where the character Tommy's volatile reaction to an insult embodies the dire consequences of denying one's authentic self. Our candid talk underscores the value of embracing and integrating the darker facets of our personalities to emerge as whole, fulfilled individuals.

This episode is a call to arms for everyone who's ever felt pressured to hide their less-than-stellar traits—your 'shine box' self. We delve into the importance of accepting these qualities, demonstrating how their inclusion in our personal narrative is vital for genuine self-improvement. By championing a mindset that honors all emotions, we guide you toward true change that enriches your sense of self. So, resist the urge to suppress and erase; instead, let's celebrate every aspect of who we are, ensuring our growth is as authentic as it is profound. Join us for a transformative discussion that promises to leave you with a renewed perspective on self-acceptance and holistic development.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

You must begin to think correctly and death or killing off in any form is not the way out of anything. For be warned, in real life and in this space, there's a lot of clickbait style dangerous content in this realm urging you that you need to die. You need to die. You need to die In order to grow. You need to kill yourself off. But no, no, no, no, no. I am here to rebuke that and warn you to be very careful with that logic and concept, for killing yourself off at any level does not create a way out. Rather, it'll lead to repressed anger, rage, discomfort, insecurity, depression, identity mismanagement and further exaggerate the role of the ego. For we all have a dark side and any attempt to eliminate that side of yourself is denying yourself the full and completed version of yourself. And for the record, let me say out loud that I don't recommend or advocate for killing yourself off literally, in physical reality, because I know how you fuckers are and, as I briefly touched on and the intent for which I'll get into in this talk, killing yourself off in any way, figuratively, on your perceived journey towards self-improvement and the most ultimate you. Now, if you would indulge me, I want to use a movie scene to try and drive towards this point here where I'm going, and it's from the movie Goodfellas, and it's important that you process the words behind the scene and stay with me through this. All right, Just stay with me.

Speaker 1: 1:48

And it starts in the bar with Billy Batts. He's a made man, a made Italian man, mafia man. Just got home and is having a drink by the bar with some compadres and he's having a party to celebrate. Raises his glass, buys a round for the bar Salud, salud, salud. Everything's all good. And in walks, tommy played by Joe Pesci. And Tommy is looking like a million bucks, the most realized, actualized and dopest version of himself Expensive suit and tie, hair looking all good I know I don't got no hair Walking with great posture and attitude. Probably even smells good, right, beautiful woman in his arm. He says hello to DeNiro and Liotta, who he's clearly there to spend time and the evening with, and immediately Bats sees Tommy.

Speaker 1: 2:35

Bats sees Tommy, who's Joe Pesci, from across the room and he says hey, look at this Tommy, all dressed up and doing the town. And he calls over for Tommy, wants him to acknowledge and show some respect. Remember that this entire transaction is super key to our talk today. Don't cut yourself off right. So Bats is like show some respect. It's me, bats, and I know you and I know you.

Speaker 1: 3:03

Tommy walks over, they embrace Tommy's like watch the suit. Watch the suit, which I also believe is an interpretation of watch how you touch my mask. I'm Big Bad, tommy, right. And Bats, he mocks him a little bit. He says ever so nonchalantly I've known you all my life, don't go getting too big on me. And Tommy's like just don't go breaking my balls. And now Bats, he says hey, Tommy, if I was going to break your balls I would tell you go home and get your shine box. And everybody laughs and Bats doesn't let off there, right, this kid was great. He says they used to call him spit shine, tommy. I swear to God, he makes your shoes look like mirrors. He was the best. Then he toasts again Salute, tommy, stay with me.

Speaker 1: 4:04

Think about what this means. Think about the process of the conversation. Tommy replies and rather calmly no more shines, billy. Billy's like what? And Tommy reiterates because he's not having it. That side of him is dead. And so he says no more shines, billy. Maybe you didn't hear about it. You've been away a long time. Maybe they didn't go up there and tell you I don't shine shoes anymore.

Speaker 1: 4:36

Bats is like relax, relax, I'm only kidding, I'm just breaking your balls. We're just having a party, we're having a good time. I haven't seen you in a long time. I mean, I'm only kidding, I'm just breaking your balls, we're just having a party, we're having a good time. I haven't seen you in a long time. I mean, I'm sorry, I don't mean to offend you and again, salute. Now go home and get your shine box right and just imagine the pain, man, the, the fury, which which leads tommy to be irate. So you motherfucking mutt breaks his glass. You piece of shit he's. He's out of his mind, out of his mind, just losing it. Spit, shine, tommy, and the rest is the rest. If you watch the movie, you know that Tommy leaves the bar briefly, comes back and he stomps the shit out of old Billy Bats Almost to death, sticks him in the trunk of the car and eventually buries him Because he killed him off, right Buried. And if you watch, you also know that at that moment, when Tommy killed Bats and buried him, tommy also died.

Speaker 1: 5:49

Because the truth are those deeds you perceive to be done in the safety of darkness always comes to find you. But what's my point? Where am I going with this Good fellas? We all have shine box versions of ourselves, All of us. We all have insecure, embarrassing, limited, desperate, ignorant, docile, weak, frightened and beat down versions. The shine box we all have have ego and left to itself, ego will immerse itself in the dark side, in the shadow, like a perceived black cloud in any attempt to bury, put an end, cause the failure or defeat of your darkness, which that happens to mean the definition literally of death or of any version you have ever been, is repressive, is denial and is you moving towards aloofness. And none of that, none of it.

Speaker 1: 6:52

Zero is conducive not just to positive growth, because you can use all your perceived negative life impacts, the shine box, to inspire and motivate you to great heights. It can be leveraged. But what I'm getting at here, tommy flipped out right. Sustaining, maintaining, scaling your most realized, maximized and truest self requires not the death of your dark side, shadow or perceived black clouds. Rather, it's the integration of those qualities that you need to incorporate into a mindset. It is a part of you and must always remain that way. It's the acceptance that even what you succumb to that frightens and embarrasses. You must come along for the ride. For better or worse, you are also your shine box. So I agree Work on change, and change is identified successfully as an evolution, and that which you feel needs to change must remain an integral force, for otherwise it was done in vain and will forever trigger you shine box.

Speaker 1: 8:04

Like bats.

Speaker 1: 8:05

It will call on you, it'll tell you it hasn't seen or been with you in a long time and it'll also tell you I know you, and ignoring it, repressing it, killing it off, will only make it wait patiently to enrage you, to infuriate you, and will absolutely frustrate you and cause you to revert and lash out at yourself, because you are essentially a ticking time bomb and an imposter and there is no suit and tie, no woman or man to hold right, no money or wealth in the world that will ever be able to minimize, excuse or eliminate you from your truth.

Speaker 1: 8:49

So any attempts to the contrary are futile. There is no life and death and if you can choose to open the door to your heart, which opens the door to full evolution and growth, all emotions, including shadows, dark sides and black clouds, are accepted and processed through there. You must begin to think correctly. You absolutely need self-improvement, but do not die in the process, because just like the death of bats, just how it caught up to Tommy, it'll come for you, and at that point it could be too late. Change your mind, change your life. I am who I say I am. Stay rich.