Limitations Which Hold Us Back

It's human nature to not think in absolutes, we think in terms of the weight of our gain and/or loss. I.e If you had £1,000,000 and you lost 90% you now have £100,000, you would be devastated. Similarly, if you had £50,000 and you gained 100% you would have £100,000. Option 2 sounds like the more preferred situation out of the two, but in reality, the outcome is the exact same. This principle could apply to our everyday lives, we all tend to allow the weight of the gain or loss to determine our mentality on an issue. Starting to think in terms of absolutes and seeing the bigger picture could really improve your mental health and only ease your path to success.

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"We're wired for generosity but educated for greed" - Jay Shetty

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Do you gain more happiness by giving or receiving a gift? It is proven that a donation to others can grant someone more joy than receiving that of the same value. Acting generously activates the same reward pathway that is activated by sex and food, we are forced to become more generous as apart of evolutionary adaptation and survival.

‍From birth, it is within a child's nature to be magnanimous. However, as we grow older and are exposed to more social norms we find ourselves losing that intrinsic generosity. It's become normal to think there is a limitation on the number of successful people allowed in the world and that if we truly want to succeed we must not share our knowledge and rather work in silence. Whereas, the truth is the exact opposite, why carry knowledge to the grave?

"Share your knowledge, it's the only way to achieve immortality" -Dalai Lama

We have made it normal to think that all the people asking for money on the street suffer from drug abuse and that we should just ignore them. Unfortunately, the drive for self achievement/attainment has over-crowded our generosity and we've become 'educated for greed'. We're allowed to both: reach our goals and be bountiful. No one is born with hatred.

"Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth" - Muhammad Ali

In a recent podcast, Kevin Hart was talking about his first encounter with Jeff Bezos. After seeing him at an event, he was eager to talk and ignite a conversation between them, to pick his brain. However, his friend told him not to go up to him because 'you'll look thirsty'. Despite this, Kevin didn't care and decided to approach him and ended have a great conversation where Jeff was excited to see him and exchanged phone numbers for future business. There is only one Jeff Bezos. He's right there. You'll never see him again, and all you've got to do is show your face and let him acknowledge you. Kevin's friend is a representation of society today, EVERYONE THINKS THEY'RE TOO COOL.

By holding on to toxic pride you're ruining opportunities for yourself. It's hard to look 'thirsty' for knowledge when that person was in your shoes not long ago. Same goes for taking out your phone, and scrolling through your home screen in a quiet room to avoid awkwardness. Smile. Act approachable. Start a conversation. Worst comes to worst, you'll never see them again, but be willing to take the chance of that interaction amounting to something great. I am definitely guilty of this but we move. We can't sit back and expect opportunities to be thrown at us, we have to put ourselves in the cross-hairs.

"Growth is painful. Change is painful. But nothing is more painful as staying stuck somewhere you don't belong" - Mandy Hale