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Just as it is with objections, fear affects everyone. Worry affects everyone. Even the most successful people still struggle with doubt, uncertainty, stress, and anxiety from time to time.
It’s normal to believe that all your worries and fears will be eradicated as you get more successful, but that’s just not the case. I remember when I believed that “once I earned my first six-figures” my problems would go away. Then “once I broke half a million” or “multi-million net worth.” The arbitrary goals and deadlines are all the same. In reality, I learned that your problems scale with you. You might not have to check gas prices anymore, but new issues arise every single day.
We’ve all been accustomed to fear and uncertainty all our lives. Deviating from the norm is oftentimes scary, potentially frowned upon, and you might not have help. I see great people sacrifice their potential every single day because they’re more comfortable with complacency than living a life that leaves no significant legacy.
Now, let me make something clear—I do not believe everyone should be an entrepreneur. In fact, I strongly believe most people are not wired to be entrepreneurs. There is nothing wrong with following the traditional “go to school and get a job” model, and it is absolutely possible to live a life of significance, regardless of the career path you’ve chosen, or “title” you’ve been awarded.
Sometimes we assume successful people are always business owners and are never afraid. Often I see people use this narrative as an excuse or scapegoat. If you don’t fall for it, that’s great! Now you can take responsibility for not succumbing to your fears, and build a life you can be obsessed about.®
"The difference between those who are living massive, fascinating lives and those who aren’t is what they were willing to release and change."
The good news? It isn’t as hard as you think, but I’ll get to that part later.
If you’re looking for direction on your first steps, start with revamping your evening routine. It determines how you’ll lead into the next day, so it’s important to take it seriously!
Here’s where you begin:
1. Before bed, challenge yourself: what worries held you back today? What uncertainty kept you from taking action? The reminder I recite every evening is, “show me your anxiety, and I’ll show you where your idols are.”
2. Push a little further. Ask yourself, “if I lived every day the same as I did today, what kind of future would that create?” As simple as it sounds, this question, partnered with your insightful dive into your worries that day, is a wonderful platform to explore the opportunity cost of your daily actions and adjust your mindset to align with the future you’re working hard to create.
I know, I know. You’ve been told to make a plan or write down goals a thousand times. Literally. It may seem more tedious than useful.
But chances are that you have more time right now than ever!
If you don’t make a plan for yourself, no one else will. My challenge to you is not just to plan, but also to do the math. As I mentioned in last week’s blog post, if you reverse-engineer the math of the ideal VS. the reality of your exciting future, you can better understand the actionable steps you need to take today to get there.
As Napoleon Hill (the author of “Think and Grow Rich,” arguably the biggest self-help book of all time) says, “Man, alone, has the power to transform his thoughts into physical reality; man, alone, can dream and make his dreams come true.”
Transform your thoughts into reality by writing them down. Put them on the page! Your desire can only become reality when you make it so. As simple as this sounds, this small but important recognition is the first step up the ladder to success.
“The Slight Edge” by Jeff Olson is required reading.
If you’ve ever read a self-help book or article or watched a series of videos to try to get your life in order and wasn’t sure how to take it forward, this book helps you put it all together and get the metaphorical ball rolling.
Allow me to sum up the important bits (still buy the book!):
Every day, you make decisions that alter the course of your life ever so slightly, and there are only two possibilities: up or down. How are the decisions you’re making today affecting you? (Remember my evening challenges? This falls right in line with a “Slight Edge” technique).
Little efforts that improve your life, your business, your relationships, your mental health, anything even 1-2% can cause massive change over the years.
You probably have a lot of downtime nowadays, as many of us do. Don’t feel guilty if you haven’t used that time in the best way possible—it’s not my intention to make these stressful times worse, but more so to bring recognition to the fact that a single day of misalignment or an environmental shift should not be an excuse to slip out of positive habits and back into complacency forever.
I want this to serve as a reminder that you aren’t powerless now. Even if you’re not making money right away, you still have the ability to change your life for the better.
