Who are you scared to fail in front of?
The reason so many of you are not doing what you wanna do is you’re scared to fail in something.
You’re scared that your brother will judge you, your wife, your girlfriend, your husband, and most scary, your mom or your dad.
You need to eliminate that and/or own that fear, and put yourself in a position to succeed.
Because with all of this, we are now in the greatest era. For the first time ever, with no fucking money, with no goddamn connections, this – referring to his smartphone – can put you on the map.
If you’re good enough, if you are good enough to be up here, to make bling-bling, if you are good enough nobody is stopping you.
Not fucking Donald Trump, not the fucking Russians, nobody!
If you are a minority, if you are a female, if you are a transgender, if you are a fucking alien!
The market doesn’t give a fuck!
If you make the best shit, you will win
Do you know how sucky it was to be a nerd 20 years ago?
Now the market is rewarding fucking nerds, and now they’re Rockstars.
― Gary Vaynerchuk
They say that devils come from the ground below, or they’ve fallen from the sky above. If you ask me, I’d say they come from the inside.
It's that inner resistance that comes up anytime you try to turn your life around, or move towards a huge goal or aspiration that you have.
It’s that fucking ghost that keeps screwing around with the machine.
After all, you are both the hero and the villain of your journey. You cannot win if you don’t beat your inner resistance.
The Game
When you come into the world you are introduced to a new game, a game that with almost all certainty would last your entire lifetime, a game that more often than not would end up with you passing it on to your children.
And more importantly, it’s only a decoy game that distracts you from the real game is always, always played on another table.
If you take a deep look at any society across any period of time, you’ll soon realize that the game they played was mainly designed to serve the ruling class who devised that fucking game in the first place.
Whether it’s people who are supposed to drop on their knees five fucking times a day and mumble ancient incantations, while spending their lives serving an invisible friend who is with all probability is fictional.
Whether it’s medieval serfs that believed that the game was to spend their time on earth suffering to make the ruling class’s life as comfortable as possible at everyone’s expanse.
Just because they wear some metal on their heads. Are you fucking kidding me?
As heart-breaking as it sounds, it kind of seems like everyone was wasting their fucking time.
The only constant is, whatever game the bulk of society were instructed to play, the real game was always played on another table.
In our times, the current game is play it safe, get a degree, get a stable job, wait for the government to screw the economy up, lose the job, get a new job at Starbucks, get bored out of your mind, and then finally have the fucking courage to go after what you wanted in the first place.
That’s the common presumption anyways.
There are however other people who wanted to fulfill their aspirations and take a shot at another game on another board, and so every night after work they start working on their dreams and passion, while everyone else is watching TV.
And slowly but surely with a map in hand, they start walking towards their goals.
They figured that if they drowned their aspirations and stuck with the crowd, and if that fails.. They’ll have nothing to show off for except the combined stress-factor of twenty fucking years working a job that they couldn’t even stand in the first place.
Whereas if they went what they really want and things don’t work out, at least they would have enjoyed the process and would've learned some important lessons along the way.
And these are our protagonists today, those who played with their own rules, those who diversified outside of the game they were born into, those who wanted something else, something different.
The Warrior Class
When reading biographies of famous and successful people, one of the most common themes is that of the constant warnings of people around them who are constantly reminding them to just give up and kiss their dreams goodbye.
The fascinating aspect is that those warnings never seem to come from a rational and far-sighted standpoint, but rather an automatic reaction serving as a shield to protect people from certain painful thoughts.
Thoughts like: “What if I could've gone after my aspirations as well?”
Imagine how painful it would be to realize that you’ve spent all those years suffering through some God-awful job that you violently hated but you still stayed there anyways.
And you did that to yourself thinking because someone told you that it was the only way of life.
As in painful realizations go, nothing beats realizing that you’ve been wasting your time on a lie, that’s why the not chasing your dreams regret is the single most constant presence on people’s deathbeds everywhere.
To shield your emotions, you sell yourself on a new narrative, you develop this almost gene-deep certainty that you had no choice in the matter, that you actually played it smart – and by smart I mean copied the masses – You tell yourself that you didn’t give up on your dreams because you were afraid, but rather there was no other way.
And then this asshole comes around with a genuine smile in his face and passion in his eyes telling you that he’s gonna go after his dream…
Who the fuck does he think he is?
Why him and not me?
Before you know it, your reptilian brain has knocked your mammalian brain six ways to Sunday. All that comes from your mouth from that moment on are mainly pre-programmed reactions whose only purpose serves to feed the urge to stay comfortable.
“You can’t do it!”, “Play it safe!”. “The world doesn’t work that way” or this bizarre yet strangely common programmed reaction:
“I used to think like you, but then I grew up”.
They say that devils come from the ground below, or they’ve fallen from the sky above. If you’d ask me, I’d say they come from the inside.
And they whisper.
It’s that voice inside you that is totally run by fear, a voice more dangerous than a wizard’s spell. A voice that dulls your critical thinking and put you under duress.
And more importantly, a voice that summons your reptilian brain to the control room and hands it the joystick.
And from that point forward, all your actions become mainly primitive reactions influenced by fear.
The hero’s journey they say, it’s a journey alright.
The minute you start chasing your goals, you immediately get surrounded by people warning you to do otherwise. Instead of hating them or letting them bring you down, you have to realize that they didn’t beat the devil inside them, and that fear has successfully sealed their destiny.
The problem however is that they want everyone else to be subjected to the same.
But it’s not only the outside voices, in fact that’s the easy part.
A simple analysis would tell you that their concerns have nothing to do with you at all, so you sympathize with them and move on.
After all, everyone is fighting a battle you know nothing about.
The problem is that you too, have one of them ghosts inside you, a ghost that is trying to sabotage your plans, a ghost that cockblocks you every time you see pretty girl, even before you take the first step.
It is at that moment that you draw the sword, time to slay some inner dragons.
And at that moment you realize that the battle has just began.
Great post, and a topic that I'm very passionate about as well.
99% of the population live inside a system where you go to school, work, pay your bills, and die - and they don't even see this as a bad thing. It's simply normal. That's just how the system works: everybody plays along, people are happy if they have a roof over their heads and can take a few days off from their crappy job that they hate.
They are basically miserable Monday - Friday, and only live for the weekends.
But they just stick with it because ... we'll, they see no other option.
Going out and pursuing their dreams ?! That would be way too risky!
I have never been employed a day in my life, I always knew that I wanted something different. I am my own boss. I don't have weekends, when the weather is sunny I don't go out, And my work doesn't end at 6 pm.
But instead, I can travel whenever I want and work from anywhere in the world.
"Create a life you don't need a vacation from" is a very relevant quote In this context.
Why would you suffer 5 days a week and then do nothing productive the other 2 days, when instead you could be working towards your OWN dreams 7 days a week, and then later when you have achieved your goal you can enjoy 7 full days each week!
I agree a 100%!
I wouldn't have it any other way either. Work on my own dream each day, instead of suffering to escape from a job in the weekend.
It's that search for safety man, it terrifies a lot of people.
I'm glad you're on control of your own life and enjoying it!
Wow! Both of you comment are very inspiring. I enjoy that article. It's fun to see those "out of the norm" articles being respected. On reddit they're might be a plethora of troll commenting semi mindlessly. Steem is very different.
@sirwinchester I particularly enjoy that part of your comment and how its irony make the truth stands out.
Both of your comments are truly inspiring.
As a little kid, at the latest grade 4, I had realized that fear was a monumental illusion that controlled too many of our decisions and love became the ultimate ruler once and for all. Glad to see this article gaining recognition. All for one and one for all!!! Namaste :)
Wow at age 4! I'm impressed!
It is an illusion :)
Love this post. Fear is our biggest road block, the only people that go into the stratosphere of success are those that don't give a damn what anyone thinks and fear nothing. If you look at major successes they either did not go to college or dropped out. I have been self employed for 15 years and it is damned scary at times but at least I am free and play my own game.
Freedom is really underrated and Im happy for you!
Totally agree, not giving a damn what anyone things is important.
Glad you liked it btw!
Fear is an illusion. With knowledge and understanding we can dilute fear. Practice and life experiences can also dilute fear. Taking a leap of faith is sometimes the best option. If someone offers you a great opportunity you should take it however be aware that more opportunities will show up when you are least expecting it.
Sometimes you are offered a few great opportunities and you don't know which one to take :P
Yes that happens. Go with your instincts and go for it. :)
So true!
Fear is definatley an illusion....but that doesn't make it not real.
It is real in our experience.
And I agree :)
Fear is in fact a real response however maybe it should be called "uncertainty of the unknown". The brain demanding more information. It is a safety mechanism. A natural survival instinct. The key is to learn more about what is in front of you. All we can do is experience life for what it is and learn to cope with our own doubt. Mindset.
At its core it is illusion. But that doesn't mean it isn't real in a variety of ways.
Yes.
Fear is an emotion and there is more than one type of fear. Without ever putting it into words the above article is about one specific kind: ''fear of success''. Taken into a Steem context, declaring that a class of successful people is a warrior class, means that the Whales class fought for its success. Like in Brave New World, I believe there are classes that were engineered from the network's genesis or in the very first months of the actual beta phase of Steemit. That doesn't mean some people can't, with more efforts than their predecessors, eventually make it into superior classes. The veracity of this ''warriors don't fear success'' generalization I wouldn't be able to judge for this platform, since except for Dan & Ned, to me (I haven't really check into this) all Whales are mere usernames with Steem Power. I don't doubt that the two founders are fighters, the others I don't know. If it happens to be the case, only being in the knight guard in a system similar to serfdom isn't enough in itself to be considered a warrior, in my small Minnow opinion.
*Edited many times for cause of being at work and being interrupted many times during my lunch hour. Time is also a very important element in the formula for success.
(Final)
I appreciate your perspective. We are all warriors in the end as everyone has their own battles. All we can control are our own reactions. That is where battles are won and lost.
Thanks for the reply. I didn't once read the serfdom comparison in an excellent post when I first joined in and at the time most of all I saw in my feed were anarchists topics. The idea is not from me and I seem to have lose track of all that good stuff. My intent was also not to imply bad intentions, but I feel power should (and will probably) be more spread in a future ''out of Beta phase''. A lot of people talk about users retention: this is where one of the solutions lies in my opinion. It is not normal that I would work three days straight researching and putting exclusive analysis on a hot topic and get 0,03$ and one week later use 95% of the info from a video I have not made myself and get 20,00$ for it. The 0,03$ is kind of insulting, since maybe someday in the future somebody will find it and value it as precious but it'll be too late. Steem trails, curies, Robin Hood Whales have all failed big time in my opinion. It took me one month and more of posts before I started having gratifications and I did accumulate frustration at the end, at the time, but now I realized I then lacked the editing skills and practice.
You have a very good point about reactions but I feel sometimes when holding too long a thought you just need to let it out in order to get rid of it. No need to wait for the boiler's whistle for expressing it, but sometimes when you thought you could keep it to yourself, you realize you just couldn't. I don't practice yoga or relaxation, and I'm sure it has its benefits, but I think the repetitive urge to say something when you've witnessed something you're feeling is not quite right (whether your correct in judgment or not), must most of the times be adressed at one time or the other by spelling it out so that you can finally cleanse your thoughts out of it.
Deep analysis.well said.maybe you have seen alot or experienced alot to write such a thing.....approved it @the-alien
Thank you! Glad you liked it!
I think not caring what others think is possibly the most important thing. Gary himself has often remarked about how incredibly thick skinned he is, he really does not care even one tiny bit if others think he is crazy or wrong or whatever. I know for myself just giving up that fear of failure, or loss, or whatever and just going for it + not caring what others thought was what led to me working full time in my own personal dream job (photography) and making a success of it for the past 5 years. I can't count the number of people who told us it was a bad idea, and it wouldn't work, and "your such a dreamer" (with a smug, degrading, "Oh you're so cute" tone). Most of them are working boring office jobs to pay the rent, and my wife and I get paid to travel the world and photograph beautiful people. The funny thing is, it wasn't even that hard, it was just giving up the fear and deciding I didn't care that was the difficult part. Anyhow, great post, and great advice!
Exactly, plus it was never about you in the first place. I'm so glad you didn't listen and that you guys get to travel the world!
Wishing you all the best!
Thank you!
LOL
The Fear of Getting Flagged on the Steemit
lol
Have a good week man! Sounds like you will!
Haha! Have a good week too!
I think most people have a warrior inside. They just don't recognize it. If one looks at his life and sees good things in it, odds are that at some point, he took a risk. Because no one in this world just has truly good things handed to them. They may have money or power handed to them... but I mean truly good things. Like love and friendship. Those things are earned by people brave enough to seek them out. Now learning to release that warrior more often (or constantly) that is the real trick. Great post man! Thank for making me think.
Thank you for the great comment!
Many people including me will agree with your story. Nice @the-alien :)
Thank you! :)
I love the passion and the message. Great post!
Thanks man!
@the-alien they do come from the inside ;)
I love this post! I resonate on the points and maybe since you wrote about the warrior class I can only say - Ahooo~~ wink wink
Haha!
Thank you, I'm glad you liked it :)
Absolutely Fucking Brilliant!
Thank you!! I'm glad you liked it!
Theory only & overgeneralization : that is what is getting most of the rewards (trending) on Steemit these days. Most of it is overcooked, boring and almost patronizing. And it seems like everybody agrees in fear of losing sympathy or votes. You writing is top notch but it lacks novelty... and yet you keep hitting the jackpot. You make more or the $ame than on a Steemsports post, which is the result of joint efforts and planning, but nobody dares to argue with you in fear of bursting the bubble of ''new agey happy thoughts is the remedy for everybody''.
You'll probably ignore me and my critic. Make an abstract and separated post about the idea that it generated in your mind like a lot of Steemians do, then I'll go on my own page to make a post about my own thread of thoughts. And the network ends up like Facebook, where most of the communication is done through shared, liked & added (resteemed, upvoted & followed) from each individual safe space where nobody will go to disagree.
Never heard about this Gary Vaynerchuk before. He sounds like a modern tech preacher with his phone chalice in his hand. Guns will save the world! Blockchain will save the world! Or any other object will save the world! I'm in love with Bitcoin! What?!
Seeing the crowd's reactions it reminds me of Primerica or Amway style conferences where people mindset are probably like that of inside a sect. I only went in one of each of these, but I'll always remember the girl in the nice couple who recruited me who barfed her lunch out of stress and probably out of unconcious (unavowed) discomfort at the ambiance of collective hypnosis in the theater.
If you are talented and skilled you shouldn't have to fight for position or role...that is the problem...competition instead of cooperation and respect for talent, vision and creative ideas. Nobody should have to be a warring person in order to prove themselves to others who are probably not as skilled. That is the problem that Americans believe anything can be gotten through force.
Love it. Resteeming
Thank you!