Evolution #5 - Isolation Is Deadly: Keep An Iron Council...

You and I Are the Elephants in the Room...

Friends, foes and family members tiptoeing around the topic of what we do and why we do it. A dripping tap of doom, gloom and doubt. Every single word, sentence and snipe, laced with misplaced opinions and hidden agendas. A sobering, self-imposed state of suffering and silence.

Which begs the question: Why are those who are closest to us the ones to hold us back the most?

Why are those we love the ones who tell us that this game, this business and this life is too much of a risk? That for the sake of the family we should slow down and play it safe?

The funny thing is, if you ask them to their face, most will say that they want us to be our best. But it seems at every turn they try to stop us from taking the steps most needed to keep pushing forward.

Truth is, it’s because...

They Don’t Think Like We Think...

You see, as physiologists tell us, the human brain is hard-wired for survival. In other words, our brain’s number one priority is to keep us safe and away from harm.

Now the important thing about that is that most people don’t think like we think. Which means most people don’t calculate risk like we calculate risk. It’s why the mass mediocre majority see change as something that should be feared and as a vehicle that brings no good.

A state of mind that forces them to believe that in order to stay safe, you must stay the same.

It’s why they want you to keep doing what’s familiar to them. Because to them, that’s what support is, that’s what being there is and that’s what love is.

Case in point: My old man. He worked for the same company, man and boy – from 16 until 60. Now, there’s nothing wrong with a job for life, but when in my late twenties I moved back to the UK to start my own business his words of advice were these:

“You should get a job.”

Here’s the thing, my dad is the most supportive man you can imagine. Without him I would not be where I am today or have had the opportunities to travel the world playing hockey. Yet in that moment his instincts as a parent meant he wanted to keep me SAFE.

Now because a job is familiar to him, in his mind it meant that in order to keep me safe, I should choose employee over entrepreneur. Or in other words, I should choose earning money, not printing it.

Yes, he loves me. Yes, he thinks he’s offering the right advice. BUT yes, he has a built-in, limiting bias.

It’s Why Loved Ones Stop the Movement of Money Dead in Its Tracks...

You see, what most don’t realise is that this kind of counsel forces us all to be shackled by a limited perspective around money – spending 24 hours a day, seven days a week, locked inside of our own bubble.

Sure some come up for air every once in a while, but when push comes to shove, the opinions that we hear the most are limited to those around us who want to keep us safe.

It’s little wonder EVERY successful man that has ever walked this planet, has sought outside counsel from other like-minded men. These men (athletes, CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, presidents and world leaders) already understand that their limited experience is only a small piece of the puzzle, and that they need outside perspective from others outside of their own chambers.

It’s why the Romans invented the Senate and why Napoleon Hill introduced the concept of a mastermind group. To provide an island of sanity and outside perspective to the man who is king of his own kingdom. A carefully assembled council designed to challenge perspective, challenge ideas and challenge long-standing arsehole thinking, no matter how difficult it is to hear.

It’s Time to Choose Outside Counsel and Choose That Counsel Wisely...

Consider that to successfully navigate this journey, the goal must be to assemble a group of other ambitious men around you, that have zero agendas.

• Other self-made men who are committed to doing something specific.

• Other self-made men who have major goals and high standards.

• Other self-made men who know exactly what they want and are determined to get it.

• Other self-made men who if asked direct questions will give you direct answers.

• Other self-made men who will be found at the front of any pack.

• Other self-made men who never offer excuses or blame others for mistakes.

• Other self-made men who if they do not know the answer will say so frankly and honestly.

That is, other like-minded men from other walks of life, that will hold you accountable to a higher standard than you will hold yourself. That will force you to take outside counsel and outside perspective.

You see, ruthlessly pushing forward is impossible without the cooperation and positive input of other smart, ambitious men standing at your side. Men who hold you accountable to every action you promise and every oath that you swear.

Because Money Will Only Freely Flow When Ruthlessly Held to Account...

You see, it’s one thing to say shit’s going to happen. It’s another thing to tell your wife that shit is going to change. BUT it’s quite another to stand up and be counted by a council of other self-made men.

Other smart, ambitious individuals to whom you have sworn an oath. A promise of action that in the cold, hard light of day shit will get done. A promise that shit will get deployed. A promise that from this point forward you will stand and deliver.

This, my friend, is the kind of hard-core accountability that turns excuses into execution and movement into money.

THE REVELATION FROM THE LAW

The smart, ambitious self-made man understands that there is POWER in controlling his council and from whom he takes perspective.

You see this, my friend, is how you gather outside intelligence, outside information and outside ideas to tune and tweak your thoughts, your business and your situation, without any hidden agenda.

This right here is how the most successful men that walk this planet take control of their situation and start making better decisions faster, and start solving complex problems quicker.

Truth is, this is exactly why I always lift weights with a spotter. And not just any old, run-of-the-mill gym rat but a monster of a man that will push me beyond my limits and then keep adding on weight.

Because there’s a funny thing that happens when you load up a bar with six 20s and have someone smouldering, sweating and screaming in your face:

“LIFT, LIFT, LIFT.”

… the fucking bar moves!