There is an old adage “You can lead horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.” What if you make the horse thirsty? If you can do that, the horse will find the water and drink heartily, all on its own.
We tell ourselves stories about why we can or can’t do something. If you change the story then what we can or can’t do will change as well. Motivation is the reason for this. For example, if I were to ask you how likely is it for you to create $100,000 in one year what would your answer be? Most people would think to themselves ya right, I wish I could just make $100k appear in a year.
Understand, I’m using money in this example, but it could be anything you want or not want. Maybe you want to lose 20 pounds, or wish you could play the drums professionally. The object of desire can be anything, the important point of this is why you can or can’t obtain your dream.
We are going to travel a path, a thought experiment, that if done with seriousness and consideration can help you unlock your full potential and help you get passed whatever perceived obstacle you think is in our way. Even though we are about to go through a series of hypothetical situations I want you to do your best to feel how you would react to these hypothetical situations and provide yourself with honest answers. This only takes a few minutes to complete and once done you will know just what you’re made of. Let’s get started.
Can you make $100k appear in one years’ time?
What if you were told that the person you love the most will die in a year if they don’t have a lifesaving surgery that cost $100k. Read this next question carefully. Do you believe you are capable of generating the money in a year? Is it fair to say you may not know how you would do it, but you’re confident you would find a way?
Did you have a different answer to this question when the context changed? If so, is it because a loved one’s life hangs in the balance? What makes you believe you can do it? To ask a different way. Why do you believe you are capable of generating $100k in a year? Write that down or take notes in your phone the reasons why.
This next part of the exercise some people will lie to themselves or make excuses.
The most insidious thing about excuses is they are valid!
If you believe you are capable of producing $100k in a year why haven’t you? Write that down or take notes in your phone of the reasons.
Don’t be ashamed of your answers. There should not be any judgement. Do not label your answers by calling yourself lazy, stupid, or any other label good or bad. This is counterproductive and not useful at all. In Hamlet, Shakespeare wrote. “There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” If Shakespeare’s not your thing here is a quote from the Disney’s infamous pirate Jack Sparrow, “The problem is not the problem. The problem is your attitude about the problem.”
That said, you need to be brutally honest with yourself and get passed the surface level answers. A surface level answer is “I don’t have the time” and the deeper level answer that will unlock your potential is “I’d rather chill than be productive in my free time” or “I could work harder but I don’t want to.” Again, no judgement, the goal with this thought exercise is to identify why you haven’t done the thing you have already said you are capable of. The answer could be as simple as “I don’t like to be uncomfortable so I avoid feeling that way.” Sometimes it’s good to take a step back and see if the problem truly lies within. Get to the ground truth. Nothing else will help you overcome an obstacle. The obstacle needs to be accurately identified regardless of how it makes you feel. Anything less will result in failure to achieve your desired outcome or result.
Let’s move away from the morbid hypothetical situation. Think on this for a moment. Would $100k change your life for the better? If by this time next year, you had an extra $100k what would you do with it? Write that down or take notes in your phone.
What if I told you that to get $100k at the end of the year you will have to do something hard or uncomfortable every day for the next 365 days. If you could do it, without fail, every day you are guaranteed $100k. As an added bonus you don’t have pay any taxes on the money. Could you do it and just as important, would you do it?
Generating $100k in a year or anything else you want comes down to whether or not you are willing to do it. It’s a choice! Your life is the direct result of the choices you have made. All the good things, the bad things, the weird things are a result of your choices. Your choices have already gotten as far as they can. Only different choices will yield different outcomes and results.
What wouldn’t you do? How hard is to hard? When is uncomfortable unbearable? Write that down or take notes in your phone.
What’s the hard or uncomfortable thing you would do every day? Where’s the line that if crossed, no longer makes the $100k worth it? To say it another way what’s the most hard or uncomfortable thing you would do for the guaranteed $100k? Write that down or take notes in your phone.
You now have a very detailed description of what you are capable of, what you’re willing to do, and not willing to do. This information is very valuable in so many ways.
The next step is to clearly define goals not vague goals. I vague goal is, I want to be famous. Great, famous for what? I want to be a movie star. Awesome, what kind of movies, drama, action, comedy? Drama, fantastic, what kind of actor do you want to be? Really dig down into the details. When you have clearly defined goals you will know what hard and uncomfortable things to lean into. At this point all you need to do is get to it. Do the work. Get comfortable being uncomfortable. Do that and your desired outcome or result becomes inevitable.
I want you to really feel the answer to the next question. How much further would you be in life if you leaned into the hard and uncomfortable in pursuit of your goals? Take your list of what you’re capable of, what you’re willing to do, and not willing to do, then bounce it off your goals. Decide what hard and/or uncomfortable things you will do in pursuit of your goals. Show the world and yourself what you are made of.
Success is simply deciding what you want and choosing to go after it.
P.S. If you want some inspiration on the importance of doing hard things click her. (make this a link to “Do Hard Things”