How would you feel if I told you that your entire life you’ve been taught not to think for yourself.
Your potential has been caged. The people you think want the best for you don’t give advice that works. They give advice for what they did. What if you don’t want what they did?
We’re taught a certain set of rules as we grow up which we internalize. Then the same people that teach us these rules tell us we can achieve anything we want. But how many of us actually reach our true potential? How many of those that taught us have reached their true potential? (Answer: not most.)
I don’t know about you, but this makes me question the rules they taught me.
Ask yourself now: Are you happy? Do you feel successful? If so, do you feel successful by your definition or someone else’s definition? If you’re questioning what you’ve been taught, keep reading.
These 7 quotes have been ingrained in us basically since the day we were born. Are they helping you? Or are they holding you back?
“Curiosity killed the cat.”
Sounds like: “Don’t be curious.”
No wonder people don’t dare and try new things! No wonder everyone does the same thing all day every day. We get comfortable and expect this is just the way things are.
How often do you order the same thing at the same restaurants? Ordering from the menu is the NORM. When was the last time you took some other way home than you usually take?
We think between 60,000 and 70,000 thoughts each day. Do you have any idea how many of these thoughts are new? Thoughts which are different than the day before?
Are you curious to know the answer?
According to neuroscientist Dr. Joe Dispenza, 90% of our thoughts each day are THE SAME as yesterday’s!
90%!!!
Only 10% of our daily thoughts are different than the day before.
We live repetitive lives, eating the same food drinking the same drinks at the same bar with the same people.
If you were more curious, would you be more adventurous? Would you try something new for dinner? Would you try something new to make money?
Maybe, just maybe, you’ll try something new to better your life.
“Good things come to those who wait.”
Sounds like: “It’s okay to be lazy.”
If you want something, GO GET IT!
Yes things take time. But you can’t just sit there waiting not doing anything. You must take action to get the thing you want.
How long will you be waiting for? For how long are you WILLING to wait, without getting the thing you want, until you realize it’s never going to come and you need to start doing something about it?
Do you think you’ll get the thing sooner if you started acting now instead?
I think you would.
“Slow and steady wins the race.”
Sounds like: “Take it slow and you’ll be successful.”
You know the story of the tortoise and the hare.
Imagine for one second, who would have won the race had the hare not taken a nap?
The hare of course!
Both started in the same place and ended in the same place. Both had to take one step after the other. One just moved faster.
Baby steps are A-OK. Taking small steps doesn’t mean you have to take them slowly.
Don’t get complacent. Stop believing that if you move at the same pace as everyone else you can end up farther than everyone else.
“Go with the flow.”
Sounds like: “Do what everyone else is doing.”
If you do what everyone else is doing, you’ll get what everyone else is getting.
Do you want to end up where everyone else ends up? No!
You’re ambitious and want more from life. You strive for more than mediocrity.
Most people don’t, so stop thinking their advice or suggestions are the right steps for YOUR goals.
My basketball career ended in elementary school. If you wanted to join the NBA, would you take my advice on your shooting? I hope not!
You’d want advice from Steph Curry! Advice from someone who has done what you’re trying to do.
Most people don’t strive for much. Most people are not successful. Most people are not even HAPPY.
So stop doing what most people do since it won’t get you where YOU want to be.
“Variety is the spice of life.”
Sounds like: “Do everything, changing often.”
If you try to do everything you’ll do nothing well. If a hunter chases two rabbits he’ll catch none of them.
Don’t get me wrong, variety is great in experiences. But some things in life require commitment past the point of boredom. Continuing to change every time you’re bored won’t bring you success.
Think about a potential life partner.
To be successful with a life partner you have to not change partners. When you find the one you like, stick with them and solve problems no matter what.
Think about a potential business.
Successful businesses start out doing one thing well. When you find one that works, stick with it and improve it.
When Apple released the iPod nano, Steve Jobs was asked “What’s Apple going to build next?”, to which he replied “We’re going to build a better nano.”
Sure, these days Apple has a variety of products. They can because they’ve already become successful (this doesn’t apply to life partners though 😉 ). But in the beginning, they were laser focused.
“No pain, no gain.”
Sounds like: Endure something you dislike to get what you do like.
Pain can be a great catalyst for growth. Temporary pain, that is. Continuing to endure pain to get what you want is different. If you’re tolerating something you don’t enjoy, change it! It may be hard to see how to change it, but you can.
A counterexample might be working out at the gym. “No pain, no gain” means: don’t do enough reps until it hurts and you won’t get stronger. This also isn’t true.
For months I’ve done 10 pullups every single day. Does it hurt to do them? No! Am I stronger than I was months ago? Yes! There was no pain, but there was growth.
What if instead I did the pullups until it hurt?
Would there be
In work, many people keep jobs they don’t like and aren’t fulfilling. It’s as if they believe they must tolerate a job they dislike (pain) to get what they want (money/happiness/etc). This also isn’t true. There are plenty of people doing things they enjoy for a living.
In most mundane jobs, the pain is not temporary. It will go on for years and years and years. If you let it.
If the pain was temporary and growth came out of it, great! If you love your job and work extra hard for a couple months for a promotion. You deserve it!
That is
“What goes up must come down.”
Sounds like: If you achieve anything, you’ll eventually lose it.
Do you want proof this isn’t true?
Satelites! Rockets! They LITERALLY went up and will NEVER come down unless we tell them to.
Kids grow older every day and will never get younger. Ideally we die before our children do, in which case they never “come down” from our perspective.
People have built businesses that will last generations! Yes, maybe eventually the business will dissolve. So will the Sun and the Earth, and those satellites. But it will take SO MANY years it’s not worth worrying about or even considering.
Don’t hold yourself back from achieving something because you’re afraid it’ll eventually crash and burn. Think of the rocket. Yes, it has to fight gravity to get going (let’s call this work to start some business), but once it’s in orbit (let’s call this success) it stays in orbit (some
In fact, it’s gravity that keeps it in orbit!
(Writing this now I’m realizing this is very interesting when applied to society…keep your eyes out for a future post about this.)
Stop holding yourself back.
Blast off.
