Thank Yourself: Lessons From Snoop Dogg

When Snoop Dogg received a star on the Hollywood walk of fame, he gave a very poignant speech. After acknowledging and thanking all the people in his life that had helped him get to where he was at that point, he thanked himself.

“Last but not least, I wanna thank me

I wanna thank me for believing in me

I wanna thank me for doing all this hard work

I wanna thank me for having no days off

I wanna thank me for, for never quitting

I wanna thank me for always being a giver

And tryna give more than I receive

I wanna thank me for tryna do more right than wrong

I wanna thank me for just being me at all times

Snoop Dogg, you a bad motherfucker. ”

The speech was initially met with bouts of laughter from the audience as the first thoughts that would come to anyone’s mind after hearing this would be, how dare he? How narcissistic of him!

But as he goes on with thanking himself, the laughter slowly dies and you can tell that the audience is paying attention to his words. Probably also taking in the lessons.

In his speech and in the act of thanking himself, Snoop Dogg dished out various life lessons:

Self-love

He loved himself enough to realize what he had done for himself, the sacrifice, and all the hard work that he had put in to get to where he was. He had also loved himself enough to do all this work for himself.

Self-appreciation

After loving himself, he appreciated what he had done for himself to achieve the success that he had. For believing in himself, for the hard work, and never quitting. He acknowledged himself.

Self-reflection

For him to have known what he had done for himself, he must have self-reflected on it.

In self-reflection, he had looked introspectively at himself bringing self-awareness.

Be yourself

“I wanna thank me for just being me at all times.” — Snoop Dogg

Snoop Dogg could be implying that being himself at all times was one factor that had helped him succeed in his endeavors. And that is why he was taking the time to thank himself for it.

Confidence

Snoop Dogg didn’t let himself be tied by what was the norm or what was socially acceptable when giving speeches or in talking about oneself.

He was confident enough to defy the norm. He was not afraid of seeming vain and smug. He went all out and in true Snoop Dogg style thanked himself.

Take homes:

Appreciate yourself and others will too.

When Snoop Dogg started thanking himself in his speech, the audience took it as a joke and began to laugh. As he continued, the laughter stopped because they realized he was actually serious and he was acknowledging himself and giving himself the appreciation, the credit, and the gratitude that he felt he deserved.

He set the standard for what he felt he deserved from himself and the audience respected it.

Of all the people he thanked in his speech; big names and legends in the industry, the headlines were about Snoop Dogg thanking himself. Before I had actually seen the footage of the whole speech, I had thought that all he had done in his acceptance speech was thank himself.

Acknowledge what you do for yourself at an individual level and don’t be afraid to say it out loud for everyone to hear it.

It may sound conceited but you gotta love and acknowledge yourself before you let anyone in to do it for you.

Don’t wait around for someone to give you credit when you can do it yourself. Appreciate yourself.

Build it

After giving his speech, after it was well received and it made headlines, Snoop Dogg also wrote the song I Wanna Thank Me that sampled the words from his speech.

He turned this moment into an opportunity by building his speech from words that resonated and inspired him into immortal art that could also generate income for himself. He combined his talents and skills to build upon a poignant moment and that is a vital lesson to pick from him.

Build it! Take something and find ways to repurpose it. Exploit its full potential and make it beneficial to you.

I thank Snoop Dogg for teaching me and all of us these lessons by example. And I want to thank me for listening to the lessons, for taking them in, and for sharing them in this story.