NOTE: I also did an audio version of this post, which you can listen to on the Resist Average Academy podcast about when radical change…requires radical change.
When Radical Change Requires Radical Change
There are moments in our lives where we have a clear fork in the road: we let go of who we’ve been, stepping into the unknown —or we sink back into the familiar, even if it’s painful.
Make no mistake: these are inflection points in our lives where everything can change. If we’re open, ready and willing. These are the moments where your head and heart are in a winner take all tug-of-war. You know what to do, and yet like a conniving snake —fear starts to take a stranglehold on every part of your body.
Every moment that passes from here on out is a missed opportunity of a radically different life. Deep down, you know this —and the pain of untapped potential starts to rot you from inside. You carry on the conventional path, the one someone else wanted for you, at the expense of the Man or Woman in the mirror.
Time passes, and you’ve become a cynic to your own dreams. You see the world as a dangerous, lackluster place. You have lost your life force. The dreams you experienced in 4K HD color are now black and white. There is no color, and apathy is the drug of choice.
You are the walking dead, the masses quietly living in desperation. You can’t stand the face in the mirror, let alone spend quiet time alone. Distraction is your method of numbness: watching others live their dreams on movie screens and fields of play connects to the spark you used to have. Until the dopamine runs out, and you’re left with yourself once again.
You wake up years down the line and feel the burden of an unlived life: bags under your eyes representing the shackles of regret, shoulders slumped after years of being pummelled by the inner critic inside of you. This is pain, this is your reality.
Or is it?
I’m here to tell you: it doesn’t have to be this way. There is another world out there for you, too. There is always a choice. There is always an option. And sometimes radical change in our lives requires…well, radical change.
It requires a blowtorch, not a candle.
It requires a chainsaw, not a scissor.
It requires going all in, not merely dabbling.
In this post, I’m going to deep dive into the moments where radical change is required….for radical results. I’m going to share four tools that have completely shifted my ability to make bold decisions, and do it now.
This is not for the faint of heart, and if you’re easily triggered or offended —not for you.
But I’m here for the truth, and I hope you are, too.
This Isn’t Working…What Now?
This isn’t working. You hear these voices during your morning commute, in the midst of a warm shower, or on the airplane as you level off at 37,000 feet —when you finally have some time to think.
Something has to change, you think to yourself. In the moment, it feels right. You’re not lacking clarity in this place. But then you stop yourself, asking:
But how am I going to do it?
It doesn’t feel like the right time.
I should be grateful for what I have.
And slowly, you begin to convince yourself. You talk yourself out of making a change, fear slowly takes over until you get back to your logical brian and distract yourself out of it.
These are whispers of wisdom, and not heeding their call is a dangerous game.
Because as time passes, the whispers grow in force —becoming louder as they raise the stakes, begging for your attention to do something. Anything. Time will pass, and what started as a whisper becomes a loud voice, a yell, a top-of-the-lungs moment:
This is crisis, this is the universe putting a stick in the middle of your life’s wheel.
But again, it doesn’t have to be this way. Let’s dig into a toolkit you can rely on during these moments to ensure you don’t miss them. And most importantly: to ensure you don’t wake up with regret and thinking what could have been.
Radical Change Tool #1: Reverse Visualization
If you’re here, you’ve likely heard of the practice of visualization: creating mental movies of the blissful future you’d like to experience. Whether landing a big business deal or finding the love of your life, visualization can be a powerful practice to shift your awareness towards what you desire.
But I’ve also been obsessed with a powerful tool I’ve taught to countless clients and in my seminars, programs and on the podcast: reverse visualization.
Here’s how it works: take your current circumstance, problem or situation in life that is causing you stress, anxiety and pain.
Hold it in tight, and then use your mental energy to visualize the following:
You wake up 5 or 10 years down the line and you didn’t do it. Whatever you know you need to change now, never happened. You’re in the same place but much, much worse. You’ve had to live with yourself during all these years knowing what to do —but not bringing it to life.
What does this look and feel like?
Don’t take this lightly: use visualization and the power of your mind to walk through every painstaking moment of your day, the hollow feeling of not doing it.
Because the truth is: if you don’t act, this is how you’re going to feel. If you amplify the painful future enough, today’s bold decision pales in comparison and you give yourself permission to go all in. What seemed “risky” now seems like a no brainer, because your future self is begging you to make it happen.
Radical Change Tool #2: Quantum Decision Making
95% of people make decisions today based on who they’ve been —which means their re-affirming the past. This leads to predictable results and feeling stuck. Because our past isn’t who we are anymore, there is no option but to stay in a place of paralysis analysis and in a rut.
But what if there was a way to make decisions based on the future versions of ourselves —the person who has already created all of your visions and dreams?
Enter the second tool for radical change: quantum decision making. I’ve been teaching this one for a while now, too —and it has completely shifted my game.
The next time you’re faced with a decision, ask yourself a simple question:
What would the version of yourself who has accomplished your vision do in this exact circumstance?
Personally, I take myself ten years down the line and meet with my future self. Because to that version of myself, it’s a no-brainer. He almost laughs at my indecision. Because he’s stepped up to the plate so many times and put himself on the line, he tells me exactly what to do.
To make this powerful, you’re going to need to have clarity around where you’re headed. Don’t complicate it: you only need some clarity. When you use this tool, you’ll act courageously. Most importantly: you’ll begin to collapse the time for that future self to become who you are…today.
Radical Change Tool #3: Collapse Time for Urgency
There’s a story about entrepreneur Peter Thiel asking people about their 10 year goals. Once the person answers what they’re grand vision and goal is, he comes back to them with a simple question:
How can you make it happen in 6 months? Often —people react by saying it’s too impossible, they need the time, it’s going to take a lot of work, etc.
But here’s why I love this: it follows a universal principle called Parkinson’s Law. This law, in the context of what we’re talking about —is simple:
If you believe it’s going to take yourself ten years, it’s going to take ten years.
Groundbreaking, huh? But we recognize this in our daily lives: we give ourselves a deadline to accomplish a task a week from Monday, and on Sunday night we’re cranking everything out to finish just in time. In my coaching and programs, we set one year visions and then set 90 day targets to accomplish one year’s worth of results in the timeframe.
Think back to the last time you had a real, tangible deadline with negative consequences to not doing it. You made it happen, even when you thought it may be impossible.
Same goes for when you need to create radical change. Time is an illusion, and by forcing yourself to collapse time: you have no time for fear, procrastination, guessing or waiting. You’ve created high levels of urgency and accountability, and it has to be done.
Examples of Radical Change
The moment I went all in on radical change is the moment my entire life shifted. I don’t share the above out of guessing —I’ve used it on myself and countless clients. I’ve spoken about these concepts with billionaires and some of the world’s most successful creators.
But I wanted to share some of the moments I created radical change in life, to give you some context. Here are some examples during the last few years:
1. Cutting out every single person in my social circle and choosing to spend nearly all my time in solitude for one year.
RESULT: I read 100+ books in one year and went down a powerful path of self discovery, getting to know who I am —and feeling fulfilled.
2. Investing $25,000 in myself and my dreams when I had $900 in the account and hadn’t paid rent yet.
RESULT: I completely shifted what I felt possible for me, stepped into my power as a Man and business owner —and created my biggest one day revenue result in business ($50,000) six weeks after.
3. Throwing away my TV and listening to the same audio training 476 nights in a row.
RESULT: Similar to number one, I knew something needed to change. I was consuming powerful material, but nothing was happening. I went deep into a tape by my mentor, Dr. John Demartini —and never looked back.
4. Moving cross country with no plan, no blueprint, no guarantees —but knowing my old environment was eating me alive.
RESULT: The thrill of feeling alive, carving my own path and living in a place I absolutely love. The ability to access nature every day…and meeting my soul mate along the way.
5. Having a 15 second window to meet my soul mate and going all in.
RESULT: I had 15 seconds and every reason not to do it. But at the time, I’d been disappointed by relationships for so long —I chose to create radical change.
What’s Your Radical Change?
Make no mistake: radical change is powerful —and required.
As I said earlier, too often I talk to people who know they must make radical change…but make small, inconsequential decisions.
At the end of the day, the trajectory of our lives is based on hundreds of thousands of decisions we make —some massive, some medium and some that don’t seem like anything. Using the tools above, you’ll now be able to make bold decisions in line with the most powerful version of yourself.
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