Welcome to the Fight: Bring Your Attitude!

Agree to win, and just...don't quit.

If you want to have different results, you need to do things differently. Everyone knows this.

Sometimes we get stuck on needing to be talented to be what we want to be. We don’t already know a skill, we haven’t already become knowledgeable or experienced about it, so we give up before we even start.

But people with half that talent, and no education about anything, are forging ahead and blazing trails that could be ours.

They are no different from us, but in one thing: attitude.

They don’t know, so they learn. They don’t come pre-packaged with knack or talent, so they acquire it.

They see a battle, and they bow up. They gear up for the fight they see ahead of them, not run away.

The stress, anxiety, fear, all transmutes to excitement, as they go toe-to-toe with the finest of adversaries.

The only true opponent we ever meet in this life: our Self.

Photo by Lance Reis on Unsplash

You + attitude change = evolution.

I’m a fan of time travel theory. Specifically, past and future iterations of our self/Self, and how they connect and inform each other.

The future you dream of is inhabited by your future Self. A version of the self you haven’t met yet.

A version we will never meet, if we don’t engage Them and agree to the new terms and conditions we will need to live by to become Them.

It’s always a fight between the self and the Self, because our current self insists there is nothing that needs to change about us. (Even as it insists that we “can’t have good things” because we aren’t good or experienced at this thing so we should just quit.)

We do this, because change is scary. To the ego, change is death. Your current self has no interest in meeting the Self that you really want to become, for this reason.

But your future Self will continue to throw challenges at you because it needs you.

It also tantalizes you by waking you at 2 AM with dreams of the life you yearn to live. I know, I get them too.

Haunts you with ghosts whose faces you see on the news, in the leaderboards, all of them mouthing at you “this could be you.” I know, I hear them too.

All of this issues from the Self that lives on the other side of that hill you’re running up on, but you won’t make it to see them as you are now.

From now on…

Agree to the fight. Challenges will come: take them on. You’ll be reminded of shortcomings and blind spots: learn from them and adjust for them. Tough conversations will be asked of you: accept them with open ears, mind and heart.

You’ll know them because your instinct will always be to run from them. Do. Not. Run.

How does coal become a diamond? Lots of heat, friction, and time. Love the process. Speaking of diamonds…

Agree to the vision. If you have a dream worth living for, get clear about what it is. Sharpen it to photographic clarity, not just a loose sketch. The map to getting there may not be straight-forward. Don’t be surprised if your vision changes, or gets clearer as you get closer.

But also:

Agree to the surrender. This is the part that may in fact feel like death, because even a fight makes us feel like we’re alive – we’re fighting for something. But what are we fighting, and what are we fighting for? Surrender is what we give to out of love, it’s what we allow to change us.

Agree to die… To your old life, your old self. You won’t meet your future Self as you are – you’ll need to disavow some old beliefs that will not serve you, if you want to get to that future you dream of.

Beliefs about your self, your abilities and potential. Beliefs about your world, about what is possible. Beliefs about time, purpose, life meaning.

This may be painful and scary, as these beliefs are what got you this far, right? But what if examining and changing them to a new frequency is all that’s holding you back from a huge leveling up?

Agree to the inevitability. Yes – make the changes you need to, agree to never give up, and this victory is yours. You WILL make those dreams yours someday, if you don’t run and don’t quit.

Think of it: if all you needed was to know that your efforts would be repaid in full and you would absolutely succeed, what wouldn’t you agree to?