Excerpts from Dan Lok TEDx speech
Thermostat = A thermostat exerts control by switching heating or cooling devices on or off, or by regulating the flow of a heat transfer fluid as needed, to maintain the correct temperature.
We ALL have an IDENTITY — a set of BELIEFS that DEFINE who we are, what we can and cannot or WILL not do. And it’s based mostly on our past — some of which is painful, and some pleasurable.
Why is IDENTITY so important to dig under? Because BELIEFS about ourselves are among the strongest forces shaping our lives. BELIEFS control BEHAVIOR.
Here’s a metaphor: You’ve set your life’s thermostat at 24 degrees. That’s representative of your personal comfort zone. Note: it’s where you’re COMFORTABLE, but NOT your ultimate best self. That 24 degrees is where you are content physically, financially, how much intimacy you’re comfortable with, how connected you feel to your creator, your partner, your friends, your children. If things begin to drop ? If you go from a 24 down to a 21, 20, 19… well, something’s going to kick in! ?Your brain is going to say, “Hey! What am I doing down here at a 19?! I’m more than this!” That’s when your engine kicks on and you begin to get going. ??♀️??
Have you ever experienced this? Things got so bad with your health, your body, your relationship, your career, or finances that you hit a threshold and began to do everything you possibly could to make a change?
Unfortunately, the same thing happens on the OTHER side… If you’re a 24 degree guy and you start doing BETTER than you believe you should — stronger financially, you get in the best shape of your life, deeper relationships, more joy, etc.… for most people going from 24 to 26 to 28 degrees, their brain says, “Hey! What are you doing up here?! You’re a 24!” ⁉️ When you’ve achieved BEYOND what you’ve ever dreamed of you’ll feel the engine trip and bring you right back down to where you used to be. A.K.A. self-sabotage. Of course you would dismantle all that you have achieved gradually and you would not realize it because you do this sub-consciously.
That’s why you don’t need to CHANGE your identity… you need to EXPAND it.? In times of growth, our brain MUST be able say, “I AM capable of this!”
It’s why we need to do difficult and hard things that challenge us yet doable — it’s all just metaphors designed to get you to DO something your brain never believed was possible.
Could you do something today to redefine yourself? Something MORE encompassing of all of you today? Forget your past, who are you NOW? What have you decided to become?
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