The problem is that we bear it. It grinds on us. We get used to it. We just keep going.
This is the continuation of my series about Thomas. As I began telling the story, we segued into the three reasons people don’t do the things they need to do to create the change they want. Click here to go back to the earlier newsletters where I cover reasons #3 (5-6-26) and #2 (5-27-26).
The #1 reason is their pain isn’t painful enough to cause them to do something about it. As Tony Robbins puts it:
Change happens when the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change.
I’ll add that familiar pain is powerful. It’s well established that people will continue to choose pain they know over change and uncertainty.
I sometimes meet people who are in a lot of pain. On their knees kind of pain. They’re eager for change and are ready to do what’s needed to create it.
And I meet plenty who are in pain. But they bear it well enough. They’re strong, they can carry it, they think that’s just how it is. That’s a path to mediocrity. It says: “I’m at A. I want to be at B. Most of my life and business are good. I guess I’m OK with being at A. That’s perhaps a sorry state of affairs. But I’m not in enough pain to do anything about it.”
Not a lot of people now days know of Eddie Chiles. He was a Texas oilman who used to get on the radio about some topic he didn’t agree with. He’d say: “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!”
Figuratively speaking, I encourage you to look at those parts of your world that aren’t what you want and get mad as hell and ready for change! If you don’t decide to create the change you want, you’ll never have it. If you wait until you have the time or until you know how to create what you want, you’ll never have it.
Do this:
- Relook at your own “pain.” What is status quo costing you? What would it mean to you to have the change you say you want?
- Can you decide to take yourself from A to B without knowing how you are going to do that?
In the context of our Thomas story, he was growing tired of running his company and the life that went with that. To be sure, he had a great company, job, and life. And he was called to something more. He wanted something more. It just wasn’t urgent. He was unclear and uncommitted. He wasn’t in enough pain.
He didn’t know how to get from A to B, so we began getting ready to be ready. Once he committed, his entire world changed very quickly. His experience of life became richer overnight, and he never looked back!
I’ll come back to what happened and wrap this series up in our next newsletter.
If you missed any of our earlier newsletters, you can find them
here. And click
here for a 3-minute video from a business owner client who has doubled his business and found peace. If you’d like more guidance on any of this, feel free to email me.
