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In the last episode, we discussed an important concept in stoicism and how to reprogram the way that we look at failure and our relationship with failure. In this podcast let’s learn how to program ourselves for massive success.
In order for us to enjoy massive growth and massive success in our careers and in our lives, we have to first develop the capacity within us for massive success. It has to become our natural state of being. We have to normalize it.
Anything that you think is impossible, difficult, challenging, needs to become normalized. It needs to become your normal state of being.
When you program yourself at a higher level, it can’t help but become your natural state of being and all of the success that you want will follow.
As far as I know, there are at least four ways I know to program ourselves for massive success and abundance.
Words, pictures, feelings, and kindness.
Words
There are reasons that I listen to guided meditations and affirmations on YouTube. The words that you tell yourself that you program into your mind, are the most important building block for creating the day and ultimately the life that you want. There is simply nothing more powerful.
And you have to think about this motivation, this programming as something part of your daily routine just like showering and drinking your morning coffee or tea.
If you were a high performance athlete, such as an Olympic athlete, you don’t have the luxury of having mediocre thoughts, if you want to win a medal for your country. You can’t just go and say I’m just going to give it my best. I’m just happy to be able to compete. You can say that, but if you want to perform your best, and have the best chance of winning, you have to program yourself with the most empowering thoughts possible.
And we should do exactly the same, every morning when we wake up we should program ourselves with the most powerful thoughts, the most powerful affirmations so that we are on the level of an Olympic athlete.
Muhammad Ali used to tell himself every day, “I am the greatest,” long before he ever was, and then went on to become the greatest.
We don’t need to compete in professional sports. But we do need to build this capacity for greatness, and we need to make it normal and familiar to us. This is one of the best ways that we do it.
Pictures
Using visualization and creating mental pictures and mental movies is another way to expand our capacity for more success and abundance.
Can you start to imagine yourself as being the ultra successful, super fulfilled and satisfied person that you see yourself in the future at this very moment? Is it possible to recreate that feeling of success and let it fill your body right now. Just take a minute and imagine everything.
Imagine that your business has reached levels of success that you could not even expect. Imagine how you will celebrate. What will you do to celebrate your success? Can you go out and start to celebrate that success now? Can you do the activities that give you that feeling of success?
Money visualization
The next visualization involves money. I want you to imagine your money worth. However you think of it. It could be your bank balance, it could be your assets, it could be your monthly or annual income.
Whatever it is, imagine that you’re looking at that number. Then imagine that it’s 50% more than it is right now. Then imagine that it’s twice as much as it is right now. Then keep going. Five times, 10 times. Imagine that you reached your destination. Think of everything around you, think of how you feel. Can you feel that way now? Do this, and it will increase your capacity.
Visualize energy
The last visualization exercise involves energy. Are you holding on to any energy that you don’t want? Did someone give you energy which you don’t want to hold on to anymore? Holding on to this negative energy is like carrying a backpack full of rocks.
I want you to take all of that energy and just put it into a big ball. It can be any color that you want to imagine. And then I want you to just release it, like a balloon. Watch as it just slowly fades away into the distance.
Now do the same with all of your fears. These also do not belong to you. So take them all and put them into a ball of energy, a different color than before. Then just release it, and watch it slowly fade away.
All of that negative energy and fear from others, of that some external factor forced onto you, no longer belongs to you. It no longer has any influence on you, or any power to weigh you down.
Feelings
There’s a story related by Ken Honda where he talks about when he was walking in the park with Wahei Takeda, Japanese billionaire. Ken was trying to pick his brain to understand the characteristics that make up billionaires.
Wahei told him to just take a moment to pause and notice all of the abundance around them. The singing of the birds, the abundance of trees, the magnificence of the sunlight sparkling on the lake.
The important lesson, is that there is already abundance everywhere. Chances are, that we are not appreciating the things that we already have to the extent that we could be. When I drink my cup of coffee in the morning, I get the same feeling like a millionaire as I might if I bought something 100,000x more expensive. And that cup of coffee will taste the exact same whether I’m a billionaire or just an average person.
In his book, Honda says that “the more you appreciate, the more things appreciate.”
The more that we appreciate all of the abundance around us, the more capacity we create in our minds to create more abundance.
“The more you appreciate, the more things appreciate.”
Kindness
Our brains are chronically in “threat mode.” This is a byproduct of outdated evolution. We are naturally fearful creatures, because in the past the most cautious of our human race survived and passed on its genes.
This is a problem, because when we start to view our work as a burden, or we start to feel threatened by potential leads or our clients, then we start to run away from what we need to do.
We need to run towards challenges. We need to run towards our to-do list, towards our emails, towards putting ourselves”out there.”
So what I like to do, is to practice daily kindness, daily helping, daily giving value. If I am talking to potential prospects and leads, I will start with brand new ones, and I will perform a helpful gesture or an act of kindness for them as a warm-up before I take on more important sales calls and appointments.
This is really powerful, because it takes me out of the threat mode. It breaks down my internal resistance, and the guard of others. It makes me less defensive when I communicate to people, and it programs me to have the capacity for abundance.
Einstein told us that the most important question in life is: “Is the universe a friendly place? Because your answer determines whether you build bridges, or you build walls.”