“Focus on yourself”
In short: Kenneth “Flex” Wheeler answers Brian Rose’s closing question in this 2018 Success Secrets clip: what would he tell a 20-year-old watching right now? His answer is to focus on yourself, keep faith in a higher power and be willing to admit weakness.
Flex says you have no control over what other people do, so the work is to make yourself the best version of you. He believes that if every 20-year-old did that, there would be very few problems.
He speaks openly about his own faith, which he credits to his grandmother, and about what he thinks his talents would have been used for without it.
Key takeaways
- Focus on yourself. You cannot control what others do, so work on becoming the best version of you.
- Believe in something bigger. Flex says you have to have faith, and that the name you put on it matters less than being about good.
- Faith shaped his path. He says what he has achieved comes from his faith, which his grandmother instilled in him.
- Cut your own backyard. Look after your own patch instead of trying to cut somebody else’s.
- Weakness can become strength. In your lowest moments, he says, you are strongest because you let something stronger help you.
- Admit it to start healing. He compares surrender to an alcoholic accepting the truth before recovery can begin.
Focus on yourself
Brian asks what a 20-year-old growing up in a crazy world should focus on. Flex’s answer is direct: focus on yourself and try to make yourself the best version of you, because you have no control over what the other man does.
He adds that if every 20-year-old did this, the world would have far fewer problems.
Faith and a higher power
Flex says that, without wanting to sound like a Bible thumper, you have to have faith and believe. He says it does not matter whether you call it by one name or another, because if you are about good, you are about good.
For him, everything he is and has done comes by grace, and he credits his grandmother for instilling it in him and years of grappling with it for helping him understand. He says it is his greatest strength, even though he feels far from where he needs to be.
What he would have been without it
Flex is candid about the alternative. He says that without faith he knows what he would have been: all his talents would have gone into bad things, such as learning how to fight, hurting people, stealing and selling drugs.
He believes people who lack a higher power often think they are the higher power, and he sees that as the difference.
Cut your own backyard and surrender
His second message is to cut your own backyard instead of someone else’s, and to remember there is a bigger picture than you and a helping hand in your lowest moments.
He says your weakest moments can be your strongest because you allow someone stronger to help, but you have to surrender and admit you are weak. His comparison is the first step for an alcoholic: once you say it, the healing can start.
Who is Kenneth Flex Wheeler?
Kenneth “Flex” Wheeler appeared on London Real in 2018 in this Success Secrets clip, where he spoke about fighting, faith and the lessons his grandmother taught him. In this conversation he describes learning to fight as a young man and says his faith kept his talents from going to bad use.
Frequently asked questions
He says to focus on yourself and try to be the best version of you, because you have no control over what other people do.
He says everything he has achieved comes through faith, which his grandmother instilled in him, and that it is his greatest strength.
Flex Wheeler uses it to mean looking after your own life instead of trying to cut somebody else's, while remembering there is a higher power.
He says your weakest moments can be your strongest, because surrendering and admitting weakness lets something stronger help you.
Kenneth Flex Wheeler spoke to Brian Rose in this Success Secrets clip in 2018.
