“Every next level of your life will demand a different you.” -Leonardo DiCaprio
Most people will never evolve as a person in order to get to their next level. Rather, they will continue to live the same stagnant, mediocre, and boring lives.
Of course, this is fine — evolving is hard and isn’t for everyone.
But if you’re reading this, you’re probably someone who knows that life doesn’t quite sound right, and you’re willing to endure the pain and uncertainty to get to the next level.
As Seth Godin once wrote,
“Only talented people fret about mediocrity.”
Although what does it really take to get there? What does it take to get to the next level?
This article will explain 2 interesting facts about what it takes to evolve as a person.
Here we go.
1. Big Things Happen When You Change Your Life, Not Before
“People are always waiting for something to happen before they change their lives. But they have it backward; when you change your life, big things are more likely to happen” -Jesse Itzler
If you want to change your life, you first need to change you are. If you do not change who you are, you will not change your life. Rather, you repeatedly relive your past.
And hence why most lottery winners quickly return to their poverty after having become overnight millionaires — their circumstance changed, but they didn’t change who they were, and thus old patterns persisted.
Indeed, in order to have a million dollars, have first have to become a millionaire. You need to develop a million-dollar mindset and equip yourself with the knowledge and discipline that will get you that sort of money.
If you want to be someone who is physically fit, you first have to become an athlete. You need to remove everything from your environment that conflicts with your decisions and create the conditions that make your goals inevitable.
Hence the words from Srinivas Rao have never been more applicable,
“Build the identity of the person you want to become.”
Look at the behavior of someone who already lives the life you want, and live as them, today.
Within time, acting “as if” will become living “as is;” you will have evolved into who you intended to be. It’s simply a matter of living intentionally day-by-day.
2. The More You’re Willing to Tolerate Uncomfortable Emotions, the More You’ll Grow
“Do you want the result bad enough that you’re willing to feel absurd, horrible, amazing, ridiculous, and stupid to get there? Or, would you prefer feeling safe and regretful?” -Benjamin P. Hardy
Becoming a different person will always be hard. You are who you are because there’s a degree of comfort; you know the outcomes of your behavior.
Thus, changing your story will be emotionally difficult. You’ll experience feelings of doubt and uncertainty and may even question everything you’re doing to the point that you’re tempted to revert back to who you once were.
But if you want to evolve into the next level, you need to let go of your past. You need to deal with the feelings of discomfort in order to grow.
As Bill Eckstrom once wrote,
“Only in a state of discomfort can you grow.”
Similarly, Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. has said, “A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.” Your old life isn’t even there for you anymore.
You can never go back to how things once were; you’ve evolved into bigger and greater things. You’re no longer playing so small.
While you may initially feel timid and uncertain, eventually you will have hope and faith. You’ll know that everything will work out and that your success is inevitable.
In Conclusion
Evolving is hard, and hence why most people will never do it.
Isn’t it interesting that big things happen when you change your life, not before?
You first must be a certain type of person before you can have what you really want.
As motivational speaker, Zig Ziglar once wrote,
“You have to “Be” the right kind of person first, then you must “Do” the right things before you can expect to “Have” the things in life that really matter. Be, Do, Have.”
Secondly, the more you’re willing to tolerate uncomfortable emotions, the more you’ll grow.
You need to let go of your past; you can’t go back. The future is big and exciting — where will you go?