A short motivational talk by Chad Silverstein about common ways people sabotage their own success. He identifies three core issues — constant busyness/always being connected, the influence of one’s social circle, and living life on autopilot — and urges listeners to disconnect, surround themselves with higher-performing people, and live more deliberately with clear priorities.
Chapters
At Built to Lead, we talk about you, me and we being our own worst enemy. And it's true. When you really take a step back and look at your life, you sabotage yourself. And that might be through the little person in your head talking to you all day or what I like to think of the three big things in your life that consume you without even you realizing it. The first, you're busy. Too busy. Too many lists, too many things to do and too many places to go. And always on the run. And at the first opportunity to chill out, pulling out the phone, jumping on social media, checking out to see something that maybe you missed, we're so darn busy that we forget to stop. And if you never turn it off, if you've never gone dark from electronics, then you have literally auto subscribed to a life of being connected and never, ever, ever being disconnected. And that is a recipe for disaster. Number two is going to be the people that we surround ourselves with. They say that you're the average of the top five people that you hang around with the most. And I found that to be true. And the more that I level up who I'm hanging around with and who I kind of let into my little circle, the more I learn and the more they help me raise the bar. Because I'm around other people who are always doing everything I'm doing, but they're doing it better. And I'm constantly searching out new people that I can talk to that have figured out things that I'm struggling with because there's no reason to have to reinvent the wheel. There's no reason to have to do something and spend years trying to figure it out when someone else has already done it and they've done it well and they're willing and happy to give it over to you. But people don't pay much attention to this. They don't care. They let people drag them down. Many people, sadly, like being around people who are beneath them because it makes them feel so much better about themselves. And if you want to grow, surround yourself with people who have stepped up and have done things that you've not been able to do yet. And the third one, sadly, is true for just about everybody. And unless you're very rare, you'll fall into this camp. And that is that we're sleepwalking. We're literally sleepwalking through life numb. We just go through the daily motions. And we think that that's the way life's supposed to be because that's the way we were raised and that's what everyone else is doing. But just because everyone else is trying to live the American dream, and just because everyone else says, you got to go to college, you got to go get a job, you got to buy a house, get a car, go to Florida, play golf, retire, build wealth, that doesn't mean it's the only way. And so if you really want to live a life worth living, then you'll be more deliberate. You'll find purpose, you'll slow down, you'll become a writer, a reader, a thinker, someone who reflects. And not someone who is always so busy and so consumed with not missing out on the next best thing or what everyone else is doing, willing to be distinct and stay deeply connected. Then you could be sure that you're going to wake up one day and look back and realize, wow, time went really fast. Where did it go? And the problem with time is you're not going to get it back. So wake up, surround yourself with incredible people who've raised the bar, who will help you reach higher levels and live more deliberate, with intention, and have fun. Get your priorities straight and talk less and do more.
