These days when you see Kanye
West‘s name in the headlines you automatically expect a story about him
throwing a temper tantrum at paparazzi, saying something politically incorrect
in an interview or tabloid gossip about his girlfriend/reality star Kim
Khardashian. It’s true that Kanye West’s antics often
detract from the power of the things he is saying, but rest assured he’s saying
something you should listen to. Regardless of your personal opinion of Kanye,
these six lessons are important to take note of for any artist, minority, or
person trying to overcome the odds and make a difference.
1. Don’t sell
yourself short – “If I didn’t call myself a genius, I’d be lying to all of
you and myself,” Kanye says in an earlier part of the interview. At first
listen that is possibly the most arrogant statement, but it proves that Kanye
has the utmost faith himself. Take note. If you know you have an ability or a
gift to offer the world, don’t wait for someone else to acknowledge it before
you embrace it for yourself. You don’t have that kind of time. Embrace your
gift and work at it. “I spent 10,000 hours at this, I’ve been working at it my whole
life,” Kanye explains. When you put that much effort into something, you don’t
have to be humble about it. When you take notice of yourself, everyone else
takes notice too.
2. Don’t limit
yourself to one label or category – As human beings we naturally contain
multitudes of passions and talents. Don’t force yourself into one small labeled
box. If you love art and music, don’t think that you only have to pursue one –
that your ideas only can come from one place. Kanye’s battle comes from his
frustration of trying to break into couture fashion but not getting the respect
he wants as a designer because he became famous as a rapper. His message here
is clear: people are going to try and tell you that you can’t do something
simply because you come from a different world. They’re wrong. If
the passion and the work is there, your ideas are valid no matter what your
primary “occupation” or “title” is. Don’t be afraid to go after everything if
that’s what you want.
3. Protect your
dreams – The world is full of naysayers, unfortunately. We are not
advocating that you attack those naysayers with curse words and violence as
Kanye has been known to do, but we do advocate not allowing someone to make you
shelve something you believe in. You have to build a wall around those dreams,
around your heart that protects it from people saying you can’t do something.
Don’t believe people who tell you that your idea is stupid or you should do
something else. Use your voice and speak up, even if everyone around you is
telling you to be quiet. That’s how you are heard.
4. Don’t try to
fit the mold – This is similar to the last lesson but Kanye nails it a few
minutes in when he says, “I refuse to follow those rules where society is set
up to control people with low self-esteem – through improper information, with
branding and marketing.” We are bombarded by images every day that tell us the
“right” way to look and to act and we compare ourselves to these mainstream
images. We get conned into thinking that if we don’t fit into that mold that we
are doing something wrong, and by allowing ourselves to feel low we are
allowing the projectors of those images to climb higher on our backs. Stop the
cycle. Get the right information you need to empower yourself. You don’t have
to stay down there – there’s enough sun for everyone. You just have to be bold
enough to stand up and see for yourself.
5. Have heroes
to aspire to – Kanye quotes Steve Jobs, Michaelangelo and Jesus as a few
of his heroes. He honestly, deep in his bones, believes he has the power to
make the same impact as these legends. You should too. Find people
who inspire you to be better. Look up to them and make a conscious effort to
climb to their level, otherwise what’s the point? We may not reach the level of
the pedestal we put them on but Heroes inspire us to reach and push farther
than we could on our own.
6. Set the
expectation for mutual respect – Once you’ve convinced
yourself that you are a person with a voice and something worth saying, then
you have to convince everyone else as well. You do that through respect – you
set the expectation that as a person of value (ie, a person period) you deserve
a certain level of respect. This means you stand up for yourself when someone
falls below that line of respect, but it also means that you treat others with
the level of respect you expect them to give you (admittedly, Kanye has some
work to do on this last part, at least in public).
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