Value The Retention Homie

“When your finished changing, your finished” — Bruce Lee

Retention is not a popular word but it has a valuable definition that we all can relate to. Retention is the continued possession, use, study, and control of something. The fact that keeping something in one’s memory and actions of absorbing something of substance will be beneficial to my life in the future, is a paramount practice of mine.

I’ve always prided myself on having a good memory, especially when it comes to vital information that I’ ’ll need to reference in the future. Information like career advice, financial tips, people who have helped me in the past as well the individuals who have betrayed me. The actions that I take to absorb such information are to continue to study my craft, take notes, and refrain from doing drugs to preserve my brain matter. Simple practices like this keep my mind sharp while I’m on my purpose to become the best version of myself.

One of my favorite retained quotes of all time that I repeat to myself a lot is “Check your bags, be present”. Because it acknowledges two of my favorite leisure; travel and psychology. The travel analogy is “check your bags” which is referencing me going on vacation, taking a break, and disconnecting from work. The notion “be present” is a psychological skill set of being present in every moment that I’m faced with, whether it’s staying off my smartphone at a social event to be more aware of my surroundings interacting with others, and taking each time frame a period one moment at a time so I won’t get overwhelmed about the past or future.

More importantly, when it comes to your retention skillset you have to keep in mind the things that bring the most value to your life. Basic things like good health, fresh food and water, a healthy relationship with loved ones, your job/career, and overall mental health. Even though these things are easy for me to retain, I also had to search for other valuable things that will benefit me in the long run, like my respect, gratitude, and sense of belonging/acceptance.

My Respect

Besides my family, health, money, and hobbies, my respect is the paramount thing that’s in retention for me at all times. Respect is earned and given but I failed to gain respect from some people because of the way I used to carry myself, I used to have a playful, talkative, and immature masculine frame which did not get respect from women at the time. Once I became more aware of my actions and behavior, more respect came from women and other men started to look up to me in a big brother manner, which is a form of respect.

My Gratitude

Every morning I wake and walk to the bathroom to take my morning piss, I always tap on a picture on the wall of my bedroom that shows the Mandarin and English lettering of the word “Gratitude”. It’s my way of retaining my sense of value in my life and giving another day, another opportunity to pursue my purpose in life. I also give much gratitude because I grew up in a city where a lot of people didn’t make it past the age of 25, and I’m 36 years old as I write this. With that saying, it’s a lot of people who would love to be in my shoes.

My sense of belonging/acceptance

When it comes to a sense of belonging, I try to retain the fact that I was put on this earth for a reason, not only is it a privilege (because of the odds of me becoming a human being) but also a great opportunity to find out why I belong here. When it comes to acceptance, that’s accepting the things that are out of my power to change, like turmoil, taxes, death, and the many differences in human nature. Having a good sense of belonging/ acceptance helps me navigate through my life purpose keen understanding that most things are out of my control, so I just focus on the few things that are.

-Robeir