There is Another Way

Disclaimer: This post is only available for you on my email right now. You won’t find it anywhere else because it’s only for the people who are with me. On the iAlign team. The team that believes that acting in alignment with your core values like Integrity and Responsibility regardless of the discomfort will make our world a better one. If you’re not, unsubscribe. Couldn’t care less.

Don’t judge me – when I was growing up I listened to Simple Plan *

Shit… I listened to quite a bit of grungy emo music.

Blink-182, Fall Out Boy, Green Day, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, 3 Doors Down, Lifehouse, The Ataris, Yellowcard, The All-American Rejects, Matchbox Twenty,…

And I know that comprised quite a few different genres, but I could go on.

To be honest, I still feel a tinge of embarrassment thinking about the teenage angst that warranted listening to Simple Plan…

You know what feels a bit more embarrassing though?

I still resonate with the emotional themes of all this music.

Because I was there for a long time.

I just never thought that I was good enough to succeed.

That I could do things well enough to deserve the life I wanted.

Shit, I could do things better than a lot of people off the bat…

But seemingly still not well enough.

And as a result:

I felt like I wasn’t good enough.

“But I didn’t even know what it meant to succeed when I was a kid, it’s different now”

Is it?

Or.. and hear me out… is it literally the exactly the same when you got older except for now you actually have the capacity to do something about it?

Wait, let’s go a bit further.

This was just when I was a kid?

You’re telling me I didn’t have exactly that same thought, that I wasn’t good enough, at 25 fucking years old?

I’ve eliminated basically every vice I can think of from my life at this point.

I don’t watch porn, I barely use social media, my alcohol consumption is dialed down to very intentional use,

I work my fucking ass off for the greater good not only of myself and my company, but honestly for that of the world.

When I feel intense anxiety or sadness, my subconscious won’t even let me pity myself.

(TBH it’s kinda messed up, I literally can’t think “Man I’m not good enough to succeed at this” without my mind ripping back “Of course you are. You just need more reps.” I don’t allow myself the comfort of self-pity anymore.)

What I’m building right now is going to change the world over the coming decades.

Check me on that.

But you want to know a secret?

As you level up, the same thoughts pop up.

You’re going to work with me and you have more love in your life, you might make more money, you might spend your time better, you might get more respect from the people you admire… and sometimes you’ll still think:

“Can I really do this?”

“He can do it… and he’s dumber than me… so why can’t I?”

“But he did it… so what does that say about me…”

“Maybe… maybe I’m not good enough.”

But you know what will happen?

These thoughts won’t affect you.

You’ll just think, “Hmm, interesting thought Mind, would you mind providing me with something else?”

Or you’ll think “Ah, my friend Self-Doubt, thanks for showing up. You are a grounding voice in my life. Honestly, I’m grateful for you. Thank you for being a part of my life. I know you mean the best for me and that all you really need is for me to go back to my routines again. I’ll make sure to hit my meditation tonight and tomorrow morning. I love this part of me.”

For those that are stuck in loops of self-doubt, overthinking, perfectionism, fear, and procrastination, these loops take up your days.

Hell, they may even take up your weeks.

Months.

You may not know a life without these thoughts constantly showing up.

And I want you to know this…

Genuinely, from the bottom of my heart:

You can change your connection to them.

It takes effort and a commitment to prioritize yourself, which can feel selfish and uncomfortable and wrong.

But in doing so, you can change the dynamics of your mind, your motivation, and the way you interact with the world.

Instead of your work and your relationships getting just a beat-up, tired version of you all the time, they get slightly less of you, because you commit part of each day to you, but what they do get of you is more present, more selfless, more driven, and more joyful.

And look, there’s no call to action in this email.

I just want you to know that if you made it this far on the journey with me, I’m grateful for you.

I’m grateful that you have taken this time to challenge the perspective you’ve viewed life with so far.

I’m grateful that you have expended the energy of even just reading this email to think,

“Is the way I have gone about things the way I have to go about things? Is there another way?”

Because the answer is yes.

Yes there is.

You can live a life where your own voice supports and loves and prioritizes and stands up for you.

Where when you accidentally scroll your phone too much or don’t get your work done, it provides you with support and a method to get back on track and doesn’t even try to beat you up for it.