Do you believe a person can truly do anything they set their mind to?

In this episode, we explore the idea of human potential—can a person truly do anything they set their mind to, or is there a limit to what we can achieve? We dive into whether learning new skills, overcoming challenges, and pushing past limitations is possible for everyone, and what it takes to truly unlock our potential. Join us for a thought-provoking discussion on belief, growth, and the power of perseverance.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:07

Thank you for joining us today here at TK Conversations. I am TK, and today joining us, we have special guest Roosevelt.

SPEAKER_01 0:18

Thank you for having me back, TK. Um, let's get into this conversation again.

SPEAKER_00 0:24

Okay. So this is our second episode. So I guess he's gonna wind up being a regular. We'll see how many times we can get him on the show here. So, since this is our second episode, I do want to remind everyone of a couple of things. The intention behind TK Conversations is about having those uncomfortable conversations. Talking about things that people may shy away from, talking about things that make you actually think. Overall, it's about just having the conversations and taking away key points and tools that will empower you to have conversations with other people that will enable you to evolve and grow while being the best version of yourself. What do you think? Any questions before we dive in or go any further?

SPEAKER_01 1:17

No, I think that's a great way to put it. Um, you know, um, sometime in life we gotta have these challenging conversations because they help us to be able to move move forward as a people and you know and as a uh as a human race. So uh let's get into it.

SPEAKER_00 1:35

All right. With that being said, I have had several topics and questions thrown at me over the past few months. And one of the questions that came up was in the last session that I had with one of my amazing clients. And the com the question that was asked to me was, Do you believe a person can do anything? Or I can say, Do you believe a person can learn anything? is how the question was um brought up to me. Now, I will say, just being a life coach, when my client asked me that question, I automatically rephrased it back to them and asked them, Do you think that someone can learn anything? And the reason I bounced that question back on that individual because as a life coach, I'm not here to answer those questions. My goal is to get them to digging deep and really think about what that answer would be for them versus what I believe. So, with that, that's the actual question of today. Do you believe a person can learn to do anything? Andor do you believe a person can be anything? So, with that being the question, I want to bounce that off of Roosevelt and tell me your thoughts or tell me what you think.

SPEAKER_01 3:04

Initially, I'm thinking no. I think I'm gonna stand on no because um when you get deeper into certain professions, um I I you have to guess there's the IQ level that's um involved. So some people can't um they might, I I would guess they are not able to learn certain things. Um first thing comes to mind is something as simple as a doctor, a surgeon. Um, the things that they uh go through and uh their talent, I would think that some of that stuff has to go with a little bit more of a higher IQ level. That's just my opinion. Um, and you say, can people do anything? I would say no, because if we start, we get deeper into sports. Some people are just um freaks of nature, as to put if I could put it that way, or their physical attributes are totally different than the rest of the world. So, well, yeah, than the rest of the world. That's why you have fans and you have athletes. So um, I'm guessing no. But let's open it up, let's talk about it.

SPEAKER_00 4:09

Okay. So when the question came up and keeping that individual anonymous, I want to say they specifically said they asked me, do I believe a person can learn to do anything? So if I think about that question, because I can see where it can take a turn and go in many different directions. But if I start with just the basic level of, do I believe a person can learn to do anything? My answer would be yes. And I'm saying yes to start with keeping it as simple as I possibly can, and then I'll go a little deeper with it. But for example, let's say you said the surgeon. So if a person wanted to be, let's say a brain surgeon, they go to school, they go to medical school multiple years. As they're going through that process, they learn the information that they need from the books, then they go through their labs and they work on cadavers, and this is something that they're doing every single day. So that means that they're being taught exactly how to do that. Would you agree with that? That's true. Okay. Okay. So let's say that we still have we have another individual, they want to be a brain surgeon as well. They don't go to medical school. So now I'm going into the human mind. What our mind is capable of doing. If you take someone that is already a brain surgeon, and you take an individual that he meets and he tells him, Hey, I want to be a brain surgeon just like you. That brain surgeon could have that individual go into the hospital with him every single day, stand in that surgery room with him every single day, and show him how to cut open a brain.

SPEAKER_01 6:13

Okay, I see where you're going. All right, so this individual, uh, they didn't have to go through the whole all the schooling. If they were just with the surgeon every day, could they learn how to do the job? Is that the direction you're going in?

SPEAKER_00 6:26

Yes. I'm just throwing that out there, using that, going to the extreme with a brain surgeon.

SPEAKER_01 6:32

Right.

SPEAKER_00 6:32

But yes, because the thing is, is he able to learn it?

SPEAKER_01 6:37

Ah, okay. I kind of see where you're going. That makes sense. Um, I'm gonna say it's still gonna be a big challenge because I feel like IQ level uh will have to be pretty high. But at the same time, I can give I I do understand where you're going with the whole thing of um pretty much he's shadowing him every day. So he's able to see the things and go through the same steps that he's going through. So it's possible he can learn that learn that position. So you you got that one.

SPEAKER_00 7:07

Okay. So I think about it in a sense of as humans, we're taught every single thing that we know.

SPEAKER_01 7:16

Very true.

SPEAKER_00 7:17

So when I think about it from that aspect, if let's say someone that wants to be a lawyer or someone that just works at a call center, any type of profession you take on or any job that you do, you go into it and you're taught how to do it. So when you walk in the door, you may be a clean slate, you may have no idea how to perform that job, but repetition and consistency of doing it every single day teaches you exactly what you need to know in order to be able to do whatever that profession or that job is. So on a surface level, if I if that question was thrown back at me, can a person learn to do anything? I would say yes.

SPEAKER_01 8:03

Gotcha. Yeah, because at the end of the day, that's why companies have training classes and things like that to teach you how to do the job. Sometimes you don't, sometimes some individuals don't even have the uh experience, but you can always be taught how to do it.

SPEAKER_00 8:18

Yes. Yes, okay, so we're gonna take this a step further because depending on the profession, and even when you said professional sports, some people get out there like LeBron James and he can do it, he can do it at 40 years old, and then you take someone else growing up and they're like, Well, I really like LeBron James, I want to be a professional basketball player like LeBron James. We're gonna go in that, I'm gonna go in that step before I go to what I was originally gonna go to. So, with that, would you say that a person can also learn to play professional basketball and be like LeBron James?

SPEAKER_01 9:04

Yeah, a little bit, but not all the way. Uh, one thing about it is that um his stature um is a big piece of the puzzle. Uh, when you sit here and you're trying to really put it together, I think if I'm not mistaken, he's 6'9, right around 240, somewhere around there. Um, and moved and moved as smooth as he's able to move. You can't fine-tweet people that's 6'9 and that big to move like that. So that's what makes him a freak of nature. So that's why I say with some things, with the whole physical part of it, sometimes you just built for it.

SPEAKER_00 9:42

Okay. So if I'm understanding you right, please correct me if I'm wrong. If you take a young boy that idolizes LeBron James and wants to be like him and play basketball, you're saying that he cannot be taught to play.

SPEAKER_01 10:02

He can be taught how to play the game, yes. Okay. But I'm just saying, just to do the things that um LeBron's able to do. So to stand uh to clean up what I just said, I think I was a little bit off. He's 6'9, 250. So for him to be able to move that smooth and be able to shoot and drive to the hole and dunk the way he's able to dunk, some of that stuff just comes with genetics. You know, you're just built to be able to do it. And most guys that's his size is not able to do it. Um, that's what makes him, you know, one of the greatest ball players of all time.

SPEAKER_00 10:39

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 10:40

But yeah, if you say someone wanna, can someone learn how to shoot, you know, 53% from the field, or someone who can learn how to shoot, you know, uh, well, do um, you know, layups or dunks or something like that, I would say, yes, you can work on that to be able to do it. But to be um some some of these athletes, um, they stand apart for a reason.

SPEAKER_00 11:04

Okay.

unknown 11:05

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 11:07

I like how you said that. They stand apart for uh they stand apart for some reason. So what would you say that reason be? Are you saying because another individual that's his weight, his height cannot move the way that he moves?

SPEAKER_01 11:23

Correct.

SPEAKER_00 11:24

Okay. So why is that? Why would you say that is?

SPEAKER_01 11:30

Because genetically he's built to be able to do that.

unknown 11:33

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 11:35

So this is the question that I'm gonna throw at you then. Genetically, is he built to do that, or is this something that he has been doing for so many years that has basically trained his body and his mind that he is capable of doing exactly what it is that he's doing?

SPEAKER_01 11:57

There's a lot of guys out there that work hard at that size of um 6'9, 250. A lot of guys out there that size that untried it and can't really, you know, and they're not as successful as he is with it. So I was I I would not say that their work ethic was um anywhere less than his. I know his is top of the line, but I wouldn't say theirs is that that low. They they're trying to, you know, get into the league, make it happen, um, you know, be able to support their family. So they're giving it all they got. Um, so if they move a little bit slower, then they're able to they have to take a different position and be a center or be uh you know some somewhere down low where LeBron can play all five positions and play them all uh efficiently.

SPEAKER_00 12:44

Okay. So you I heard you say they may not be as successful. And the reason I'm pointing that out because I hear what you're saying, and that makes sense. But then when you said they may not be as successful, then that goes back to me now thinking again, they are capable of doing it and can do it. Now their stats and their numbers may not be exactly as LeBron James is.

SPEAKER_01 13:13

Okay. You see what I'm saying? I think this is a setup.

SPEAKER_00 13:16

But not at all, not at all. But they are still capable of doing that, and the reason I'm wording it like that is because at some point there's a lot of limiting beliefs there in an individual that can be 6'9, 250 and would like to be like him. Yeah. So there is something there mentally that automatically stops a person. And those are just our limiting beliefs of saying, no, we just cannot do that. But if we look at history and just go through time, we can see a lot of things that are said that cannot be done are being done.

SPEAKER_01 14:02

I don't know, because you know, even look at football players, you know, they're they're huge. They they move differently. You have a lot of, we have a, you know, America's obese. There's a lot of fat guys out there, but a lot of them can't run as fast as some of those linemen, or some of them can't move as quick as some of those defensive linemen. Um, some of them move a lot more swift and smooth, like an Aaron Donald. Uh, big dude, but move very nimble, very quick on his toes. Uh, you know, it's just something about certain athletes, you'd be like, okay, that's the reason why you're able to do this job because you actually stand out and you can actually do things that other people cannot do, you know. So I think that's the reason why I stand on things like that. So I'm looking at it from a football standpoint. Basketball, I got where you're going. Um, I still think not many people, if any, can do what LeBron has done at his size. But um, but if we get into football, you know, those guys are a freak of nature. Um, some of the the way, the way they're able to move and the things they're able to do.

SPEAKER_00 15:03

Okay. So let's look at football. We're gonna look at a couple of different things and then we're gonna narrow it down. So let's take football. Football has a standard, and don't get me wrong, I don't know a whole lot about sports, so I'm gonna try to phrase this as best I can. So, football has a standard. There's a certain way you throw a football as a quarterback, there's a certain way you catch it, there's a certain way that you run with the ball, or so whatever the running back does. So, with that standard over time, however long football has been going here in America, they've played it a certain way. And we're gonna take the quarterback position. The quarterback has thrown that ball a certain way all this time since football has been existing. You take one individual, let's say Patrick Mahomes, he throws that ball the same way the ball has been thrown in American football history, but then he steps into the arena and he throws it a different way. So okay, so playing football and playing baseball. Now, analytics and statistics will say you can only throw a ball this way to be successful in football. Patrick Mahomes has shown that is completely incorrect. Correct. Okay. So that's my way of saying you could be LeBron James 6'9250 and he does what he does, or I could be TK 6'9250 and still do what LeBron James does. My numbers may not be the same, but that does not mean that I cannot do what it is that he does, or take me as being Patrick Mahomes. Other individuals, and I say this, let me point this out. When Mahomes came into the league and started throwing the ball the way he was throwing it, he then revealed, yes, you can do what they have said you cannot done because it was never seen before. And then once he started doing it, you took other individuals that are in the NFL, other quarterbacks that started attempting it. And now when you look at college quarterbacks, they practice that and actually attempt that. So how do we?

SPEAKER_01 17:32

Yeah, I got where you're going. Yeah, because you know, Mahone was came into the league, he was more consistent with it, because I know there's a couple quarterbacks that have they have thrown the ball sidearm. Um if not mistaken, Stafford have uh been down that road before. But Mahone just does it consistently at a higher rate and more successful. Um, you know, I give you, I I I I do understand exactly where you're going. So what you're really saying, because I tried to move the goalpost on you, that didn't work. So what you're saying is that it's got a lot to do with mindset. Um, it's got a lot to do with what you believe to actually you can you can accomplish and do anything. Don't say you can't do it just because um of the things that I was speaking of with stature, uh with your um, yeah, with uh physical attributes.

SPEAKER_00 18:26

Okay, okay. I thanks for trying to move the goalposts. I'm I'm glad I called it and was able to keep going. Okay, so now we're gonna swing it back. So when I was in my session and that question was asked to me, I'm gonna think of it from that standpoint now. If you're sitting talking to your loved one or your kids or a parent or someone or just a friend, it doesn't matter, and you're having this conversation, and this individual wants to do something in life or wants to be something in life, but their perception of themselves, they immediately think, I'm not able to do that. So therefore, now I cannot do that. So when thinking of it like that, whatever it may be, whatever that individual wanted to do, do you think, we're gonna go back to that question, do you think that a person can learn to do anything and be successful at it?

SPEAKER_01 19:35

I would say yes, I I got where you're going, yes. Um, but now I'm gonna throw something back on you. Um so this surgeon, would you be comfortable walking into a doctor's office with no degrees on the wall, uh, no studies, but he just tells you that hey, I work right next to my father for the last 15, 20 years, and I know exactly how to cut you open and go in. And take care of this procedure. Would you be comfortable letting him move forward? So or would you say to yourself, from an IQ level, I don't know if this guy knows everything he needs to know?

SPEAKER_00 20:17

I am going to say, and you are going to think that this is crazy. So I'ma say it and then I'ma explain to everyone why why I am saying this. So the TK conversation uh audience don't be like, has TK lost her mind? I am going to say yes. I am okay. Like me.

SPEAKER_01 20:39

I need some degrees on the law.

SPEAKER_00 20:41

And let me tell you why. You take a guy that's been a surgeon for umpteen years, and his son has been on the side of him, watching his dad, and his dad has been teaching him for 20 plus years how to do exactly what he has done, but he did not go to school for it. He has a lot of knowledge, and he would be to me, would be able to perform that job. The reason that I say yes is because you can take an individual that can go to college, go to medical school. We know there's doctors out there that got D's. If you can go to college, all you have to see what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_01 21:20

If you can get in broke out there, yes, got degrees.

SPEAKER_00 21:24

I got where you're going. Yes. If they can pass the courses, if they get help along the way, they push themselves all the way through college. Let me throw another caveat at you. Say there's a doctor, a family full of doctors. And the rule in the family is that you automatically be a doctor. They're gonna get into medical school, they're gonna fly by the seat of their pants, they're gonna come out, and they could come out and be in that surgery room to perform surgery and don't have a clue about what's going on.

SPEAKER_01 21:54

Yeah. But they're not just somebody gotta see somebody's transcripts now. I gotta make sure they um, you know, my doctor uh didn't get uh C's just to get through.

SPEAKER_00 22:05

Shoot. And that's the whole thing because you can go to school, you can get the degree, you can work in your profession, you can have hands-on experience where it's taught to you one-on-one. Both of those individuals, one could be good, one could be bad, both of them could be stellar at what they do. The whole thing is really how are they applying themselves with what they are provided? And are they being consistent with what they are being given, with what they're working with, basically. So, one, it's about a mindset. You take an individual, I can't afford to go to medical school, I have no way to go, so I'm just not gonna go, but I'm gonna go and work in the hospital and work my way up and eventually get to that point where I'm in the surgery room and I'm watching them do what they do, and just maybe the hospital start paying for them to go to school, get the backing that they need because the rule is you need a degree to be a doctor, and let's be clear that's here in America. You have other countries that do not require you going to medical. That's why I don't go out of state for nothing. I mean, go out of uh the United States for anything, but that's medical school. Some countries say you don't have to go to medical school, you can go get a four-year degree and then we teach you what you need to know moving forward. But America, we know they're gonna want a degree because we have to, as Americans, you have to prove yourself to us in order for us to trust you. That's why you said I may have to start seeing some transcripts.

SPEAKER_01 23:43

Yeah, yeah, because I'm C's. You can't be cutting me open with C's. I'm like, you can't do that.

SPEAKER_00 23:48

So now think about this. If you can already doubt a person and say, I need to see some transcripts, think about that individual that wants to do that for a living and have placed all of this doubt into their mind of I'm not capable of doing that because I don't have the IQ, because I don't come from a family of doctors. Because I maybe can't get into the right school. There's always so many things that tell us what we can't do. So take an individual that stands as tall as LeBron and his weight, he would tell himself, LeBron's a freak of nature. People can't do what he can do. So I'm not going to attempt to do that. So we rule ourselves out before we even get started.

SPEAKER_01 24:45

It makes sense.

SPEAKER_00 24:48

Now, anyone that's joining us today can definitely feel free to chime in. You can leave some comments, and I'm open for discussion. We could continue the conversation and just continue to dig deeper into it. But I just I want to make sure everyone that's listening today to really be clear on you can be anything you want to be. You can learn anything that you want to learn. The only thing that will stand in your way is you with your limiting beliefs. That's the only thing that can stop you. Now, in reality, we know that there are individuals out there that are completely disabled and their mind just will not allow them to do that. So I'm not referring to those individuals. But all of us that wake up every single day in our right frame of mind, we make a conscious choice or we make an unconscious choice because sometimes we just go with the flow of things, but we're making a choice whether we know we're doing it or not, and we're choosing to either be afraid and not attempt it, or we choose to attempt it. Now keep in mind, if you choose to attempt it, you have to understand it's not gonna be easy. With anything you do, must come struggle, because that's the only way that you're gonna grow and learn. But we are, every last one of us, capable of doing anything that we want to do. Let's think about it. AI is so fierce at this point. You could probably ask Chat GBT, how do I do brain surgery? And it'll probably give us a whole entire list of what to go do to do brain surgery.

SPEAKER_01 26:41

And if somebody's doing that in the emergency room, yeah, that might be a problem, but okay.

SPEAKER_00 26:48

But that that is my thought. I wanted to just do this episode on that particular question. Um, the next episode that comes up, I will throw some more topics out there. I just thought that one was very unique because in a coaching world, when we're dealing with um our clients, when they ask us questions like that, as a coach, we automatically know they're struggling with something. It's something they want to do or something they have wanted to do over time that they just cannot do it. And it's not that they're not capable, they just need to shift their mindset because that is what's stopping them. Because if you can think it and truly visualize it, you can always manifest it into a physical form. So if you get up every single day and say, I am going to be a doctor, you get the books from the library, you apply yourself, you do every possible thing that you can do. If you keep waking up every day doing that, you are going to be that. Now, whether you practice or not is a completely different story. But on the basis of can you do that, yes, you can do that. And I would love to hear for someone to throw something out there that we can have a conversation about that can make me say, okay, maybe you can't do that. But I don't think there's anything in the world from being a brain surgeon to being the president of the United States to being a lawyer because we're taught it. When the when we first started this episode, we discussed you're taught everything that you know. So you're taught to be afraid, you're taught to be fearless, you're taught to do the things that you do, no matter what it is. So either side of the coin, you are taught it. So what we have to do is learn how to teach ourselves. Well, let me rephrase that. What we have to do is learn how to unteach ourselves and then reteach ourselves. So rewiring our brain so that we are able to do those things that we want to do. And we have to be comfortable with stepping out and just trying it.

SPEAKER_01 29:15

I can see that. Good conversation.

SPEAKER_00 29:18

All right. What what other thoughts or feedback you have today?

SPEAKER_01 29:24

No, it makes perfect sense. You know, that's why we teach our kids that the sky's the limit, they can be whatever they want to be. Um, go out there, run through a wall, and make it happen. It's got a lot to do with the preparation and what you put in it. You know, what you put in it is what you're gonna get out of it. So I understand that 100%.

SPEAKER_00 29:44

Okay. So I dare ask, we started with saying, Do you believe you can learn to do anything? Has your answer changed, or would you still say your answer is still a no? And nothing's wrong with it.

SPEAKER_01 29:59

I'm in, I'm I'm in the middle of the road. I'm like, I'm I'm riding the fence right now because, like I told you, certain athletes, I get it. Even when it comes down to just say something as simple as it's not simple, it's a very hard job. Um a fireman. Running into a burning, burning building every day takes a little bit more than just, you know, I guess what they taught you. You gotta be built with that. You know, you gotta be built to be able to do something like that, to be able to run into a burning building, grab someone, and actually have that feeling of I'm gonna save you no matter if I lose my life. Um, I don't know. It it's just I'm right, I'm right, I'm I'm kind of riding the fence right now. I see where you're going.

SPEAKER_00 30:41

And I like that you used a fire, a firefighter. Let's think about that. Are they just built with that, or is that something within them? And that's the part we're getting to that mental mentality and something within them that says, I want to do that. So, not the build of a physical frame because you can go work out. I mean, you have actors and stuff, and people that are very slender but extremely strong because of their workout regimen. So, if that person mentally says, I want to be a firefighter, no matter what, that's where my heart is, that is my purpose, that is their mindset, and that's what they go after, they're gonna do that, they're gonna run into that burning building no matter what, because that is them. Okay, you got me.

SPEAKER_01 31:31

All right, I'm on your side now. I the I I do, I believe 100% that you can actually accomplish these things.

SPEAKER_00 31:40

Okay. So, what I'm gonna do is challenge everyone listening, and I'm gonna challenge Roosevelt as well. I want you guys to think about something that you have always wanted to do, or something that you're thinking about right now that you would really like to do, but you're truly stopping yourself from doing it. And what I mean by you're stopping yourself from doing it is that you are coming up with every single reason of why you can't do it. So I want you to turn the coin over and then say every reason that you can do it. Because if you can come up with every reason of why you can't, my question back to you is why not? So if you tell me because I don't have the money, my question still to you will be, why not? Why don't you give it a try? Because maybe you don't have the money, but there's another way to go about it. We're just using that as an excuse. Or let's say that the person says, Oh no, I'm trying, I'm really I'm trying. We got to be careful because using the word trying can also be the excuse that we're using. Because if you say that you're trying, that means, okay, I'm gonna attempt this, but mentally your mindset is that you already know that you're not gonna make it anyway. So when you go in and try, you're really not giving it your all, you're just doing it for the sake of saying, I tried.

SPEAKER_01 33:04

Gotcha.

SPEAKER_00 33:05

All right. Any last words that you have for us at all, Roosevelt?

SPEAKER_01 33:10

No, none at all. Uh thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_00 33:13

Perfect. Thank you again for joining us, and thank you to my audience and everyone that has tuned in today. I will be back soon with another special guest, or it may just be me solo. If anybody has anything that they would like for me to discuss on TK Conversations, please leave a comment. You're welcome to leave the comment. You can email me at info at tkstrickland.com. You can check out my website at tkstrickland.com and you can check me out on social media. I am tk stricklin, which is on Instagram. I appreciate you guys being here with me today. Have a wonderful day and week.