This is the #1 secret to breaking free from the fear that is keeping you from the success you want.
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Hey everybody, this is Russell Brunson. I want to welcome you to the Marketing in Your Car podcast. Today, I actually just got my haircut and I'm driving back home. It was kind of fun, before my haircut, I had somebody call me and they're writing a book, and they want to interview me about success and about stuff like that for the book.
One of the questions that they asked me sparked a thought that I wanted to pass on this podcast. Any of you guys thinking about it as well, basically, the question had to do with why do most people not succeed. What's the reason behind it? Is it fear of success? Is it fear of failure? What is it that causes most people not to succeed? What do you do different that has made it possible for you to have great success?
I started thinking about that. It reminded me of one night, one of my close friends, he's a chiropractor. He just started his chiropractic clinic. It was kind of struggling. He called me one night and asked if I could talk, so we went over to his clinic and sat down and just started talking for a couple of hours.
I could see he was in a really bad place. He was just very concerned and freaking out, and all sorts of stuff. He was just very scared of all the stuff that could happen. Because of that, he didn't know what to do and he couldn't move. He was kind of stuck in this really bad spot. I remember I sat there and thought for a minute.
Then I asked him, I said, “For you to be successful, you got to do what I do. You need to look at what is the worst case scenario.” He said, “Worst case scenario, I go bankrupt.” I'm like, “What does that mean?” “If I go bankrupt, then this, this, this.”
I'm like, “You got to dig deeper. What are your real fears? If bankruptcy is the worst case scenario, what are your fears about that?” “Well, if that happened, that means I would probably lose my house, and if I did that, I would lose this, and this would happen.” I made him sit down and we actually mapped out what was the worst case scenario.
What was that thing? He listed it out. I said, “Look, if you're going to be successful in this venture, you have to be okay with the worst case scenario. Until you are completely okay with the worst case scenario,” I said, “you will be so scared, you won't be willing to gamble the dice and do what you need to do in order to be successful in this business.”
After awhile, he said, “You know what, you're right. I'm okay with that. If that's the worst case scenario, I can live with that. If that's what's going to happen, that's what's going to happen.” As soon as he was able to accept that, then he was able to start producing and start getting out there and actually doing what he needed to do to be successful in the game.
I think that that's a lesson for people in any area of life. In wrestling, I had the same thing. In business, I've had the same thing multiple times where if I don't know what the worst case scenario is, I can’t be successful. A little while ago, we had our merchant account shut down. We had 100 employees that had almost a million dollars a month in payroll, overhead, and expenses, and we lost our merchant accounts.
I remember I went to this paralyzing fear. I didn't know what to do and I didn't know how to move or how to react. I was just stuck. I remember sitting there thinking, “Man, I'm kind of in a bad spot.” It wasn't until I sat down and did this same exercise myself and I said, “What is the worst case scenario?” I said, “Worst case, I've got to shut down our company or I kick out people. I got to file for bankruptcy,” whatever it might be.
I listed those things out and I had to become okay with that. The second I was okay with that, saying, “Look, if that's the worst thing that's going to happen, I can deal with that,” suddenly, that paralyzing fear disappeared and I was able to step up and to produce and do what I needed to do to break through and create something better than the worst case scenario.
That's I think where leadership really comes from. As leaders, we have to have a vision of where we want to go, and then we have to be willing and able to guide ourselves and our team and get there, and be willing to act and move but if we're scared of the worst case scenario, and we keep pushing it to the back of our mind because we don't want to think about it, that will paralyze you and keep you from taking the action you need.
Step number one for any of you guys is list out what's the worst case scenario in the situation. Then become okay with that, and then build a vision to make something better than the worst case. Make something as great and amazing as you can but realize that the worst thing that could possibly happen is that, and if I'm okay with that, then I've got the ability to move and to really shine.
I look at my wrestling. When I was all the way through high school and all the way through college, I was the kind of wrestler I was good in practice but I was much better on the mat. I think part of it was because of my attitude where it was kind of like if I lost, I didn't really care because there's always the next match and the next tournament.
I just competed at a higher level than I think my skill set was. I would always, if you look back at high school and college, I always upset people that I shouldn't have beat because I stepped on the mat and I would just go out there. I think the reason is because a lot of times, people didn't want to lose so bad that I was able to beat them.
For me, my senior year in college was the first time I ever experienced that. I knew people had this problem but I never experienced it until my senior year. My senior year, my very first match, I wrestled a kid who ended up winning the NCAs and was a two-time NCA champ, three time or four time finalist.
I wrestled in this match. I lose to him by one point. I was frustrated but I was like, “Man, I'm at that level. I'm close enough that I should be in the All American this year.” That was my goals. After that match, everything started going downhill. I ended up losing insane amount of matches afterward.
It was so embarrassing to me. I realized later on in the season, luckily I was able to pull myself out of it about halfway through the season, but I realized that my fear of the worst case, because this was my last year, I had to prove it. Everything in my entire career was on the line for this and I had to prove that I could do it.
Because of that, I wasn't able to produce. I wasn't able to succeed and I didn't wrestle as well as I should. I think my senior year is probably my worst year because of that, because I was so afraid, “This is my last shot.” I just want you guys to think about that, if you're in athletics, if you're in business, and in your personal life, your marriage, your family.
Whatever it is, you've got to become okay with the worst case scenario because as soon as you do, it's the most freeing experience you will experience. It gives you the ability to step up and produce, and do what you need to do to get your job done. That is my words of wisdom for today. I hope you enjoyed it. I hope that you got some value out of it.
If you like this, if you like our podcast at all, please go to iTunes and rate us. I would love to see some feedback. It's kind of fun to see some of the reviews coming in. We appreciate you guys. I hope that you get a lot of value out of this, and I will talk to you all tomorrow on our next podcast. Thanks, everybody.