You Don't Need a Roadmap—You Need to Move

In this stream-of-consciousness solo episode, Jermaine explores a lifelong belief: that he can do anything—and why so many people feel the opposite. From confronting low expectations in high school to dismantling toxic definitions of manhood, Jermaine speaks on the freedom that comes from not caring what people think and choosing to create anyway. He shares raw insights on procrastination, imposter syndrome, and the hidden fears that keep creatives stuck. If you're tired of fear-based goals and ready for a content reset, this one's for you.

👥 Want to book a clarity session or join the December Content Reset?
 Check out available spots here: stan.store/CoachJermaine

📩 Questions or collab inquiries?
 Reach out: jermaine@radiantreflection.best

Chapters

• 0:00 Setting The Stage
• 0:28 Breaking Out Of Boxes
• 2:46 Media Narratives And Identity
• 3:58 Letting Go Of Others’ Opinions
• 5:14 Fear Versus Abundance
• 7:14 Success Despite Anxiety
• 8:58 Reframing Negativity
• 10:23 Desire, Belief, Action
• 12:13 Start Messy And Learn
• 14:18 Resetting Stuck Data
• 16:10 Networking Without The Ick

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:06

Welcome, welcome back to another episode of Uploaded Unfiltered. Today is going to be a story time day. I just feel like consciousness coming out of my mouth, talking about just things I've been thinking about lately and uh capturing it for you to listen to. So sit back, relax if you need water. Got mine right here. And uh let's get started. So, one thing I've been thinking about lately is how odd it is to me that most people don't believe that they're capable of anything. This thought has sat with me since childhood. I can't remember when it was, but the thought that I was able to do anything was just always part of my thinking. Now, my parents didn't explicitly tell me that I was capable of anything. It didn't say I couldn't do anything, not that I remembered, but even if they did, I think that thought was so strong in my head, it didn't matter who told me that I couldn't do something, I was going to do it. For example, and this is not even an example of I could do anything, but an example of the boxes that society attempted to put me in, and I just refused to be put in the box. When I was in high school, graduating, about to go off to college, I remember seeing, I believe it was my old English teacher at that point, say, Oh, you made it, congratulations. Like, I'm like, what the fuck does that mean? But I'm like, ah, thanks, yeah, graduation. So, what's what are you gonna do after high school? Not which college you're going to. What are you gonna do after high school? I was like, uh I'm going to UCF. And blah, blah, blah. I just said I'm going to UCF. She's like, Oh, are you going to play football there? First and foremost, I have never played football in high school. I was a basketball player. There's no way I was gonna play football. I'm not trying to damage, but anyways. And second of all, she just assumed that I was going to college to play sports, which right now wouldn't irk me. I could care less. That's more of a sign of her thought process than mine. Wasn't thinking at the time. I was. And I was like, no, I'm going on a scholarship. I was like top 10% of this damn school. What are you talking about? Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend. It's probably true. But the fact that that was her first thought it just reiterated how society sees us, and a lot of that comes from the way we're depicted in the media, the way we're depicted in movies, TV shows, music, all of it. And that's why I created Radiant Reflection, because I want our content to reflect what's inside us, what makes us move, what makes us tick. And along that same thought, I was thinking about on my way back from Costco today, that I have carved out a reality that does not have me in a box. The things that people say, oh, this is what makes a man, like most of them are toxic as fuck. Most of them I don't align with. And then when I realize I don't need to fit some description of what a man is to appease others, because I'm not living life for those people, I'm living life for me. And truly and genuinely, the thoughts of other people about what they feel about me just wash over me. Like it's just their thoughts, it's just their feelings, it's just showing me what they think and how they view the world, and that's good information, and I take it as that. I don't take it as a character flaw, I don't take it as an insult or something that's supposed to get me riled up. I just see, okay, that's how you see the world. Good to know. Time to avoid you. But I think we sometimes we don't realize it, but a lot of us care too much about what other people think about us. A lot. A lot of our decisions are based in fear, and with fear being the basis of your decision making, there's no room for there's little room for happiness and excitement and fulfillment when you're constantly anxious about doing something because you're in fear of what happens if you don't have it. That is a strong hold, fear that ha that fear has a strong hold on people, and it's it seems hard to let go, to untach from that fear, start making decisions from a place of abundance, a place of happiness, a place of exploration, a place of enlightenment. Like start making decisions in that regard, if that's the basis of which you make decisions, then you start to see your life unfold in front of you in a way that you didn't think was possible. But that goes back to my first point. You are capable of anything you put your mind to. Like nobody can tell me otherwise. For some reason, we think that our downfall or negative traits or our situation, we think they're unique, and we think that nobody else in the world has ever gone through this. And our reason I say that is because there are so many stories of successful people coming from nothing. Also, there are so many successful people who still suffer from anxiety, who still suffer from depression, who still suffer from imposter syndrome, who still doubt their skills, even after making it to the level that they've made it to. And what that tells me is that if right now you're allowing anxiousness or imposter syndrome, or you're just procrastinating, if you're allowing that to stop you from achieving your goal, you think getting rid of it is what's going to cause you to be successful. But from the looks of it, they've made it in spite of being anxious. So it's not, oh, I'm too anxious or I'm I'm procrastinating too much, I'm never gonna hit my goal. If you think that, then yeah, you're not gonna hit your goal. Those are examples of it's possible to hit your goal, even if you have these feelings swimming around in your head. But why go through that if you can find a way to rewrite that data that's telling you that showing up and creating content is not for me or is dangerous, or I'm worried about what people are gonna think about me. Like if you can get past worrying about people who have not the best interests at heart for you, if you realize they are there to antagonize you, they're there to keep you where you're at. That's all negativity is to keep you where I'm at. I'm down here, I want you to stay down here with me. You need to find a way to deflect that negativity or don't even view it as negativity. Just view it as that person showing you what the true colors are. So without that anxiety, without that pressure, without that fear-based goal setting, what are you left with? You're left with the ability and the energy to create what you want, to create what's been swimming around your head. The thing that sparked that desire to open up a camera and start filming yourself, set up a whole computer system and a game system and game capture and a microphone and a camera and went live stream to whoever decided to show up. That's what you're left with. And you're left with no more roadblock. Now, will roadblock show up? Yes, but in order to be successful in the anything, I feel like it boils down to this. You need to have a desire for it, it has to be something that you genuinely want to do and sparks enthusiasm in you and happiness and excitement. If there's something like that in your life and you want to do it, that's one factor that you need to actually achieve it. Other one is you need to believe that you can achieve it. If you don't believe you can achieve it, it's going to be that much harder and it's going to be that more strenuous to reach that goal. Like, why would you think about something? Like, this is what this is my thoughts. If you think about something that you desire, and then you immediately think of all the reasons in the world why you can't have it, you are torturing yourself. I think of stuff that I want, like I want a Nintendo Switch 2. I don't think about how I'm not spending money right now, or I shouldn't, or I get I don't have anything I could sell, or I don't have one right now. I'm not thinking about that shit. I'm thinking about what I'm gonna do when I get it. Because I'm going to get it. Like that's inevitable. It's gonna happen. When? I don't know. How? I don't know, but I don't give a fuck. Like I don't care. So again, part of it is neglecting that negativity, being passionate, believing that you can do it, and then the last step is just to fucking do it. Start doing it. The one reason that keeps content creators stuck is fear of insert everything here. The second one is not having a roadmap toward your destination. I could think of like two or three things that I did not start because I had no idea how to start. Or not even that. I didn't have a full L A, B, C, D, E, here you go. I didn't have that, so I did I there was too much fear involved for me. I was like, oh, I don't know what to do, I don't want to mess up, I don't want to waste time, I don't want to waste money. And that's gonna keep you stuck where you're at. There is nothing wrong with attempting to do something and failing at it and learning from that lesson and attempting to do something again. There's nothing wrong with that. That's what most people do. That's what most successful, that's how they got successful. They kept doing it and doing it and doing it and doing it. I feel like some people believe that if you don't have a natural talent for whatever thing you're attempting to do, that you don't deserve to be doing that thing, and that's bullshit. Everything could be learned because you can do anything you put your mind to. Simple as that. Just like you can stop yourself from doing things that you really want to do, you know you should be making that video, but you're procrastinating is because your mind, for some reason, there's something associated with being public or being public-facing that your mind's like, that's dangerous, I don't want to do that shit. And then the procrastination comes up as you stopping your flow that you were in. And then because you feel guilty about it, you don't get right back to it. That's how strong our mind is. We think about something, if we flash this hint of we don't want to do this, it's like, bet, got you. Anxiety, imposter syndrome, procrastination, boom, boom, you don't even got to think about that shit. It just happened. The same thing happens once you start stop worrying about things you don't want and start worrying, start thinking about the things you do want. Once you start doing that, once you look at going live as something that's exciting, something that you want to do, that you're gonna get enjoyment from, your brain is gonna be like, oh, okay, boom, boom, boom, here's some energy. So you can be on top of that. Oh, here's an idea that you could do during a stream. Oh, who here this is what you can do if this happens. It starts formulating a plan, giving you energy and actions to do what I think that you're showing joy for. It's that simple. So while having a plan is amazing, for most of the things that we're attempting to do, especially if you are making content, make the content. Start messy. Stop equating messy and failing and low numbers. Stop equating that to I don't belong here, or this isn't for me, or I'm a failure. Those things are what are keeping you where you're at because you believe that if you don't hit it off the park on the first time, that you don't deserve it. And that's fucking bullshit. Stop putting so much pressure on yourself. Don't worry, there are people in the world who love to put pressure on you. Let them do their job. Your job is not to put pressure on yourself, your job is to create an environment that's nourishing, encouraging, and gives you the energy to do what you need to do to achieve your goal. And that's what I do. Like I figured out a way to instill that new data into whoever is willing to go through the process. You tell me what your stuckness is, I ask a few questions, I make sure that I understand it. I give you a better intention for your mind to mull over and go over and over again, something that is more beneficial than, oh, I've been doing this for six years and I haven't made it yet. I should stop. That's not it. If you if do you want if your goal is to be a successful content creator, that thought is not gonna help at all. So in December, I'm gonna be doing something called a December content reset. I'm getting information and I'm building a list right now for those who want to see what that looks like, who are interested in resetting some old stuck data that is causing them to procrastinate on things they want to do. When you sit down and think about it, because we don't think about the things that we are doing enough. Because when you start thinking about it, once you bring it into the light, that shit can't hide anymore. It just doesn't make sense. Then you start thinking, okay, how do I fix it? Like as consistent as I am, I can be more consistent. And when you start asking yourself those hard questions, like, why am I not creating content? Why don't I have numbers? You come up with an answer, oh, because I'm not networking enough. And if the word networking sends shivers down your spine, then you need to come talk to me. Or you need to rewrite what the definition of networking means in your brain. All the emotions and past situations attached to networking are what's fucking you up right now. So wipe that shit clean, figure out a better way of telling yourself what networking is, which here, I'll give it to you. Networking is a way for you to meet like-minded individuals who are as passionate as you are when it comes to creating content. The amount of people that I have met at various conventions for either podcasting or video games or streaming that align with my same energy is wild. Sometimes you need to get in front of people and be around people and put yourself out there to find what you're looking for. So, yeah, if you're interested in getting on that list, I'm gonna have a few spots open in December. I know December is holidays, same for me. I'm gonna be doing a lot of stuff and I don't want to be working the entire month, but I do want to take that opportunity to provide some assistance for those who want to go into the new year clean, clear, clarity, top of mind, ready to knock out whatever agenda they have set. So if that's you, hit me up. I'll have an email, or you can go to the website, but I'll have an email in the description of this podcast. You can send an email too. But other than that, thank you for listening. I appreciate you. I'm excited to see where this goes in 2026. Hell, I'm excited to see where this goes next month. I have a content plan that I'm starting to roll out. I have big thoughts and aspirations for my both all my channels. I've been posting consistently for the last like month and a half. It's been beautiful. And now I want to help others get to this level because when you get to the point where you're not worrying about your numbers, you're not worrying about what people are gonna say about your content, you're not procrastinating. When all that shit's not on your plate, creating content is so goddamn fun. It's so therapeutic, it's amazing and just energizing to see something that you thought of out and about for others to see. Yeah, it might not be exactly what you thought, but the thought of working towards that is even g exciting to me. I can't see what I can't wait to see what my editing skills are. You know what? I was gonna say in 10 years, but in 10 years, somebody else is gonna be editing my content. But other than that, if you know me content creators and get any benefit from conversations like these and others, please share the podcast with them uploaded and unfiltered. I'm on your podcast, Catcher of Choice. And uh with that, I'm gonna sign out, get this thing edited and uploaded, because I think this is like episode 124 in a row, 124 weeks in a row of a podcast. Talk about consistency. Yo, consistency is easy when you have a goddamn formula and a routine. Anyways, appreciate you. Thank you for listening. And as always, protect your mental, keep creating content, and I'll see you in the next one. Peace.