Planet Tyrus: "My Story PT. 2" | December 18, 2025

Episode Overview

In this solo episode, Tyrus continues sharing the autobiographical journey he began in Part 1. With candor and humor, he explores his decades-long struggle with insecurity, rejection, the weight of unmet expectations, and how these forces shaped—often warped—his early adulthood and career decisions. Tyrus doesn’t hold back on the real talk, dissecting how carrying old wounds impacted his opportunities, relationships, and even his happiness during objectively cool moments (bodyguarding Snoop Dogg, mingling with stars, etc.). The result is a blend of storytelling, self-roast, and advice aimed especially at men coming from adversity: own your feelings, your mistakes, and learn to move forward—without letting baggage define you.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Weight of Childhood Rejection and Insecurity

• Tyrus reflects on the emotional scars left by an abusive, absentee father and a mother who left him temporarily for the sake of her own education and his future.
• Quote: “You carry—I think I always carry that sense of rejection. And I didn’t really start to see it until I had to start taking risks in life, like trying out for sports.” (10:42)
• He describes three ways people deal with tough experiences: accepting and moving on, wallowing, or carrying them forever—comparing the latter to “mental cancer.” (03:45)

2. How Fear of Rejection Warped His Youth

• Tyrus admits that growing up, he always braced for rejection—be it from parents, coaches, or even girls in high school.
• This fear led to avoidance and self-sabotage, e.g., never asking girls to dances, overcompensating with jokes, and seeking validation only through what he lacked, not what he achieved.
• Quote: “If you’re always worrying about being rejected, you’re missing everything else that’s going around you.” (18:10)

3. The Pursuit of Worth Through Status

• Sports, especially dreams of the NFL, became the all-or-nothing path to validate his worth to himself and those who rejected him.
• Tyrus unpacks how not making it to the NFL sent him into “urgent depression,” with his entire sense of self tied up in external validation and fantasies of “making it.”
• Quote: “If I made the NFL, my life—I win. That was my mindset. All the people who said bad things about me…that was going to be the biggest ‘you ever!’” (25:09)

4. "Beautiful Lies" and the Mask of Success

• Tyrus became adept at spinning stories to others—and himself—about “almost” making it, about being in between contracts, to hide shame over his real circumstances (substitute teaching, club bouncing).
• He describes lying to nightclub patrons about NFL contracts, then refusing job offers because the truth would be exposed.
• Quote: "You're a bouncer in a club telling everybody you're in a contract negotiation with the NFL. For real, bro." (33:57)

5. The Problem with Limited Role Models

• He points out how, growing up Black, all the celebrated role models were entertainers or athletes—not doctors, lawyers, or entrepreneurs—so he never seriously considered those as paths.
• Quote: “Most of our role models are either entertainers or athletes. That’s kind of a problem, because we don’t put any focus…on other sides of things.” (44:25)
• Calls it “straight up ignorant” that he didn’t see other options until much later.

6. The Bodyguard Years: Proximity to Fame, Absence of Joy

• Tyrus shares wild and reflective anecdotes about working security for celebrities like Snoop Dogg, feeling the sting of being “the help.”
• He invokes stories showing how he purposefully avoided photos or enjoying perks—"didn’t want a record of it" (1:05:42)—because he saw his success as lacking, not worthy of memory.
• Example: Stopping another bodyguard from disturbing Snoop for a picture and then firing the guy, a moment of both pride and reflection on how his own aversion to vulnerability hurt his happiness.

7. Humorous (“If Sad”) Anecdotes

• On pushing away real opportunity out of shame, like refusing more work from a client when he risked exposing his NFL lie (47:35).
• Recalling a tour in Australia with Snoop and Ice Cube, being central to an absurd moment with a missed performance by Bone Thugs-N-Harmony—then not enjoying it: “I should have went home and told jokes about it but I didn’t...could never ever enjoy moments, now when I think back.” (1:14:14)

8. Lack of Accountability, the "Ignorant Arrogance"

• Tyrus zeroes in on the self-destructive default of blaming others—racism, jealousy—rather than accepting when he’s simply been bested or made mistakes.
• In WWE, for example, rejecting creative directions or refusing to embody gimmicks fully set him back. But he once had the mindset: “I’m the one that’s perfect. I’m doing everything right. It’s all these people that are conspiring against me. That in itself is insanity.” (1:23:10)

9. Growth and Wisdom: Letting Baggage Go

• Contrasts his younger self’s mindset—never enjoying the present, always brooding about what was lacking—with how maturity, parenting, and healthy relationships forced him to confront and drop that baggage.
• Quote: “Forgiveness is about you letting go of a hurt. It has nothing to do with you. Forgive for you, so you can let go. And it’s the same thing with all that bullshit you carry.” (1:33:40)

10. The Advice: Radical Honesty with Yourself

• Tyrus closes by urging young men, especially those from adversity, to be "brutally honest with yourself," own your reactions, drop the baggage, and focus on what you can control.
• Quote: “Anything that happens wrong in your life, 99% of the time is because of your reaction to something that happened to you, not anything anyone else did to you.” (1:28:04)
• He teases a future episode: “Next time, I’ll talk about when I actually grew up. Nothing like, you know, becoming a grown ass man at 40.” (1:41:17)

Memorable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• On laughing through pain:
  "If you can laugh—and that's what I think I got really good at—laughing at myself, which…I think when you can laugh at yourself, it's a tremendous gift." (07:16)

• On shame and missed opportunities:
  “Because I wasn’t where I was at, I didn’t want a record of it. So I didn’t enjoy any of it… that burden just got bigger and bigger because I was putting so much pressure on myself that I was a failure because I wasn’t my own guy.” (1:07:10)

• On being a man:
  "Alpha male is a man who is respected, who is admired, who people go to for help, who takes care of his family.... Kicking somebody's ass just means you're a chimpanzee that can kick somebody's ass..." (41:37)

• On radical self-honesty:
  "The best thing that you can do is be honest with yourself. Brutally honest with yourself." (1:36:22)

• On forgiving for yourself:
  "Forgiveness is about you letting go of a hurt. It has nothing to do with you. Forgive for you, so you can let go." (1:33:45)

Segment Timestamps

• Introduction, Childhood Wounds — 00:00–13:00
• Fear of Rejection & Early Adulthood — 13:00–26:00
• Bodyguarding & "Beautiful Lies" — 26:00–48:00
• Problems with Representation in Role Models — 44:00–48:30
• Funny Bodyguard Stories (Snoop, Bone Thugs, Clubs) — 48:30–1:15:00
• Learning from Mistakes; WWE stories — 1:15:00–1:26:00
• Owning Your Shit & Letting Go of Baggage — 1:26:00–1:36:00
• Closing Wisdom & Tease for Next Episode — 1:36:00–1:41:17

Conclusion

This episode is a raw, unfiltered self-examination from Tyrus—part storytelling, part therapy, part locker-room wisdom—inviting listeners to recognize the power of owning your story, letting go of old hurt, and finally enjoying the wild ride, even if your journey goes nothing like the one you imagined at 18.