New Level, New Devil!
What might be in the way of your next level of growth?
Why are you NOT getting what you WANT?
Whether you're trying to figure out your own life or if you're in a sales situation, after you ask yourself or the prospect, "What do you really want?", the next question is almost always some version of "Why are you not getting what you want?" or "What obstacle do you have to overcome?"
Sometimes the answer is as simple as needing to cross the street or beat the traffic. Other times, the obstacle to what we really want is not so obvious. It might even be something we don't want to think about, especially if we want to reach an even higher level than that of the others we're around.
If getting what we want in life was always going to be clear and easy, everyone would already be doing it—and maybe there would be peace on earth and good will towards everyone! And while the exact obstacles can vary widely from person to person, I'm going to use this opportunity to shed light on a common obstacle everyone encounters, no matter their level.
Could it be???!!!
Like the Church Lady, performed by Dana Carvey on Saturday Night Live many years ago, there are certain challenges many face in life where it can feel easier to just make blaming the devil, or some other cultural or religious equivalence, the "right" answer all the while they continue to stay where they are the rest of their lives. It might even be kind of like sticking with "the devil you know," as the saying goes. Sometimes this manifests itself in staying in bad, but familiar relationships, other times we might opt to not move to the new place we want to go to or not apply to the job we really want because we're too comfortable where we are or we worry about what others might think.
During my entrepreneurial journey, I've learned from the late Bob Proctor and other mentors and coaches that unless we're literally under someone else's control, the only "devil" that really gets in the way of our authentic growth comes from the paradigm or the habitual thinking patterns programmed into our subconscious minds. Hence my post years ago about being in a prison of our own minds. The real "prison" we all can fall into is a system of false or limiting beliefs we've been raised or educated with that often can date back multiple generations. The paradigm can keep us doubting, fearing, worrying, and/or disbelieving in many of the amazing possibilities the universe has readily available for us if we're just willing to claim it or ask for it.
After reading Robert A. Russell's 1975 book You Too Can Be Prosperous, a great short text I use when helping clients confidently develop their prosperity mindset, I was inclined to check out the author's earlier book entitled God Works Through Faith. It's a heavier theological read, to say the least, and I’m anything but an expert in theology. But some of what I was able to garner from the book offers much to think about when it comes to developing the kind of unshakeable faith it takes to manifest anything we truly desire.
In the chapter titled, "How Faith Works," Russell wrote, "Man made the devil to oppose God, sickness to oppose health, poverty to oppose prosperity, hell to oppose Heaven, by his ignorance or his refusal to recognize and realize his oneness with God." Many sermons could be derived from just this sentence. The "oneness with God" part of the quote is a bit beyond my domain. But when it comes to the rest of the line, no matter one's religion, or lack thereof, it's quite profound to contemplate where in our own lives it could be referencing.
Where might you be clinging to old or comfortable, yet limiting beliefs?
Where are you maybe allowing unnecessary negative or opposite thoughts to get in the way of what you truly desire?
When was the last time you had a new idea or an opportunity showed up, but a question like "What if it doesn't work?" or some other kind of doubt, fear, or worry caused you to dismiss the idea and you stayed stuck where you were?
What if the real "devil" you need to defeat could be as simple as stopping yourself from asking "What if?" to what you really want or to an opportunity that could get you to what you really want?
Do you have unshakable faith?
In Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill described the main evil of the "devil" as the "susceptibility to negative influences," which everyone encounters in some way or another. Part of overcoming this susceptibility to the negative thinking that can stagnate our personal or professional growth involves developing an unshakeable faith in our ability to succeed. It might feel like a psychological version of bungee jumping, so we have to develop trust or faith that whatever in our life is the equivalence of the bungee cord will work as intended—while also not overdoing any efforts to make everything too failure-proof!
One does not have to be religious to have faith in their ability to achieve or attain what they desire, but someone who is a person of faith might have an easier time believing in more of the unseen possibilities to get there—or maybe not, depending on their beliefs! One thing I've had to really understand in this entrepreneurial journey is that the greater the state of expectancy in one's mind for what's desired, the greater the odds of finding success in manifesting that desire. This is all the more reason to put our gratitude to work and already be grateful for what we want.
Perhaps this is why I actually did happen to find my way to finishing three degrees in vocal performance and performed around the world despite so many teachers, directors, fellow singers, and others in my personal and professional life saying or implying I could not or I would never be good enough. I forged a pathway to the goal I set out to achieve. I'm forever blessed that the unconditional support and encouragement of my father throughout my youth would become kryptonite for the many forms of negative influence along the way.
If you are doubting your ability to put faith to use toward getting what you desire in your life or career, consider well this statement written by Russell: “Even while you are afraid that your faith won’t work, it is working. It takes just as much faith to believe that faith doesn’t work as to know that it does.” This is like when I once heard a teacher say there is no such thing as a lack of confidence; you can either be confident you can't or you can be confident you can; so you may as well be confident you can. Whether it's faith or confidence, there is no lack with either, it's just a question of the direction in which you want to choose to abundantly focus.
If reaching the next level was easy, everyone would already be there. This why there’s such an astronomical advantage to getting guidance from a coach, mentor or someone who has been there, or at least can see what you can’t see. Deciding to go in the direction you desire will cause you to be constantly challenged with questions, doubts, fears and worries, sometimes by others, many times from within due to your subconscious programming. But as Henry James Thoreau once said, "If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours."
Dare to keep following those dreams. Thanks for reading!
