Leven "Chuck" Wilson's Podcast Leven "Chuck"Wilson

Children are listening to what is being said and not being said –verbals and nonverbals. You have to be very cognizant of what you are informing young people in your communication. What you are creating is the future. You can either create a productive child or you can create a Frankenstein. Communication means that we need to be diverse, read, understand, share and not be confined to our own walls. Technology has shrunk the world; no matter what your economical circumstance, get outside of who you are and see yourself in the future. That is a communication piece that our kids need to hear about and replicate. See yourself beyond your situation. As a Mom, it is so important to be connected, stay engaged in your role while focusing more on quality time as opposed to quantity time. Be concerned whether you are building a productive citizen or am I developing a Frankenstein. I am going to sacrifice for my child and make certain to communicate to my child.

Conversations about Dr. Brenda Rowdy. The biggest gift that my mother gave me that money could not buy was integrity and having that fight inside of me. She made some moves that were very strategic for me and my sister’s development. She sacrificed her own stuff to expose us to life. My mom did not let circumstances get the best of her. She looked at her children and said, ‘I may not have the things, but I have the vision.” Her vision actually moved us forward, moving the needles of our lives. Love and forgive whatever has happed. Life is short. Don’t allow certain things to grow and fester and kill the joy. Move forward and have a relationship with your mother.

Truth is the biggest barrier of the family. A change in income due to a change in your job, could be a change in your household budget; yet you are still trying to live on the same income of that previous job. Now, the family has been socialized to pick out $300 tennis shoes. We have created a society of fakers. the wall in your life needs to come down. If you have a barrier nothing can get to you and you can't get to nothing else. Anytime the truth is not the force, then catastrophe is headed that way.

We put those barriers around us to protect ourselves from being hurt. It’s about the history that I have created, participated in, from the unknown, people getting too close to us, or people getting to know the real me. Imagine a concrete wall around you and it is high, are you saying that you want to hide out and not get any invaders coming into your world? Keep my stuff to myself; but, what you are doing is keeping the good stuff out. When you have a barrier around you, you are also holding yourself hostage. You should be careful when you put barriers up, because you are also imprisoning yourself. How do you get to the truth, and the way to do that is to bring down the barriers? Your pride caused you to hide your situation. When you put your pride in front of the situation, a lot of times you create those invisible walls; those invisible barriers and it causes people not to see who you are and what you are going through; which allows an individual not to tell the truth about their situation. Chip away at that barrier, let’s start telling the truth.

Part 2 conversation with Matt, a student from the University of South Florida – questions from his cohort (Millennial). What are key traits to foster a relationship with individuals from a professional and personal perspective. Personality is what we project, while character is that person you are; the true you when no one is looking. What’s on the inside will radiate every time. PBS message in terms of school or workplace, address slackers from the very beginning, do not be afraid to advocate for what is right, do not sit back and let things happen to your colleague regardless of ethnicity. Let’s be intentional about what is right. We are the sum total of our experiences. What you do now, will be your history at some point. Move towards other-people-thinking mode.

Chuck has a candid conversation with Matt a student from USF. Matt addresses concerns from his cohort-Millennial. How do you prepare, sustain, and complete whether you are in college, in a relationship, embarking upon a career ? ; it's all about how you start, go through the process, and how you complete.