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You’re inside the grand ballroom of abundance, right? You should have entered yesterday, but if you’re still outside, then you need to go back to day 1, 2 and 3. You think you need courage, but you really don’t. Courage is required when fear is present. Well, I suppose there is fear present. That’s why you’re not going inside. But you’re not fearing anything real. You’re only fearful of the boogie man that doesn’t exist. Seems ridiculous that you were once young and naive and thought the boogie man was in your closet or under your bed, right? But you once thought so. This boogie man is no more real than that one.
As much as I wish I could tell you that you’re out of the woods once you enter this grand ballroom of abundance, you’re not. You’re still vulnerable to your old way of thinking even once inside. Like any new environment, it takes a while to get acclimated. So it’s important that you protect yourself from the pull of the old crowd. It’s only natural because you spent so much time outside with the herd – the masses of people too afraid to enter the grand ballroom. You’ll need some time to get adjusted and that’s what we want to focus on today.
Making the decision to leave the masses outside is uncomfortable. Being inside the grand ballroom of abundance is uncomfortable, at first. But it’s only natural. And if you’ll resist the urge to retreat, the reward that awaits is insanely high. It’s beyond anything you’ve ever achieved before. That’s the fear you’re feeling. Fearing the unknown. I want to focus you on what that unknown is really all about though. It’s all about growth, improvement, transformation. It’s unknown GOOD. No, it’s unknown GREATNESS. That crowd outside wants you to be afraid of failing, but that’s all happening outside where they are – where you just came from. They just don’t see it accurately.
When you walk out of a dark room into a room filled with light, your eyes need a moment to adjust. Same thing here. You’ve left the throngs devoted to blaming anything and anybody for failure. You’re now in the bright, optimistic company of high achievers. It’s gonna take a moment to get adjusted. It’s perfectly fine. Don’t panic. And whatever you do, stay away from the door back outside. Get as far from those voices urging you to “Come back!” They’ve got enough company. They don’t need you. Trust me, they’ll never be lonely without you.
Commit To The Fight
I’m not going to lie to you. It’s a fight to enter the grand ballroom and it’s a fight to stay there when you first enter. Totally worthwhile, but still a fight.
Slap those noise canceling headphones on. Shut out all the noise from the people you’ve been surrounded by. They’re not bad people, but they don’t believe in what you’re now seeing. The abundance inside this new space is foreign to them, just like it was for you before you walked in. You now know something they don’t. They’ll work very hard to get you back into the land of ignorance. Refuse.
Going back to them won’t help them. And if you’re ever going to help them you must remain solidly inside the room. It’s the only way you’ll ever influence the people you care about to join you. Only the people who have been inside and become permanent citizens can help those outside come inside. That’s now your goal. To remain firmly inside and fight through the discomfort until being here feels natural.
Everything is hard until it’s easy.
This is my all-time favorite quote, but I have no idea who first said it or wrote it. I wish I had.
It’s completely true. Think back through everything you’ve ever learned. From the alphabet to basic math to geography to public speaking or riding a bike or anything else. That quote applies to everything. And it applies to you being comfortable in being in this new grand ballroom of abundance!
At first, you’ll feel like you belong here. You’ll feel like everybody else does, but not you. You’re wrong. Truth is, everybody deserves to be in that room if they believe they do. That’s the only requirement. All those people outside belong in the room, but they’re not inside because they don’t think they belong. So they don’t.
You’ve had the cart before the horse all this time.
You wrongly believed that only people who had achieved things belonged in this room. You falsely assumed that the prerequisite for going into the room was restricted to people who had actually done something notable. Now that you’re inside people are telling you time and time again that they didn’t achieve big things until they were first inside this grand ballroom of abundance. The more you hear their stories, the stupider you feel for staying outside so long. That’s good. Embrace it. This is one time when feeling stupid will fuel your determination to belong. To get increasingly more comfortable being inside.
First, you enter the room. Then you achieve big things. Not the other way around.
As you walk around the room and listen to everybody share their experiences you find they’re much like you. They weren’t always in this room. None of them achieved much outside this room. And nobody is judging you or anybody else. They all know how open the secret really is. That anybody can join the party. That newcomers often feel like they don’t belong because the adjustment period is required for everybody. Some take longer than others. Some struggle to shut out the noise of their past surroundings. And the people who beckon them to come back.
But you notice that nobody wants you to leave. They’re all trying to help you figure out that you belong because they know your high achievements will just make the ballroom grow even bigger, making it capable of accommodating more and more people. It’s a completely different way of thinking. And it dawns on you that I’m right. That high growth is a way of thinking.
All kinds of things will enter your head to make you think you don’t belong here. Thoughts of not deserving it. Questions of how you’ll ever belong. It’s very important that you do nothing except look around and bask in the glow of knowing how welcomed you are. Give yourself permission to feel uncomfortable while you adjust, but refuse to leave. There’s no going back…not if you want to grow.
Jack Nicholas talked about owning your own outcomes. Owning your own game. He talks of owning each shot you make, or joining the masses who just swing, then look up to see it went. It’s a lesson of responsibility and ownership.
Today is the day to forget about feeling like an imposter because you’re not. This is your life. You alone own your life. You alone can determine where you’re going to live your life. Outside with those masses who just swing, then look up to see where it went. Or inside this grand ballroom where people are behaving with greater intent and purpose. Where everybody is owning their own game and urging you to do the same. It’s time to let your eyes get adjusted to the new, brighter lights of high achievement.
Be well. Do good. Grow great!
About the hosts: Randy Cantrell brings over 4 decades of experience as a business leader and organization builder. Lisa Norris brings almost 3 decades of experience in HR and all things "people." Their shared passion for leadership and developing high-performing cultures provoked them to focus the Grow Great podcast on city government leadership.
The work is about achieving unprecedented success through accelerated learning in helping leaders and executives "figure it out."