This video is sponsored by Squarespace.
Here’s the unpopular truth, you don’t need to read more books or get lost in
the black hole that is YouTube in order to improve your life.
You just simply need to apply two rules that you’ve known about for years or even decades.
Rules that become obvious when you listen to your intuition.
They’re easy to implement yet still come with their own challenges.
Now some may argue that these rules are common sense. And to that, I’d say, if they were so
common, then more people in this world would be leading happier and more fulfilled lives.
Rule #1: Follow the path of most resistance.
There is a stoic principle that I feel fits this conversation seamlessly and that principle
is this: Voluntary Discomfort—which is about getting comfortable with uncomfortable situations.
See every being on this planet has a very different definition of success
and fulfillment. And that’s because none of us are the same.
However, the path to get there isn’t that different.
I challenge you to think back during a time of your life where you felt really good—fulfilled
and deeply proud of yourself. If you care to share your experiences and story comment below.
But I remember very vividly a small hand full of moments in my life, where I felt
truly fulfilled and deeply proud of myself. To give you a broad sense, some of those moments
include paying off my students and completely changing the trajectory of my financial future.
Crossing the 100,000 subscribers milestone here on YouTube.
And back during my days as a track and field athlete. I remember training at
a speed and strength facility and when I was 20 years old, I ran 22 mph on the treadmill.
See all of these moments, while very different,
share one commonality that’s I’ve grown to realize over time.
The reason I felt so fulfilled was not solely because of the result itself.
But because of the fight, the resistance, the hard work, and the discomfort,
I felt in some cases I had to help push me through to reach that result.
In other words. I was traveling the path of most resistance.
To drill down into this conversation a little further, I’d like to quickly share
three sub-rules that I believe support traveling the path of most resistance.
Number one: Be ok with making mistakes.
Do not be embarrassed by your failures and past decisions. Instead,
learn from them and apply those learnings to the present day.
This helped me a lot when with paying off my student loans. If I held on to
that embarrassment that I had debt and wasn’t the best with money, then I would not have been
able to pay off all of my debt in 12 months and change my financial life for the better.
Number two: Be curious and courageous.
“Do something everyday that scares you.”
When I first started this YouTube channel I was beyond nervous and
afraid of judgment. I also knew very little about cameras and video editing.
But because of my curiosity and courageousness to share my poetry and gift of gab,
I decided to put myself out there, despite my fears, and haven’t looked back since.
Number three: Be a bit more spontaneous.
To be honest, I sometimes lack spontaneity in my life, it’s still a work in progress
but I’ve learned that if you don’t step outside of your comfort zone
and do things that challenge you; that might make you feel awkward,
or something that’s just different for you. Then you’ll never know the depth of your potential.
If I never challenged myself that training day at that facility.
If I never allow my trainer to push me past my comfort zone.
If lacked spontaneity in that moment. I would’ve never ran 22 mph on that treadmill.
Rule #2: Don't let people project their fears on you.
A lesson that I’d love for you to walk away from this conversation with
is that people can be intimidated by your energy, your life,
and your success. And something I’ve grown to learn is that intimidation takes on many forms.
Some people may completely ignore you. Some try to befriend you and make you like them.
And some see you as a potential threat and try to manipulate others against you.
I’m sure you’ve crossed paths with someone, at some point, who acted just like this.
Maybe they spoke down about your business or told you that you were “doing too much”
after succeeding and accomplishing a certain goal. Maybe they tried to manipulate others
around you by telling them that you’ve been acting brand new all of a sudden.
But see, those light dimmers, haters, frenemies,
and the folks your parents warned you about when they said “those aren’t your real friends.”
Are the exact ones that will project their fears and limitations on you, if you allow them
to because deep down they feel like they aren’t living up to you their “greatness.” And they will
do everything in their power to ensure fear and self-doubt paralyze you the same way it has them.
Here are a few things I want to encourage you to keep in mind.
Number one: Doubt your doubts.
The next time you find yourself doubting yourself because of what someone has said,
doubt your doubts.
Remember fear feeds on doubt and it will make you believe that you aren’t good
enough for any number of reasons: gender, race, education, and skills to name a few.
But see when you doubt your doubts and choose to lean into what you know you’re capable of
you’ll without a doubt improve your life and start to achieve great things.
Number two: Be who you truly are.
How would you feel if, every day, you said what you meant, stayed true to yourself,
and behaved in accordance with this? Regardless of what anyone thinks or has to say about you?
See, being true to yourself is far less stressful than being someone you are not
and living within the limitations someone else has placed on you.
As a matter of fact, I want to take a moment and talk to the daydreamer who’s listening right now.
The aspiring artist, writer, filmmaker, cook, business owner of any type. If you’re feeling
hesitant to start that business you’ve had in the back of your head for years,
because you’re afraid that no one is going to support you, or read your blog, or buy your
product or service, or you’re just unsure about how to put yourself out there. Because so and so,
has projected their fears and limitations on you. If that’s you, I want to help you out.
And my friends over at Squarespace are giving you 10% off your purchase of a website or domain.
All you have to do is click the link on the description and sign up.
There’s no reason to be hesitant or afraid, nor do you have to spend your life savings to get
started. Squarespace is an all-in-one platform that makes it very easy to build a website,
sell your product or service and connect with those who want to support you.
My personal website, ronaldlbanks.com was built using Squarespace. The community of you who have
joined my email list, and signed up to grow on the journey with me. That’s also managed through
Squarespace. See if I listened to the naysayers talk about what they thought about me or allowed
them to project their fears and limitations on me. Then ronaldlbanks.com wouldn’t exist.
Go ahead and check out Squarespace if you’re interested and when you’re ready
to get started and launch your website, go to Squarespace.com/ronaldlbanks and save 10%.
Remember their limitations are not your limitations. So I always travel the path
of most resistance and when you start to doubt yourself, doubt your doubts.
I hope you enjoy this conversation and if you did
comment below and let me know which part resonated the most with you.
Keep growing, keep learning and always stay true to you.
I’ll see you in the next one.
Peace!