The Secret To Success with CJ, Karl, Jemal & Eric Thomas

Feeling Stuck in a Dark Place? This Is Why Your Life Isn’t Changing | S2S 519

11 snips

Dec 11, 2025

Feeling stuck? You're not alone! The hosts discuss how hard moments are essential for growth, breaking down the idea that darkness isn’t a curse but a transformative phase. Personal stories illuminate how embracing discomfort leads to creativity and resilience. They explore why God prepares us in dark times and why these struggles refine our true selves. Discover actionable steps to face challenges head-on and the importance of setting focused goals. Shift your perspective and embrace the darkness—it's where real success begins!

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INSIGHT

Darkness Is Where Formation Happens

Darkness and light are both God-given ways to see your life, but the light shows what's already formed while the dark is where formation happens.
Running from darkness prevents growth; running into it allows God to form and supersize you.

INSIGHT

Run Toward The Storm

The buffalo metaphor: smart people run into the storm because confronting the difficulty shortens exposure to it.
Avoid wasting energy fleeing problems; face them so they pass quicker.

INSIGHT

Conviction Beats Anxious Doubt

'And we know' means believers must adopt conviction, not doubt, about God's promise that all things work together for good.
Train to shut down negative thoughts quickly and replace them with scriptural truth.

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If life feels heavy, confusing, or just stuck… you’re not broken. You’re not cursed. You’re not “falling behind.”
You’re in a phase nobody teaches you how to navigate: the dark season.

In today’s episode, the guys break down why your hardest moments keep repeating, why running from discomfort actually makes it worse, and the one shift that finally moves you forward. ET explains how every version of success he’s had was formed in moments nobody saw. Jamal talks about the darkness that exposed the real picture of his life and pushed him toward real estate. Karl breaks down how creativity, identity, and resilience are all born in the dark—never in comfort.

This conversation will change how you interpret struggle, setbacks, disappointment, and pressure. Because the truth is simple:
You don’t grow in the light. You grow in the hard stuff. And once you know how to face it, everything changes.

🔥 In This Episode You’ll Learn:

Why God prepares your table in the presence of your enemies—and why you keep praying them away
How darkness is not Satan's domain—it's where God forms everything
The difference between light (what's already formed) and dark (where you're being formed)
Why the Buffalo runs into the storm while everyone else gets stuck in it longer
Jamal's real story: sitting in that squad car at midnight, feeling like a failure—and how that darkness exposed the picture God was developing
How to do dark different: prepare before it comes, embrace it when it's here, and let it form you instead of break you
Why your prayers in the light are different than your prayers in the dark—and how that's costing you your breakthrough

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