Stop Asking God for Money, Ask for Purpose | Katt Williams

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You can also make ChatGPT work more specialized by installing specific plugins. Put ChatGPT to work on your most ambitious ideas and projects. Get started at ChatGPT.com by selecting work mode. Available on Plus and Pro plans. If you're a hurdler, you don't look at obstacles the same way that somebody else would. I love that quote from today's episode. And maybe it feels like every time you get your footing underneath you, something else gets thrown in your path, a setback at work, a relationship that's falling apart or a door that's slamming right when you thought it was about to open. And you're wondering, why does this keep happening to me? Well, what if those obstacles aren't there to stop you? What if they're actually there to make you better and make you jump higher? In this conversation, you'll learn how to stop tying your self-worth to rejection and how to treat every no as feedback instead of a verdict. You'll learn why patience means trusting the process like a farmer trusts his crops. And you'll hear how Faith carried a kid who left home at 13 into a life he says he could have never built on his own. My guest today is one of the most iconic comedians of his generation, an Emmy winner with 15 standup specials. He sold door to door, served as a teenage missionary in Haiti, and tells the whole story in his new book, Nine Lives, No Wives and 69 Concubines. Welcome to today's episode with the one and only Cat Williams. And let's go ahead and dive in. We have a few things in common, I was telling you beforehand, both born and raised in Ohio. Let's go. You're an Ohio Dayton guy, right? For a while. Correct. Cincinnati, Dayton. I grew up in a- To this day. Small town of Delaware, Ohio. I don't know if you- Somewhere in Delaware. I don't know if you ever- Ohio. You ever went through that small town. You're the most famous person. From Delaware, Ohio. Delaware, Ohio. 20,000 people, right? You did it. Another thing is we both left home, if I'm correct, at 13. Let's go. And for me, I left home because I didn't feel emotionally safe in the environment that I was in. I begged my parents to send me away. And it was a big turning point in my life by leaving. And I'm curious, why did you leave home at 13? And what was the big takeaway you gained from that experience? If I was six four, I would have left at nine. I was trying to wait on my growth spurt, but it just never came. Well, that's great. Both from Ohio, both left early. What was the reason why you left and the biggest thing that you learned from leaving home at 13? It wasn't something that I would suggest to others. And when you read it in the book, I don't glamorize it, it was a terrible situation. It was a horrible decision for anybody else to make. There aren't any 13-year-olds that are qualified to do it. On the other hand, I had a religious background and Jesus left home when he was 13. And the Jewish culture teaches that you're a man at 13. And so I had enough precedence in my own study to understand that if things were really as bad as I was making them out to be, I had every right to change it. And that if I continued to show up to a circumstance I didn't agree with, so I was young enough to make a dumb mistake, but I was also young enough to see if this works. And yeah, I believed in God. So I had this false sense of he won't let me fail. Really at 13? Yeah. Yeah. My whole life. But that's one of the best things about the book is that even if you're an atheist, reading the book may not make you believe in God, but you will believe in the belief in God. And it's been proven that that's a thing, you know? So yeah, even then, I didn't really look at it as a negative. I looked on it as getting a head start. I've heard you say before that you're favored by God, and a lot of things don't really kind of stress you out or worry you out because you are favored by God. Have you always believed that, or is that something more later in your life that you started to believe? Well, I believed that you could be. And I was just trying to put myself in a position where if it was possible that I would be qualified for it, you know? And I had just done so much reading, and that's how all books go, you know? That's part of a good story is that we're able to see the trials and tribulations that this person has to go through, and no matter how scared you are in the middle of the book, by the end of the book, it's going to be worth it. It gets better. Things work out that once looked dark, and you start understanding that, yeah, it is always darkest before the dawn. That's part of how it goes. It gets darker and darker and darker, but it's not infinite. It can only get so dark before the light has to show up. It's in all the books. And so... But how do you have faith or trust that you're going to be taken care of spiritually, physically, emotionally, at some point in the future when you're going through a very dark time? I never read a book where it didn't work. I didn't read the story of the person who didn't work the hardest being the most successful. I didn't. I might have believed that had I read those stories, but those aren't the stories that I read. The stories that I read were very specific, that you don't know who you are. That's all. Everybody else knows already who you are. You don't know. And as the story progresses, you find out who you've been the entire time. And it doesn't matter if the story is Spider-Man or Superman or whatever. That's the story. The story is that you're already enough. It's trying to do it as fast as you can to figure out. Did you ever believe you weren't enough or have doubts about your... I never thought that I needed to be more to be enough. And people were put in my life that just reinforced that. I met Prince young enough that right in the time of my life when I was going to be worried about my size, I met somebody shorter than me that was already a millionaire. Was he shorter than you? Prince? Yeah. Because you were what, 12 when you met him? Mm-hmm. Yeah, but I was already 5'5 and he was already 5'3. You met him in Ohio too, right? That's crazy. In Dayton. So you met him in Dayton, Prince. Yes. And what did meeting him when he was successful and a millionaire teach you about possibilities? Up until that point, I was assuming that certain things were going to happen. Of course, I'm not going to stay this size forever. This growth spurt is almost a guaranteed thing. It happens to everybody. 14, 16, it's coming to me. So I'm going to be 5'5 and I'm going to wake up different. What meeting Prince made me come to grips with, oh, he may never come. This may be what I am all the way through. Huh, that's all right, I guess. And you got this example of this guy who's doing it just fine. He figured it out, yeah. Right. So things like that would happen to where I didn't, like I was never fully counting on me. I was counting on my portion. I knew I had to do my portion right, but I'm counting on the whole entity to pull me through. Really? Yeah, the whole time. So did you have like a, was this a daily thought process where you were just like, okay, I'm going to figure out what I want, you know, whether it be getting into the comedy scene and I'm going to go pursue this path and I'm going to put in my effort and my part, but I know God's going to carry me through and create the opportunities that are meant for me. Was it something you were thinking or feeling or was it a different approach? Financially, I was in such a poor position that I was willing to do whatever it took to live a good lifestyle. And I knew that I would bend my morals more than I would like otherwise. And so I was asking him to put me in a position where I didn't have to worry about any of that and that it would meet my personal criteria for something that I could do well at. So I'm very specific in what I'm asking for so that I don't have to question whether something is God or whether something is chance or happenstance because I've asked specifically for something that I did not have and had no access to. And if I privately have that conversation and then two weeks later it materializes, I'm not going to hesitate from letting people know that that's how it happened. Wow. Yeah. Was there ever a time where you felt like you were working or going about life against your morals or against what you felt like God wanted for you to make money or to create opportunities or just a season that you were doing that? I wasn't sure if I had ever been on the right path exactly. I had already read the prodigal son story, so I understood that God doesn't have unrealistic expectations of me and I just felt like there was something out there for me and that if I came across it, I would know. And that if it was the right path, that he will make certain things happen to let me know this is the path to continue for. Is that signs or synchronicities or signals of like, this is the right path or would it just be a knowing that, hey, you're supposed to go through this door or this opportunity or how would you know? Well, because I get introduced to drug dealing because it's a profitable thing. You can take this that cost $100 or you can make $700 off of that. What? Oh, well. It's easy. I don't need to do that very long. I just need to do that for a little bit. I'll be in an entirely different situation and I can get out of here. But I don't want to live a life of crime. That's not my actual spirit. That's not what type of person I am. So my thing to God is, here's my situation. You're already looking at it. You see that I got a lot of opportunities to make money out here. What I need is something that I can do without any of that and be able to get what I need out of life. Do this. Show me my purpose if it's not going to be any of this. Because I'm not going to be in a bad situation. I'm not going to be out here without as many opportunities as there are for me to get it. I'm gonna be trying to get it. But if you'll show me something that I can do and have be a good guy, I'd love it. And I'll show you my appreciation and how hard I go for it. That's what he gave me. How old were you when that came to you? No, I'm not asking for that until this situation. So I guess I was 20. Wow. And when it came to you, the opportunities then, how did you show your appreciation for God? Was it through your work ethic? Was it through generosity? Was it through how you wanted to shine your light and your spirit? How were you thinking about that? Well, first of all, he gave me something that I already loved. I already love to laugh. That was a great thing in my life is just being able to laugh. And so I loved comedy already. So when he gave me the chance to be involved in comedy, okay, well, all I would like to do is I would like to do standup and I would like to do a brand of standup where I can have a real connection with the people. And we can talk about all the topics that there are to discuss. And hopefully it'll give me an opportunity that if I know something new or if I learn something new that I'll be able to get that to as many people as possible. And so if any of this is true, then I can't be a mediocre comedian. You have to be exceptional. Or I have to stink. I have to be one of the worst comedians or one of the greatest, or I got to have something. Wow. You ever grab the healthier snack, take one bite and immediately wish you'd pick something else? 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Easy means quality professional grade print solutions. Don't choose hard, choose staples. In store, online, or through the app. I was telling you, I watched your recent special on Netflix, which is hilarious. We were laughing out loud on a lot of the different things. You talk about it in your special, but also in your book about you going in to get information and then wanting to share it with others of what you're learning about every situation, about comedy, about life, about the industries, things like that. You've been the voice of truth in a lot of ways, specifically in the last few years, even more so. What is being the voice of truth cost you in your life, and would you ever give that up? As far as what it costs you, there's going to be bad. There's going to be unfavorable reaction to- Telling the truth? Anybody that is making a living off of the deception that you're exposing, but it's a very rewarding business. Really? I guess, how do you protect your spirit or your soul or your energy when you're sharing, you're being a truth teller, and you know there's going to be some potential attacks or people upset or people questioning you? How do you protect your own energy from that space? I don't mix my energy, and my soul is never in question in this. This is what I do for a living. I'm a surgeon, so I dissect, I remove what needs to be removed, cleanse the area, sew it back up. That's the end of it. This is part of my job, and this is the best part of the job. And it only works if you're telling the truth. It only works if you get a chance to expose something that a group of people are actively trying to... You can immediately tell if you've hit that nerve, and if your job is to hit the nerve, then you're going to notice. But yeah, very rewarding because I was willing to do this if there was no appetite for it. So I'm saying to find out that there's a whole segment of the population that absolutely wants to know the truth about everything, and they want to know who's telling what lie. It's very rewarding. Wow. Very rewarding. What was the biggest reward you gained from continuing to open up then for yourself? Is it the peace you have? Is it knowing you're helping others? Is it... No, the people that don't like me avoid me. That's the greatest reward for you. And the level of people that want to engage with me are the best people in the world. So when some of the world calls you crazy, then who's in your corner? Who are the people that are in your corners? Are the people that love the truth or... Knowing yourself is helpful no matter what job you're doing. If you're an athlete or an artist, it doesn't really matter. You should be very, very clear with yourself about what your strengths are and what your weaknesses are. And the closer you get to knowing that, the more times you'll be able to access what it is you're trying to access out of yourself. So I'm not in any way... I can't be peer pressured. Somebody calling me crazy doesn't... Doesn't affect you? I'm smarter than the person saying it. If I don't know that, why do I expect them to know? And innovation and creativity can often be misidentified as crazy. And I understand that. I think that's why we came up with the word eccentric, because crazy is when it doesn't work. Eccentric is when it's very successful. Yeah. You took a risk. You had courage to put something out there and it worked. Right. Right. Or maybe a lot of people wouldn't try that or something. All entrepreneurs come to grips with this. Yeah. Nobody needs your involvement. They've got enough people selling hamburgers already. Yeah. Yeah. The School of Greatness is brought to you in partnership with Airbnb. 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And one of your weaknesses, maybe you're still working to improve or just aware of? I will be working on myself to the end and I'm imperfect. So I have a humongous list and it's taken me almost all my life just to work through the 10 commandments and try to nail down as much as I can and make adjustments. But what I found is you're never not rewarded for that work. It doesn't matter if the listener or viewer starts today. You're immediately going to see the results. It's better than the gym. Like the gym keeps going because it keeps working. Like if you keep going in there, lifting, you're going to get better looking and it's going to work even for you no matter where you're starting at. And in life, it's the same thing with working on yourself. Like at some point you appreciate how many flaws you have because you realize, if I fix two of these, I'm a whole different creature. And it always works. You always come out on the other side better. My thing now is my last lesson was patience. And as painful as it is, you learn patience by being disgruntled for long periods of time. Frustrated, angry, upset. Just going, where's the payoff? And yeah, you could be upset and let that go that way. But when you start looking at yourself like a farmer and understanding how crops go, you'll understand how much of your time is just trust in the process. That all this doesn't have anything to do with you. Your job was to plant the seeds. And it's going to be a long, long time before you see the benefits of this. And it's going to be. Yeah. What's a seed that you planted 10, 15, 20 years ago that you're just now seeing the fruits of? I don't really know how to answer that because I planted all the seeds I came across. Now, part of that is probably because of how deficient I was. Doing a lot of everything. Yeah, yeah. Well, I'm saying everything that I ever learned from a person or from a book or from any source, the first thing I did was put it into practice in my life so that I could verify that it was real. So having done that so many times, I guess that's the part I enjoy the most is that very rarely do you plant a seed and nothing happens. It might just take time. There's more of a chance that you'll forget where you planted the seed. Or when you planted it. That seed is not going to do what it's supposed to do. And then it just. that makes your appreciation for God go up so much more because you understand what's behind things. And yeah, everything that you learn just further reinforces what you were wondering about. There's a great quote in your book on page 116 of your new book called "'Nine Lives, No Wives, and 69 Concubines." The quote is, learn to embrace what's meant for you because the universe gets real petty when you keep dodging your own blessings. How much do you think about gratitude and appreciation in your day-to-day life when the universe is bringing you a beautiful opportunity or also maybe a beautiful obstacle in your way? If you are a hurdler, you don't look at obstacles the same way than somebody else would. So I have changed my frame of mind to the point where I don't see the negative first. It's just almost impossible for me to do. So even with the hurdles and the things that pop up, it's just another opportunity to jump higher. And that's the goal is that you're supposed to jump higher. And it keeps you from being lackadaisical. It keeps you from being happy with where you are when you know that you can do better. And so I appreciate that. Did you ever have a scarcity or poverty mindset or did you always have an abundance growth mindset approach to life? As a proud American, when you're young, well, let me just speak for me. I was interested in finding out why are we the greatest country in the world? What makes us so different from other cultures? Like, why are we so steadfast on that? What are the things? And one of the greatest things about being an American is you really believe in this country that you can make tomorrow better than today was. And that whoever outworks the other guy, that's who wins. And that was one of my first lessons in this country is that it seemed to me that in every situation, the hardest worker wins. Both great guys, both great teams, both great situations, but if it's ever here and here, it's who worked. Who's the hardest worker? Yeah, and so in my whole life, it seemed I was selling something, whether it was religion or candy or books and magazines, because it was something that always worked, never failed. You could get something at this price and you could get a better price for it if you were willing to get it out there. My friend, I hope you're enjoying this episode. And the School of Greatness drops new conversations every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday around money, mindset, healing, manifestation, and relationships. And if you're not yet following the show, then you're missing all of them. Please tap the follow button right now and you'll get notified the moment every new episode drops because the next one might be exactly what you need. Now, let's get back to the conversation. Support for this episode comes from Ring. Whatever shows up around home this holiday season with Ring, you're protected. The holidays get busy fast. You're running errands, gifts are showing up at the house. Maybe you're traveling and that's a lot happening at once. One thing I really like is being able to check in when packages are arriving at the front door with battery doorbell 2K when you've got gifts being delivered and you're not always home when they show up. Indoor cam is small and easy to set up. Just plug it in and place it pretty much anywhere inside. An outdoor cam plus gives you retinal 2K clarity for your yard and outdoor spaces. Ring helps you stay connected to what's happening at home so you can spend more time enjoying the holiday moments that matter. With Ring, you're protected. Shop cameras, doorbells, and more at ring.com. Support for this episode comes from Amazon Business. When it comes to your business, procurement shouldn't be a guessing game. Whether you're running a small business or managing a large organization, Amazon Business offers smart purchasing experiences designed to meet your unique needs. Smart tech, smarter decisions, streamline your buying process, save time and money, and gain valuable insights. Amazon Business empowers you and your team to buy with confidence. Learn more at amazonbusiness.com. Weren't you a door-to-door salesman for a while too? In the top seller in the company or in the region or? I had the ability to not look at the negative parts of things and by removing the negative out of situations it just makes them clearer, right? So I found out that sales is a numbers game. And so that would mean you have to get told no 300 times to get 30 yeses. Wow. Well. Hey, let's keep showing up then. Are you sure? Because I really just want to know if that's the case. Because I'm not bothered by no's. I'm especially not bothered by no's if that's what I collect for a living. All I know is does 900 no's equal 90 yeses? Because I'm going for 90. You know? Tell me what houses to go to. I'll show up. No, no, no. I'm going to all of the houses. Right, right, yeah. Because I don't make a distinction. I need to hit 900 houses. I'm trusting 90 and above. What was the greatest lesson that door-to-door sales taught you about life for yourself? That. That. And. Because a lot of people get discouraged when they hear one no, or they fail once, or it doesn't work out, or whatever. They go on stage and no one clapped for them, or it didn't work, and then they kind of stop. So did this teach you to just keep going until you got the yeses? No. It taught me how much I appreciate the yeses. You know? Yeah. Yeah. It made the yeses so much more meaningful, is that. So then you don't look at rejection the same, you know? You'll kind of look at it with a little bit of pity. You know? How did you not tie your self-worth to other people's nos or rejections, or doors not opening for you when you wanted them to? How did you not tie your self-worth to that no at that moment? Because I already had my self-worth attached to a yes. Even at times where you didn't feel the yeses were coming, or there didn't feel like. I'm doing it wrong. Ah. How so? Everything changed once I realized. When they're saying no, they're just saying, I didn't do a good enough job. Whatever I needed to say, I didn't say it. So it's feedback. However I should have been standing. I wasn't standing like that. Interesting. The look on my face when the lady opened the door, that should have been better. Because this is first impressions. And so that in turn helped me in comedy. Because they're never wrong. The audience? The audience. The audience is never wrong. Interesting. They don't know how to be wrong. They're brought in for their opinion. Their opinion is absolute. Mm-hmm. If it were funny, they would have laughed. Right. Right? What if you thought it was funny and they didn't? I don't have an opinion. I only have their opinion. Interesting. I'm not counting on anything that hasn't happened already. So I've done these jokes in 100 cities before I shoot this special. Ah. So what is it for me to be figuring out? I know it's funny. Because it's in there. Yeah. You've already tested it. If there was any, if it wasn't funny, I would have just took it out. Yeah. Only funny stuff stays there. Interesting. When you're trying something new on stage that you think, this is really funny. Like this is, I'm gonna get the laugh right away. And maybe it doesn't work in one area of the world, but then it works in another area, or maybe it just never works. Does it affect your self-belief in your creativity or your material? Cause you thought it was funny and others didn't? Or how do you navigate that if you don't get the laugh? I'm not good enough to be able to take it for granted like that. Like, um. What do you mean? Like on any joke, I have to have laughed at it personally in order for it to make it to the paper, right? So the person I did consult already thought this was funny. If I can't figure out how to make it be funny to you, that's a me problem. And so that's what I'm doing when I'm not on stage is I'm putting in the work to make sure those things don't happen. So I'm gonna tell this joke to myself 35 times in this mirror. Really? It gets funny to me. Really? Until it's funny to you first. I can't afford to deliver it if it's not funny. Wow. So the whole part where you, oh, you tell a joke and what if they don't laugh? I would be horrified. Really? Because what have I been doing? I'm in charge of when the jokes come out. Wow. So, you know. So you don't just think, ah, I've got this idea. I'm gonna go test it out on stage at this small little, you know, gig that I've got, or I'm gonna show up and just test material. Let's see if this works. Or do you say, you never even do that. You say, I'm gonna know this works in the mirror first, test it with someone else one-on-one before I bring it out to test it, I guess, on a stage. Yeah. Interesting. Because I hear a lot of comedians say, ah, I'm just gonna go try material out. Maybe it's a smaller audience or maybe it's not my main gig and I do a 10-minute set or something to test it instead of testing it on themselves first. The longer you go in this business, you start realizing there's a formula for everything. And your job is to keep nailing the formula, right? There are certain words that are funnier than other words. There are different cadences that are funnier than others. Part of you being a writer is you're the one with the wand in your hand, Mr. Magician. You see what I'm saying? Our job is to make the magic, you know? And so, yeah, there's no opinion other than theirs. But I'm clear as to the conversation that I've been having with the audience and I've kept having that same conversation, just a different subject matter. Interesting. Yeah. When you go to different parts of the country, do you take into account that region of the country or the region of the world when you're touring on how you approach certain jokes or you approach your energy or way of being on stage? Or do you just say, I'm gonna be as consistent as who I am, how I wanna do the material day in and day out, no matter what city, what country, what state? Do you think about that or is that not part of the process? For the majority of my standup career, the first 15 minutes of my act was devoted to the place I was. The city. Right. Calling out certain, the sports team or who's from there. So I have a 45 minute set that I'm going to do, but the first 15 minutes, it's just gonna be about this wonderful little spot you've got here. Yeah, yeah. And- Columbus, Ohio or Atlanta, Georgia, South Florida, wherever we are, let's talk about the people from here. Right, because there's something on the news that everybody's already discussing. Yeah, yeah. And I personally, if I've been there for two days, I've personally eaten here upwards of six times. Right. Right, and I went different places, I saw different things, and I'm able to have a crowd work type of conversation without the crowd. Yeah. So yeah, that's the greatest thing about travel, is just seeing what the differences are and noticing the commonalities, and that's what makes travel already great. So yeah, it's one of the best parts of the job. When you're doing a special though, it's, I guess, for a much broader audience. It's not for a city where you can connect with the locals and give some inside jokes about the restaurants and the people from there or if they have a certain accent or whatever it might be. How do you approach it knowing this is going to the world, but I'm also speaking to this city community so that it lands both. locally and globally on the special. Right. Well, I've never even looked at it that way because I'm, I'm looking, I'm looking at it from another direction. So I am trying to, I'm trying to write something that nine months from now, the stories that I have chosen to tell still have legs nine months later. So relevant. Yeah. The evergreen. Yeah. That this isn't a joke that they only get up North. This isn't just a Bible belt joke. This isn't just an East coast because I've taken this same material around. I know this works for everyone. Everyone gets this, you see? So that's the confidence when I'm doing the special is I already know it works. I just have to deliver it correctly, you know? Yeah. Yeah. So the audience for me is never not global. Yeah. That's cool. Do you believe there's ever a spiritual attack against you because you're speaking the truth in certain ways, or do you feel like also people who speak the truth have more spiritual attacks against them? It's well-documented what happens to whistleblowers worldwide. We all know what they can and are capable of doing. We have far too many scientists dead or missing right now for us to not understand that. I don't know if there's another explanation for Charlie Kirk. I'm saying if you are telling any modicum of any truth to anybody about anything, there are people who don't appreciate it and you would just be doing yourself a disservice if you didn't understand that going in. How do you and how do we defend ourselves against spiritual warfare? In our own lives, when we are pursuing our passion or dream, or we feel like we're pursuing a calling from God, and we feel like we're under spiritual attack, how should we arm ourselves spiritually? And how have you done this as well? And I don't know if people ask you these questions, Cat. Never in life. Never in life. I don't know if they do. Never in life. I don't know if you know that. Only at the school of greatness. This is the stuff I'm actually fascinated by with you. It's like, obviously you're comedic legend and you've done so many great things and yes, but for me, I want to understand behind your heart and your mind about how you approach these greater things that I think are happening for you, maybe not to you, but happening for you. And I think there's a lot of wisdom that you've experienced that you could share with us. So that's why I'm really curious. At any moment of your life, if you are in any spiritual warfare type of situation, you are immediately impressed with how weak and inefficient our opposition is. I'm only saying it's easy because you're able to track the progress. If there isn't somebody trying to stop you from what you're doing, then I don't know how you know it's the right thing, but from this side of it, yeah, you're almost overjoyed to be attacked in spiritual warfare because first of all, it means you're worthy. Wait a minute. I'm on the radar. Whoa. That's as much as I wanted. That's, yeah, because that was my whole thing in reading the Bible, even young was like, God always at these points came down to people and was like, okay, let me find somebody who loves me. You, right. And the guy was never qualified. He was never too small. That guy, any of the situations God was just like, no, you, and the worse you are, the more it proves, you know? And so that's why I decided to write a book because if I, if I give you my entire life and you see how it went up to this point, even you will agree. I didn't do this. I didn't have, you know, it wasn't me. It wasn't me. I'll show you what I believed and I will show you that I kept believing that and it kept working. Wow. You know? So when you feel the most under attack then in your life, what is your conversation with God like and how frequently are you speaking with God? I don't know how to say it without it sounding embarrassing, but, um, I only talk to God when I need him for a circumstance or a situation and I need him every day in all circumstances and situations. And, um, he's done so much at this point that really I, I'm just, um, making a verbal record between he and I. Oftentimes I've asked for something that I didn't need and would have misused and I didn't get it. I got something else tonight, you know? And, um, your faith is something that you can work on yourself. And, um, if you're in a situation and you feel like it's not happening, that's your answer. And so don't stop there. Ask better questions because a lot of times you're waiting on an answer that already came and you've already acknowledged it. You're going, you're going, why won't you help me do this? And the answer is you're not supposed to be doing that. Do something else. At least try something else so that you can accidentally find what it is. But if you're expecting help in this situation, you know what I mean? If what you're praying for is a bad marriage, divorce is the answer. You're thinking that, uh, this hasn't come or you're not being acknowledged and you have been, you know? Support for this episode comes from Amazon business. When it comes to your business, procurement shouldn't be a guessing game. Whether you're running a small business or managing a large organization, Amazon business offers smart purchasing experience. Amazon business offers smart purchasing experiences designed to meet your unique needs. Smart tech, smarter decisions, streamline your buying process, save time and money and gain valuable insights. Amazon business empowers you and your team to buy with confidence. Learn more at amazonbusiness.com. I've learned the best pieces of my closet are usually the ones I don't have to think about. A great t-shirt, an easy layer, something I can put on and know it works. And one of those pieces for me is quince is 100% organic cotton mesh stitch sweater polo. I keep reaching for it because it looks put together without feeling too dressed up. And what stood out to me right away about this was the quality and the feel. It's comfortable. It looks sharp and it's easy to wear. That's what quince does really well. They make elevated everyday essentials with premium materials and timeless designs. And when the weather cools down, they have versatile layers that make getting dressed simple. Find your next fall favorites at quince. Download the quince app for app exclusive offers or go to quince.com. Get free shipping on your order and 365 day returns now available in Canada and the UK too. And when quince asks you where you heard about them, let them know it was the school of greatness. It's the best way to support this show. You were a missionary for, I think a year, year and a half in Haiti, I believe. Right. Was this in your twenties, early twenties or how old were you in this? Or teens, twenties, was this? 15, 18. 15, 18. Yeah. So in your late teens, you're in Haiti, you're helping from my research, you're helping mothers save their kids from, you know, going through health challenges and you're in service for a year and a half roughly. What did being in service to moms and their sick kids teach you about yourself or teach you about life? Well, I was still a spoiled American child. So I had never seen abject poverty because I was from America. So I, I had never seen a whole village of people wake up hungry and they're not the resources nearby to change that. So that part was eyeopening for me to see how little people could possess financially and to see that that had no bearing on their happiness. Some of these people were happy too? Most of them. Really? Who are happy. Wow. And, um, because they made it their business to be happy and, uh, they were joyous and they didn't have the same background as an African American person would have in place of that they had pride because they had been colonized and fought for their own independence. So yes, starving, but a warrior starving, someone free is starving. So I would have done whatever I could to help. I was just thankful that I came from a place like America where we understood that, you know, there are things you can do, you know, and, um, yeah, it was, uh, it was an entirely, it was, it was culture shock, uh, completely, but I just learned so much from their resilience and, um, seeing people that were born in just terrible, terrible situations, but they didn't care about that thing. They cared about, can it be better? And it might look bad to you, but this is the best it's ever been, you know? And, um, there's something really, really, uh, hopeful about that. And the situation with the helping was, was just that they were dealing with, um, the babies were dealing with diarrhea from dehydration, right? And this information about, you know, putting some salt in the good water. Um, they didn't have that information and I did. And so knowledge was power. It was a joy to be able to, you know, you took information from here and you took it there. Right. But being able to see in real time, because all this mother knows is that her baby is sick and she hasn't done anything wrong. She's feeding them as best as she can. She's making sure they're clean and doing everything. And this child just won't get any better, you know? And, um, so yeah, the, the benefits were so instantaneous, um, that I understood why people do missionary work, you know, just because if you look at it from afar, you're just like, oh, why would you want to be around? This circumstance, but once you experienced the blessing of being able to help somebody in any type of way, um, it just does something for you. Yeah. I was glad to have seen that lesson early on. That's beautiful. Yeah. Yeah. You got so many powerful stories in your book. I want people to get a copy right now. Get a copy for your friends as well. Nine lives, no wives and 69 concubines. Um, powerful lessons, powerful truth, powerful wisdom by the man, Kat Williams. I want people to check it out. Um, a couple of final questions for you, Kat, and I want to be respectful of your time, but what is the, what's the one thing you wish people really knew about you that you don't think people understand about you? Nothing. Okay. Okay. Yeah. Um, at this point, gigs up, um, this, this was, it's all out there. This was my only story. And my, my job was just to preserve it long enough in the hopes that maybe one day it'll be helpful to somebody else. And if you read this book, you'll know it can happen to anybody, like no matter what. And that there are some things that you can do to help yourself. And that should be your focus in life is trying to make yourself a better person. A hundred percent. Yeah. Um, this question is what I ask everyone towards the end of the episodes. It's called three truths. Okay. So imagine a hypothetical scenario. You get to live as long as you want in this earth. But it's your last day and you get to create, you know, this book is just one chapter in the many books that you write and the stories you tell for the rest of your life. But for whatever reason, on this last hypothetical day, you have to take all of your work with you. The book is gone from this world, this conversation gone. Every comedy special you ever do, gone. Hypothetical. But on the last day, you get to leave behind three lessons to the world from everything you've been consuming and shared. I call it three truths. What would those truths be for you that you would leave behind? Uh, you can never read enough, learn enough or ask enough questions. Number two, you were perfectly made by a perfect God who also created a perfect universe for you to exist in. Do with that as you will. And lastly, start out small with yourself and only make improvements to your meals and beverages, to your recreation time and to your sleep. Hmm. And if you hone in on those things personally for yourself, you will always be in a better position. Kat Williams everywhere on social media, they can get the book right now. You've got an amazing Netflix special out as well. And I think a new podcast coming out on Netflix. Indeed, according to Kat. According to Kat, the final question is what's your definition of greatness? Whatever your last minute of whatever your profession is. How was that? How was your last effort for all of us athletes, performers, or what have you, the longer you play, the longer you realize nothing's guaranteed. Uh, nothing's going to stay the same. Everything's going to change. And, um, even though every moment won't be your last moment, every moment is guaranteed to be closer to the last moment. And so, um, it cannot be understated how important it is for you to put your best foot forward on everything that you are trying to do. And anything that piques your interest and curiosity is something worth checking out. And anything that's on your list of things to do, um, all of those deserve a higher priority. Um, now is the time. Yeah. Uh, that's what I would say. Hmm. That's all. Kat, thanks for being here, man. Thank you for having me. Appreciate it. Appreciate it. My friend, I hope you're enjoying this episode right now, because we are on a mission to impact a hundred million lives every single week. And every follow here on this podcast helps us reach more people. Make sure to hit the follow at the top of this show's page right now. It's the single biggest thing that you can do to support the show and the impact of us reaching you every single time we have new episodes. I appreciate you. And I can't wait to see you in the next episode. I hope you enjoyed today's episode and it inspired you on your journey towards greatness. Make sure to check out the show notes in the description for a full rundown of today's episode with all the important links. And if you want weekly exclusive bonus episodes with me personally, as well as ad free listening, then make sure to subscribe to our greatness plus channel exclusively on Apple podcasts. Share this with a friend on social media and leave us a review on Apple podcasts as well. Let me know what you enjoyed about this episode in that review. I really love hearing feedback from you and it helps us figure out how we can support and serve you moving forward. And I want to remind you, if no one has told you lately that you are loved, you are worthy and you matter, and now it's time to go out there and do something great. It's time to level up your education and Columbia Southern University makes it easy. Earn an accredited degree, 100% online with 24, seven course access, $0 textbooks and monthly start dates so you can truly earn your degree on your schedule. Plus you can compare their costs to more than $1,000 a month. So if you're looking for a job, you're looking for a job, you're looking for a job, you're looking for a job. If you need to build a brand, take advantage of Columbia Southern college. You can contact the college president right away to help you organize your application and draft the application for your undergrad program. 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