Charlamagne Tha God, New York Times bestselling author of Black Privilege and always provocative cohost of Power 105.1âs The Breakfast Club, reveals his blueprint for breaking free from your fears and anxieties.
Fear is holding you back. Itâs time to turn the tables and channel your fears to actually fuel your success.
Being âshookâ is more than a rap lyric for Charlamagne, itâs his mission to overcome. While it may seem like he's ahead of the game, he is actually plagued by anxieties, such as the fear of losing his roots, the fear of being a bad dad, and the fear of being a terrible husband. Shook One chronicles his journey to beat those fears and shows a path that you too can take to overcome the anxieties that may be holding you back.
Ironically, Charlamagne's fear of failureâof falling into the life of stagnation or crime that caught up so many of his friends and family in his hometown of Moncks Cornerâhas been the fuel that has propelled him to success. However, even after achieving national prominence as a radio personality, Charlamagne still found himself paralyzed by anxiety and distrust. Now, in Shook One, he is working through these problemsâmany of which he traces back to cultural PTSDâwith help from mentors, friends, and therapy. Being anxious doesnât serve the same purpose anymore. Through therapy, heâs figuring out how to get over the irrational fears that wonât take him anywhere positive.
Charlamange hopes Shook One can be a call to action: Getting help is your right. Therapy and showing weakness are not always easy subjects, but if you go to the gym three or four times a week, why canât you put that same effort and energy into getting mentally strong?
âI know bad things are still going to happen to me. Struggles that I canât even conceive of today are still going to trip me up from time to time down the road. Cops are still going to pull me over for no reason. Iâm still going to worry about my kids. The anxieties are never fully going to go away. In the past, my focus was always on the things that cause stress. Moving forward, itsâ going to be on the things that bless.â