Episode #1: Healthy Hands: The Why Question

We're thankful for all of our supporters, and all the support up to this point on our social media platforms, on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and on our website, www.theycallmemistayu.com. We just want to say thank you. Thank you for the encouragement coming through texts, phone calls and emails. Thank you for standing up for us and believing that this could be possible. And it may not be a big deal to some of you guys who may be familiar with podcasts and listen to podcasts.

But for us, it's groundbreaking. It's monumental. And we just want to just say thank you to everybody that played a part in this process. One of the things that I definitely want to say before we begin to get into our episode for today, I want to just encourage you guys to know that this is not, designed to be nor do I intend it to be, just another podcast. TCMMY is the name of the podcast, but this podcast is not about me.

This podcast will highlight a heavy dose of my experiences and my weird brand of humor, (Yes, I am a bit weird!) candid stories about my life, my slip ups , my victories, my great joys, but at the end of the day, our focus is going to be very clear and very directed. We're focusing on overall health. Please don't be confused by that. We may discuss fantasy football. One week, we may discuss marriage.

We may discuss gardening and cooking and small business ownership, but at the end of the day, it is going to definitely relate to some aspect of our overall health. As we get into the episode, I'll explain a little bit more about why that is and where that came from. So thanks again for joining us and giving us about 30 minutes of your time today. We really appreciate it! Every week, we'll give you the best content possible.

Thank you for trusting in me as your coach today, to get you back in the game and help you get some wins today. So what is They Call Me Mista Yu all about. Is it all about Yusef? Or is it about something more?

I wasn't happy with a lot of things , uh , mentally and in every other way. And that honestly began to cause some, some questions to form in me. What were you willing to change to have what you want? What are you willing to do to accomplish your goals? How far would you go to see these goals realized and having that near death experience?

It made me think about situations that happened years prior starting with losing my grandmother to dementia and Alzheimer's (probably my best friend at the time). To have to look at her in her eyes and didn't even know my name or who I was. Then to lose my dad, whom I just really getting to know, and he died of a sudden brain anuerysm. Then to have family members that had been fighting cancer. From all accounts, they're winning the battle, but it's still a battle.

It's still something that can befall anybody at any time. And then you add to this, a couple of close family members that we lost to COVID this year, and then all is going on with the pandemic in general. Then all the hundreds of thousands of lives that are being lost due to this virus. It made me think about my mortality. It makes you think about purpose and are you being the best that you can be? Are you doing the most that you can do? That's what started They Call Me Mista Yu as a podcast!

I was always writing articles, trying to encourage enlightened and educated my friends and family and followers. I wanted to be a voice to those that didn't have one. I'm not a self help guru. I'm not a doctor. I don't even have a doctorate, but I have enough experience and enough God-given wisdom to know that, without my overall health, a lot of other things pale in importance. We're going to have fun. We're going to enjoy each other. We're going to have great conversations.

We're going to talk about things that we like, things that we love and things that we hate. We're going to discuss it all. Everything's going to be on the table. They may not be a topic that we won't talk about. We might talk about marriage and politics. We may talk about a whole bunch of different things but at the end of the day, it will definitely relate back to our overall health. Because in my opinion, the opinion of your coach, that's the most important focus we need to have.

We're going to talk about that little bit further as we get into this episode. So what's been going on with you guys? How have you been handling 2020? How was 2020 been handling you? Are you learning anything about yourself during this time? Sometimes adversity is, and has the ability to be the greatest teacher! What are you learning about yourself right now? Or all your fingers pointed at somebody else and what they're doing or not doing? What are you doing right so far?

What have you clearly got wrong during this time? It's high time for some self evaluation . It's time to start thinking about some things differently. I want to speak to the people who are dealing with an unfulfilled life. People who know that they need help, but they've been too prideful or too ashamed to ask for it. It's not that we have all the answers here at They Call Me Mista Yu. But we may have resources. We may have friends that can help.

We may have somebody in our network that may have an answer. So that's why we definitely stressing an interactive relationship. I can talk to you about my life stories all day long. I have plenty of them. I can fill hundreds of hours of episodes and podcasts. It wouldn't be hard at all but I want your guys' involvement. I want you guys to be a part of this. So we need to be interactive. So that's why I'll reference our social media handles probably more than once.

Our Facebook page @Theycallmemistayu. That's also where we have a Facebook group, a Facebook community, that I so love, called the Mirror Time Community. There we deal with self-reflection . We talk about the topics that we discussed in articles that are published in our website blogs or podcast episode like this one. That's our safe space. We have very strict rules about behavior and content and how we communicate with each other. We're very strict about that, but it's a very safe space.

And I definitely invite you to join us in our Mirror Time Community on Facebook. We'd love you guys that are Twitter users to tweet us @tcmmistayu. You can leave your questions there as well . So on Twitter, we'd love to hear some of your thoughts. And, perhaps, at the end of every episode on our podcast, we may even share some of your tweets and show ideas on the air. We'll definitely share some of those ideas and thoughts on Facebook and Instagram as well. So here we are!

We're in 2020, and now health is one of the biggest issues we can face. I definitely want to emphasize that. I am learning to care about the whole person. If you visit our website, theycallmemistayu.com, pinned to the top of our blog page, you'll see the premier article, the one that tells you all about TCMMY and our goals. We discuss the five fingers of health: physical, spiritual, mental, emotional, and financial.

If you ever had an injury to your hand before, whether it be a pinky or thumb, you realize how difficult it is to do anything with that hand. It is hard to put on your socks. It's hard to button or unbutton your pants. It's hard to open a door. It's hard to pick up objects with that hand. All because of one finger. It almost immobilizes the entire hand. Doesn't negate it entirely, but it limits its effectiveness.

It's not much different than the five fingers of health that we'll be discussing throughout this episode and in future episodes. I don't know about you, but anytime I've had a challenge in one of those five areas, I could see that it is usually is a challenge in the other areas as well. The same as that example with the human hand. So we're going to be d iscussing that and don't be thrown off by t he episode or the blog article topics.

We will be talking about cooking, which I have a strong background in. I used to be a Chef in my recent past. Marriage, gardening, sports and family, fantasy football, (excuse me), entrepreneurship, and parenting. These are all things we're going to discuss, but at the end of the day, before the end of the episode, it's always going to point back to one of these five facets of health. We should definitely support all five. We should definitely nourish and strengthen all five fingers of health.

But every episode is going to point back to that. It's time to get back in the game! This is not the time to give up! It feels like an easier option but it is not the time to give up! It's time to get back in the game and I'm your coach! So are you just starting to pay attention to your health? What's causing that sudden revelation that your health is important? Is it watching what's going on with the pandemic? Is it personal experiences that are very close to you that are happening?

Like it happened to me? What's causing you to start paying , paying more attention to your health lately? We'd like to discuss that. Which facet of your overall health have you neglected the most? Feel free to share that with us on our Facebook page (@theycallmemistayu), and on our Twitter feed (@tcmmistayu). We'd love to hear your thoughts. Send us your posts and tweets and we will try to share your stories and answer your questions on the podcast. So what's your part in this process?

You know what TCMMY is all about now and you know where to find us on our website, www.theycallmemistayu.com. Our podcast also can be found on our website at the same location. What's your part in this process? What part do you play? What's your role? I'm sure you can find a podcast with a person that's just talking to you and you're just listening. Sounds pretty simple and easy.

Doesn't require much from you, but just your attention, if you provide all of that....but I'm asking for something different today. Most of you might not know me personally, but if you have read any of our articles, you know that background. I have an extensive background in a lot of different areas. I guess I'm a Jack of all trades. I've been a music and recording artist, a singer and songwriter, doing administration and operations with the government. I've done a lot of things.

I've been a chef in restaurants here locally. I've done a lot of things. Besides my writing and authoring books, one of the things that I still do is I still mentor and coach. Usually the coaching relates to things of a personal nature, ministry, relationships , um, self-reflection and even business coaching. I also help coach entrepreneurs who want to enhance their businesses or those who want to build a business for the first time.

So coaching and mentoring is kind of at the core of what I do most, but your part in the process is pretty critical. I can talk to you for 30 minutes about pretty much anything. I have loads of stories and experiences to share, but I want your involvement. That's why I gave you our social media handles. I want you to be involved. I want you to share your questions, share your experiences. If you feel comfortable doing that, share your stories. If it's okay with you, I'll share those on the air.

Every week, every episode, I'll share them in our Mirror Time Community on Facebook. This is interactive. I want you to share your ideas for future articles that I'm going to write. I want you to share your ideas for topics on future podcast episodes. What are we going to talk about? What would you like us to talk about? We'd love to hear your thoughts on that. So your part in the process is pretty simple to me, but I'll share it right now. First, listen to the podcast every week.

We're going to bring you quality content and try to be a voice in your ears that will be valuable to you. Hopefully our podcasts meet a need. We hope they are encouraging and enlightening and educational. We're hoping our podcast does that for you. Maybe I will make you laugh. Perhaps I'll make you think. I don't want to make you cry. But if that happens, this is us being honest. This is us being family. This is us being community. What's your part in the process? Read articles.

There's over 200 articles out there on TCMMY right now. Yes , a lot of reading, but it gives you so much insight into who we are. And I really believe with all my heart, that in one of those articles is a nugget that speaks to a problem that you may currently be dealing with. Maybe one you haven't found the answers to yet. And of course, you can subscribe to the blogs on the same page to receive new articles in your inbox when they are published. I pray they really help you out. Ask questions.

Ask us questions, share your experiences, and share your stories. Stay connected. Honestly, I learned through my medical situation, but also through other life experiences, we accomplish a lot more together than we could ever do alone. This is spoken from somebody who was a renowned Lone Wolf. I didn't like asking for help. I was proud. I thought I could do everything on my own. I was selfish. I thought that I can do it better than the person that I was asking for help from.

But I realize today , and maybe it was old age, maybe it is wisdom, but I know I can't do life alone. And you know what? Neither can you! So we're in this together! I'm encouraging you guys to get back in the game. I'm your coach. And I want to help you today. We can do so much more together than we c an by ourselves! So use those social media handles on Twitter @tcmmistayu and on Instagram and Facebook @theycallmemistayu. Use t hose social media handles. Reach out to us.

Comment on the articles on the blog. We'd love to hear your thoughts. If t here's something you don't agree with, w e love to hear that too. Let's engage i n discussion. Let's talk about it, but let's have fun. Let's learn from each other. Let's grow. T hat's one of the things that if I looked around, and if I could put all of the world in a big picture, I'd say that we can learn so much from each other if we just listened to each other.

One of the things that we definitely want to do during our times on the pod together is address physical health. What we're going to do is share some of those experiences that I've had as a chef. So we definitely will share recipes, the healthy recipes, and perhaps maybe the not-so-healthy ones. We'll try to keep those to a minimum. LOL. Gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian recipes, some fun recipes for the kids, and perhaps videos of me cooking in my kitchen. I might want to rethink that one.

Exercise tips, quarantine, and non quarantine exercise tips for those that can't afford, or don't want to utilize the gym membership right now, so we'll be dealing with that. I may even be gutsy enough to do some fitness challenges, no promises. LOL. We're going to talk about all the five facets. We're going to share ideas. We're going to share gardening tips. Music, entrepreneurship, even social justice and politics, and those heavy hitters! We'll even discuss marriage and dating!

Any sports fans out there? We can talk about sports too and talk about how your team is doing. We're going to talk about a little bit of everything because all those things that we connect with have a part or a role to play in our overall health. They all make a difference. I want to encourage you guys stay in the process, stay in the game. I don't know what you're going through. I want to take the time just to speak to you.

That person who has been pretty close to giving up, and that person that said "nobody cares" and "I'm in this alone". They may be listening to those voices that are saying this is the end and that you can't do any more than this. I'm here to say to you that you can do exceedingly and above all you can ever ask or think because of the power that lives inside of you. You're better and capable than what you think you are. You can be more successful and more purposeful than you think you are.

And although it may seem like you're by yourself, you might even be in isolation right now, but somebody e lse i s going through the same thing you're going through. I seen it a million times. You're never really by yourself. Somebody else may have the answer. Someone may have come out on the other side of it and can live to tell about it. You're not by yourself. And what I'm hoping TCMMY will do for you is encouraging us that we don't have to do life alone. We're not by ourselves.

We can accomplish so much more together than we can by ourselves. So please use our social media platforms, reach out, share your questions , share your experiences. If I have your consent, I'll share those tweets and experiences on the air. We'll get through this together. Like we always have. And like, we always will. We got the victory! So guys, please don't quit. Don't give up, get back in the game!

All you guys that didn't hear , please check us out on our social media platforms as well as our website (www.theycallmemistayu.com). Guys, we appreciate you so much. We thank you so much for your time today. Thank you for suppprting us on this first episode. We're so excited! We are excited about what's coming next. Who knows! Next week, you could be our next interview. Maybe your tweet might be the one that we start the show off with or end the episode with.

Maybe your story might be the highlight of an upcomingepisode. You never can tell, but whatever we're doing every week, we're going to do it together! And you're a big part of that! So thanks for being part of the process. Thank you for supporting me here at TCMMY! We appreciate you guys. Thank you so much. Have a fantastic week. This is Mista Yu.