I had an insight today that will open up a can of worms…
I have had issues with my weight since age 9. I have found effective ways to manage my weight, apart from starving myself (I did that for about 15 years too…), one of them involves a breathing technique.
I did that method for about three years, first to reduce my weight and then to maintain it, without having to change my diet.
It worked like gangbusters… and I was surprised to hear that the originator of the method was sued, in a class action suit, that the method didn’t work.
She lost the suit, and paid millions in restitution.
For quite a few years I wasn’t well to use the method: you actually have to be well enough to use it, but about three weeks ago I found myself well enough to do it.
Then I decided to teach it as part of my Reclaim Your Life program.
Now, pay attention, the important stuff is coming: I started to be concerned about the students, I wanted to make it easier for them, and I was testing if the easier version still worked.
It didn’t… It was shorter than the original program, about half of it… and today it hit me:
Originators of effective programs dilute their programs, make them easier, so they can sell them, until they don’t work at all.
The fear of not being able to sell it is strong.
People, you, want easy, push button, take a pill, listen to an audio, you don’t want to put out.
But anything that is worth doing, anything that causes growth of a person, is hard… by design.
I am returning to testing and designing the program hard… after all I am interested in causing growth, causing mastery, causing an unparalleled transformation in your life.
Use the remaining month to prepare yourself, emotionally, to fall in love with hard.
When I muscletest people who have asked me to check if they would be accepted (90% came up short) the muscletest mainly looks if the person is willing and able to do hard, persistently, consistently, and win at it.
Willing to do hard earnestly, persistently, consistently, and win at it
That is the biggest missing.
It’s cultural, by the way, so you need to challenge more than just yourself: you need to challenge the culture. Not publicly, but in yourself.
In a culture where hard working individuals are called nerds or workaholics, where people consider their life “after” working hours, where people’s attitude is “this isn’t it”, where people hurry to do anything, never doing anything in earnest, where you never live your life, because it is never “it”…
You need to disabuse yourself of the culture: it is not an accident that it went that way: miserable people can be influenced, because they stop thinking for themselves, making decisions for themselves.
Don’t be part of the culture that is designed to enslave you in permanent misery.
