Two weeks ago, I unplugged from everything for 10 days.
No cell phone. No laptop. No wifi. No talking. No reading. No writing.
The only thing I could do is eat, sleep, drink and meditate.
For over four years, I’ve wanted to go to a 10 Day Vipassana Course in Kaufman, Texas.
I made so many excuses in the past of why I couldn’t go.
No time. My clients need me. It will cost me too much in lost opportunities. Blah. Blah. Blah.
My wife encouraged me to make it happen, so in November of 2016, I went online, looked up the dates, applied and got in for their February 22, 2017 course.
I had no idea what it was going to be like or what would come from it.
During my ten day stay there, I spent 120 hours meditating and found their are two deadly beliefs that kill many people’s dreams of having a highly profitable Lifestyle Business.
Deadly Belief #1. Believing You Can Think Your Way to Clarity
One of the major reasons I went to the course was because I felt stuck.
In 2008, I read a book by Tim Ferris called the 4 Hour Work Week and it gave me a completely new perspective on life.
For the first time ever, I was introduced to the idea of working from any where in the world as long as I had a laptop and internet connection.
Until reading Tim’s book, I didn’t even know that was a possibility.
After reading his book, I decided if Tim could do it, I could as well.
I had no clue what that would look like or how to do it, yet I felt that’s what my soul wanted to experience.
So I went all in.
Fast forward to 2016, I had accomplished everything my soul was yearning for in 2008.
I had a lifestyle business, I was serving people around the world, I was waking up to emails on my phone notifying me of new sales and new people who joined my email list, I made $100,000 in a year and I had a respectable personal brand that tens of thousands of people followed.
That was the exact vision I had for my life in 2008.
Yet, every day I was waking up with no sense of purpose any more.
People would ask me, “What do you see for yourself in the next 5 years or 10 years?”
And that question would always stump me.
I couldn’t even see 90 days out, yet alone 5 years!
Maybe you can relate to this?
If so, I learned you cannot think your way to clarity.
Clarity only comes during times you are taking massive action.
During the second day of the Vipassana Course, I was walking around one of the nature trails at the retreat.
Actually, it was more of pacing rather than walking.
When we were not meditating, we could walk around the nature trail.
By the second day, I felt a large sense of anger stirring in my body.
I was angry because I didn’t know why I was wasting my time at this course rather than working on my business.
I was angry because I just got married a month before and here I was leaving my wife for this course.
I was angry because I didn’t know what I really wanted to do any more.
I was angry because I felt I should be further along in life than I thought I was.
I was just angry.
As I paced around the nature trail (it was probably only a 1/8 mile loop), I asked a simple question…
….“What do I enjoy helping people do the most?”
After lap number 4, I felt the answer arise within me.
It said…“Creating a Lifestyle Business. They want to be able to work from any where in the world. They want to be free. They want to be able to spend more time with their family and loved ones and you love helping them do that.”
All of a sudden for the first time in almost two years I felt like I could see.
No longer did I feel like I was standing on top of the mountain with nothing but fog surrounding me.
I was clear.
Now that I’ve been back in the swing of things for two weeks, I realize clarity comes from doing.
If I look back on my life, the biggest breakthroughs have come when I was doing things.
I’ve had revelations while lifting at the gym.
I’ve had revelations while boxing.
I’ve had revelations while running a Spartan Race.
I’ve had revelations while driving.
However it comes, clarity comes from doing.
So I would have you consider, if you feel stuck, if you feel you’re not clear…stop trying so hard to get clarity.
Stop reading books and writing things down to find clarity.
Instead, go be active doing something you love and set the intention of…
…Divine Intelligence flows through me showing me my greatest and highest good. I am open and receive that which is best for me. I have eyes to see, ears to hear and a heart to feel that which is best for me. I receive that which will help me help others.
In the stillness of the doing, the Voice speaks.
You may call this God, Spirit, Universe, Buddha, whatever.
I don’t care what you call it.
Just be open to receive clarity while you are in the middle of doing.
Deadly Belief #2. If I Want to Be the Best, I Must Compare Myself to the Best
I did this for 32 years of my life.
Growing up my dad taught me second place was nothing more than the first loser.
This belief anchored into my identity, at a very young age, to be the very best at everything I ever did.
As a result, I always compared to myself to what others were doing.
When I played club soccer, I looked at other guys playing the game and if they could do things I couldn’t do or didn’t know how to do, I immediately felt I was the first loser.
I never honored my own unique talents.
As a result, no matter what I would accomplish in life, I never felt good enough.
I always felt no one else struggled.
Maybe you an relate to this?
By the fourth day of the meditation course, we had sittings of strong determination.
What this meant was during an hour long meditation, we weren’t supposed to change our posture or open our eyes for an hour.
By the thirty-five minute mark, my body was hurting.
I couldn’t feel my feet, my ankles, back and even my neck hurt.
Yet, despite all this pain, the teacher asked us to remain equanimous and focus on our breathe coming in and out of our nose, scan our body from our head to feet and simply notice any sensations that arise.
I remember by about the forty-fifth minute I thought to myself…
… “I wonder if anyone else is in as much pain as I am. Let’s look.”
So I opened my eyes to see all other 99 people sitting as stiff as a board, meditating.
I then felt this sense of shame wash over me.
It said, “You’re just weak. Look at all these people, they aren’t in any pain.
Maybe you should just go home, you’re not good enough to meditate properly.
You’re just wasting your time.”
Then I remembered the teacher’s words.
“Be equanimous to the senses that arise and simply just breathe.”
So I did and shortly after the hour of strong determination was complete.
Later that day, we had a group meeting with the teacher and he asked each one of us if we were able to feel any sensations.
Almost every person asked if it was normal to feel so much pain.
I laughed because I then realized, every single person was experiencing the same thing.
Many of them had even opened their eyes and had the exact same thoughts as I did.
I wasn’t fucked up.
I was just a human being.
This is why I would have you consider, comparisons are meaningless.
When you compare yourself to another person in your industry or in your position, you don’t really know what they are experiencing.
From the outside looking in, it may look like they have everything put together and all their ducks are in a row.
Yet, the reality may be they are as broken as you.
The good news is the moment you stop comparing yourself to others and start focusing on what you need to do to yield the result you desire, you immediately regain your power to shape your reality to your desires.
As long as you stay stuck comparing yourself to others, you are wasting time, energy and resources you could commit to getting what you want.
Next Steps
Now that you know the two deadly beliefs that will kill your Lifestyle Business, if you’re wanting to stop feeling like a lone wolf and join a community of entrepreneurs who are committed to creating a life and business they love, check out the Lifestyle Business Mastery Community.
It’s a community of like-minded high producing entrepreneurs who are committed to creating highly profitable Lifestyle Businesses.
