Self-Sabotage: An Invisible Threat To Your Success

It's What You Know For Sure That Just AIn't So...

Two years ago I had an entirely virtual staff, many of which I had never met in person... something we often forget wasn't always the norm. Thankfully, the events of 2020 tore down the limiting walls of how business used to be done.

As the world began reopening, I was served an Ad for Tony Robbin's Unleash The Power Within event at the Palm Beach Convention Center in Florida. At the time, my sales team was struggling to close new business without me and my belief was if I introduced them to others playing life at a higher level it would inspire them to step up.

It was a fully paid for team off-site and everyone was stoked, except one - my lead sales rep. The morning of his flight to Florida he called with a story of how he missed it, explaining that he wouldn't be making it... except I knew truth. He was afraid of flying. Having given him multiple chances to express his concerns prior, I fired him.

The rest of the team had an immaculate time, new friendships were formed, others strengthened, and on night one we all walked on hot coals together in the parking lot - it was epic. That night I went to bed at 3:30am, woke up just three hours later and went for a run before a 15 hour day two at the seminar.

Once you've tasted that level of energy it becomes like a drug... and your life will never be the same again. Reflecting back, I had just one recurring thought in my head that morning, "You have so much more to give." It was the realization that my previously thought 100% was really more like 30 - 40%, and I had been subconsciously limiting what I believed to be possible. What I had to do was give myself permission to feel this incredible, everyday.

What I've come to notice is that growth is inevitable should we just get out of our own way. If it wasn't for human involvement, forests would flourish, wildlife would be bountiful, and resources would be ubiquitous... therefore the primary state of the universe is that of expansiveness. We subconsciously limit ourselves based on what we believe to be possible based on our past experiences. Problem is, life is exponential... not linear.

Once you've experienced a moment of pure energetic empowerment, you'll have tasted the fountain of youth and your singular focus will be to live in that connected state for as long as possible each and every day.

I've learned a lot over the last few years, and have faced what feel like a lifetime of challenges... but because of them I've been able to grow exponentially in a very short period of time. What I find most interesting was very eloquently captured by Orson Scott Card when he said,"We question all of our beliefs, except for the ones we really believe, and those we never think to questions."

Here are 4 beliefs I used to believe to be true that just ain't so:

1: Patience Is INACTION

I used to believe that patience meant I wasn't taking action.
That if I wasn't in a perpetual state of motion I wasn't progressing towards my goals.

I've discovered that quick action isn't always the best action, and that response is always greater than reaction. Plus, long contemplative walks have become one of my favorite daily activities - having birthed some of my best ideas. 

When I give myself time and space to move and think, I'm giving an energy much greater than myself space to work it's magic... and boy when it does, it turns out better than you could ever imagine.

2: You Must Fit In To Be Popular

I used to believe that I wanted to fit in... to be respected and part of the popular crowd.

What I really wanted was to be respected, which often comes as a result of not fitting in.
*You can see how what I wanted and what I thought I wanted were actually contradictory.

"Don't aim to be the best, aim to be the only."

﹣Kevin Kelly

When you 'fit in,' it's because you're like everyone else... yet those whom we aspire to be like paved their own path.

What you really want is respect... which is very rarely gained by being liked.

3: Busyness is A hedge against Triviality

I used to believe that if I was busy, my life must be meaningful.

I believed that if my calendar wasn't bumper to bumper I wasn't doing enough...
... and even when it was, I always believed I could be doing more.

Similar to my misbelief on patience, staying busy keeps you on the hamster wheel, and what I deeply desire is to be able to do what I want, with whom I want, whenever and wherever I want - which meant I had to hop off the wheel.

Because of this, I no longer want to stay on top of things, I want to get to the bottom of them.

Use that belief next time you respond to an email from a direct report.

4: If It's Difficult To Obtain, It Must Be Valuable

I used to believe that all things that are hard to obtain must be valuable... because they're scarce.

"Poverty has its freedoms; opulence has its obstacles.”

﹣ Denis Diderot

When we allow ourselves to observe events and allow the flow of things to do the steering... we open ourselves up to a universal flow that exists all around us. When we assume value comes from scarcity, we prioritize that which society deems valuable, not that which we deem valuable within ourselves.

Never grow up, instead, grow down... and remember - remarkable is always filled with detours to the unexpected.

Quote On My Mind:

"When you decide you want a specific thing, you’re limiting yourself from everything else that could be."

﹣Michael A. Singer

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SURPRISE SUNDAY:

A few years ago I added a recurring calendar invite for myself called 'Surprise Sunday'.
It meant that I had to do something every Sunday that I normally wouldn't... and it is still my favorite day of the week.

This practice led to me created my Personal Productivity Tracker in an effort to catalogue everything I do each week, track my cumulative creative hours, see how dialed I am with my habits, and to score my day on a -2 to +2 scale.

Try it this Sunday and let me know... and if you'd like a copy of the tracker just tap the link below... it's free.

Get The PPT Tracker

In CASE YOU MISSED IT

In last weeks edition, I wrote about the hidden benefits of entrepreneurship:

1. Life is seasonal, enjoy the ride.
2. There's failure... and then there is falling forward.
3. Your work must work on your more than you work on it.
4. The opportunity cost of unaligned action is incalculable.
5. URL meetings MUST have a G.A.P., IRL meetings shouldn't.

Entrepreneurship has blessed my life in so many ways, and I trust it will for you, too!

Tap here to read the full article.