“It’s All Or Nothing”
“It all begins and ends in your mind. What you give power to, has power over you, if you allow it.” — Leon Brown
Many, many moons ago, Alexander the Great led, “The Grand Army” into war against the Persian Empire. As his sailors began to unload their boats, he instructed them to burn them to ashes. His reasoning was simple: if the soldiers burned their boats, they wouldn’t have an escape option. Their only choice would be to fight as if their lives depended on it. Although you may not be in war physically, when it comes to pursuing your passion, the same rule applies.
When we have a plan B or an escape route, it prevents us from committing to the process. Although some may believe having a backup plan in case things go south is crucial, I believe it is just as crucial to bet the house on yourself. When there’s only one mission at hand, we are able to commit to the process wholeheartedly. When there is a plan B, in a sense, it takes away the tenacity of achieving a goal. With this seed of doubt that plan A won’t work, it deflates the possibility of completing said mission.
When we decide that we are going to embark on our journey, often times it requires you burning boats. When we stand in the storm of adversity, while having our backs against the wall, tenacity is demanded to fight our way through. Resilience is demanded when we strive to climb the mountain because there will be times when it seems easier to give up than to keep going. I am here to tell you that right now it is time to commit completely to the process.
This past week, the journey to becoming one of the most respected authors/podcasters in the field, has ran rampant in my mind. The journey that I’m on requires an extreme amount of faith and an even more extreme amount of dedication and discipline to see the journey through. Seeing what it costs to see my vision through, I am willing to put it all on the line to prove that dreams do come true.
As the opening quote says, what you give power to ultimately dictates the direction of our trajectory. When we commit to the grind, we are wiping away all doubt of any possibility of our dream not coming to pass. The journey will take us through many valleys and many peaks, but the end goal is to stand at the highest peak of them all. Whether it be a successful business or conquering the past to evolve into the person we were designed to be, it is beneficial to focus only on the mission at hand.
Prior to moving to Arizona, I had never been awarded “Employee of The Month”. I’ve always been a hard worker but I had never really tapped into my true potential. One day that all changed while I was working in the medical marijuana industry. One night I discovered affirmations and I decided to give them a try. At first, it seemed unrealistic to demand such high standards of myself when I’ve never demanded anything higher than average. As I began to use affirmations, I noticed that my work ethic had increased dramatically. I noticed my confidence in my positives began to boost while the roadblocks I had installed in my negatives, had magically been wiped away.
I set the record for most patients taken at my dispensary (well over 1,000 patients on average) and I also managed to rake in over $100,000 a month in sales. I was awarded employee of the month multiple times and even scored the only promotion of my professional career. Not trying to toot my own horn but I got pretty damn good at understanding how I could succeed as a budtender. Once I let go of the self-limiting beliefs, I began to see myself sour to heights that I didn’t know were attainable. The same work ethic that I applied to the industry is the same work ethic that I carry with me throughout this journey to greatness.
By letting go of those self-limiting beliefs, I began to do something that I’ve never done before: demand nothing but the best of myself. Some people frown on the idea of demanding the best of yourself but in order to be great, such demands are required. As we set out on our individual journeys, we should always expect the best of ourselves while putting our best foot forward every single day. In order to achieve this, I had to burn my boats.
I had to abandon the idea of who I used to be and had to accept the person that I am. I had to let go of all the promotions that I got passed on and began to focus on the promotions that were in front of me. Not looking backwards and focusing on the vision in front of me has kept me from going off the deep end. It has saved me from myself when I would be reminded of my past mistakes. I began to give power to the future verision of myself and that is the point of this message today.
We’ve spent years, maybe even decades, on reasoning why certain goals are unattainable. We’ve somehow managed to screw the lid on our potential and I am highly recommending taking that lid off and disposing of it properly. The past serves no purpose to us. Yes, it is important to remember where you came from, but it is equally important to remember where you are and where you’re going.
Keeping the vision in front of you is necessary when it comes to pursuing our passion or evolving as individuals. A wise man once told me that you can’t jump over hurdles when you’re looking backwards. That’s the fastest way to busting your shit up. But by focusing on what’s in front of us, we are able to do the proper calculations to make sure that we time our moves accordingly to become victorious. Letting go of those self-limiting beliefs will remove the excess baggage we carry and allow us to soar to heights that we couldn’t imagine.
Starting today, let’s give power to the possibility of becoming successful. Let’s give power to the future and letting the past be the past. The past can’t be changed. As much as we wish we could, we can’t alter things that we’ve done. But by burning our boats, whatever it may be, will allow us to commit to the process.
Plan A is the only thing we are focusing on. Anybody else that’s telling you otherwise needs to move around. Plan your work and work your plan. Fight like your life depends on it. Because it does!!!
- SB
