Where Is Your Internal Bar Set?
“The greater danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it but that it is too low and we hit it.”
— Michelangelo
“Nurture your mind with great thoughts, for you will never go higher than you think.”
— Benjamin Disraeli
Regardless of your job or your income possibilities at that job, those are all external constraints. The real reason you will not achieve your goals or a higher level of financial freedom is the internal constraints you create in your mind. Where is your internal bar set at? How you see yourself has more impact on your success than any other factor. If you would like to make more than $50,000 a year, or even $250,000 a year, but you don’t think you will be able to do it, then the odds of ever making more money are very slim. You must first change your current beliefs about what you think you’re capable of. Your internal bar is where you set your own image of yourself and what you think you’re capable of. When you go below your bar, perhaps you start gaining weight, getting bad grades, or start making less money, and start losing clients. Your brain signals you and lets you know you’ve gone below your bar. “This isn’t who you are!” So you start up your internal engine and get yourself right back to where your bar is set. Now you’re comfortable again and go right back to your old ways, maintaining the level at which your bar is set. Perhaps you may experience going above your bar and have a little extra money than you’re used to or a really nice car you’ve always wanted. If you always spend extra money once you have it, and you tell yourself, “I’m horrible at saving money,” then that is exactly what you are — a person who’s horrible at saving money — simply because you’ve convinced yourself you are. You need to set your bar to a higher level that you strive to achieve. You need to get to a place where you’re great at saving money, and then that is who you will become. But if you allow yourself to be a person who’s horrible at saving money, than you will always be that. You can replace being a person who’s bad at saving money with any example you like that you can better relate to. The message from the example is all that matters. Let’s say you’ve seen a really nice car, maybe a Bentley or Ferrari. You imagine how cool it would be to have one and drive it around town. But you know you could never afford one. Is it really true that you could never afford one, or have you simply told yourself that you could never afford one? What you tell yourself and who you see yourself as is one of the most powerful determining factors in how your life works out. Once you raise your internal bar to a higher level, you raise all your standards with it. You must strive to want to be better. Your desire for success and happiness has to become a part of your everyday life.
“Until the pain of remaining the same is greater than the pain of change, we stay the same.” People tell themselves, “I don’t need to change; I’m comfortable where I am. I don’t need more money or more financial freedom.” This lack of willingness to be better is most likely due to just a few reasons. First, you simply don’t believe you are capable or worthy of becoming any better. You’ve been verbally beaten down so many times by being told you can’t do anything good that you finally start believing it yourself. Or you just can’t see yourself actually living out your dream life. “It’s nice to dream, but I couldn’t ever really have that.” You truly don’t think you’re worthy of living the life you really want. Second, you may have become comfortable with your current, plateaued state. Like a circus boy who picks up poop and is no longer bothered by the smell, it’s not until you get some fresh air that you realize how bad your current state is. So don’t allow yourself to become a circus boy and just get used to where you are. Third, you are so afraid of failure that you literally convince yourself that you would rather not go after your dreams and goals because you’re more comfortable where you’re at now. Some people are more comfortable being mediocre, and that’s fine.
“If we did all the things we are capable of, we would literally astonish ourselves.”
— Thomas Edison, Inventor
For thousands of years, people believed that no human could ever break the four-minute mile. In 1954, Roger Bannister broke the four-minute mile. His time was 3:59.4. The year after Roger broke the record, 37 other runners broke the four-minute mile. The year after that, 300 other runners broke the four-minute mile. Now, kids in high school are breaking the four-minute mile. The only thing holding everyone back was that so many people said it could not be done. All that was holding everyone back was his or her belief. Once everyone realized it could be done, everyone’s brain was rewired to believe that it was possible. Therefore, they could now achieve it. Even though it was possible all along, they just needed to believe it. This rewiring of your beliefs and perceptions is controllable by you and can happen in an instant. Do not think that, because a canvas has been painted on, it cannot ever be painted over. The Mona Lisa has multiple different versions painted underneath it. X-raying the canvas discovered this. We must begin to look at things in a deeper sense — beyond what is visible at the surface. It doesn’t matter who says you can’t do it. It only matters if YOU say you can’t do it. Start believing in yourself more, and raise your internal bar. You’re capable of amazing things, but you must believe it, too.
“It is the nature of man to rise to greatness if greatness is expected of him.”
— John Steinbeck, author
When your bar stops rising and becomes idle, like a pond, it becomes a breeding ground for many types of bacteria and scum. One of the primary human needs of all people is the feeling of growth. Make sure you are continually upgrading yourself and growing, so that your internal bar and your income continue to rise each year.
Random Fact
Pearls can melt when placed in vinegar.
