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PODCAST

The Story Samurai

A quiet space for sovereign minds to sharpen their voice, master their message, and rise with meaning. Hosted by Cary Hokama.

society & culture personal journals

All Episodes

6:13

Scroll 039: Warrior in the Garden: How Drift Quietly...

The Story Samurai ·

2026/02/13

This week was heavy. Two funerals. One of them suicide. And a quiet realization in my own backyard that changed everything. From the outside, the garden looked beautiful. But beneath the surface, weeds had been quietly spreading. And that’s when it hit me. Collapse rarely begins with visible chaos. It begins with drift. In this episode, I unpack: Why entropy is more dangerous than noiseHow small, unchecked thoughts shape self-image and destinyWhat Miyamoto Musashi taught abo...

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5:26

Scroll 38: When You Get Clear, People Get Uncomfortable

The Story Samurai ·

2026/02/06

Clarity has become uncomfortable. In a culture addicted to reassurance, consensus, and over-explaining, anyone who speaks calmly and clearly is often labeled arrogant — not because they’re loud or dismissive, but because they’re certain. In this scroll, Cary explores why clarity is so often misread, how people unconsciously negotiate their direction in public, and why decisiveness can feel threatening to those still undecided. Through personal stories, cultural observation, and a grounded loo...

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4:31

Scroll 037: Where Good Begins

The Story Samurai ·

2026/01/30

In this scroll, Cary reflects on a simple but powerful reminder — that good still exists in this world, and it begins with us. In a time filled with noise, tension, and division, this episode is not about taking sides. It’s about staying rooted. About protecting your spirit. About understanding how self-image quietly shapes the way we move through the world. Drawing on lessons from Psycho-Cybernetics, mentorship, and Cary’s own book Own Yourself, this scroll explores why lasting change doesn’...

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4:54

Scroll 36: Clarity Is a Discipline

The Story Samurai ·

2026/01/23

There comes a point on the path where winning arguments loses its appeal — and clarity takes its place. In this scroll, Cary explores a quiet shift many people are feeling right now: the move away from reaction, certainty, and tribal alignment… toward restraint, discernment, and independent thought. In a world that rewards immediacy and demands allegiance, clarity requires discipline. It asks us to slow down, question our assumptions, and resist the urge to borrow convictions just to belong. ...

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5:59

Scroll 035: Adding Value Is Craft, Not Performance

The Story Samurai ·

2026/01/16

What does it actually mean to “add value”? In this scroll, Cary Hokama explores the difference between content and craft, and why real value is not created through performance, noise, or approval—but through honest work lived over time. This episode is for quiet leaders, creators, and builders who feel the tension between chasing relevance and honoring their path. Cary reflects on a recent moment that stopped him in his tracks—a speech by singer-songwriter EJAE, who trained for ten years to b...

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4:46

Scroll 034: Comfort Isn’t Peace

The Story Samurai ·

2026/01/09

What most people call peace is often just the absence of friction. In this scroll, Cary explores the quiet tension between comfort and truth — and why growth often feels uncomfortable not because something is wrong, but because you’re stepping into a version of yourself you haven’t rehearsed yet. We talk about: Why comfort is usually familiarity, not peaceHow being more yourself often leads to being misunderstoodThe hidden cost of staying agreeable, predictable, and safeWhat it means to...

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5:34

Scroll 033: The Real You Is Not Comfortable

The Story Samurai ·

2026/01/02

As the year turns, the pressure to reinvent yourself shows up again. New goals. New habits. A “new you.” But what if growth doesn’t come from adding more? In this scroll, Cary Hokama breaks down the heart of Kaizen — not as endless self-upgrading, but as the disciplined process of removing what was never you and refining what remains. This episode explores: Why comfort is often mistaken for happinessHow approval-seeking quietly erodes self-trustThe danger of self-betrayal disguise...

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5:09

Scroll 032: Finish the Year Clean

The Story Samurai ·

2025/12/26

As the year comes to a close, the pressure to do more, fix everything, and reinvent yourself can feel overwhelming. But this scroll offers a different posture. In Scroll 032: Finish the Year Clean, Cary explores why true preparation for the new year isn’t about productivity or momentum — it’s about resolution, integration, and letting go of what no longer belongs. In this episode, you’ll hear: Why finishing the year clean matters more than finishing strongHow unresolved conversations and inne...

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5:09

Scroll 031: No One Is Coming to Approve Your Life

The Story Samurai ·

2025/12/19

Most people don’t stay stuck because they lack faith, talent, or opportunity. They stay stuck because they’re waiting for permission. In this scroll, Cary explores the difference between approval and conviction — and why waiting for validation from people, systems, timing, or even certainty itself quietly delays the life you’re meant to live. You’ll hear why: Approval is external, but conviction is internalWaiting often feels responsible, yet keeps us stuckCertainty rarely comes before action...

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5:23

Scroll 030: You're Not Trapped, You're Conditioned

The Story Samurai ·

2025/12/12

As we head into the holidays — and especially as 2026 starts coming into view — many of us feel the pressure to tighten the schedule, push harder, and grind our way into a breakthrough. But what if the next level of your life isn’t unlocked by doing more… but by doing different? In this scroll, Cary explores why so many people stay stuck pressing against a metaphorical window, even while the open door sits just a few feet away. The truth is simple: You’re not trapped — you’re conditioned. Con...

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4:48

Scroll 029: The Power of the Quiet Idea

The Story Samurai ·

2025/12/05

In 1974, a quiet designer named Yuko Shimizu sketched a simple white cat — no mouth, no expression, no noise. Just purity. Just essence. Sanrio rejected the idea multiple times. Dozens, depending on who you ask. But instead of shrinking, she refined. She returned to what was essential. That quiet idea became Hello Kitty — a global icon now worth billions, found on more than fifty thousand products around the world. And fifty years later… I found myself inside the...

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4:14

Scroll 028: Gratitude With Eyes Open

The Story Samurai ·

2025/11/28

This week’s scroll lands right at the heart of Thanksgiving — but not the curated highlight-reel version. We’re talking about gratitude with eyes open. The kind that honors the truth of our relationships, acknowledges how people change, and keeps us centered when the emotional weather shifts. In this episode, Cary explores what it really means to practice gratitude as a warrior discipline — not by pretending everything is perfect, but by seeing clearly, staying steady, and honoring both the b...

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5:06

Scroll 027: You Can Care Without Carrying Their Storm

The Story Samurai ·

2025/11/21

This week’s scroll was sparked by a line from my old podcast guest Rob Dial — a reminder that some people are at war with themselves… and if you’re not careful, they’ll pull you into battles you never agreed to fight. Especially as we head into the holidays — Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s — many of us find ourselves stepping into rooms with old patterns, draining dynamics, or relatives whose energy costs more than we want to admit. This scroll is a guide for navigating that terrain with...

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3:05

Scroll 026: The Illusion of Next

The Story Samurai ·

2025/11/14

We live in a world addicted to next. The next app. The next iPhone. The next platform. The next MacBook. Each upgrade promises progress… but most of the time, it’s just a new layer of distraction. We call it growth — but it’s really the hedonic treadmill dressed in new packaging. In this scroll, Cary Hokama breaks down the myth of “next” — and how chasing constant novelty keeps us running in place. He shares the story of a sushi apprentice who mastered the art of rice before e...

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6:12

Scroll 025: The Echo After the Parade

The Story Samurai ·

2025/11/07

Over 250,000 Dodger fans filled the streets of L.A., waving flags and painting their faces blue. Fifty thousand more packed Dodger Stadium as Freddie Freeman took the mic and said, “2024 — we got the job done. 2025 — we just got the job done. But for 2026… the job begins now.”That’s the message of this scroll — the art of celebrating without surrendering to celebration. We’ll revisit the hedonic treadmill from Scroll 023, explore Barkhad Abdi’s story from Captain Phillips (“I’m the cap...

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4:20

Scroll 024: The Noise of Advice

The Story Samurai ·

2025/10/31

Too many voices can make you forget your own. We live in an era where everyone’s a coach, a strategist, a system. Every scroll offers a new blueprint — every guru swears they’ve found the way. But in the noise, we start mistaking consumption for creation… and imitation for intuition. In this scroll, Cary unpacks the overload of “how-to” culture through a moment from the Dodgers’ World Series run — where even great managers can lose the game by trusting data over feel. Because mastery ...

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5:46

Scroll 023: The Discipline of Direction

The Story Samurai ·

2025/10/24

In this week’s scroll, Cary Hokama unpacks The Discipline of Direction—a grounded reflection on how self-image, not speed, determines real progress. After years of performing on stages, building wealth, earning his brown belt, and traveling twenty countries, Cary exposes the illusion of constant motion and explains the psychology behind the hedonic treadmill, first introduced by psychologists Philip Brickman and Donald Campbell in the 1970s. You’ll learn why our nervous system normalizes both...

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5:22

Scroll 022: The Illusion of Progress

The Story Samurai ·

2025/10/17

We confuse motion for meaning. We confuse noise for momentum. We confuse doing more… with becoming more. In this scroll, Cary unpacks The Illusion of Progress — how modern creators mistake busyness for mastery, and how true Kaizen begins with deliberate subtraction. From Toyota’s refinement to Steve Jobs’ focus through elimination, this episode reminds us that real growth isn’t louder — it’s cleaner. Kaizen Practice of the Week: Say no to the noise. Sharpen your yes.

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6:08

Scroll 021: Mastery in Silence: How to Build a Brand...

The Story Samurai ·

2025/10/10

There was a time when Kanye West was just another name in the credits — a producer hidden behind bigger voices. But while the world wasn’t watching, he was sharpening his craft, mastering his sound, and building a vision that would one day make him undeniable. In this scroll, Cary Hokama draws a powerful parallel between hidden seasons and lasting legacy. From Kanye’s rise to global icon to Cary’s own journey from solo creator to creative consultant in Las Vegas, this episode reminds us that ...

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9:59

Scroll 020: Consistency is Sovereignty

The Story Samurai ·

2025/10/03

Anyone can start. But what happens when the spark fades? In this scroll, Cary Hokama explores the cost of quitting too soon — from NFT rug pulls to the ghosts of unfinished projects that haunt us in silence. You’ll hear the story of Sylvester Stallone at 30 years old, broke with only $106 in his account, refusing to sell out and holding the line until Rocky changed cinema forever. Cary also shares his 13-year journey to a jiu-jitsu brown belt, including three times he quit — and what it took ...

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39 results

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