As I was sitting in one of the dozen Tony Robbin’s seminars I attended this year, he described something that really spoke to me. So much of Tony’s wisdom is boiled down to the simplest facts – many of them being one-liners and often they hit me like a tonne of bricks.
Maybe it is because of how he presents the information, maybe it is because it is exactly what I needed to hear at the time, or both.
He mentioned to the crowd not to become Terminally Intermediate. Let me explain.
His initial comparison was about learning to ski or snow board. You go from the bunny hills to the beginner hills and eventually get to the Intermediate Level hills and this is where most people stop. Challenging enough to make you think about what you are doing when you go down, probably not enough to have you fall down and fail too often while skiing on it. However, not really the hill that you want to be on long term if you are truly wanting to grow your skill set and ultimately become the best skier that you can be.
How does this relate to everyday life? I think this shows up in many places for many people every day. Let me prove it to you. If you were to look at the major rocks in a person’s life – friends, family, relationships, physical body, spiritual, financial, time management, career, charity projects, etc. most of us progress and stretch a bit to reach levels of success and then we stop progressing and stay there for way too long.
Usually there is an obstacle in the way that is preventing us from growing and getting to that “Black Diamond Level”. And even when we get to be able to ski Black Diamond mountains successfully, there will always be another level we can stretch to get to. In order to break through that obstacle and reach higher levels of achievement, we must find a way to break through – a strategy.
I can give you two of those strategies right now:
The First strategy is to become crystal clear on the part of your life that you want to see improvement in and then scheduling / devoting uninterrupted time towards progressing in that area. Being general about your desires will get you nowhere fast. It will actually hurt you in the long run if you are just throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping something sticks. It’s this specific weekly deep work towards a desired outcome that matters is what will really move you forward.
The Second strategy would be to expand your current network of people that you are associating yourself with because you can only get so far with that focused / uninterrupted time by yourself. Our networth is linked to our network, so work diligently to get the right people on your team. The people who usually make the biggest difference are Experts. Someone who is highly skilled and seasoned with experience. A-Players as discussed in a previous blog post. Everyone from developers, accountants, assistants, coaches, mentors. Expanding your network could be as easy as going to high level meet up groups and associating with the quality of person that you aspire to be more like.
Is this easy to do? Not always because there are many more steps or obstacles that may still be in the way towards making your ideal progress. Will it be worth it once you break through to the other side? Absolutely YES! What used to take all your effort, you will now be able to lift with just a few fingers. It’s just a skill that is missing at the moment that needs to be practiced and improved as quickly as possible.
So, don’t be stuck on the Intermediate hills just because you aren’t putting in the time, don’t have the right strategies or the right network behind you. Keep reading our posts, continue to educate yourself and fill your schedule at least 70% with activities and tasks that will get you to where you want to be!
