The Graffiti Machine (Bus166 & Kub)

Kub was a true force for good in this world and he will be greatly missed. Things won't be the same without him, but we will continue to push forward. This project was very important to him and we would be doing him a disservice by stopping now.

Bus and Kub discuss ways to find inspiration outside of graffiti culture, getting out of your comfort zone and various other related concepts.

Bus and Kub discuss the pitfalls of not having one's ego under control and how humility can be the answer to a lot of animosity in graffiti culture.

It’s often difficult to make big changes and stay on track, but a small pivot and consistency can get you going down a different path. On this episode, Bus talks about making small shifts and how they can turn into exponential growth.

When we set big goals for ourselves, they can often feel impossible. One thing that can help put things into perspective is to look at some of the amazing things that have been accomplished by other people. Seeing these great achievements might help put your own goals into perspective.

For me, I had an "If they can do that, I can definitely accomplish this" kind of moment. This episode breaks down some concepts about overcoming limiting beliefs.

Negative emotions can be damaging to your physical and mental health, but they're also a normal part of the human experience. According to the law of polarity, you can't have one without the other. Lets talk about some tools we can use to limit the power of negativity.

Find Bus on various platforms linked here:
https://bus.graffitimachine.com/

Episode Transcription:

0:00 
So I've been thinking about the effects of negative emotions and shit like that like, stress, I guess stress would be a negative, yeah, of course, stress, anger, anxiety, all that kind of stuff. So the effects that it has on your physical health, it's something that I learned later in life. And it was, it was kind of surprising, because at first, when I started hearing about it, I'm like, How is it that like, shit that's going on your mind is going to negatively affect what's happening in your body. And I'm not a doctor, obviously. So I mean, I don't fucking know for sure how this stuff works. But my understanding is like, negative shit, like stress and all that stuff that kind of raises different things in your body, like cortisol. And that's stuff is beneficial for I got some notes here, like regulating blood sugar levels, and metabolism and all this kind of stuff. But when you're in a constant state of, of like anxiety, or stress or something, my understanding is it keeps these levels high, and then that stuff starts negatively affecting your body. 

1:04 
So what's kind of interesting is, when you think about the the mind and body connection, I mean, it's, you know, I think I've mentioned this before, how I always thought of them as two separate things, but it's like the brain is in your body. So it's kind of stupid to think about it like that. But anyway, so. So I wanted to talk about that, because something got me thinking about this more, and sort of the direction of like, my reading and stuff has kind of changed a little bit more towards like spirituality and understanding, you know, the reason for fucking all this shit. It's kind of, I don't know, I'm just trying to find some new shit. And I've talked, if you've listened to the last few episodes, I've been talking about stuff like that. So. So it's interesting. I put a bunch of bullet points together. So I'm gonna just work through this. But one of the things that got me thinking is, okay, so 

1:55 
So what ended up happening is, I was doing 75 heart, I was like, three days in, and I was like, all kind of like, hyped up about this round. And I've done it a bunch of times, but like, this time, I was like, Alright, I'm gonna get a schedule, I'm gonna do all these kinds of things. I'm gonna put everything in place. And I'm gonna get like hyper disciplined and structure my day and do things just a little bit more intense, and put more into it and all that stuff. And so I was all hyped up about it. And then, I don't know if I told this story. I hope it didn't. So I'll just kind of summarize it real quick. But anyway, we were moving a piece of equipment into the, into the shop, and it fell over and it landed on my toe, so I broke my toe. totally smashed it. You know what I did talk about this anyway. So if you listen to the previous episodes, you already know, so I smashed by toe. And then I got off of I just decided, I don't know, I had it in my head. I was like, if I if I still work out on a broken toe, it's just gonna, just gonna take longer to heal. 

2:54 
And like my girlfriend, Jessie, she's kind of a, she's, she's, she's crazy when it comes to stuff like this, like she's broken her toe and like, fucked up her ankle and she still goes to the gym, and she still runs on him. And she's like it at fucking Krav Maga classes, like doing fucking, her kicks are insane. Like I've trained, I trained with her and I hold the bag for like, it's like have like a tree trunk hitting the side of a bag. So like, she's just like going full power, kicking heavy bags with like, three broken toes. And I'm just like, Man, I don't got it like that. That's too much for me. So I was like, I'm just gonna chill, and rest and let this fucking thing heal. I had it in my mind. Like, if you rest, you know, your body's able to put more energy towards that. I don't know, I just what I had in my mind. Like, if I were to work out, I'm like, it's going to divert resources, and it's going to take longer for the toe to heel. 

3:48 
Long story short, I took a couple weeks off, I don't know how long it's been. And so the longer I get away from that, you know, the more compromises of food and shit like that, and you know, like my body, I can start seeing like, shit change. And I'm like, Man, kind of fallen off my game. And then exercise is so important physical exercise, you just got to do it. It's like, I'm just so much more emotionally, like, in control. I'm just feeling better. It's, it's well known that exercise is very helpful in this way. 

4:23 
So anyway, I kind of slipped into sort of a rut. And I was, I was feeling a lot of negative emotions. And I've been reading Eckhart Tolle, I don't know if he say that. That's how you say his name. He writes a lot about spirituality and stuff. And so I'm reading one of his books, I think, like the power of now and then I'm listening to another one called a new earth. And he talks a lot about this kind of shit. And he has some interesting ways of looking at negative emotion. So I'll get to that in a second. 

4:54 
But, so there's two things right, so you have negative emotions, and positive emotions and so of course, into the, if you listen to the laws of the universe episode, or if you've read books on it, the law of polarity states that you can't have one thing without the other. So you don't have positive without negative, you don't have light without darkness and all these kinds of things. So if you think about negative and positive emotions, if you were always happy and always positive, and always, you know, on top of shit, that would just be normal. So I just believe that if you didn't experience these negative emotions, or if you didn't experience these lows, you wouldn't really be, you wouldn't really feel the highs as much, and maybe you wouldn't be as grateful when they're there. You know, that's my opinion. So it's not really about eliminating negative emotions. For me, it's like, obviously, you want to have more highs than lows, but at the same time, I believe that there's a balance to all these kinds of things. So you're gonna have highs and lows. And that's just kind of like the normal way that the normal human experience, right. 

6:01 
So if you listen to Eckhart Tolle, he talks a lot about this, and one of the things he talks about is something called the pain body. So according to him, it's old emotional pain that has become part of your identity. So a lot of times when you're feeling these emotions, that's where it's coming from. You said the pain body is created through like a process of identification with past emotional traumas. Now, I don't know if that's what happens to me. I mean, I don't know, I think it's more for me, I think it's more I stress about the future a lot. So like, I find a heart, I find it hard to be present. You know, during this kind of downtime in my, in my exercise, like, exercise really helps me not sort of live like that, you know, so anyway, 

6:44 
so mainly about what I wanted to talk about with that card toll is his idea of non resistance, which I really like, if you think about it, when you're having like negative emotions, like if you're pissed, if you're stressed or something like that. You're trying to resist it, you know, you're trying to, you know, for me, I think I think part of what keeps me in that state is that I'm unhappy that I'm in that state, if that makes sense. So when he talks about is like, non resistance, and I think what was the other thing, he said something about, like, oh, he said, like acceptance and surrender, it's almost like, at some point, you're feeling all these negative emotions, and then you're, you're feeling negative emotions, because you have a negative opinion about the fact that you're feeling like that. So it just keeps feeding itself. And it's hard to get yourself out of it because of that. And so one of the things that he talks about that's really interesting is like, instead of sitting there and being upset that you're upset, what if you were to just say, you know, except that, that you're like that, except that that's what you're feeling in the moment, just stay in the present, and be like, This is what I'm experiencing right now. And that's okay. It's not the end of the world. And it's like part of the human experience, it's part of the law of polarity. It's like, I'm feeling this way that today, or maybe, you know, hopefully, it doesn't last the whole day. For me, it doesn't generally. 

8:08 
But I'm feeling this way right now. And then later, I'm probably going to feel good, and it's going to kind of go back and forth. And, you know, happiness is one of those things that sort of comes and goes and same thing with stress and negative emotions. But if you're sitting there stressed about the fact that you're stressed or unhappy that about the fact that you're sad about something or whatever, it's, I believe, it's going to keep you in that state for longer. So if you just accept the fact that that's how you feel, and just sort of be there in the moment, and just be cool with it, then it's most likely going to go away faster. And that's what I've been, I've been experiencing, but also I've been exercising again. So I think that's very helpful. 

8:50 
So another thing he talks about is observing the emotion. So if you're sitting there feeling some kind of stress, if you can kind of disconnect from the fact that it's you that's feeling that and be the observer of it, it's kind of a weird thing, and I've talked about it with meditation before, it's an interesting way to sort of come at, come at this type of thing. So like, when you use that kind of technique and meditation, let's say you're trying to learn how to meditate and you're doing the thing I talked about, like where you focus on your breath. And then these thoughts keep sort of creeping in, you can look at the thoughts like if you if you take the what is it like the seat of the observer? So like, I just want to observe those thoughts. It's kind of weird, how they just go away, because it's almost like you can't really focus on the two things at the same time. And with emotional with negative emotions, it doesn't, I find that it doesn't really quite work like that. But at the same time, if I if I take the seat of the observer, and I just, you know, observe the emotions, it reduces their intensity, and that's the other thing that Eckhart Tolle talks about. So it's kind of a interesting way of approaching it. 

10:02 
So another thing he talks about, and this is, this is kind of, it's obvious to me now that I know it, but now, I didn't always know it. So it's, it's interesting, like, not identifying with the negative emotions is super helpful. So like, for example, if you were like saying, I'm just a stressed out person, or I have anxiety, or all these kinds of things, like if you're, if you're identifying as somebody that exists like this, it's not realistic, it's not, that's not who you are these negative things, and these kinds of things that maybe are sort of working their way into being part of your identity, isn't that really, your identity, it's just shit that sort of passing, passing through. So it's like, kind of like, what I was talking about with the law of polarity, like, negative emotions are going to come and go, positive emotions are going to come and go, neither one of those things are really part of your identity, part of your identity, it's just part of your experience, your human experience. 

11:02 
And so another sort of practical way of of using this non resistance is just sort of accepting the kinds of things that might stress you out. So like, for me, I'm, I'm dealing with all this shit, my business that's completely out of my control and studying stoicism, I should know better than to let these things that are out of my control, affect me negatively, because that's really like a huge part of the, the stoic philosophy. So it's easier said than done, obviously. But if you just accept the fact that this stuff is happening, and just understand that this is just part of the human experience, like the shit that's stressing me out or my business, I could just accept that it's happening, I could do everything that's in my control, to try to fix everything. But the stuff that's out of my control, it's just, that's, that's all it is, I just have to accept that it's happening. And so all of these kinds of ways of looking at dealing with stress and kind of disconnecting and accepting and all this kind of shit, it's very helpful, because there's not really much else that I can do. Like, if, if these things are going to happen anyway. And I'm going to stress about it, then then not only are they not only are these things going to happen, but now I'm fucking up my health, by allowing myself to be so affected by it. Whereas if I could just accept the things that are happening, understand that they're, they're not within my control, especially if I'm taking proactive action on the things that I can control, then that's really all I can do. 

12:36 
So there's really no choice but to accept it, or to sit there and dwell in it. And obviously, sitting there and dwelling and it is, it's just not a good way to go. So it's, like I said, all this shit is easier. It's much easier said than done. But it's like, these are tools that you can kind of like try to use, you know, to create these habits and create these skills to be able to deal with this kind of shit. Because everybody has shit. Like there's, I don't believe there's anybody in life that doesn't deal with shit. Like you could, you could compare your shit to other people and think like, well, you know, this guy has no arms and no legs, like, what am I complaining about, it's not going to make your shit shit any easier to deal with, because somebody has it worse than you, you know, so. So we all need these kinds of tools, like we all need these ways of dealing with, with whatever shit it is we're dealing with. 

13:27 
So although these action steps tend to be a little bit repetitive, especially when I'm talking about shit like this, I'll just go through them anyway. But it's obviously recapping, some of what I just talked about is like not judging the emotions, not judging yourself for having these emotions and just sort of accepting them. And understanding this is just part of the human experience. This is what you're feeling right now. Try not to have an opinion on it, try not to dwell on it and just sort of like, observe the emotions and see if that helps kind of ease it a little bit, especially not having an opinion on it. That's, I'm finding that to be incredibly helpful. 

14:07 
The other thing I always talk about is like mindfulness techniques, like meditation, if you if you don't like doing that, I understand it's, there's a lot of mornings when I'm like, I just don't want to fucking do it. In fact, I don't think I meditated this morning. So I mean, I understand but it's very helpful. And if you're gonna have to sit there and meditate, you can always just, you can always just be mindful in what you're doing. Like that could be a form of meditation, like if you feel like I'm gonna get a quick 15 minute workout instead of listening to music or a podcast or something like that. Maybe you could just focus on exactly what you're doing and try not to think about anything other than the lifting the weights or the running or whatever you're doing. Being completely mindful in the moment and not having any outside stimulus. That's kind of a form of meditation as well. 

14:56 
So that's something that you can do and physical activity, you just have to do it. I mean, I, I fucking hate doing it. So I mean, I'm not the one. You know, that's always like trying to encourage people coming from a place where I'm like, I love doing that shit because I hate it. But you just have to do it, especially these days. Like, I don't know that they're doing something to the food. If you eat any processed food, man, I don't know, just stop doing that. Because conspiracy, tinfoil hat Me is coming out like they're fucking with us. So get off the process food, eat real food. If you can't look at it and know what the fuck it is, then, you know, maybe it's not something you should be eating. I mean, read the ingredients. But stay away from the overly processed foods, get some exercise, get yourself healthy, that stuff's gonna go a really long way. 

15:47 
One last thing, we still have this Discord server and there's a cool community there. It's very small right now, trying to get more people in there. If you've made it this far into the episode, it may be a place that you would enjoy. We talked about personal development ship, we talked about graph and art and different things like that. If you would like to join hit me up at bus 166 on Instagram, and we'll talk about it. And if you're on Twitter, follow me on Twitter. I've been fucking with Twitter @bus166msk Alright, later

16:26 
appreciate each and every one of you guys who are supporting the cause and continue to spread the love and yeah, stay up

We’re often faced with situations where the work required to get the results we want is going to suck, but the results you will get if you don’t get the work done sucks more. Why do we choose instant gratification knowing that we will pay the price later?

This week Bus talks with Callye Keen, a physical product manufacturer and coach, entrepreneur, artist, designer, and host of the End Hype podcast. Callye and Bus discuss different ways the knowledge and skills graffiti writers develop over their careers can directly apply to various real world skills like marketing, entrepreneurship, team building, etc. 

Check out Callye's podcast End Hype on your favorite podcast platforms and YouTube, on Instagram and Twitter @callyekeen. He's also very active on Clubhouse dropping lots of knowledge @callye. Check out Red Blue Collective online at https://www.redbluecollective.com/.

Google the guy. There is much to learn from him.

The host of the Toy Division Podcast and Bus have a deep conversation about the various ways the human brain works. The guys get into the positive changes they made that helped improve their careers, personal lives, graffiti and virtually every aspect of their lives.

Check out the Toy Division Podcast on all your favorite podcast platforms and on Instagram @toydivision_podcast.

Your self-talk can function in the same way as a thermostat in your house. Set the thermostat to a certain temperature, it'll keep your house at that temperature. If you have negative self-talk in your mind, you could be setting the thermostat to keep yourself there. 

The internet changed just about every aspect of the world including the graffiti culture. This episode focuses on some positive ways you can utilize socail media as a the powerfull networking tool that it is.

I read the quote ‘What’s it going to take?’ in the book Market Outrageously. It was talking about actually looking deep at a goal and trying to get to the bottom of what it would take to accomplish. Even seemingly impossible goals are worth trying to break down.

In my life and business, I have goals that are overwhelming to think about. When I read this part of the book, I was inspired to actually dig into it much further. Things start seeming much more achievable once you start breaking it down into smaller chunks.

Ask yourself this question about a goal you have, then sit down and try to figure out what steps you need to take to make it happen. There is a lot of clarity that can be achieved with this.

It feels like we're in an age of massive distraction. We're being distracted by the media, world events, politicians, etc. Then we're distracting ourselves with social media platforms and other apps on our devices. Today, I talk about these distractions and some ways we can identify when we're being distracted and how to regain focus.

A lot of people fail to realize that we are not stuck with being the way we are. If things about yourself are not serving you, you don’t have to accept them. You have the ability to grow and become a completely different person if you are willing to put in the work.

An interesting concept about how you can control your past. It just depends on how you look at time. Today is tomorrow's past, so how would you like to look back on it? Check out this week's Graffiti Machine Podcast episode where I get into this.

Our current way of life can be full of distraction. I allowed a lot of it to get me off track. This episode, I talk about being too distracted, then what I'm doing to get my brain out of the fog of distraction and back into focus.

Our comfort zone functions like a cage. The closer we get to the bars, the more uncomforabe it becomes. With practive, you can push through the bars into freedom.

I wanted to share a quote from the book Thick Face Black Heart on page 141.

This chapter talks about if we had the ability to remove all negative experiences from our lives, it would not make us stress free or happy.

"The absence of negative experiences in our life does not alone contribute to the quality of our life. As humans we need challenges in order to develop fully and bring forth all the positive aspects within ourselves. The only way to feel truly happy is by confronting these challenges and overcoming them."

I find things like this helpful when times get tough. It's those times that create the most growth.

If I had to break down three daily habits that have drastically improved my life, it would be the three things I discuss in this episode.

Bus and Kub discuss the concepts behind building a company culture in business and relating those concepts to graffiti culture, crews and individual writers.

A lot of compromises can be a slippery slope. One compromise leads to another, then another, then next thing you know, shit can get out of control. It happens to all of us. The key is to keep an eye on it, and if you do fall off track, get that momentum going again. Even if you have to force it.

Find Bus on various platforms linked here:
https://bus.graffitimachine.com/

Full Transcript

0:00  
I want to talk about something I'm dealing with right now. It's like this fucking slippery slope. Like when you compromise on one thing, how it kind of leads to more and more compromises. And I got a bunch of shit written out here. But I want to start just kind of defining what I mean by that. So like, let's just say, you're trying to live a different kind of lifestyle than you normally do. And this could apply apply to a lot of different things. I know I talked about like health and fitness a lot. But this is where I'm dealing with it right now. But a little later on. I'm also going to talk about some other some other things where I've seen this happen and other things, other examples where it might might apply. But in actuality, it can apply to just about anything, but let me get into it. Because I'm already rambling. 

0:49  
What I'm talking about here is like, like, for me, for example, what's happening right now is, as I mentioned, I broke my toe, and it kind of threw off my exercise. And then I think that was a worthwhile thing to sort of, I don't even know if that would fall under the category, but it was a worthwhile thing to sort of step away from just temporarily until my my foot healed up, it was like, but what I'm talking about are the times when you call something off, when you know, you should, and you don't really have a good reason to. 

1:24  
So for example, like, I like to be healthy. So that requires eating healthy. And it requires exercise and moving around and shit. For the most part, I don't necessarily enjoy all of those things, you know, I, I do like the food that I eat, you know, I've been eating healthy food for a long enough period of time to where I've found a xqlot of recipes that I like, and I've learned how to cook in season things in the way that you know, they really do taste just as good as the shitty food. But there's still kind of like a draw to like those sugary things or, you know, stuff with extra fat or kind of like fast food type of shit, there's always that kind of draw to want to eat that stuff. 

2:06  
So that's kind of what I'm talking about. So. So even though I want to live that life, there's always like, times when I have to kind of talk myself out of doing something that I'm not supposed to do, and when it's when it comes to exercise. For most of the time, I have to, I have to really talk myself into into doing that, because it's not something I really enjoy doing. But and so like a good example of a compromise would be, you know, I wake up in the morning, I'm all tired. I do my kind of basic routines have a cup of coffee drink, read, read my 10 pages. And then after I read my 10 pages and get a meditation session in, that's when I'm supposed to work out. So a lot of times, when it gets to that point where I'm supposed to work out, I really have to kind of tell myself, Hey, man, it's time to get this done. 

2:57  
And so if I, if I choose not to do that, let's say, right now I'm on a good kind of pattern, I guess you could say I'm working out six days a week, not doing 75 hard right now, I'm just kind of like working out six days a week and kind of doing everything else I'll get back on 75 hard a little later. But right now I want to try this thing I read this book called simple and sinister. It's worth checking out. It's pretty cool. It's like this kind of kettlebell workout. So I really wanted to try that. So that's what I'm doing six days a week. And it's pretty easy to get myself to do that, even after a few days in a row because you get a streak going. And I'll talk about that a little bit later. But let's say you know, I'm on a good path, and everything's going well. And then one day I'm like, You know what I just really don't feel like working out. And that's the kind of compromise I'm talking about. 

3:50  
So it's not the kind of compromise where I'm like, You know what, I got some lower back pain, I think it probably be better to rest today. So I can get after it tomorrow. That's not the same thing. It's when you when you know you should do something, but you make a conscious decision to not do it simply because you don't want to do it and you let that sort of inner dialogue when that little battle with yourself. And so anyway, back to like what what I'm dealing with currently, like I'm back on the exercise, but over the time while I was waiting for my, my foot to heal, and I was kind of taking it easy. I sort of compromised a little bit too much on my food. 

4:31  
And so I'm never ever going back to where I was. And that was quite, I mean, I was never like massively overweight, but I was probably I'd probably say like 60 pounds overweight was like the heaviest I ever got, which is just, you know, it's not healthy and I don't I don't ever want to go back to that. But that being said, I did compromise quite a bit over these last few weeks. And I really see the the effects of it, you know, so now I add these workout shorts that I wear all the time. And they're, they don't fit, they don't fit as good as they used to, they're kind of tight, and there's certain shirts I can't wear right now. I mean, I'll get it back together pretty quickly, with, with clean food and exercise, I didn't go that far off the rails. 

5:19  
But the fact is, is this is what I wanted to talk about, it's a slippery slope. And, and the further down the slope you get, the easier while I would say the harder it is to get back on track. So like I said, it starts with like, one compromise, right. And maybe that was like, me deciding not to work out. Because I had broke my big toe, I probably could have worked out. So I don't know if I should or, or shouldn't have, and I talked about that already. So I'm not gonna get too far into it. Maybe I could have and maybe that was the compromises started leading down the path. 

5:23  
And so. So what's interesting about the slippery slope is like, not only when you compromise in one area, it starts making it easier to compromise in other areas. So the not working out anymore, sort of gave my brain a little bit of a free pass, so to speak, to compromise on my food a little bit more. And then, you know, I'm kind of, in sort of a mental rut a little bit with work and the things that I'm supposed to be doing with work, like I'm working all the time, but like, I'm not being as productive as I should be. I think that's also kind of tying in, in a way, like, compromising in one area, allows compromises in other areas. 

6:39  
So, you know, when you compromise, also, it could kind of impact like your perceived failure, so to speak. So like, let's say, you're on a diet or your, you've decided, I don't really like that idea of, of a diet, like the temporary sort of, like, I'm gonna eat like this for this amount of time and lose this much weight. Like I, I never really did well with that stuff. But for me, it was always like, I need to make a lifestyle change and, and do something like when I was young, I was in high school, and I started working out. And I was, remember, I was working out three days a week, my dad had bought some weight set or some shit. And he was like, hey, you know, that's good. You're working out. And he's like, You got to do this for the rest of your life. I was like, Oh, shit, like, I never thought about it like that. I was pretty young. And so I was doing really well. I guess this is the first time I can remember this happening. So I was doing really well. Had I had I stuck with it, I would, I would have a lot better habits. Well, maybe I don't know, maybe my body be all jacked up or something. Who knows. But the what ended up happening back then was I was doing really well. And I think I was working out steady for free a few weeks or something. And then I got the flu real bad. And I think it knocked me out of commission for a few days. And then I never really got back into it. 

8:00  
And so it's almost like, I don't know, it's, I guess that's not really a good example. But like, when you when you say you know, I'm going to skip this workout, because I just don't feel like doing it. That is, in my opinion, that's kind of a failure. That's when you and maybe that's a strong word. That's that's the way I look at it. I'm not saying you failed, I'm saying that for me, I failed. If I know I should do something. And the only reason I'm not doing it is because I want don't want to I see that as a failure. So what I think it happens psychologically, is your perception of that failure may lead to, you know, oh, well, I already fucked up that. And so I might as well just stay off track. In fact, I heard I had already wrote this all out. And I was listening to Alex Hermozi podcast episode this morning. And he was talking about something like this, where he was saying, if you're on a diet and you, you eat fucked up, a lot of people will say something like, Alright, I'm off my diet, because you fucked up that one time. Whereas the better way to go is to course correct. And get back on track. 

9:12  
So one example that he said, is like, let's say you're counting calories and you went 100 calories over, it doesn't mean you're gonna give yourself a free pass to eat 15 pizzas because you're like, Oh, I missed my calorie point. I might as well just Just fuck off this whole thing. He was saying, you know, just do 100 calories less the next day, and then you're maintaining your goal. And those are the kinds of things I think I don't consciously think about that stuff. But I think that's sort of how it leads in the direction of, you know, the slippery slope, like where I'm at right now. Like, I'm pretty disappointed in myself. That my shorts don't fit me right now. I'm pretty fucking disappointed that I have shirts that I don't want to wear because they don't fit All right, so I want to get back to that as quick as possible, 

10:04  
I'm also going to be 50 and three months, and I'm like, man I got, I really gotta get, I gotta get, I want to enter my 50s in the best shape I've ever gotten. So I got three months to get my shit together. And I kind of wish I didn't compromise as much leading up to now. So if I had been starting this three months where I was before, I don't know, maybe a couple months back, you know, I'd be enduring 50 Probably a lot better, but we'll see. I'm gonna get it together. But it's very important. Like I was saying what Alex Hermozi said, to recognize these little slips as a temporary thing. It's not, that's, that's where I think a lot of people fuck up is like, you know, when you when you start sliding down that slope, and you're like, Well fuck it, you know, and you start saying, fuck it to too many different things. 

10:53  
What's more healthy is if you fuck up. And the next day, maybe you're disappointed, and you're like, you know what, I totally fucked up. Instead of like, thinking, Well fuck it, I'm just going to do whatever, the better way to go is, is to course correct. And maybe go a little harder that next day make up for it, I don't know, whatever it is you have to do to get back on track. So it sort of comes down to creating this sort of personal rules for yourself. So for me, they're not really written down. But it's like, things that I've sort of developed over time. There's certain things that I do, like I eat healthy, I exercise I meditate, you know, I make sure I'm not getting complacent in my relationship and things like that. So I don't know, maybe I should write these things down. And maybe that would be a healthy thing, healthy thing to do. But if you have these rules, you can always go back on. So if you do fuck up, you're like, you know what this isn't. 

11:46  
This is just, you know, I fucked up this day, and I'm going to get back on track. You know, it's interesting, too, because if you think about failure, and kind of overcoming the failure, you're still, you're still benefiting from, from that if you bounce back from it, because you're building up mental toughness, you're building up resilience and all that kind of shit. So that might be another mindset shift, to where when you fuck up. Instead of beating yourself up about it, you might think of it as an opportunity. And this isn't like giving your self a pass to fuck up to keep trying to build up this mental toughness. 

12:20  
But let's say you, let's say you fuck up on on whatever it is that you're doing. And I'll give some other examples. I know, I'm kind of talking about diet and shit. But this is sort of where I'm at right now. But if you fuck up, and you, you recognize that you fucked up, and then you course correct, and you get back on track, you've kind of made a deposit in your sort of mental toughness bank account and your resiliency bank account, if you want to think of it like that. So every time you overcome a failure, you get a little bit stronger. So that's not it's not all bad. When you slip off track, I mean, you actually have a little bit of an opportunity to kind of build up a little bit of a little bit of that was something that I was doing a little research on this topic. 

13:03  
And something that I I came across that I thought was pretty interesting that I might try to do is, is create, you might have heard of it. It's like an if then planning type of thing. I think it's like, it's also in like a programming language. Like, if this happens, then do this, if this happens, then do that. So what have you kind of created sort of an if if then system for yourself, for the things that you want to stay on track with? So if you're a graphic writer, and you want to say paint, once a week, or maybe more, I don't know, X amount of times a week? Let's say if you fall off, then what are you going to do? So let's say you fuck up, and you skip a week, then what? Okay, so then next week, I have to make up for it, I got to do two or three things, or whatever that is, your goal is if you if you fuck up on your exercise, then what? I'm gonna do my normal workout Plus, I'm gonna walk for 45 minutes, something like that, like what have you created a system for yourself? So that you're already sort of ready with, with a response, you have like a sort of a pre programmed response, for course, correcting yourself. 

14:15  
I did, I wanted to kind of give some other examples of things that I've kind of noticed this slippery slope happened, just so that so that it's not just about this diet and exercise, obviously, that that's the one that I'm talking about right now. And like I just mentioned with graffiti, this is something that happens to me all the time. And a lot of graffiti writers can probably relate to this, especially the older ones. You know, when you when you have momentum, and I'm going to get more on, talk more about that in a little in a little bit. But have you noticed that like, let's say you're you're sort of off your game and you haven't painted for a little while, and then you go paint and then you just want to go paint again the next day, and you know, it kind of fires you up. but a little bit. So that happens to me all the time. And, you know, in the 90s, I was I was all about painting, that's all I thought about that I went to college. And that sort of put some distance between me and the scene. 

15:12  
And then I took another few years off, so I was off for quite a while, maybe eight years, or I think it was like six years, because I still painted a little while I was in college. But I think the break between the 90s and the 2000s was about six, six years from well, not the 90s Fuck, it was like 2000 to 2006 I think I didn't paint at all. And then when I got into it, like I like, pretty quickly got momentum going. But that only lasted a few years. And then I remember the last time I painted something, something kind of frustrating happened with another crew. And just it was kind of a kind of a weird situation and kind of, I don't know, politics now with my current crew, but just some some other shit. So then I didn't feel like painting, you know, after that, and I was painting every weekend, pretty much. Maybe not every weekend, but I was painting, when the weekends would come around, I would, the plan was to paint, you know, so. But after, after I, I sort of compromised and I was like, am I gonna go this weekend, next weekend came around as sort of ideas sort of popping in my head, like, ah, you know, I don't want to drive all the way down there. 

16:24  
And maybe it's like, it's hot. And I don't want to be out there all sweaty, and just all these kind of like, you know, that shit that goes on inside your mind that sort of talks you out of doing something you think you should do. And for me, it was important that I maintained my sort of, I don't know what you would call it, like, I wanted to maintain my skills. And I wanted to sort of, after that time off, I wanted to make sure I maintain my name and the scene and all that stuff. So. So the more I compromised, the easier, the easier it became to talk myself out of it until I wasn't even thinking about painting anymore. And I took another few years off. So between like 2010 to 2014, I don't think I painted at all, maybe 2013. I don't know what it was, but it's the same shit. Like I just kind of talked myself out of it. And the further you get away from it, the easier it is to stay away from it. 

17:20  
And so I'm kind of in that mode right now. Like, I don't remember the I think the last time I painted was at that MSK thing. And that was, I don't even know, like, couple months ago already, it's times flying by and I still haven't even done anything. And that same fucking dialogue goes on in my head. Every time I think about painting. I'm like, Man, I don't want to drive all the way down there. It's starting to get hot again. Gonna get all sweaty and like, what colors am I going to use and just letting myself like, it's not like it used to be for me, you know, it's like, I didn't think about shit like that. When I was younger man, I just I was looking at some old photos. And it was like, some of the color schemes like we're just so fucking out there. Like, it's almost like, I wasn't even, like, I just put the cans together and like, ah, yeah, that'll that'll work. 

18:09  
You know, there's pieces, I just looked at a piece that was like outline is outlined in white, the highlights were read. The fucking background was was brown fucking Krylon Leather Brown. And the inside of the Fill was like a color scheme that I would just never come up with. Now it was like a beige. And like a hunter green and there was some fucking gold in there, like literal, metallic gold, you know, it was just like some, it was obvious. I just like painted with what I had. And I think I need to get back. Like, I need to get back on that. Like, that's probably one of the things that's kind of, you know, it's like, what colors are we gonna use when I go and stand in front of like, because, I mean, I have a graph shop. So there's like, so many fucking colors, so hundreds of cans, it's like, it's not like it was before where you open your bag, and you're like, Ah, I'll make this work. 

19:06  
You know, so I don't know, kind of getting off track. But it's, it's, it's applicable, it's relevant to what I'm talking about. Because it's one of those things that allows me to talk myself out of going and painting and that's what's really important to me. So it's like, your hobbies are important. You got to think of them. Or, I mean, not so much hobbies, but like things that make you happy. Like you got to do that stuff. Like if you put off that stuff. I think it's just as bad as like putting off work and putting off anything else. Like if that's where your happiness is and like I don't like painting as much as I used to, but like, I love having that shit in existence, if that makes sense. Like it's not so much the process anymore. For me, it's the when it's done and it's up there and it's out there in the fucking scene like that brings me happiness, so I should be doing that. But I fucking talk my myself out of it, and I'm so far down on the slippery slope with putting off graffiti that it's, it's going to be challenging to try to get myself onto a schedule, but I really need to do that. 

20:12  
So another thing Another example might be relatable to you as a, like I used to play bass when I was younger. I don't know if anybody's familiar with this, but I used to play in hardcore bands and sometimes people are really surprised like, I used to play guitar for this band called stripe, I was in there for like a year and a half or something like that. Did some tours with them. And it was, it was all a good time, I didn't really contribute to that band. I was mainly just like, they put me in as a guitarist when they needed a guitarist. But then after that, I started a band called eyelid and I played bass and I was that band and graffiti was like my whole fucking existence for several years. Well graffiti for much longer, but I think I was in that band from like, maybe 94 to 98 or something like that. And it was like everything to me, you know, playing bass and all that shit. And then after the band broke up, I just didn't play bass anymore. Like, almost never like for fucking 20 years. Like it just didn't even I didn't even pick it up. Like I still sit in here like I got pieces and shit. And so I I bought a bass like the Slayer fucking signature. It's the Tom Araya signature bass. So I'm like, I'm gonna buy that if I can. That seems cool. So I bought it thinking that it was gonna get me all hyped up to play again. And it fucking it didn't like I needed. I needed a mindset shift for that. 

21:40  
Then my girlfriend was always asking me Hey, when are you gonna play bass again? And it got me thinking I'm like, Yeah, all right, I'm gonna, I'm gonna commit to doing this. So I I started playing bass again. And I committed to being a being able to play this one classical fucking song because like, playing a classical song, I think it's the, I don't know, when I was younger, I learned how to play the prelude on the Bach, Prelude, I don't know how you say it. On the base, it was so fucking hard to do. I was like, I'm committed by the end of the year, I'm gonna, I'm going to learn how to play this again. And I was on this like, good momentum, you know, I had a good streak going, and then all of a sudden, I compromised. And then I just fucking never picked it back up again. So I'm back on that, again, like I just I haven't played bass. And I don't know, like a year now. 

22:31  
So the other thing I do, as I've talked about in previous episodes, it's a thing called the power list, you write down five critical tasks that you need to get done. Super powerful, it's very highly recommended, I would, if you want to look into that a little further, I don't want to take up too much time talking about it. But it's, it's basically just breaking down these five critical tasks that are going to move your life forward. So it could be anything from fitness to business, a lot of minor business. But if I start to compromise on the power list, and I start to get too many losses. For context, if you finish all your five critical tasks, then it's considered that you won that day. If you don't, then you lost that day. So the more losses I start putting together, the easier it has to be like if I could I'll just take a loss for today. 

23:22  
Probably the biggest one for me, the biggest realization was reading. Like I was on this path of reading 10 pages every single day. Like it was tied into another morning habit. As soon as I would start making coffee, I'd grab my Kindle. And I thought that habit was so locked in that it was unbreakable. Until I decided not to read one day. And it was it wasn't because like anything happened or like my schedule was all fucked up. And I had to wake up and just go somewhere, and I wasn't able to do that. I just didn't feel like it. So I didn't do it. And then that made it easier and easier to not read again. I mean, like I haven't been on like a no reading. But I definitely compromised that one time, and started slipping down the slope. And to where I still haven't quite got it completely back. So like now I still read every day. But sometimes, like I'll be on like, oh, like my goal is to read 10 pages every day for my whole life. And so right now like even though I'm still reading every day, like a lot of times, I'll be like alright, that's six pages. That's good enough. And it's all it all started from that one compromise. It's so crazy. Like you would think that after like having something so solidified as a habit that you'll you'll never have to really use willpower to get yourself to do it again, but I'm finding that that's where I'm at now. 

24:55  
It's pretty crazy and like even with that, even with that idea that like I've started to slip down the slope, I even noticed, like my reading comprehension kind of slipped a little bit. Because if I'm using willpower to, you know, like, like on times where I'm like, You know what I just don't feel like reading, but I'll grab the Kindle anyway, I'm like, I just got to do it. Like, I gotta make sure I do this. I think it's because I've, I've had to pull some willpower and kind of force myself to do it. I'm not quite as into it. And whereas when it was like a complete habit, and it was like, this is just what's going to happen. Like, everything just was fine. It was like flowing reading, everything's cool. Like, obviously, I'm not like me, retaining every single thing I read. That's not really how it works. But it was like, I was still in the flow of reading. And a lot of times, like, I'm like, Oh, shit, that's 12 pages. I'm gonna, I'm gonna stop now. Like, I'm having to build that habit back up. And it's just interesting, that it all started with one compromise. Like, it's just so weird how that works. 

25:59  
So another thing, and I really only have one action step. Before I get into that, I want to talk about another thing that I that relates to this that that I came across in my research, it's a phrase called ego depletion, I should have wrote the guide that guy's name down, but I'm sure if you searched ego depletion, you probably could probably find some information on it. But the concept is that your willpower is like a limited resource. So the more you have to like, convince yourself to get something done. So in the case of any of the stuff that I talked about, the more I have to say, sit there and try to go to battle with that voice in my head, like when I when I need to get my workout done. And I don't want to and my brain is telling me, oh, you know, you could take a day off, it's not a big deal, you know, fucking whatever all the shit that goes on in your mind. 

26:55  
So the amount of self control and willpower that it takes to talk yourself out of that inner voice, this concept, kind of talks about how that's a limited resource. So the more you have to force yourself to do something, the more you're sort of depleting that resource. So what happens is, and how it relates to this is, so let's say, let's say you're on a good path, and you've created a good habit of doing whatever it is, every day, let's say you're on a habit of, of playing whatever musical instrument every day, or eating healthy food every day, whatever that is for you, it starts, it becomes easier and easier to stay on it, the more you're on it. But then when you start to make those compromises, then all of a sudden, you have to start, you have to start pulling into that resource to get yourself to do it. Because like, if you eat some shitty food, when you've been on a good path of eating healthy, maybe not the one time you eat the shitty food, but like if you kind of let yourself slip off track, then you really have to, like next time the opportunity comes to, to eat something that you know you shouldn't eat, you really have to kind of draw on that, that willpower in order to keep yourself from doing it. 

28:11  
Whereas when you're on a streak, and you're you're on a habit, you kind of don't even really think about that stuff, you're like, Ah, now I'm not going to eat that I'm going to eat the shit that I've been eating, you know, you don't even really think about it, it doesn't doesn't require any willpower. So it's kind of an interesting thing to think about if your willpower is a limited resource. And so the only real action step that I have is, is in order to avoid this in order to overcome this, if you slip off of it, is to build and maintain momentum. So I'm probably going to redo this re revisit this subject, but I did. I did do a whole episode on this a while back. But I think it's due to, to kind of revisit because I probably have some new shit that I'm thinking about. But here's the thing. We've all experienced this when you when you have that momentum, you don't actually need your willpower. 

29:07  
So your willpower is in there on reserve. And what I mean by that is like let's say, let's say you solidified something into habit. Every day you get up, and you don't have to talk yourself into doing that anymore. Every day you get up or whatever it is, every day, you know, this is going to happen. It's not even a question. That's momentum. That's, that's, that's how you get out of this shit. That's how you avoid this shit. And once you have the momentum, that's where it's sort of critical to maintain it in some way. The thing is, like there's always going to be some reason to get off track. But if you have momentum, it's very important to try not to get off track in order to maintain it. Because as you've noticed, when you're in that state, it's just so easy to stay on track. Like it's whenever I'm doing 75 hard once I'm in it Once I'm a few days in, I got all the momentum in the world, there's nothing outside of something completely out of my control that's going to stop me from doing those tasks. There's not even a question of whether or not I'm going to do both workouts whether or not I'm going to read 10 pages, it's not a question at all. So I'm not pulling on that resource. So you're I don't even know, I don't know, I'll probably read more about it. 

30:24  
But according to this ego depletion thing, if you have momentum and all the areas that you want to have momentum in, and you're moving forward, you have all that willpower on reserve for if something goes wrong. So imagine if, if you're sitting there just cruising along, you're doing all the shit you're supposed to do, and everything's kind of working out. And then all of a sudden, something happens, you have to do some emergency trip, or you break your toe or some shit like that, you have all that willpower sort of stocked up and just sort of waiting for you, you know, because you're not having to use it. So let's say you do fall off track, like what happened to me, I fell off track. So now I got to build up the momentum. Again, I'm on my way there. But I'm still needing to, to pull on that willpower reserve, you know, so I'm not quite out of the woods yet. But I'm on my way out. So for me, just knowing this whole thing, like, once I get once I get to the point where I'm on a streak and I have momentum, it's going to be so much easier, like right now is so much harder, because I have to kind of talk myself into these behaviors again, once I once I don't have to do that anymore. Everything's easy. It's easy to work out every day, when you're on a streak. It's just it. That's just what it is. 

31:44  
And when I tell people when they say something like, Well, I can't do that, because I like to put sugar in such and such. And I'm like, Well, that's what you like now, but you can train yourself to not like that, like an example, that people say all the time is like, I can't do I can't do 75 hard or I can't do this, whatever it is, because I really like to have a lot of cream and sugar in my coffee. And yeah, I used to that's when I used to drink coffee early on. That's all I would have it like like this creamy, disgusting, sugary shit. That's gross for me now to think about, like, I can't even drink that shit anymore. But like, I couldn't imagine drinking black coffee at that time. But at one point, I made a decision. And I was like, Look, I'm gonna learn to like black coffee, like it's tastes disgusting. But that's all I'm gonna allow myself to have. Because I gotta get off of this fucking sugary cream bullshit. Like, I gotta be done with this. And so now it's the other way around. Now, I prefer to not have anything in my coffee. That's a weird example. But it's it makes sense. 

32:51  
The further away I get away from that sugary shit, the more I sort of get trained to crave the other, you know, so like, the more I stay away from unhealthy foods and stick to only healthy foods, that's what I crave. That's what I want to eat, I want to eat the healthy food when I'm on. And I've talked about it a bunch how I hate working out but like, that's only when I'm when I'm off track. When I'm on track. Like I don't necessarily love it, but it's like, it just happens. It's just, this is what I do so. So that's pretty much the only action step, build and maintain momentum, you can use streaks to do that, like so, try to set yourself up with like, you know, track how many days in a row, you did the thing that you're supposed to do, let's say for my, for my shit. Like if I wanted to start doing graph once a week, I could start tracking that and say, I'm going to do a piece every single week and five weeks and I got a good streak going six weeks, and I got a streak going by the end of the year. If I've painted 52 times, that's quite a big, it's quite a serious streak for me that I don't want to break. I mean, I know just so many young people it's like oh shit, only 52 pieces a year. That's nothing I understand a mold. So give me a break, you know. 

34:13  
But in the same thing with like any any other thing you want to you want to play a musical instrument, you want to practice 20 minutes a day, you get a good streak going, it becomes harder and harder to get yourself to not to it becomes easier and easier to stay on track. And it actually becomes harder to that that little voice in your head kind of goes away. So build that momentum. Maintain it when you have it. That's pretty much all I got. One thing I wanted to ask if you don't mind if you're getting anything out of this show, you don't mind sharing it trying to grow this thing. Really appreciate it. You can throw it up on your Instagram or go leave me a review on whatever platform you're listening on. It'd be very helpful. We also still have that discord community so if you're getting any anything out of this and you want to have conversations with like minded people send me a message at bus 166 on Instagram. And as I mentioned before, I've been fucking with Twitter. I've been enjoying it over there. So if you want to follow me on Twitter, bus 166 MSK over there. Alright, appreciate you guys and I will see you soon

35:27  
all right. appreciate each and every one of you guys who are supporting the cause and continue to spread the love and yeah, stay up

Bus and Kub have a discussion about an ancient philosophy called Stoicism and how it can be used to improve one's mindset.

Bus and Kub have a quick discussion about the mission for the podcast and answer a listener's question about a writer trashing the yard.

Setting goals is great, but what do you need to do on a daily basis to get them done? Today we talk about focusing on your daily actions that move you forward.

Sometimes we get so caught up in things we forget that the immediate moment is the only time we have control over. We can't change the past, and we can't live in the future. Right now is it.

Your life will improve if you commit to being honest at all times. This includes the little bullshit lies we tell to get out of things or make ourselves look better.

Bus and Kub have a discussion about gut feelings, core values, following your own path and how it all applies to graffiti culture and personal growth.

The idea of a mastermind is to combine multiple minds to takle various things. In this episode, Bus talks over some ideas on using a mastermind for various things like fitness, graffiti, personal development, etc.

Bus and Kub sit down with Steve Grody. Steve has been documenting Los Angeles Graffiti since 1990 and the author of the book Graffiti LA.

In this episode, we dive into the 12 universal laws that govern the universe and explore how they can help us live more fulfilling lives. We discuss each law somewhat in detail and examine how they are interconnected. I truly believe that whether or not you believe in them, living your life and making decisions with these laws in mind will lead to a better life.

The odds of us an individuals is so low, it can't really be measured. If you look at your life and the things you have, it's possible that any number of things could have either happened, or not happened that would have completely changed everything. It's something we can look at to maintain perspective. We could have so easily never existed, so why not be happy every day just to be here?

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The law of rhythm reveals that life’s cycles—whether good or bad—are part of a natural, repeating flow. With this perspective, we can find comfort in the lows, knowing they’ll rise, and prepare in the highs, knowing they’ll shift. It’s a tool for staying steady, patient, and focused through every phase.

This quote is from The Good Life Handbook. Based on the teachings of Epictitus.

In this episode, we explore the Craftsman Mindset from Cal Newport's So Good They Can't Ignore You. This idea flips the script on "following your passion" and emphasizes mastering skills as the key to meaningful work.

I share a powerful dream that confirmed my dedication to my path, reflect on the challenges of entrepreneurship, and discuss how honing skills—like marketing and leadership—has brought meaning to my work. We also touch on examples like Steve Jobs and finding fulfillment in any job through mastery.

If you’re questioning your path or looking for more purpose in your work, this episode is for you.

Any given situation is supposed to go the way it goes. It has nothing to do with us. When we put expectations on things, it causes disappointment. Once we realize this and try to detach from the outcomes, our minds can find more peace. Doesn't mean we can't do our best to get the outcomes we want, but in the end, it isn't up to us.

We humans seem to love comparing ourselves to others. The only person we should be comparing ourselves to is who we were yesterday. Are you moving forward? Can you do better? Someone is always going to have it better or worse than you, but it doesn’t change your circumstances.

We know that anything we do has the potential to not go the way we intended. It often catches us off guard and negative emotions can come from it. One thing the stoics teach us is to take some time to acknowledge that things can go wrong. Rehearse the possible outcomes in your mind, then if these things do happen you’ll be more equipped to stay calm and not let your emotions get ahead of you.

There's a phrase that says you are the sum of the five people you spend the most time with. I'm not sure how true this is, but I know there is a lot of power in being around people. Putting yourself around people that are further along than you can have a huge effect on helping you progress.

When I'm having trouble creating, I use this technique and it works every time.

Just start. Sometimes you’ll have to force yourself to do it—make anything without worry, just to get moving forward. The longer you go, the more momentum you build.

Every now and then, you’ll discover something that feeds the fire. Keep exploring, keep making. Eventually, it’ll feel like it’s flowing on its own. From there, all you have to do is maintain it.

Bus and Kub have a discussion about mental toughness, how it can help in personal growth and how it can help overcome adversity.

January of 2025 marks 10 years of the current version of Machine—I say current only because I started Machine in 2002 as a motion graphics business then transitioned into what we have now in 2015. It’s been quite a ride so far, but it still feels like we haven’t even started yet.

In 2015, it was mainly a one man show. I lived in the back of the shop with my four dogs. No heat, air, hot water, kitchen, shower, or any of the creature comforts we’re used to. I cooked on a hot plate and showered at the YMCA. I was all in on the vision, but it wasn’t a clear vision at all.

I just wanted to do something positive for the graff culture by opening a place for writers to gather, blackbook, attend art shows, etc. Over time, it developed into what you see now. Lots of ups and downs and a huge amount of great memories.

Thank you to everyone who has been a part of this. Team members, customers, supporters, collaborators, everyone. We have a long way to go.

— Bus

P.S. Rest in peace Kub, Herbie, Hooper, and Shortie. I think about you all the time.

The line between order and chaos is very thin. There is no avoiding chaos. In fact, the more you try to avoid it, the less prepared you will be when it comes. Making everything safe may not be making us safe. It may be leaving us very unprepared and not mentally tough enough to overcome adversity. Enjoy the times of order, but prepare for chaos every day.

Negative thoughts have a way of derailing even the best of moods, but these thoughts can be a trigger to shift your mind into positive action.

Check out the book discussed in this episode Relentless Solution Focus:
https://www.amazon.com/Relentless-Solution-Focus-Pressure-Underperformance/dp/1260460118

If I woke up one day, and there was litterly nothing to worry about—business is running perfectly, no problems to solve at all—I think that would be much more conerning than how life normally is. There's always a problem to solve, always some adversity to get passed.

If everything was good and there were none of those things to deal with, I would imagine I'm not pushing hard enough. I think it's an Ali quote that says "If you're always winning, then you're not fighting tough enough opponents." If shit isn't hard, maybe we need to step up our game.

Find Bus on various platforms linked here:
https://bus.graffitimachine.com/

FULL TRANSCRIPT

0:00  
This idea has come up in my head quite a bit over the years, you know, you're dealing with some shit in your life, what, in any aspect of your life, and you have this thought, that's kind of like, man, everything's gonna be so much better once this is over this is done or once I finish this or overcome this, whatever that is, and then you get that relief. And then there's something else right after there's like always something to worry about, there's always something to be concerned about, or something like that. So lately, I had this, I experienced that. And it just sort of reminded me of it. So it sparked me in to kind of try to think about how to talk about it, and how to deal with this kind of thing. And so, one couple of examples that I'll give, and this is what sparked this, this whole idea was, for about six weeks, I was dealing with some permit issues at my business, and it was not anything that we did, the building manager, or previous tenant had changed the plans before the fuck before we got there. So when the fire inspector came, he sort of popped into our business one day, and he was like, Hey, your floor plan isn't the same, you guys aren't supposed to be operating. 

1:13  
And it's like, holy shit, we'd already been like, completely up and running, you know, like, all these printing machines and all this staff and fucking spray paint all this stuff. So it was like, really stressful to have that happen. And just like, I don't know, free for those that have businesses, you'll understand. I don't know, I guess anybody will understand this. But it's like, it often feels like running a business is like the most fucking fragile as the best word I can think of, like shit ever. Like they're like one thing can happen. That could sort of derail a whole bunch of things. Like I remember, in 2020 Everybody was buying up all the bottles for hand sanitizer and shit. So it was like a year and a half or something. We just couldn't get the bottles for drip machines. And we kept trying to get other things. So we had this popular product, and literally no way to sell it. And it was just like, Fuck, man, like something like that can happen. So anyway, so this kind of shit stresses me out just knowing that this stuff can happen. So when, when this happened, I was like, fuck, man, what's going to happen? So we're kind of like operating a little weird, like, the door was shut, but we were in there kind of situation. But at any minute, like the city could come and say, you know, you got to send all these people home all this shit. Anyway, that stuff all ended up getting resolved took about six weeks. And it was on my mind all the fucking time for that whole six weeks, like I wasn't sleeping well. And it was just stressing me out. I was just like, what's going to happen? 

2:48  
How is this going to affect our business? Like, are we going to they were even he was even like saying stuff about the spray paint like you can't have this in here. So I was like, Fuck man, we've been selling spray paint since 2015. Like we're not going to be able to do that anymore. Anyway, was just like this big thing. And so it was really stressing me out quite a bit. And some of the kind of lessons and action steps I'm going to talk about later. Like I completely forgot all about it had I thought about these things I probably would have had an easier time. So what got me thinking along the lines of You know, once you get over one thing, something else pops up. So I remember I was thinking I'm like man, it's just going to be such a relief when this is done. We're going to be just back open and backup you know, everything's going good everything's done you know, I had all these plans and now we're putting those into motion but literally the day that I had relief like I was so relieved and then this should happen at at the studio and it wasn't like a huge deal but it was like kind of going back to that thing I was talking about how how sort of business is this kind of like weird balance thing where sometimes just a little thing can just disrupt the whole ship. And so for the last several years I've been working towards scaling my business with systems and getting the right people in place in order so I don't have to actually be there to do this stuff. 

4:13  
So now I don't have to I don't have to print stickers I don't have to do any of the day to day well I have to do very very little of the day to day like outside of ordering product and helping lead the team and having meetings and stuff I don't have to actually go in and print stickers and Phil product all that stuff so this was like a long time coming to get to the point where i i could do this and now I can focus on actually like big vision shit like scaling the business and helping refine systems and marketing and doing all this kind of stuff to actually grow the business. It's hard to do all that stuff when you're printing stickers are doing this in the business type shit. So I'm feeling good that I'm I'm at that point. But that's where this sort of like, kind of delicate balance of shit happens. Like, if something is something happens, then it might end up sending me back into that in the business thing. So we had this, like, this controversial sticker come through. And we, for the most part, we try not to try not to censor anything or do anything and no censorship is like a different issue. Like we have the right to not print whatever we want. 

5:25  
But at the same time we try to, we try to print anything that comes by, but sometimes some questionable shit happen that happened, a questionable sticker came in, and half the team was really adamant about not printing it, like we shouldn't do this. And the other half of the team was like, we shouldn't censor this or whatever. It's kind of beside the point. But anyway, it got all heated and like, it didn't get too bad. But at the same time, it was like, it was like I said, like, you never know, when sort of something is going to disrupt everything. So my brain just starts going crazy, like, you know, is everybody starting to think different things about each other, like, if the group of people that are adamant about not doing it Are they are they all going to kind of team up and leave and all this kind of stuff? Anyway, I was just blown it out of proportion. But that's what got me thinking about this and got me thinking, like, reminded me of, you know, life is just a series of problems to solve. And that's not all of life, but it's a big, it's a big part of life, you know, you're always having situations and scenarios that you have to find solutions to. 

6:37  
And a lot of times, they're stressful and, and that stress, you know, in the it's a form of adversity, obviously, all these kinds of issues. And, you know, I understand people go through all kinds of crazy shit, you know, like, on top of that, like after the, everything's kind of resolved, and everybody kind of, we found like, a good way forward. And everybody seems pretty chill. But then my dog had an episode, he's a really old dog. He's like, 20, something years old. He'd never had this happen, but like, I guess he he fell over, Jesse was home, he tipped over and kind of lost consciousness for for a few seconds. And he's got a heart condition. And again, he's really old. So I took him to the vet. And they, they were like, they were like talking about putting them down, like right then and there. But I was like, Wait a second, like, I've been down that road, like, I'm not going to keep a dog around living

7:37  
a terrible existence, just to make myself feel better. I don't do that, you know, if I feel like the dogs ready to go, and they're given me signs, you know, as hard is it as it is like, that's the path I want to go. But this vet was rushing it, they didn't really take any time to look at him. They didn't take any do any tests or anything, it was just pretty much strictly based on what we said. And so, you know, obviously, that that's, that's, that's not an easy thing to deal with. He's he's doing way better. He's still really old. So I don't know, we're gonna have to deal with this. Soon, you know, at some point, but anyway, so it was just like another thing. And what I was saying, as I keep getting sidetracked, I understand, like, different people's levels of adversity, obviously, these these are in comparison to a lot of different people. These are small, small issues, but that's just what, what I'm handling at the current time. So it got me thinking, and this, this whole thing is what got me thinking about this, this whole topic. And so I started thinking deeply about it, doing some research and kind of refreshing my memory about a lot of things. And it's like, obviously, your life is going to be full of stresses and all this kind of stuff, especially if you're trying to do all kinds of different things. And you know, you're going to be hit with all kinds of different adversities. In life. 

9:03  
I mean, that's just life in general. So I was thinking about it that, you know, I've heard people tell stories about people that, you know, they're really successful. And then they lost it all in this story is kind of like, oh, well, this thing happened. And then, you know, I really never really recovered from from this bad deal or something like that. And then you know, this happened. And then it's like a series of things happen. And every time that happens, it's sort of chips a little bit away from them, until eventually they kind of feel like they can't get back. They can't get back on track. I've heard this before. And so it got me thinking about the concept of of adversity. And the idea that it could go one or one way or the other, you know, you can allow adversity to tear you down. Or you can actually, you know, utilize it as a form of building yourself up you cuz if you think about it every single time you overcome something, I feel like you get a little bit, you make another deposit in that, like mental toughness bank account, you know what I mean? 

10:12  
So you're kind of like, every time you overcome something, even if it's small, I feel like you gain a little bit of something. And so it almost seems like that's just a perspective that you have to have in your mind, in order to not let it tear you down. I mean, I'm sure there's stuff that's outside of people's control that, that's going to lead to some kind of breakdown in your mind to where maybe you don't have a choice, I don't know, I think you do have a choice. But I'm just speculating, I think you have a choice to make the decision that these adversities that I'm going through are actually going to be something that, that gives me strength, even though it sucks. Once I get on the other side of it, I'm going to be stronger, I'm going to have more knowledge, I'm going to know that I overcame something, I'm going to feel like I won. All of those kinds of things, I feel like that's just a perspective shift that you can have in your mind, almost no matter what it is you go through, and I try to, I don't know, maybe I don't need to say this, but I understand there's some really terrible shit, you know, that I've never gone through. 

11:17  
So I'm not trying to say that, across the board. This is just how it is. I'm just this is my perception. So in my opinion, if you have that perspective shift, and you see all of these adversities as a way of building yourself up, and you're seeing that you're actually going to benefit from getting over the other side of them, I feel like that's helpful in itself, just just to help you get through it if you change that perspective in your mind, but you're also building up mental toughness. And so mental toughness, obviously is super important in life, because you need to be able to overcome shit, that's coming your way, especially if you if you believe in this idea that it's just, there's always going to be something over and over again. And so the idea is that cultivate mental toughness. And one of the ways to do that is to have this perspective shift that you're gonna benefit from this. So some of the ways that I found mental toughness to be defined, you know, I'll just go through these resilience, it's your capacity to overcome difficulties, your ability to bounce back from setbacks and things like that, there's a, there's a layer of confidence involved. 

12:27  
So if you have built up some good mental toughness, when you do go through something, you're going to have confidence that you're going to get out the other side of it, because you've overcome all these things, and you've gained that strength along the way, then there's determination, you know, you're determined to make it through the other side, you're not going to give up you're going to keep pushing through whatever it is, no matter how hard it is, you're going to just keep pushing, there's focus, the ability to, you know, to focus on the task at hand that are the series of tasks that are required to get you on to get you through whatever it is that you're going through, there's control the ability to maintain emotional control. And that's, in my opinion, at least for me, that's one of the hardest things to do. And that's kind of what I was dealing with, when all this shit was happening with the business. I was I was having a lot of trouble maintaining control over my stress levels, you know, some I was allowing my emotions and my What if kind of scenarios to take over. So I was losing, losing control over that stuff. And then another thing is optimism, like maintaining a positive attitude, that you're gonna get through it. And so I kind of had that. So I remember having a meeting with my team when this first happened. 

13:42  
And, and I was very confident in telling them, like, look, we're going to get through this, you know, regardless of what happens, like, no matter what happens, we're going to find a way, we're going to find a way to make this work. Like I had already started putting plans in place and all this sort of shit for all these different potential scenarios. And so I was often optimistic that that we were going to get through it. So that was, I feel like I feel like over over the years of operating a business and and that's just sort of like par for the course, like you're just always going to have to clean up messes and always going to have to deal with things. So since 2002, I've been running my own businesses, so I've been dealing with all this shit for quite a long time. So I feel like every single time I overcame something that was building all that shit up so that's all these kinds of like mental toughness definitions or or whatever you want to call those. Like dealing with all that stuff over and over again, I felt like it gave me enough to push through like I'm not gonna give up even though I'm fucking stressed the fuck out so. So in my research, I also came across something called cognitive reframing. I'm pretty sure I've talked about this or some aspects of these and it's just about changing your perspective on the situation. And one of the,

15:06  
obviously, what I just talked about is like, it's definitely a perspective shift. So if you're getting hit one after the other of shit, you overcome something, and then something comes along and you feel like you can't catch a break, which I don't like that term. I mean, you feel like, let's, let's not use that can't catch a break, that's kind of like a victim sounding term, but you just feel like shit, man, I just want to, I just want a little bit of time between these things, like, let me get a little bit of rest between the shit and you're getting hit one after the other. The the idea of cognitive reframing, it fits into what I was talking about earlier. So instead of allowing that, those adversities to break you down, you can reframe it and think like, alright, that's, this is another another opportunity for me to overcome something, this is another opportunity for me to learn some new skills to develop my, my my resilience and be able to push through this and then I know I'm going to come out the other side stronger, like that's a, that's totally a perspective shift and reframing the situation, you know, that I that I find incredibly helpful, as soon as I can kind of get that perspective at least gives me a little bit of a break until my brain runs through so many what if scenarios that that I have a hard time, you know, I have to kind of push that reframing back in into the front. 

16:26  
And so another, another thing, and I had completely forgot all about this, I learned it from Marcus Aurelius, Andersen, and he was talking about being grateful for the hardships. And I remember, a lot of times when I was really stressed out, I have this, this thing I do in the morning, and I do this every day. So I get up in the morning, and I have a half gallon water bottle, I'll fill it up. And then I go outside and stay in the sun. And I'll drink a half of that. So like I just chug down a quarter gallon of water, I have a feeling. And I've read and heard somewhere that being in the morning sun, like different neural transmitters, fire, and it kind of makes you wake up and kind of alert your body that, you know, it's time to start the day. And I've noticed that when I was doing that, so. So when I was dealing with a lot of shit, part of that routine was I would go out there and I'd be drinking my water. And I would, I would think about all of the things that were hard, and all of the things that were stressful. And I would, I would be grateful for those things. And I would think in my mind, I'm like, I'm grateful for going through this because I know I'm gonna learn, you know, different things. And I know, I'm gonna, I know, I'm gonna push through this, and I'm gonna get stronger on the other side. 

17:43  
So being grateful for the adversity is a really great way of reframing the situation's you're going through. I know a lot of people talk about gratitude all the time. And it's kind of a, it's a little bit cliche sounding. And it's kind of like a buzzword these days. But I don't know that that's the kind of gratitude, they're talking about being grateful for the shit, for the stuff that sucks. I don't know, it's something interesting happens, like when I'm out there, and I'm doing that. And I really am not just going through the motions, like I can actually find a way to be grateful for it and actually feel that gratitude. It makes me feel way better, like way, way better about the scenario. So that's one of the best things that I've found to be able to deal with this kind of shit. So the other thing, and I haven't been doing this very much lately, and I need to, I need to get back into it. So all of this stuff, sort of sparking these kind of like old tools that I that I kind of forgot about. But you know, and some of these may sound kind of silly, because we're talking about building up mental toughness, which is like a big deal thing. 

18:48  
And it's something that's going to over help you overcome shit when I when I lift list off some shit, and may seem like small stuff, but the reason and I think everybody knows I'm not a fucking neuroscience, neuroscientist and all this shit, but what I've read about all this kind of stuff, and just what I feel like I've experienced myself like the brain is very adaptable. You know, there's like the neuroplasticity. So the more you expose yourself to certain things, certain knowledge, certain scenarios, your brain rewires ship in order to be able to either do those things better or overcome that shit and all that kind of stuff. So these little exercises in order to try to force yourself to build up mental toughness, I find incredibly helpful and I feel like I've kind of fallen off of doing those things. So I'm going to start doing that shit again, but a couple of like really simple things. One is take a really cold shower, and I've talked about it before but but it really is like such a good practice because unless you're like somebody that is not bothered by Super Cold water. 

20:01  
You know, if you set a timer on your phone, for example, like for five minutes and say, I'm going to take a five minute cold shower, and I can't get out of here until that timer goes off. For most of us, me included, especially like in the wintertime, in the wintertime when the water is cold as fuck. All I want to do is get out of there like it's, it's really, really uncomfortable. And so every minute that you stay in there, and then especially when you stay in there until the buzzer goes off, don't you think you're building up some kind of resilience, you're building up some kind of some kind of skills, you're getting reps in and not quitting? You know, it's a small thing, it's like five minutes of your life. If you do that regularly. Some people do cold plunges, like I might want to try that sometime. It's very popular these days, but cold showers. I feel like it's definitely worthwhile. So you're gonna build up some kind of mental toughness. And this isn't about like, you take one shower, and then all of a sudden, you can fucking overcome anything. It's just about getting the reps in and doing these kinds of things over and over again, other small things like choosing harder options, and all these different kinds of scenarios. So a couple of really easy examples, just stop taking elevators like take the stairs. I don't really take elevators that much anymore. 

21:27  
Well, I guess I do. But I know Jesse and I we like to take the stairs when it's when it's an option. I almost feel like that one's not even very good. But I guess just to different people. It probably is. I mean, it's just about, you know, like you could park far away or something like that. Or you could do you could do a work, you could do your workouts and like the most unfavorable conditions like so, you know, maybe it's hot outside, you know, be safe about it and everything, but I don't know, kind of struggling coming up with these. I had some some written down, I don't know, try to think of ways to take the hard way. You know what I mean? talk yourself into it. And I think for me, also, you know, talking myself out of eating certain things and talking myself into doing my workouts and do it, especially doing my workouts when I really don't want to, like this morning. This morning, I was going to do my my kettlebell thing. And, you know, it's like 45 minutes long, it's kind of intense. And I was putting it off until I was sort of at a time like I was either going to do it or I wasn't going to do it because I had to get to the I had to get to work so so I ended up doing it. And like the whole time I was like, I even had to talk myself out of stopping early. And so I feel like I probably all of those kinds of things are are contributing to it, to building up mental toughness. So a large part of life is just overcoming, you know, a series of different problems to solve. And every time you solve something, there's going to be something else. It's almost like a fucking video game. Like you get to one level, and then it gets harder and then the next level gets harder. I think life is like that. And building up mental toughness is definitely gonna be a good tool to have at your disposal

23:26  
All right. appreciate each and every one of you guys who are supporting the cause and continue to spread the love and yeah, stay up

This episode gets into some concepts from Stoic philosophy about there being an order to the universe and other potentially interesting shit.

Find Bus on various platforms linked here:
https://bus.graffitimachine.com/

Marcus shares deep informaiton on what adversity is and how we can benifit from it. The stories and knowlege he drops on this episode will be helpful in any aspect of life and weill help you reframe what adversity is and what it can do for you.

His book The Gift of Adversity
https://www.amazon.com/Gift-Adversity-Overcoming-Paralysis-Purpose/dp/1978225547

TedX Talk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXicUawrH6o&t=10s

Acta Non Verba Podcast
Apple:
https://open.spotify.com/show/1B0gkbZbEI7Htnl69sFlq2
Spotify
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/acta-non-verba/id1531794099?i=1000491248880

If you make a commitment to do something, then break that agreement with yourself, it's a bigger deal than it may seem. One compromise—even a small one—often leads to more and bigger compromises. Before you know it, things can be out of control and it started with one little compromise.

In this episode, we talk about the force known as resistance; it comes in many forms and keeps us from doing what we need to do. Whether it is doing more art, getting in shape, or starting an important project, resistance always seems to be waiting to fuck us up.

Check out the book The War of Art by Steven Pressfield to get a more in depth view on the subject.

Also have a listen to Andy Frisella and Ben Newman talking about winning the day on the Real AF podcast:
https://andyfrisella.com/blogs/realaf-podcast/15-win-the-day-ft-ben-newman

The concept of accepting the things outside of our control is a simple, but powerful concept that I find really helpful when shit gets tough. Simple, but not easy to impliment.

The idea of don't break the streak or don't break the chain is a simple but powerful concept. It's about creating a streak of wins. If you're trying to build a skill, or form a habit that will benefit from daily activity, every day you complete that activity is another link in the chain. The longer it gets, the more motivated you'll be to not break it.

With art existing for tens of thousands of years and our version of Graffiti being around for a half century, how realistic is it that we are creating something that has never been done? Are we all biters in some way or another, or is it just influence and natural progression?

There is a balance between urgency and patience when it comes to working towards your own true potential. Urgency keeps you motivated until things take longer than you expected. That's where patience comes in. Losing patience can sap motivation and you'll lose your urgency. Balancing the two can be the answer to maintaining forward momentum.

I came in a little hot on this one, but this is getting out of control. Have you ever thought about how much money is being made off of people being fat, sick and lazy?

We're programmed from a very young age to desire terrible ‘food’. Look at the messaging on sugar and chemical filled cereals, kids menus, sugary drinks, etc. and this carries over into our adult lives.

Then we start having health issues and in come the medications, diet fads and offers to make you 'healthy' without doing the work. We need to get out of this cycle and stop making billions, even trillions of dollars for these predatory industries. It’s simple, but not easy to do. Nobody is going to do the work for you.

Bus and Kub discuss loyalty in graffiti culture.

Bus and Kub have a conversation about the Us vs. Them mentality.

We all know it takes effort to change ourselves. The further away you get from your old ways, the easier it is to resist the urges that may be pulling you back. What is interesting is, when you do say "fuck it" and revert back to old behavior even for a moment, it can take a large amount of willpower to get back on the path.

A lot of us find ourselves stuck waiting to be motivated, inspired, or somehow  pushed into action. Rather than waiting, you can create this motivation by building momentum.

Establishing core values is a fairly common thing in the business world. It’s a vital tool in creating and maintaining a strong company culture. Less common is establishing them for your own personal life. We all have them to a certain degree, but few of us have them written down and revisit them often.

Some people use the shopping cart analogy. Putting the shopping cart away or leaving it next to your car when you’re done is a reflection of your core values. If you’re the type of person that always puts it away, this kind of behavior will more than likely be present in other parts of your life. If you’re the person that leaves it for someone else to deal with, it’s most definitely not the only place you do this.

Bus Links
Instagram: http://instagram.com/bus166
Writing: https://bus166.substack.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/bus166msk

Bus and Kub sit down with Roger Gastman. Roger is the creator of Beyond the Streets along with many other projects including magazines, books and films.

We are the only ones with the power to divide us.

Bus and Kub discuss social media's affect on humans and graffiti culture. We also touch on choosing to give a fuck.

Bus and Kub answer a listener's question about a conflict that leads to a conversation about beef in graffiti culture.

As graffiti writers, we are faced with a lot of decisions that could have both positive and negative affects on the rest of our lives. The goal of this episode it to shine some light on some of the common decisions most of us have to make in an effort to get people thinking about these decisions before making them.

Bus and Kub discuss the our thoughts on people starting graffiti at an older age and those that put the can down and try to get back into it after some years.

Believing in the outcome can be a huge factor in accomplishing your goals. This can go in both directions; you can believe in the positive to help achieve those results, or you can believe in negative results that will hold you back.

An interesting concept to ponder is our identity. If asked who we are, we might respond with our name, occupation, hobby, or another label we've chosen to identify ourselves with. However, in reality, none of these things truly represent us. Some argue that even the voice in our heads isn't truly us; rather, we are the listener to that voice.

With all the negativity in the world, we decided to make Wednesdays the official Don't be a Dick day. Listen to the episode for details and check out our Instagram @machinestudio to get involved.

If you find yourself in a situation where someone consistently breaks promises, misses appointments, or shows up late, it's natural to begin questioning the value of their word. This is a common experience that many of us have had.

What's even more intriguing to think about is that if you fail to keep your own promises to yourself, your own mind may begin to perceive you in a similar light. When you repeatedly break commitments you make to yourself, it becomes easier to evade self-accountability.

Sometimes it takes just one more effort for everything to change. Many people have experienced struggles, only to have one moment, meeting, phone call, or social media post transform their lives. With this in mind, the more attempts you make, the greater your chances for success. It might be the thousandth try that succeeds, but it took the 999 failures or misses to get there.

These episodes along with other content are now on YouTube if you want to check out video versions.

https://www.youtube.com/@busmsk

We have a phrase in graffiti that goes “Don’t burn the spot”. It’s one of the unwritten rules of the game. In general it’s meant to keep people from fucking up things for other people. What if we applied this thinking to other aspects of our lives? Treating little things that we may not think they matter as if they do.

This is a common phrase at the moment, but how does it work? Bus talks about recent concepts that came up during failures and learning from them. Mental health, physical health, business and relationships are connected and slipping in one area usually means you're slipping in others.

Check out Andy Frisella's podcast episode on 75 Hard here:
https://andyfrisella.com/blogs/realaf-podcast/14-75hard-a-tactical-guide-to-winning-the-war-with-yourself

Here are links to the books mentioned in this episode:

75 Hard
https://andyfrisella.com/products/75-hard-a-tactical-guide-to-winning-the-war-with-yourself

How to Make Shit Happen
https://www.amazon.com/How-Make-Sh-Happen-relationships/dp/1984268945

Bus and Kub discuss an idea called Sharpen the Saw and relate it to graffiti; the concept is a metaphor for self development.

I heard that most of what we do is forgotten. A lot of the day-to-day life stuff comes and goes, and the memories are lost. Do we do something about that? Do we try to create more memorable experiences, or does the fact that a lot of stuff is forgotten make the things you do remember that much more impactful?