Shownotes
You're building something slowly, quietly, while it looks like everyone else is winning fast. That gap between your pace and the highlight reel is where this episode lives.
Corwin "CJ" Johnson built a top global podcast on faith, accountability, and grit, but he doesn't lead with the win. He leads with the years he spent, in his words, building his house in anger, confusion, and chaos, and what it took to notice that and walk out of it. This is a conversation about legacy over likes, choosing who you actually listen to, and staying the course one day at a time when it feels like nothing is moving.
About the Guest:
Corwin "CJ" Johnson, known as CJ Moneyway, is a media entrepreneur and culture architect committed to helping people build legacy brick by brick. He hosts The CJ Moneyway Show, a globally reaching podcast with over 400 episodes built on faith, accountability, and grit, part of the Bleav Network.
Key Takeaways:
- Slow growth is still growth. The strongest things get built through discipline, setbacks, and a lot of refusals, not a viral moment.
- Legacy over likes. Chasing approval and chasing usefulness are different goals, and they pull you in different directions.
- Watch who you're taking advice from. People who don't have wisdom to offer can only hand you what they're carrying, which is often just noise.
- Ask for the truth, not comfort. The people worth listening to will tell you what you need to hear, not what keeps you comfortable.
- There's always a layer beneath what feels like rock bottom. That's not despair, it's a reason to keep moving instead of assuming you've hit the floor.
- Take it one day at a time. Legacy isn't built all at once. It's built brick by brick.
Connect With the Guest:
- Podcast: The CJ Moneyway Show, search "CJ Moneyway Show" on any platform (Bleav Network)
- Instagram: @c.j_moneyway
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@themoneywayshow8493
- Email: [email protected]
Episode Chapters:
[00:00] Welcome to Mind Over Matter: building legacy brick by brick (approx.)
[03:00] CJ's Story: the years without discipline, and finding it (approx.)
[08:00] Legacy Over Likes: what fast-success culture gets wrong (approx.)
[14:00] Building in The Valley: chaos, confusion, and getting out of it (approx.)
[19:00] Who Do You Listen To: telling wisdom from noise (approx.)
[27:00] One Day at a Time: staying the course when it feels like rock bottom (approx.)
[32:00] Where to Find CJ and the Show (approx.)
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Transcripts
00:00:06 Sayan: We live in a world obsessed with the overnight success, the viral moment, a sudden breakthrough, and the highlight reel that skip straight to the win. And probably it leaves a lot of good people feeling like failures because they go slow, because nobody's watching them, because they're still building. While it feels like everyone else is constantly winning, sprinting ahead. But here's the truth, guys. The strongest things ever built were built slowly through discipline, through setbacks, and through many refusals. So today we are talking about that. Exactly.
00:00:44 Sayan: Welcome back to another episode of Mind Over Matter. I'm your same as most of you would know, and this is the show about what we are truly capable of when we stop looking for shortcuts and start building. Joining me today has built exactly this kind of thing. Marvin Johnson, known as CJ, is a media entrepreneur, podcast host and cultural architect committed to helping people with legacy. He hosts a top global podcast with over four hundred episodes built on faith, accountability and real world execution. So, Corwin, I welcome you to the show. It's an honor to have you here with us, and I have been looking forward to this.
00:02:02 Corwin "CJ" Johnson: Oh, man. Appreciate it man. Appreciate you having me on.
00:02:08 Sayan: Welcome to the show, Marvin. So yeah, likewise, I am pretty stoked for this. So with that being said, Calvin, um, I want to start, uh, a little bit about with your story because I think, uh, you know, the way that you have steered through your, uh, I would say your teenage and way into adulthood, how have you really seen success? Uh, you know, what kind of setbacks did you face? And if you could, you know, think back to maybe the most disappointing setback of your life, what was it and how you came back from it?
00:02:46 Corwin "CJ" Johnson: Uh, my most disappointing I would, I would say my life ain't just, you know what I'm saying? Just one stepping stone. Like with me, I was I was the type of person that man, I stepped into a lot of pits, stepped into a lot of pitfalls and, and had a lot of a lot of growing to do, you know, immaturity, man, now that I and got older and I've been doing this podcast for like three years now, I found out I've, I've found out a lot about myself. Uh, discipline, patience, what actually builds the legacy. And so as I look back over my, my past life, man, I realized I didn't have any discipline, you know, and it takes discipline to build a legacy. And so, you know, when you, when you undisciplined and the things that you're doing, man, you just can go in any direction in life. And so that's what life was taking me to, man, just in any direction. And I fell for everything that the enemy was throwing at me. And, you know, to say, you know, I say this all the time and say that a double minded man is a confused man and unstable in all his ways. But yet here I was thinking that I was stable, you know, thinking that I was doing the right thing, thinking I was going in the right direction. But man, I was so far off course. It didn't make no sense, man. And but, you know, I thank God for for keeping me through the trials, through the tribulations, through the adversity, you know, through the criticism, through through everything, man. You know, it made me stronger, made me wiser. And now, you know, I just give him all the glory, man. All the honor. For, you know, me still being here and me being able to enjoy doing what I, what I enjoy doing, man. And that's doing this podcast, being on podcast and also hosting a podcast. So man, you know, I'm just thankful bro.
00:04:37 Sayan: Bro. And, and yeah, I think, I think that should be the way it is right now because I really want to, you know, start, I wanted to start with this misconception because I think it's really at the center of so much what you stand for, because I think we live in a culture that really, really worships fast success at this point. Um, you know, since since social media has become a thing and, and it creates slow growth. Like you sign off, you're doing something wrong, but your whole philosophy is that slow growth is still growth. So what do people most get wrong about what it actually takes to build something that lasts.
00:05:17 Corwin "CJ" Johnson: And, you know, success don't come overnight, you know. I'm not saying that I'm successful, but anything that you're doing, man, don't don't come overnight. And you know, my, my big thing right now is legacy over likes. You know, everybody not going to agree with me or support me or understand the vision. And that's okay. But when you focus on legacy, you stop chasing approval, you know? And my goal isn't to be liked by everyone. My goal is to be useful to everybody. You know, that's that's why I get my sense from, you know, like you say we do you do a lot of things, man. We do a lot of things with social media nowadays to garner likes and to garner views and things of that nature, man. But I, I just, I, I refuse to move in that direction. You know, I'm gonna, I'm gonna do what I do. I'm trying to plant seeds not only for, you know, my audience or for people listening or things of that nature. I'm planting seeds for myself. I'm playing seed for my family. I'm playing seed for my son. You know, that's that's what a legacy building starts at. And so, you know, when we living in a society, man, where everybody want everything quick, you know, you want everything fast, you know, when when challenges come against you and you go against some things that, you know, may not seem like it's in the equation of what you trying to go go. And so you trying to avoid it instead of just going through it. I just used this analogy not too long ago and I think it fits for a lot of situations. Man, I know that the word says this man, like you said, everybody, I'm glad your disclaimer, but it say that yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death and see I just stopped right there because a lot of us are building houses in the valley instead of walking through it. It's a walk through. And then once we walk through, he say his rod and his staff would comfort us. And so because he building the house, you know what I'm saying? Now we not seeing the rod and staff that's guiding us through the situations that we're in. And so, as I was saying earlier, you know, that was me. I built my house while I was at I built my house in in anger. I built my house in confusion. I built my house in chaos, you know what I'm saying? But I was expecting good results out of it. You can't expect good results, man. When you're in a bad place, you got to get up and get up out of that thing, man. You know what I'm saying? Because he, like he say, man, he never put no more on us than we can bear. It's us that can't bear this, us that don't understand it. And so when we don't understand things, man, we start running from it. And when you start running from things, you're running from yourself because you're running from truth. You don't want to face the truth within you, man, until you start facing yourself and start facing the truth that lies within you and start reaching and start going towards your purpose in life, you going to always be in that house in the valley.
00:08:04 Sayan: I think there's so much of truth and wisdom. I would say that right now, but I'm gonna put this straight. Uh, you know, and this is also for all the listeners who are listening to this right now, because again, uh, we're kind of living in a narrative where, um. Um, we really have shifted our focus from, uh, serving our purpose and might be, we are going a little off topic, but more towards those flashy things on, uh, again, and I'm gonna, I'm gonna say flashy things on social media. So, um, how does one stay at their course? The course that life was, uh, probably meant for one, like, how does one really go about without any kind of external validation if it makes sense for you for one.
00:09:03 Corwin "CJ" Johnson: For one, it starts out with who you listening to, you know, like you can get some bad information from some people, man. You can get some bad advice from some people. And and you know, you taking that.
00:09:14 Sayan: Yeah. And that's the that's the paradox. Richard. Right. Sorry for interrupting. So so yeah. So like, that's the that's the other question, right. Who do you listen to? Because we, we have so much information floating around us that it really, um, it's hard to really, uh, validate perhaps which is authentic, like which one should you go with? Which one should you just, you know, check off? So what's your take on that as well?
00:09:45 Corwin "CJ" Johnson: I mean, that's, that's, that's, break it down like this. Like I got, I got a fifteen year old son. Right? And so I'm older than he is. And so I have more experience. So therefore I have more wisdom in certain things and certain in most areas than he do. And so instead of listening to me and the advice I'm giving him, he'll rather listen to his Was friends who don't know nothing. They self, you know what I'm saying? And so we go through life like that. We're getting information right. We're getting fed by people that don't know no more than you know. They don't have nothing no more in them than you have. And so I'm taking what they saying is if it's gold, it's not gold because they don't know anything. If you ain't got nothing in you to give, what can I give somebody that's going to be a fruitful what's, what can I give you to multiply all. I'm getting a lot of things that we giving people man. We giving, we giving, uh, discord. We sowing seeds of discord. We sowing seeds of chaos. You know what I'm saying? Like me and my wife get into an argument or whatever, and I go talk to a friend. Right. And, and I'm telling him about what's going on. Now, he only know one side of the story. He only know that the side I'm giving him. And so instead of talking to me rationally, like, hey, man, you need to sit back, man, observe, uh, evaluate this, think about the situation before you go any farther. Now he's telling me. Oh, yeah, man, you should leave her right now, man. You ain't gotta put her. But he don't even know the full story. You know what I'm saying? I need a rational person, somebody that's just not going to tell me what I want to hear. But tell me what I need to know. Tell me the truth. Tell me the truth. Don't tell me something where I can just keep on going out there making mistake after mistake. But tell me the truth. And that's a lot of things that we run from. We run from the truth. So when people start telling you the truth, you start running from them. But you going to run from me.
00:11:36 Sayan: Right. I mean, that's really the honest part that nobody puts on the highlight reel, right? I mean, those kind of moments, those kind of, uh, vulnerabilities or setbacks, I think, uh, you know, seasons that growth stalls completely. And you're looking out there for answer. I think, uh, that's the moment that, uh, you realize that you have lived this before and, you know, heard hundreds of these stories. So. So the question then becomes, and this is also something that I would like to ask on behalf of all the listeners, is how do you stay mentally tough and keep building when, you know, adversity knocks you all the way back? Because, because, uh, and this is what I believe right now is that no matter how or how bad life knocks you down, there is still a layer beneath that. Like you haven't hit the rock bottom yet. Like there's always, you know, something worse that you could fall onto from there. So, and that is something that I, I have learned with time, like, you know, things can even be more worse even in the situations where you think that's the rock bottom. So I want to say it out for all the listeners listening to this right now, that in, in such a situation where somebody is really feeling like they're stalled or in the discouraging season season right now, who feels like, uh, you know, all the building has come to nothing. What would you want to say to them, brother? Directly to them.
00:13:07 Corwin "CJ" Johnson: I would say take one day at a time, man. You know, one day at a time, you know. One step at a time. One dream at a time. Every success or what you trying to do. It don't happen overnight. Don't none of that happen overnight. Mhm. It starts brick by brick. And so as we've been alluding to as far as society, like social media and things of that nature, it's not just social media either. I was thinking about that when you said that it's TV. You know what I'm saying?
00:13:37 Sayan: Like it's media in general.
00:13:40 Corwin "CJ" Johnson: Yeah. You know, the things that influence you and it all goes it all goes towards your appetite. Now, if I'm a materialistic person or whatever, you know, I want to find I want the nice cars, I want the nice house, I want the finest clothes and this and that. And I'm seeing, uh, everybody on the Housewives and you know what I'm saying? And on TV and, uh, rappers and the celebrities, you know, and I want that. I desire for that. And so I get to the point where I start doing anything for that, you know, and so now I can go out of character, I can downgrade my integrity, I can downgrade my integrity and character so that I can fit into that mold. And then if I can't get it, by all means necessary, by the way that I'm getting it, then I'll go out there and do whatever I can for it, you know what I'm saying? So it's all about the seeds that whatever. It's all about the seeds, man. It's all about the soil that you plant your seeds on, bro. You know what I'm saying? It's all it's all of it is a mindset. It's your mindset. What what are you trying to accomplish with what you doing? You know, I'm not trying to be an influencer. I'm not trying to get a million views. Now don't get me wrong. Now, if a million views come about because somebody, a million people was interested in what I was talking about or what, what me and one of my guests was talking about, oh, I take that all day, every day. But that's not my aim, though. That's not what I'm what I'm aiming for. And so when you get to that point is this is your goal and that's what you want to do. You'll do anything for it. And then when it don't come about, you get frustrated with yourself. You get you start, you start knocking yourself or you're not good enough to do this, or you're not good enough to do that. And so we let other people dictate the direction that God trying to take us in. I refuse to do that. You know what I'm saying? I don't care what you think about CJ money way or what, because everything is not for everybody. You feel what I'm saying? Like this podcast here, this episode today. Some people may like it, some people may not. You know, you just gotta take the good with the bad. It is what it is. But that don't mean that I'm gonna stop doing what I'm doing because somebody don't like it, because there's somebody out there that needs it, not only like it, but they need it. And so that's what's more important to me, bro.
00:15:48 Sayan: Right. Um, I think, I think, uh, that's, that's the message that, uh, I would want my listeners to really carry forward from this conversation. And, and also, uh, it's not just about, you know, who you're listening to and what what you're really caring for. But I think the reminder of that a setback isn't really, you know, the downfall of everything you've built, but it's just part of the big you need to you need to let that sink in. And, and really, that reinvention after adversity is strength, I would say. So that's all perhaps that I would want you to walk away from this conversation. But if there's one thing to really take away from today's conversation, I would just say that you don't really have to build everything all together at once. Look at it from a composable, um, architect point of view, like, you know, have these different components and, and you need to approach them one by one, brick by brick, like CJ says. And, and I think some of the parameters that we see. And that's something that I think is non-negotiable, is discipline. Stevens patience and refusal to quit. Because I think that's how everything lasting legacy was ever built. If you think about it. So I think slow growth still remains the, you know, real growth in spite of these flashy lights, whatever. We are getting disciplined on media. And in that process, guys, you need to understand that you need to be real. I think that's where authenticity also becomes this part of this growth process and perhaps what you're trying to build. So that's all that I would like you all to sit with and ponder as we wrap this up. But for everyone who actually related to this conversation and perhaps wants to follow your work and check out the CK money ratio, where's the best place for them to find you.
00:17:56 Corwin "CJ" Johnson: Man. Just google me at CJ money way or type in CJ money way. Show all my links will come up. Uh, podcast platforms that I'm on my social media, uh, platforms, my website, all that will pop up man just at CJ money way or just type in the CJ money way show.
00:18:18 Sayan: Perfect. So we'll have that in the show notes folks for all of you so that you could, uh, directly reach out to that. And I recommend, by the way, I, I really love CJ the, the framework that you're trying to build. And I think that's really a form in a genuine place to really connect with you and, uh, learn more about your philosophy. So folks, with that, we hit today's minute mark on this conversation on mind over matter. And like always, like I always see folks, I really want to thank you for spending this time with us on mind over matter. And, uh, Corbin, I want to thank you because I think there's genuinely something, uh, you know, strengthening about hearing this from someone who's lived the discipline and the reinvention, not just talked about it. So I think a lot of people are leaving this conversation ready to keep building, keep, uh, you know, the head above the water, keep their head above, um, you know, so much of, uh, misinformation, I would say. And to you all listening to this, folks, if you have ever been feeling behind lately or tempted to quit because your growth is slow, folks, this member lay one brick, just one. That's all that I'm going to leave you with. And this has been on mind over matter. And, uh, we'll see you in the next one soon. Till then, take care of yourself and see ya.
