Writing to Ourselves

My father was a preacher for 40 years. Over the course of his career, he mentored and counseled thousands of people through struggle, pain and indecision. He taught me at a young age that grown adults who lack spiritual maturity make the same mistakes as children. We must always look in the mirror first. We must take accountability, we must expect at least as much from ourselves as we do from others. A lack of a desire to identify areas where we need to improve leads to addiction, dysfunction and unnecessary emotional pain. We can avoid so many mistakes simply by looking within, being spiritually and psychologically mature enough to fix our own sh....tuff.

The pursuit of self-improvement is a wonderful journey to undertake, but too many people neglect the process, operate on ego and only ever achieve a middle school level of emotional, spiritual and philosophical development.

Having blind spots in my personal and professional life is one of my greatest fears. It's like being the person in the room with bad breath that no one talks about, or the coach whose behavior makes everyone uncomfortable, but no one says anything.

I have a deep desire to do everything I can to make sure I'm not missing something in my own life and also to help other people see things they might be missing in theirs. I am the coach who asks my assistants if there was anything I could have done differently after a loss I am the employee who begs for criticism at the end of year. I want to continue to develop.

One way I am continuing my development is by writing these poems to myself. When these messages to my current and former self are recorded over music, they become Myndbeatz for others.

The ideas for subject matter come from our own life and experience:

-When I had a bad day at work and I'm at risk of taking it out on my family...I write about it.

-When I remember what it felt like to struggle with failure...I write about it.

-When I recall how it felt to be new to coaching...I write about it.

-When I look back at all the work I did to achieve my goals, and how it was all worth it...I write about it.

My writings rhyme because that's how I like to hear it and the music is kind of jazzy, chill hip-hop vibes because that's the music I like and its all being put on the internet because I want it to be documented and accessible for all time.

I listen to Myndbeatz daily because I enjoy the way they make me feel and the improvement I see in myself through the music. When we control the information we put into our minds, we gain control over our thoughts, and our thoughts dictate our actions.

We write and record Myndbeatz so we can continue to develop as men, fathers, husbands, coaches and mentors. In doing so, we invite others on the journey. We desire to create the online library of information we wished we had when we were coming of age, traveling the country playing ball and ultimately getting married and becoming fathers.

If other people are able to develop in some way, or shift their perspective on a challenge they face or increase their ability to think philosophically as a result of the messages we write to ourselves, that's a win.

My family deserves the best version of me that I can possibly achieve. Physically. Mentally. Spiritually.

If a young athlete can escape the cycle of self-loathing because of a poem I wrote to my younger self, I've made a difference.

If a kid can get a scholarship because they shifted their perspective on the passage of time and raised their level of work, because of a song Zach recorded and shared, life is better for all of us.

If a dad is able to get stronger and more disciplined and set the pace for his family and that results in a happier environment under his roof, well then, his lineage will be stronger and that'll make us really happy.

These songs are helping me get physically free and mentally clear, maybe they'll help you or someone you know as well.

God Bless.

Free and Clear.