07/05/2024
Don't shoot for your goals directly; move side to side.
This goes against basic human knowledge and logic because most people believe that if they want to “get more customers,” they should try and “make more sales.” Most companies that aim to just make more sales rarely make any sales. This is because sales come from value, and value comes from helping people.
When you aim to “get more customers,” you're blinded by the sales and forget the most important thing… which is helping people by adding value.
For most of my life, I only understood the direct approach to doing things. I could only see things logically by drawing straight lines and aiming for my goals head-on. After years of struggling, I started to realize that most of my achievements actually came from indirect movements.
Almost all of my achievements weren't planned and were actually accidental. They were indirect byproducts created by trying to achieve something else. It was as if my accidents were more successful than my plans.
How could this be?
This idea was so fascinating to me that it became my utter obsession. I looked everywhere on Earth for the answers: I read books, watched documentaries, and even went into a huge rabbit hole in one of the most feverish searches of my entire life.
Everywhere I looked, I found occurrences of the same exact thing. The world is full of indirect discoveries. For years, I felt like I had a hold of something big, but nothing ever came from it…
Then one day, it hit me like a freight train!
Mother Nature never moves in straight lines, but basic human logic does. What Mother Nature does is create perfect order from chaos, while human logic creates chaos from order.
Mother Nature is an indirect thinker; she always moves side to side and is very good at it.
My jaw hit the floor once I discovered this, and my perspective changed everything. I was once lost, but now I am found.
I started applying these indirect approaches to everything in my life, including my business.
My business was doing okay, but it was flat, indifferent, and not exciting at all. It was the result of direct, straight-line thinking and it always had me boiling with frustration.
With this newfound knowledge, I was able to look at my business with a fresh set of eyes and everything became clearer to me. I was being too logical, too planned, and too rigid. I could only see in straight lines and couldn't see how everything was connecting with each other.
I started to aim for my goals indirectly and did the opposite of what I once had done in the past. The results were breathtaking. My business went from being flat, boring, and barely making a profit to rapidly growing by 100 times.
What changed?
How did my life and business go from unexciting, boring, and nothing to be proud of to the place where it is today? It took a fresh set of eyes, a new perspective, and a 180° shift from the direct to the indirect.
With this new way of thinking, I can present an opportunity for you to make a list of the top three things so that you can start applying them to your life and your business today. Now, this isn't your typical business advice, but then again, these aren't your typical business results.
Here are the three things:
1. Your Image of Yourself
In business, there is only one enemy you will come against over and over again. The enemy will make you question yourself and doubt your every single move. It's like a dark shadow that you can't escape, a monster watching your every move and breathing down your neck. The enemy is you.
When I got started in business, I had no idea what I was doing. I was shy, awkward, clueless, broke, and horrible at managing any money at all. I had no idea how the real world worked, and I believed that this was me, and it paralyzed me from taking any action at all. By far, the biggest challenge I had to face was escaping my old self and identifying the person I wanted to become.
Society has phrases like "be yourself," "don't forget where you came from," and "stick to your roots." But the real question is, have you ever stopped to really think about who you are? Where is this thing you call your self-image? Your self-image doesn't exist; it's merely you clinging to an identity built upon the stories of your past.
What I started to notice was that the only way to achieve success is to become the person who deserves it. When we become that person, we are no longer ourselves. You see, this is the very issue with our understanding because we believe we are something when we are anything.
To succeed in business, you have to change who you are and constantly evolve into a better version. This is impossible when you cling to your identity and believe you are the way you are.
You have to destroy your old self-image. Instead of answering the question "Who am I?" try answering the question "Who do I want to become?" Decide who you need to become to be successful and then grow into that new character.
The world is a stage, and we are merely just actors within it.
2. The Reflection on the Wall
People don't have business problems; they have life problems that reflect within their businesses.
Most people who own a business solely focus on logical business things like their website, marketing, and sales skills. When they experience a business problem, they think it's a business problem and attempt to solve it by focusing on the same things. As you may have noticed, this rarely works.
Your business is like a mirror, reflecting your habits and behaviors back at you. Let me give you some examples:
Most people believe that no one will buy their products and they won't get customers. They don't believe in investing in themselves, so how could they believe others would invest in their business? They're seeing a mirrored image of their own beliefs.
We see this with online businesses too. If they struggle to get people to take action and keep getting traffic but no results, they're likely thinking about it when they're buying products themselves. People sell the way they buy and buy the way they sell.
Ninety percent of the time, the problem in your business is coming from your own personal life. When you clean it up, it magically vanishes. When you're running your own business, you must be aware of the mirror and the behaviors you want to receive.
3. Patterns Throughout The World
You're not the highest possible image of yourself which you can imagine; you're the lowest image of yourself which you can accept.
Most people have hopes and dreams but they rarely achieve them. They write down things like what they want and wish as well as happy thoughts but nothing comes of it.
People always go back to the lowest image of themselves which they can accept, not accepting the highest image of themselves that they can imagine.
Change comes from increasing your standards, not your dreams. People binge on watching TV shows and leave their dreams on the back burner for later, but they fight like heck to breach their standards. The pattern presents itself in everybody.
For example: If you want to observe someone who embodies the knowledge of patterns and existence, look at their bank accounts.
Most people have two desired numbers: their desired balance and their panic balance.
They want to have more money in their bank account, but the force of desire is nowhere near strong enough to make them do something about it.
Then there's the panic balance, which is the number that somebody panics when their balance falls below it. The very moment somebody finds themselves below the panic balance, they explode into action and work tirelessly and effortlessly until they're back in the safe zone.
These two numbers present a person's financial dreams and the standards that they hold themselves to. They do nothing to achieve their dreams, but they fight like no tomorrow to breach their standards. The same pattern shows up everywhere in someone's life, not just their bank account.
When you want to change your life or your business, try to map out your dreams and your standards. Understand where they are and where they need to be. Find the lowest image of yourself and what you're willing to tolerate, and then work on lifting that standard to where you truly want to be.
When you do this, you'll light a fire within you that you've never experienced before. I hope this helps you on your journey!
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