This is not another article about Michael B. Jordan’s love life. Indeed, it’s a challenge to overlook the obvious magnetism of a successful and physically appealing leading man, but the Creed actor’s recent interview on the Jay Shetty Podcast offers another appreciated value — Jordan’s ambitious mentality.
Starting out as a child actor, Jordan created a lot of his buzz as the character Wallace on The Wire before tackling hearts as Vince Howard on the NBC football television series Friday Night Lights. His performance in the award-winning, Ryan Coogler-directed Fruitvale Station would be the turning point for the actor, who was now being categorized with Hollywood prestige, such as that earned by Sydney Portier, Denzel Washington, and Will Smith — Jordan will be acting alongside Smith in the long-awaited sequel of the apocalyptic thriller I Am Legend.
With that said, Jordan understands the challenge of those who pursue their dreams and step into their purpose. He admits that despite being in “alignment with where you feel truthful… [it] doesn’t always mean you’re going to be financially ok, as well. You can feel aligned and then, mortgage is due, rent is due.”
Jordan has come a long way from being teased for pursuing acting and modeling as a child all while sharing a name with one of the most accomplished persons in the sports world. He went from lead actor in Creed and Creed II, a continuation of the Rocky Balboa franchise, to directing the third installment of the renewed franchise.
As he grows into a leader in the field of feature film and entertainment business — he owns his own production company, Outlier Society — Jordan has experience with moments of complexity and little clarity about the next step.
“That’s your moment, it’s…the ‘All Is Lost'” Jordan said. “When you’re feeling the most trapped, and down, and nothing can go right, I feel like those are the moments that define you. Those are those character candid moments that are like, ‘What am I going to do now? How do you respond to that?'”
Jordan continues, “Thinking your way, feeling your way, working your way through those things on the other side — usually, you’re the closest to getting what you want, it’s always the hardest… People give up right before they get what they’ve always wanted to get. People quit. They give up.”
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As any go-getter can attest, sometimes working hard doesn’t always deliver the expected result. Sometimes, we don’t always get what we want. To Jordan, it’s not the end of the world.
“If that wasn’t for me, it wasn’t for me. I’m [going] to keep grinding. I’m [going] to keep knocking on the door,” said the Raising Dion executive producer.
Jordan’s notion is something that is even displayed in the villainous characters he portrays. Erik Killmonger, the menacing character opposite T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) in the hugely successful Black Panther, has a relentless passion that pushes his ambition so far it disrupts a whole society of warriors. Yet, even he has a righteous moment that defines his character at the end of the day.
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Midway through the interview, a very self-aware Jordan makes an appeal to the people on the path of finding purpose and aligning with it.
“For the people who are listening…that doesn’t feel like they can change their circumstances with the way they think or they feel, just hold on. Just endure. Endure. Look at things differently — challenge yourself to look at things as the glass half full. Challenge yourself to think four steps ahead. Think your way through it,” said Jordan, who is working on another collaboration with Ryan Coogler.
Jordan continued, “Find something that does resonate with you, even if it’s not in the world that you ever thought you would be in… Align with something, and find your positivity. Find your intuition within that thing, and be obsessed about it.”
Watch The Entire Interview Here
