What’s the Holy Grail between someone taking action or not?
It’s one word.
Certainty.
When you are absolutely certain if the action you’re thinking about taking will get you the result you want, you’ll take action every single time.
When you think the action you’re contemplating absolutely is not going to work, you’ll never do it. Why would you?
The middle ‘no man’s land’ of maybe it will work, maybe it won’t is the area that kills people and keeps them stagnant.
That leads to the question “What would you do if you were absolutely certain you would not fail?”
The quick answer, without even knowing you is, whatever bold actions you’re scared to take right now.
To make whatever change you want to make, you must find a way to become absolutely certain because when you do, your life inevitably changes for the better.
Good thing you’re reading this because I’m about to share the exact method I’ve used to take risks that I’m sure seemed crazy to people around me.
For example, I left a $200,000 a year security blanket of a job to dive head first into my own businesses. I traded safety and security for potential. I understand how some people in my circles thought I was crazy …
But I did it because I was absolutely certain my entire life would level up as a result of taking that risk.
I saw the potential on the other side of the risk … which is exactly where this framework starts.
You have to see the potential in whatever action you’re thinking about taking. There must be some upside for you. The bigger the upside, the better.
If you can see the potential in what you’re about to do, it will often be enough to compel you to take action,
And if you take action, guess what you’re going to get? Results.
Here’s the beauty of results … when they are evident in your life it drives your certainty (aka “belief”) and when your certainty is sky high you see even bigger potential for yourself which drives you to more actions and bigger results and even more certainty.
When you’re certain of your potential, you will take massive action and that action will yield the amazing results you actually want. When you get great results, your brain goes “See, I told you I was a stud!”
That’s if you get the results. It’s the validation of your belief that turns into certainty.
The whole cycle feeds on itself. It’s why the rich get richer.
But it’s also why the poor get poorer.
To figure that part out, we have to look at the opposite of certainty …
Doubt.
I have yet to meet someone who genuinely doubts their potential. Everyone seems to be convinced that they can be more than they are now.
The doubt creeps up in their actions. They constantly wonder if the specific action they are thinking about taking is the one that will lead them to achieving their potential.
Because they are in the ‘no man’s land’ of thinking that maybe it will work, maybe it won’t … they don’t take any action … which leads to stagnation and feeling overwhelming frustration at the fact they cannot achieve their potential.
Of course no action leads to no results which creates a whole different belief and it’s the kind you don’t want.
You start to become certain that you’re not the kind of person capable of taking the actions you need to take to achieve your potential or even worse, you become certain that it doesn’t matter what action you take, you’re destined for failure.
When you’re convinced failure is the end result of whatever you do, you will doubt the potential of any action you’re considering, which will prevent you from taking that action, which means you get no results and have no chance at becoming certain you will ever achieve your potential.
See what I mean about this being the reason the poor get poorer? It’s a downward spiral.
If you feel like you may be in a downward spiral, let’s talk about how to get out of it.
How do you gain certainty when the world isn’t giving it to you?
The good news is that you don’t have to change what you believe about your potential as a human. That will always be there and it will always be sky high.
It’s not even about taking more action. Taking more action without belief isn’t going to work, which means it’s not going to change anything.
What does need to change is getting results in your head that feel real enough to drive your certainty.
You have to become obsessed with the results you want. When I say obsessed, I don’t mean that you need to think about it once or twice. I mean you need to think about it every day and feel like getting what you want is inevitable.
Here’s an example from my own life. Right now, I am OBSESSED with owning a Ferrari 488 Pista. I look at the ones that are currently for sale in the color scheme I want and I view it as inevitable that I will have one.
It’s to the point where I even cleared out space in my garage for it and walk around where it will be parked because I imagine it as real as if it were sitting in my garage.
You can’t walk through imaginary Ferrari’s just like you can’t walk through real ones.
At this point, I might sound crazy to you. I get it, but there are studies to prove I’m not.
About a decade ago, researchers wanted to know how mental certainty affected basketball players on the freethrow line.
The study gathered a group of about 60 high school players who were all in a slump shooting free throws during their games. This group didn’t suck at shooting in general. On average, they shot 54% from the field during live action.
It was the free throw line where the wheels fell off and they started to shoot less than 60% … pretty shitty by free throw standards.
The researchers divided the 60 kids into three groups.
The first group was instructed to shoot 250 free throws per day. It didn’t matter how many they made. It only mattered that they shot from the stripe 250 times.
The second group practiced shots from all over the place except the free throw line.
The third group wasn’t even allowed to touch a basketball. Instead, they were guided to visualize themselves in the first person making free throws in a live game. They were instructed to visualize the ball in their hands and go through their pre-shot routine in front of a crowded gym. They were told to feel the ball roll off their fingertips as they shot it, watch it travel through the air on its way to the bottom of the net.
The crazy part is that the group who shot 250 free throws per day got worse … dropping by another 8%.
The group who practiced everything but free throws stayed the same … still a little under 60%.
What about the group who visualized making free throws without ever physically shooting the ball? They started making 84% of their free throws on average.
Makes me feel pretty good about visualizing my 488 Pista.
So what are you supposed to do with all of this?
A plan of action would be good.
The first step is to think of something you want that you’re unwilling to give up on. Something you are certain you want.
The second step is to visualize yourself having that thing or that feeling as if it were here in real life. When you do that consistently, I am certain it will drive your belief.
The third step is the most critical step and often the hardest for people to get through, which is to believe that all of your actions will get you closer to the result you want … even when the specific action didn’t work out how you hoped it would.
It’s all a big game to figure out what works and what doesn’t work.
The trick to winning is not letting what doesn’t work affect your certainty that you will get what you want.
After all, an action that doesn’t pan out shows you what didn’t work. If you keep trying, you’ll eventually have eliminated everything that doesn’t work to find the one thing that does.
Be certain of that.
