MSG Presents-"Big Stew's Wisdom Wednesdays": Who’s Holding You Back? Reclaiming Your Space, Time, and Power

In this #WisdomWednesday episode, Big Stew and E-Money get real about something we all struggle with: how to let go of people, habits, or situations that are holding us back — without feeling guilty about it.

The fellas break down three practical steps for removing "dead weight" from your life:

1. Commit to letting it go — whether it's a person, job, mindset, or memory.
2. Reduce your time and energy — stop giving it space in your head or calendar.
3. Release the guilt — choosing yourself isn’t selfish; it’s self-care.

They share personal stories, practical tools, and that classic MSG humor and wisdom. If you’ve ever wrestled with distancing yourself from draining people — especially family — or struggled to prioritize your peace, this one’s for you.

Transcript

What's happening? E. What's going on, man? What's up, Chicago? We know y'all out there getting ready for your day, your work date and day. We see you. We see you. We see you. We see you. We see y'all. We see y'all. We're back for another edition of Wisdom Wednesday. Yes, we are.

Yes, we're just, for those who don't know I'll, I'll do it. I'll do it this morning. Eve, real quick, for those who don't know my name is Big Stu. I am one half of the Money Sex Gen X podcast. And to the side of me is my man Eric Money. We affectionately call him E-Money and he is the other half the host of the Money Sex Gen X podcast.

So let's get into it, man. 'cause we don't wanna, we don't wanna be here for a long time, but we definitely want to have a good time. Today's topic is, and let me tell you the reason, but first before I'm gonna introduce the purpose, the purpose of wisdom.

Wednesdays, we, we are the money sex Gen X team. We, we we talk to each other, we [00:01:00] talk to other Gen Xs, but we found that a lot of millennials and some, some millennials are even checking out for our show. They like the wisdom that us old heads are dropping. They do. I mean, y'all should keep dropping that wisdom.

And you know, it was like. We don't do anything in between the week. Why don't we come up with something in between the week hump day Wednesdays? Let's drop a little wisdom on Wednesdays, and here we are. Here we are with our wisdom Wednesdays. That's right. That's right. Yeah. So we talking about today, brother?

Man, listen, I don't know about you, but I know there's some people, we were just talking in the pregame. There's some people in our lives, sometimes they're very, very close to us that tend to hold us down, hold us back. Absolutely. We refer to them as dead weight. Dead weight. Yes. So today we're gonna talk about three ways to remove dead [00:02:00] weight from your life.

Man, that's a taboo. Is that taboo? You can say something like that. Three ways to remove dead weight from your life. Okay. All. Okay. All right. Three ways to remove it. I mean,

taboo. Maybe when you're talking about people you love when the dead weight is people you love, maybe because, you know, it's like, no, you don't do that to your family. You, you always keep your family no matter what and all that stuff. So, you know, so we're not talking about That's what I've been told.

Yeah. We're not talking about three ways to people you love. That's right. We're just talking about three ways to not let those people be. Let not let those people continue to hold you down, hold you back. Oh, I see. Remove dead weight. It's not okay. You know we're not, and hey, you might have to [00:03:00] cut 'em out your life.

That's an extreme. Yeah. Well, let's talk about the three way. Let's talk number three. Number three, way three, remove the dead weight from your life. Let's get into it. Okay. Number three way. Commit to letting go of dead weight from your life in the first place. Commit to letting go. Yeah. What does that mean?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So you may recognize that you have some people hold you back, that every time you call 'em and you, you know, you can't share an idea with 'em. You know, you, you can't talk to 'em about the good things that are happening in your life. You know, that, you know that they're not gonna support you, but you don't, you don't, you haven't committed to saying, you know what, I don't want this to be a burden on my life anymore.

This person or this thing? It could be a job. It doesn't have to be a person. It could be a job. Okay. It could be a, oh, okay. It could be a mindset. All right. Right. So it's not [00:04:00] specific to a person. Okay. More than likely it is a person or some people, but it doesn't have to be. So the committing is, first of all, you gotta say, you know what?

You gotta get to the point where you say, this is holding me back and I'm tired of it and I want and will. Let it go. Okay. That's like, I'm glad you clarified that, Stu, because I Now that makes it a broader, it's not, not specific to a person. It could be, but it is just anything in your life that's holding you back from your goals.

I got That makes sense. I got it. A job, a mindset. A person or people. Okay. Right. A situation. A relationship. A relationship. Yeah. Right. Okay. So you gotta commit to, first of all, you gotta commit to this, that, that you, that this even a thing. You gotta recognize and commit to it and then say, Hey, I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna remove, I'm gonna lighten my load.[00:05:00] 

Yeah. Any thoughts about what, what do you think about that? Yeah, I think it's definitely true. It's something that I've had to do. And mine has always been with family members most of the time. And it's, I like how you worded this because it's commit, because it's like you, you have to revisit your vision or make sure you have a vision for your life, and then you decide, hey, you know what?

I don't know if I can reach this vision if I continue to interact with this person or this situation. So yeah, I've had to do it. Yeah. But you actually feel good. You know, I do think that we feel guilty sometimes when it's family, but when you have a higher purpose, and I love what you just said, Stu.

You said, when I can't share with this person the good things that are going on in my life, that's my, what do they call it? That's my like deal breaker. Mm. If I can't call you and share the good things that's going on within my life, then you know, I might have to re, I might have to remove you. Mm-hmm.

I might have to do that because you just wanna hear things that [00:06:00] are, aren't going well. And look, lemme let me, lemme, you just made me think about this. The, the opposite of that is the people that only call you or when you know, they calling, they're calling you with their, their stuff. They're calling you only with, you know, they're gonna be a downer.

Like I have a family member who, when this family member calls, I know what it is and I have to prepare myself mentally. And if I'm not in that space, if I don't have the, the capacity. To endure the conversation. I can't even take the call. Yeah, I can relate to that. Yeah. Because I have a family member and I had to, this is how I removed that.

That way you ever have these family members, they always wanna relay a negative message that somebody said about you in the family, and it's always something silly. It's nothing serious most of the time, but it's like, yo, I don't want hear that. Right. You know what I mean? It's like they can't wait to deliver the [00:07:00] message, so.

Right, right, right, right, right, right, right, right. Don't wanna hear it. Wanna hear it? Absolutely. Absolutely. So man, we could spend, we could spend more time on this one. If you have any questions or you have any comments that you wanna, you know, ask a question or leave a drop a comment, please do so in the chat.

And maybe, maybe this becomes a topic for a season five or season. Oh yeah. Something I don't know. Right. Alright, well let's get to number two because we both, it's hump day, so we got stuff to do today. We don't, we're not gonna be here for a long time. Number two. So number three, commit to letting go.

Commit to letting go of the dead weight in your life in the first place. Number two, because you know, we do this Arsenio Ohio style, this Jay Leno style, we go top, bottom to top. Number two, way to remove the dead away from their life is, and this is, this is an actionable, so first you've committed, what's the, what's the next step?

Reduce the amount of time you spend with those people, or in [00:08:00] those spaces. In those, that's, yeah, just start reducing the amount of time or amount of energy you give those people or give those places powerful. Yeah. Right. Any thoughts about that? What, what's your take on that? I like the fact that you added the word spaces on there.

Yeah. You know, because then that gets into, you know, sometimes the dead weight is the past and it's taking up a lot of space in your mind. Yeah. So you, you reduce the amount of time thinking about that specific situation. For example. I think the one with the people is easier. We always talk about that, but I don't know if we hear as much about the space.

Being occupied in your, in your thoughts. Yeah. Yeah. I love this. I know some people may, you know, some people struggle with going to work, right? They struggle with their jobs. Some people hate their jobs, or maybe they like their job, but they hate their manager. I hate their boss. And so I [00:09:00] would say, so one of, you know, stop being a glutton for punishment.

And if you enjoy your job but you don't like your boss, just do everything that you can to minimize the amount of time that you have to interact with your boss. Don't take it so personally, right? Just like reduce the amount of, like you just said, which is very good. Re reduce the amount of time you're even spending thinking about it.

Reduce the amount of time you're spending with those people. And if you, if you have the freedom to reduce the amount of time you go into those places and spaces, that's your actionable item. That's something you can start working on. The first two, number three and number two are things that you can start working on right now.

That's right. Do you even have any dead weight? And, and we all have some, some more than others. So if you do, are you at the place where you're ready to commit to removing the dead weight? Mm-hmm. And then the first, once you commit to that, then then start [00:10:00] reducing the amount of time mentally and physically with those people and or spaces.

No question. Love it. Hey, if you all want to hear us talk about corporate situations, you can always tune in. On Sundays, we have a segment called Care Fish from Corporate where people talk just about this specific thing about their jobs and all of that. So yeah, try to catch care fish from corporate.

Absolutely. And here's the number one. This is good. This is really, really good. We're talking three ways to remove dead weight from your life. Number three, commit to letting those. That dead weight go free up some of your, your space and capacity. Number two, reduce the amount of time you spend in your mind.

Thinking about those people, thinking about those situations. Mm-hmm. Reduce the amount of time you're spending with those people. The number one way, number one, to remove, number one way to remove dead weight from your life is to [00:11:00] not feel guilty for moving on. Now hold. Don't that guilty? Is that possible?

Is that even possible? Yes. It's yes, it's yes, it's yes, it is possible. It's important. It's important for people to know that, man, listen. Listen. There's some people who struggle with saying no because they feel guilty. For choosing them themselves over other people. Right, right, right. And in this moment, to remove the dead weight, you have to feel good about choosing you.

Yes. Will you be called selfish? Yes. Only to people. You're only selfish to people who can't get their way with you. Hmm. You're not. So that's the jewel. That's the jewel only. That's the t-shirt. That's the t-shirt brother. What, what would it say? What would. You're [00:12:00] only selfish to people. What was the last part you said?

Only self. Who can't get their way with you. Wow, man. That's, I like that. You're only selfish to people who can't get their way with you. Absolutely. You, you're only a jerk. You're only a jerk when you can't get, people can't get their way with you. You are only an asshole when people can't get their way with you.

You're only selfish when, when it doesn't serve other people. So I'm suggesting that you don't feel guilty for self care. Love that man. Yeah, no doubt. Self care. It's practice, it's muscle. It's mental muscle memory. Yeah. It's mental muscle memory. You gotta practice it. It's okay to choose yourself. It's okay to even listen.

I'll, I'll give this last. It's okay to say, to choose you. You might feel guilty about it, right? You might. It might hurt you. You've been in situations where you've had to make a decision. It was the best decision for you, but it still hurt. Yeah, that's [00:13:00] a real thing. So it may hurt you to remove this dead weight from your life.

I just am suggesting that you don't feel guilty for it. Don't. Powerful suggestion. Jump into it, man. Yeah. Powerful suggestion. I like how you said that because it's like you are gonna hurt a little bit. You know, but just because you hurt doesn't mean you have to feel guilty because by the time you get to that point, Stu, you've already probably gone through so much with that person.

So much with that situation that you're trying to remove on from the past, like you've thought about it a million times. Yeah. So at that point you, you know, there's no need to feel guilty. You've already dealt with the situation for longer than you probably shoulda have. And you may be, some people may be asking, well, what, how, why would I feel guilty?

How, what, what will guilt feel like it, it may, if, if we're talking people particularly, it's gonna show up, it may show up in situations like, why you don't call me [00:14:00] no more? Oh yeah. Why you always so busy? You better believe it. Why you? Why? Like man, what? Man? You changed. You ain't the same No more. Right boy.

They'll tell other people, oh, Stu don't, you know, they'll tell another family, oh, Stu, don't mess with me no more. And then the other person is telling you that. Yep. Oh, so and so said you don't mess with them no more. You know, they'll relay it through others. Yeah. I saw a post yesterday some my lady reposted something yesterday and it says something to the effect of you made me think about this.

I lost that thought. People are gonna say, damn it, I lost the thought. Anyway. It was fleeting, but it was a, it was a post just like, damn. I can't, I can't think of it. I can't think of what it was. It was just so powerful to what you just just said. Other people are gonna talk. I can't, I can't think of it right now.

But at any rate, man those are our, those are our top three. I'm gonna see if I can pull it while we wind this down. You wanna, we wanna say anything before we get outta here, man, on our wisdom Wednesday. You wanna do [00:15:00] anything you want to add or add on to here? No, I thought these were strong. These were strong.

Three ways to remove dead weight from your life. I think all of these are solid. I like these wisdom wisdoms because it's not fluff. Like these are definitely things that you can use and that we've used, like we don't, we typically talk about stuff that we've utilized, so. I'm definitely committed to letting go of dead weight.

I've removed, reduced the amount of time that I've spent with certain people and spaces. Yeah, and I definitely have been hurt by having to move on from certain, certain people and I felt, you know, I have actually felt guilty, but I love the fact that we're saying you don't have to. You can make a decision not to.

I think these are strong, very strong. When, and, and, and Eric has allowed me e-money has allowed me to kind of lead these Wednesday Wisdoms Wednesday Wisdom Wednesdays. And you're a hundred percent right. EI can only talk about and share. Experiences that I have experienced. Yeah. Well, experiences that I've experienced, [00:16:00] I can only share topics and have conversations in this manner about things that I have experienced.

Indeed. Indeed. And so I've, I am, I have grown to commit to the fact that I gotta let some people go. And this is how I've been able to do it. No doubt. And so I'm, I am to your point, I am sharing real life stuff that I. And practicing or have mastered, it's either in practice or I've already mastered it. No doubt.

Yeah. And it, and it shows because the way that you're structuring these conversations, it's, is absolutely, it shines through. Yeah. You know, you can tell when somebody's presenting something that they don't really know about and they haven't experienced. It's just there's no substance. There's not deep. So, no, this is, this is real stuff.

Yeah. I, I'm going through it. I'm going through it with some people in my life that I love dearly. Same here. Yeah, man. Yeah, man. And, and, and one day I did think about this one [00:17:00] day, and it may be in season five. I got some ideas and we'll talk about it in season five, but we may, we may go, we may go a little deeper in season five, man.

Okay. We may, we may have to reveal a little bit more so people know that we not just on here acting like our stuff don't stink. No question. Hey, I do wanna say this, Stu, before we go big, Stu and I are doing a lot of media interviews right now, and I'm not bringing this up to make us like look like we're whatever, but like we're putting, I, I bring it up because we're putting these conversations that we're having on the Sunday show and the Wisdom Wednesdays we're taking it to the mainstream media.

So soon you might start hearing us on the radio or other people's podcast. Mm-hmm. And it's a beautiful thing because when we started this show, it was really about, a lot of it was about taking these conversations and pushing the envelope a little bit. Mm-hmm. So check for us out there, you probably start seeing us on other people's shows and on the radio, et cetera.

[00:18:00] Absolutely. And so that's, that's coming. We are. Collectively the Money Sex Gen X podcast. My name is Big Stu. That is Eric McCloy E-Money. He is the Scotty Pippin of Podcast Pimpin Time, and he holds it down. We are on most Sundays, 11:30 AM Central Standard Time. You can catch us most consistently on. On. YouTube.

YouTube, YouTube. Check YouTube that our YouTube out. YouTube, YouTube. Check our YouTube out. And if you can't, if, and also if you want to catch the audio, go to our website, money sex gen x podcast.com.

E let's go out here and, and make the world a better place. Let's go help some people today. Let's do good in the world. I challenge everybody within earshot. Do good today. Help somebody today. Make the world a better place. You know what it is. Until next time, peace.