Have you ever walked on a 24-foot bed of 1,000 degree burning coals at midnight?
I did !!!
And I brought my sixteen year old son with me who did it too.
It’s called “The Firewalk.” It was made popular worldwide by well known Motivational Coach and Speaker, Tony Robbins.
I did it with him in 1999 in a Baltimore, Maryland parking lot that eventually became the Camden Yards Baseball Stadium complex.
Now you may wonder why anyone in their right mind would do such a dangerous, foolish thing. What would motivate someone to do that?
It was a very pivotal year in my life and business.
Back in 1994, I heard a recording of Nelson Mandela’s Inaugural Address. His confidence was riveting. His speech blew me away.
I was amazed at how a man, put in jail for over twenty years, comes out of jail and becomes the President of the country (South Africa) that put him there in the first place. He could have been full of anger, hatred, racism, and low self-confidence. But instead, he rose to the occasion with BOLD confidence to serve as their leader.
I had to know how he did that.
I began a five-year personal course of self-study and exploration which included Nelson Mandela and the success of 25 other leaders, to include Tony Robbins, Wayne Dyer, Oprah Winfrey, Ronald Reagan, Indira Ghandi, Zig Ziglar and Eleanor Roosevelt. I called them my personal VM’s (virtual mentors).
By 1999 my study had included becoming a trainer with Tony Robbins, and walking on that 24-foot bed of 1,000 degree burning coals and coaching many others how to do it, including my wife and oldest son.
So, after five years of studying the confidence and success of my VM’s, I figured out what they all had discovered that had catapulted them to STARDOM.
I finally had my answer.
They all, in their own way, had been willing to let go of who they were to make room for who they could become. Each of them had learned the lessons of letting go of the old to make room for the new. They had learned that all they needed was already within them.
They all embraced the reality of the value of risk-taking and experimenting. In 1999, I chose to say it this way;
“Be willing to surrender who you are, to make room for who you can become.”
That discovery was a major “tipping point” for me 26 years ago.
Because it was then that I made a decision to share that message with the planet.
It was a big risk for me. Who was I to be so BOLD to believe I could do that; to be a Professional Speaker, Performer, Author, and Confidence Advocate.
From childhood I was told that I was nobody special, not to make waves and many other self-confidence destroying messages. Maybe you can relate?
But I decided to let go of all that BS (Belief Systems) negative programming and take a risk and experiment, TO GO ALL IN!
And yes, I was scared, nervous and doubtful. I knew I needed a plan. So I created a strategy to build my confidence dailly. I started out building it five minutes a day the first week and ten minutes a day the second.
It wasn’t easy at first, I had lots of stumbles in my confidence, sales and my success in the early years. But I never gave up and my confidence grew.
And after a few years, my business started “clicking.”
I’ve been presenting, performing, writing, advocating and selling ever since. And thankfully, it has paid off very well; emotionally, psychologically and financially.
Now, I have a question for you, “What are you willing to let go of to generate increased revenue and value for others?”
Some of you reading this article are saying to yourself, “I already know this STUFF.”
So if you are helping all the people you want and generating all the revenue you want, this is simply a confirmation of what you already know and take action on daily. That’s great.
But, if you are not getting those kinds of results, maybe it’s time to take a different approach to your business and people process.
Maybe NOW is the time for you to start asking some “what would happen if” questions based on risk-taking and experimenting to generate innovative ideas and increased revenue. Here are five:
What if you let go of your smallest fear, your biggest fear? How would that look?
What if you embrace your failures, knowing each step you are getting closer to success?
What if you adopt the philosophy that all you need to succeed is already in or around you?
What if you decide to hope and believe again that your dreams were reachable?
What if you knew you couldn’t fail? How would your thoughts and actions change?
NOW is the time for you to ask these questions?
OK, the ball’s in your court now. Our career, our business, our life experience and influence is determined by the confidence we develop and the decisions we make TODAY and in our todays to come.
So what are you waiting for?
All You Need Is Within You Now!