Here’s What’s Holding You Back | Dean Graziosi

At the end of our lives, we have to realize the things that move. The needle is when we were courageous. And courage isn't moving forward in the lack of fear. Courage is moving forward when you're scared to death. Did you ever see the picture that's gone viral for years? There's an elephant with a tiny little string and it's tied to a plastic chair and the elephant is sitting there submissive. Why? That elephant could take his snout or take his, you know, body and throw that chair and run off into the sunset. Be free. Why doesn't he? Because he was trained. Because there was a lot of times he was probably anchored to something really solid and he got so used to it that he just gave up and doesn't even realize that that 4 pound plastic chair and that little string around his neck isn't what's holding him back anymore. What's holding him back is his belief. Hey, Steen. Gr thank you for being here. If you listen to this as a podcast or you're watching on YouTube or Instagram, good to have you here. I want to share something. You're coming on a walk with me and I want to share some of the valuable strategies that have allowed me to have more success than I could ever imagine possible. If you're bugged that the audio is not perfect or a truck might go by, then maybe this isn't for you. But if you like it real and raw and realize that success isn't magic, it doesn't happen overnight. There's not one big lever you flip and the wealth and abundance comes in. There's no easy pass. It's cumulative. Of all the little things it takes to be successful, to make the money, you want to have the impact on the world, you want to leave the legacy. And today I want to talk about that little string, that little chair in your life that's holding you back. Now listen, I've been an entrepreneur for over 30 years. I started cutting firewood, I started fixing wrecked cars and selling them for a profit. Started buying run down apartment houses and then raw land. And then I got into the self education industry in 1998, teaching people how I made money with cars. And then I taught people how to make money with real estate just like I had. And I entered the self education industry. That's what I'm in. That's what my life is. That's what I'm dedicated to. My partner, Tony Robbins and I, that's all we do, is do our best to impact others while simultaneously creating success and jobs and Being able to donate and do amazing things that. Or at least they're amazing to us. So why did I share all that with you? Because during that journey in my own life and being in the self education industry, what I've realized is so many people are a millimeter away from their full potential. A millimeter away from scaling that business, from having the courage to launch that new business. But they're being held back by a tiny little string and a four pound chair. Now I know that's the elephant story, but how many times in life have you been? Almost there. But you have a story that maybe you're not smart enough, or maybe people around you will make fun of you when they hear that you want to do your own thing. Or maybe that the business will never thrive or you'll fail and look silly and stupid and be embarrassed. Or maybe your parents were in a business and it failed and you saw the pain that they went through. So you're dying to start your own business, but deep down you associate doing your own thing with pain. Or maybe this crazy insane world that we're in, where success is sometimes condemned, where being a capitalist is bad, where you as a value creator, where you create jobs, create revenue, create impact, actually is looked down upon that could be lingering inside of you that you feel bad for wanting success. That's bs. Listen, I live in America. I'm so proud that my grandfather came from Italy without a dime in his pocket, had to shovel coal in a steamship to get a free ride here, landed in Ellis island, landed in New York with nothing. And two generations later, my grandfather, two generations later, I get to live a life of abundance, impact people and create success for my family. I donated over $600,000 to help children in slavery last year. I provided over 9 million meals to feeding America in the last couple years. I get to do all this stuff. Whose grandfather was an immigrant? My wife's father and mother came from Mexico with nothing, didn't speak the language, started their own company and they have. My wife and her four brothers and sisters are all successful, contributing to the world, employing people, paying taxes. There's no other place in the world that I believe is what America is now. I'm sorry if wherever you live in the world, I'm just saying what I believe. I'm proud to to be an American. People want to leave every other country in the world and get into this country. Right? It's pretty damn amazing. But in recent years, that's looked down upon, it's sickular, it's a shift I get it. But don't you dare let someone else's values, someone else's disbeliefs stop you from being who you're supposed to be and creating value in this earth. Now, that's. I went down on a little bit of a tangent on one thing, but so many of you are watching right now, and you're held back, or you're listening. You're held back by this tiny little string and a four pound from being the man or the woman God designed you to be, or the universe. Whatever your beliefs are, you were designed for more. You were designed to serve more, be more, do more. True fulfillment comes from impacting others, from growing. You might be in a job right now where money's coming in, but you feel dead inside, but you're afraid to make a shift. People might criticize you, you might fail. Things could go wrong. All of those things, those little tiny nuances are holding you back. Like a four pound chair holding back an elephant. So what do we do about it? So what do we do? So I bring up a problem, right? You're watching or you're listening and you're like, okay, Dean, I get it. The four pound chair is holding me back. What does that mean? It means you have to identify it. You see, that elephant had its will broken. It was locked to a concrete wall so much that finally it kind of internally gave up and just said, this is what it is. Has the outside world, the news, the negative people in your life, the naysayers, that internal self doubt, has it been loud enough where you don't realize? You say you want more, but you really gave up. You're just connected to the life you're in. So there's a couple things I'd share today. Number one, be disturbed by your own inaction. Be disturbed. Be disturbed that God, the universe gave you more and you're not utilizing it. Imagine being at the end of your life and seeing a video of the man or the woman you could have been if you took the chance, if you went forward, if you realize there's only a tiny little thing holding you back from who you're supposed to be. Could you imagine at the end of your life watching that video, like, oh, my God, really? I could have went for it. People wouldn't have said anything. I could have served more. I could have been more. I could have donated more. I could have helped more. Oh, my God, can I do it over? In most cases, at least that I know. No one gets a do over. So be disturbed with inaction. Secondly, look for Your four pound chair, what is it? Is it a belief your parents gave to you? Is it something that went wrong in your life and someone took advantage of you? So you're associating growth with people taking advantage. Did you have someone in your life with money but they were a jerk. So maybe you're associating money with people being jerks. Do you feel you're not smart enough? You're too old, you're too young, all of these things could be or none of them. And you have your own unique one could be your four pound chair that's holding you back. You see, Tony and I, and especially this has been my obsession. I've been in the self education industry for 20 plus years, 25 years, Tony, for 40 plus years. And this is our passion, this is our mission right now. For the last three years we've been helping people unlock what's in their brain, their life experience, the mess that turned into their message, the, the skill, the hobby, the passion, the expertise. They have to turn it into a course, a coaching program, a workshop, a mastermind to be and enter and scale in the self education industry. And I watch it all the time. I watch people get to the, they're an inch away from launching their course. They have the life experience, they can help somebody, they could impact them, they could create the shortcut, they could sell what they know. Knowledge is the new currency. They could sell that information, allow the other person to go faster, get paid to do it, create success. And the four pound chair will hold them back all the time. Oh, I'm not so good at tech. I'm a little old. My friends see me online talking about how I went through menopause or how I went through an eating disorder or how I learned to eat vegan, or how I came out strong on the other side of a divor, or how I handled the child with ADD and made them better naturally. Oh my God. If my friends see it, I could look stupid. All four pound chairs, all things that you'll regret at the end of your life. Everybody is a millimeter away from your next level success. Oh, I feel like an imposter on the inside. Oh my God. If I hear another person saying imposter syndrome, I get it. I feel like an imposter all the time. I don't feel like I'm the smartest guy in the room, but that's never stopped me because I realized if I do at the end of my life, I'll look back and say, oh, you're a little intimidated. You're a little scared. So you didn't go after your dreams. Screw the internal imposter, kick its butt, take the uncomfortable action and move forward. Listen, at the end of our lives we have to realize the things that move. The needle is when we were courageous. And courage isn't moving forward in the lack of fear. Courage is moving forward when you're scared to death. So today I hope I just disturb you so you're disturbed with inaction so you recognize what that four pound chair is and do whatever it takes to realize it's a lie. A four pound chair can't hold the elephant back, nor can the crappy story that you've been telling yourself hold you back from the man or woman you're supposed to be. This is a time to take action. This is a time to realize the world needs leaders. The world needs the best version of you. There's some wonky, crazy stuff going on in the world right now and we got to take back ownership of ourselves. We got to take back inner control and we can't let anything stop us. We want to fix the world. Let's get rid of that four pound chair, get rid of that belief, crush it, find a new story and realize you have limitless potential. Guys, thank you so much for going on this quick walk with me today. Again. If you're watching or listening, I know the audio might not be perfect, but this is the only time I get to share and I appreciate you guys coming along for the road. And remember, there is no magic wand to success and riches. It's all cumulative. It's the little things that are the big things. It's the little hinges that swing a big door. And I hope to provide you those little hinges along the way. Take care. See you soon. What's up? What's up? Hey, don't forget to look at the action steps we've posted below. They are the perfect way to take your success, abundance and this crazy world to a whole nother level. Sam.