Why Most People Never Become Who They’re Meant to Be

Today, I want to share the 3 big takeaways. Resistance. Identity. Purpose. The battle that we all fight internally between who we are and who we know we're meant to be. The War of Art, the book. Not the Art of War. It's The War of Art. It's a guy named Steven Pressfield. The book, it explains similar terminology that you've heard me say a lot, but it talks about that battle. Like, I could do this. We could do more. We could be more. Yes. Come on. You should be happy with what you got. This is good enough. You know, life's not that hard. Look at the economy. Look what's going on. We all got that battle. If you don't, good for you, because it still lives in here. You're going to recognize some similar patterns to what Tony Robbins teaches and what I teach. But this is just a different approach to the same thing. There's 3 books within the 1 book. And his first book, or the first section, is about resistance. Resistance is hidden internal force that rises anytime we try to grow, create, or step into our true calling, or step in something new, or stepping into something uncomfortable. We're there, we're ready, we're fired up, and then we go to do it. It's like, ugh, something's holding us back. It's universal. It's predictable. And the worst part about it is it's powerful. But resistance showed up. It can show up in a lot of places. People say, I'm a procrastinator. No, you're not. There's something deep inside of you that's holding you back from moving forward. Could be fear of failure. Could be the thing your sister said. Could be the thing your parents said when you were in 7th grade. So it might show up as procrastination. It might show up as perfectionism, rationalization. You know, just today's not the day. I'm going to do this, but I'm going to start tomorrow. We've all done that heading to the gym, right? I worked hard last night. You know, I'm a little tired today, but I'll go to the gym tomorrow. Today I just, I feel like I should sleep in a little bit. Sometimes resistance shows up avoiding the very thing that we need to do that matters the most. Because maybe that's the thing that's the scariest. The finally hitting play to tell the world you're doing it, to do your first video, to just put it out to the world. Hey, I'm going to take the next year and decide to take my life experience, share it with others, impact their lives, and turn it into a business. I am a creator. I impact lives for a living. Maybe it's just that you haven't quite been able to say that, and This resistance shows up in so many ways. Resistance sometimes can convince you that your dream can wait. It's almost rationalization. Now, it's, I'm okay. I'm not in a bad place. I've had a good career. And it starts messing with you. And little by little, resistance will dim your glow. The more you push through resistance, the better you get at it. The more you drive yourself to do it anyway, you push yourself. Resistance can be the strongest where your actual real calling is. Think about that. If you already have a habit, you already are working in a career that it's okay, it's not the end of the world. It's just not your, your deep passion. You already do it. There's no resistance there. I do this. I'd show up every day. I get in the car, I do the same thing. I show up or I log in, I get on my Zoom. There's no resistance there because it's not your calling. And then there's something you really want to go for, and that's where resistance shows up the most. The thing that it shows up the strongest for, it's probably the thing you you should be doing. What are some things we can do to overcome resistance? Number 1 is, how about starting before you feel ready? If we waited till we are ready, you'd probably never get married, you'd never have kids, and you'd never do a lot of things. So sometimes, sometimes you got to jump out of the plane and grow wings on the way down. You've got to schedule it and start before you feel ready. Another one on how to overcome resistance. Expect to be fearful. Never done it before. Fear is going to show up, but I'm going to do it anyway because my next level of life lives on the other side of that thing that I'm going to be a little afraid of. Who in here has ever had a thing you were a little afraid of? You avoided it. You pretended you weren't afraid, but you found a way around it. And then when you finally did it, there was a better version of you on the other side. It is fearful. It is scary. It is new. I hate starting small. I hate when it doesn't work out at first, but I'm doing it anyway because I only got one shot at this thing. What if you found a way through the fear by just separating yourself from the work? Meaning I'm this person. But when I step over here into work mode, I'm a different person. I'm going to do it anyway. I'm going to move forward anyway. I'm going to ask for the money anyway because I'm separating myself. I'm a person who loves and cares. But over here, I'm a killer because the only way I can make this work for other people, the only way I can impact their lives is if they say yes to work with me, even if the first one's free or at a discount. I've spoken at 15,000 to 45,000 people live. I still get scared. The shy kid who used to skip school when it was a day you had to present in front of everybody, I just wouldn't go to school that day because I was so scared. But I find a different version. I separate myself from that, and I'm the guy that's got to go out there and impact lives. The second part of the book is about two identities. We all have two identities. Like, you could be the shy introvert, and then in the right scenario, you're the crazy extrovert. He talks about two identities, and he puts it through the lens of the amateur and the professional. Professional doesn't mean a professional player. It's just a philosophy. I'm gonna attack this as a professional, or I'm gonna attack this as an amateur. And if it goes my way, if everything's perfect, if it doesn't get hard, then maybe I'll do it. A professional's like, I'm doing it anyway. There's nothing gonna stop me. So I want to give you these two identities today. Professionals do it with a headache. Professionals still do it when they're tired. Professionals still do it when they're overwhelmed. Professionals still do it when they're scared. Amateurs wait for inspiration. Amateurs work hard only when it's convenient. Amateurs are driven by their mood and their emotions. Amateurs allow fear to set in. This is where momentum and passion die. Show up consistently no matter what. You do the work when it's— even when it's uncomfortable. You don't negotiate with excuses. There are none. I'm doing it anyway. Treat their calling with respect. This is my calling to impact others. I can't use an excuse because this is bigger than me. A professional seeks order. Not chaos. This is where passion is reignited. Professional has habits, not wishes. So think about that. In that relationship that's doing well, or the health that's going well, you prioritize your day, don't you? Probably build a routine. You respect the craft, not dabble with the craft. And you understand that mastery of that craft can only come from repetition. And when you master something, do you start off as a master or do you end up mastering the craft? Og Mandino, I quote him a lot. The prize is not at the beginning of the journey. The mastery is not at the beginning of the journey. The mastery doesn't come after your first success. Mastery typically comes after many failures. Reignites is when you shift your identity. When you decide this is who I am. I'm a professional. I'm going to accept the fear. I'm going to accept the hesitation. I'm going to accept that I screwed up the last 3 years. I'm going to accept that I made mistakes in the past, that I procrastinated. I'm going to accept that because today I'm a professional and I'm going to handle myself with that intensity. Because a little bit of intensity, the next 12 months of your life in intensity could shift the next 12 5 years. Life's going to be hard no matter what. We might as well go all in and work hard now so we can have an easier life down the road. Fear doesn't go away when you turn pro. You just stop negotiating with it. I see you, fear. You've already cost me too much. But not this time, right? Not this time. I'm not going to let this fear stop me because at the end of my life, I'm going to look at this fear that seems big and heavy now as a crumb that you wish you could go back and kick its ass. When you do something meaningful, we feel connected to something bigger. There's a reason that your calling keeps tapping you on the shoulder like, hey, this is still for you. I know it's been a little tough or you've been a little busy, but hey, this is for you. And that's the third part of the book. It's a higher purpose. If you have a deep enough purpose, then purpose is the connection and the inspiration for action. If your purpose is big enough, if your why is strong enough, then you don't let these things get in the way. The muse is the higher power that rewards your actions with inspiration, not the other way around. It shows up because you start. Think about that. The inspiration, we're waiting for the inspiration to start, but what if we had to start to feel the depth of inspiration we actually need? When you turn pro, clarity, momentum, inspiration begin to meet you where you are. If you choose wisely and hesitate and hold on to your values and who you are as a person, I'll love, love you no matter what you decide. But if you do it, you'll love yourself more. If you delay that in a way until someone sparks your eye, is you don't know real inspiration until your hands are in the meatloaf. Until you're in the game trying to figure it out, failing and driving. I said, here's what I'd rather you do. I'd rather you find something you like and you go hard and go all in. And you might be halfway down the road once you understand and realize this is not for me. You can go to say to yourself in the mirror, I'm not a dabbler. I went down the road, I got my hands dirty. This isn't for me. And then go deep again in something else. Most people go, let me try this for 5 minutes. Oh, it didn't work. Let me try this for 5 minutes. I'm not inspired. How do you know you're inspired? You haven't done one thing yet. So true inspiration actually comes after you get in, because then you start getting wins. You start overcoming things you were afraid of, and all of a sudden you're like, I actually like when I'm a little nervous before I hit play on the video. I actually like those butterflies in my stomach before I go live on Tuesdays. It makes me feel alive. Like, you You don't know that until you actually go live. I love— I'm gonna quote Og Mandino again. He said, don't let your emotions dictate your actions. At the end of the day, your talent isn't random. You have something and you have an assignment by a higher power, whatever you believe in, to unlock that. Instead of the thing you're afraid of that drives you in a different direction, what if the thing you're afraid of actually points you in the direction you need to go? That's what I truly believe. And the more we can stack that and say, I am assigned to do this, then we have to say, I'm just going to move forward. I'm just going to hit play. I'm just going to do the thing. I'm just going I'm just doing it. What if we started creating a start time or a minimum action time, even if it's a half hour a day, 3 hours a week? But what if we just started doing that? What if it becomes a standard that you honor? What if that was a new compass? So what if this is the time, no matter what, going in, that you do a start time? You have a minimum action. No matter what the hell happens, you do it anyway. It's just great practice. Is the only thing I would say is just don't lie to yourself. I want you all to be massively successful. But even if you tried and you were in the game and you got to the end of your life and said, Some of it worked, some of it didn't, but I was in the game. I was in the fight. I think the worst thing would be is get to the end of your life and go, why the hell was I afraid? If you don't do the work, if you let all these things hold you back, if you're waiting to be inspired, the world misses out on you.