Lil Wayne and Self Respect

This was the official Miami song I probably heard 800 times last week...

You guys should put it on while you read this post... Before I get into the crux of this post I want to pose a question. When did Lil Wayne become the best commercial rapper alive? It seems like it happened a couple of years ago when Jay-Z and Eminem "retired" but it certainly happened fast after he'd had a mostly unremarkable career. It actually makes me respect Master P more because he saw something in this guy when he was like 15. It also is an interesting look at maturing while in the highest level of a profession. Much like Kobe Bryant, or Kevin Garnett, Lil Wayne became famous while super young and learned the politics of the business so now that he's like 25 he seems older. Same as Kobe and KG. I can identify with this since I got into pick up at like 19 and had to deal(badly) with a lot of politics early on that I didn't handle well...



Lil' Wayne Lollipop (Remix) Lyrics
Lollipop lollipop breasts is just like Dolly Parton
She ride my spaceship til she hit the top
That hit the spot
Til she ask how many li li licks do it take
Til she get to shop
Dont worry why my wrist got so freeze
Tell a girl like Doritos thats not yo (Nacho) cheese
Tell her friends like Fritos im trying to lay
I can only have one and i aint aint tryin to wait
This a song with Wayne so you know its gon melt
But you aint fina murder me like everybody else
Imma rap like I got some type respect for myself
I dont do it for my health man
I do it for the belt
Man I do it to the death
Til the roof get melt
100 degrees, drop the roof so the coupe dont melt
Man the flow so cold Chicken Soup won't help



The lyrics are actually really awesome... Rappers def don't have inner game issues. But there was one line that really stood out as I was rapping this song all over Miami last week.

"Imma rap like I got some type respect for myself"

Which brought me to what I think the core of inner game is: Self Respect.

You have to respect yourself in order to be successful with women.

So that led me to wanting to explore what exactly self respect is...

You know what that means a trip to Ditionary.com. Which defines self respect as follows.

"proper esteem or regard for the dignity of one's character."

Which is good but I want to go a bit deeper. So on to Wikipedia...

"In psychology, self-esteem reflects a person's overall self-appraisal of his or her own worth.

I like that, an appraisal of your self worth. Do you feel like you are a worthwhile partner for that girl you want to talk to? Or do you feel like you would be getting one over on her. I've been watching RSD's "Flawless Natural" program and Tim's got an idea of harmony and win/win. Which basically expresses the same notion. Namely that sex is not something that you take from a girl. I hate the mainstream language used about sex as guys talk about " Getting some, Getting girls to put out," etc. Sex is a shared experience that both people enjoy.

I think it's also interesting that in the near synonyms self confidence was listed. This is because without a correct amount of self respect you cannot be confident. If you don't think you're worthwhile, how can you convince a girl you are?

So how does one develop self-respect?

I think one of the first keys is to know why you respect yourself. As everyone knows, I'm a big fan of making lists. So I suggest everyone take a minute or two now to write down some reasons to respect yourself. We'll call this the " Why I'm Awesome list".

Now the next thing is figuring out how you want to be treated. One of the keys to self respect is putting boundaries on what you will and won't tolerate. You don't want to wait until something happens to decide if you want to deal with it. So the next list to make is the " Unacceptable behavior list". I've always been good at this one :)

Lastly I want you to think about this next sentence.

I approach like I got some TIGHT respect for myself.

What does it mean to approach with self respect?

How would you approach if you really had some tight respect for yourself. If you thought you were the baddest motherfucker in the world?

How would the girl react to this approach?

Hope this helps clarify some stuff. It did for me....

S