Tuesday, January 22, 2019

The mountain has been conquered and there is no apparent frontier

The best way to reinvent yourself is to not be too successful. 

Think about it. People who are thriving every single day, everywhere they go, in everything they do, they have zero motivation to change. There’s no acute pressure to upgrade. 

Because why fold a winning hand? Why put at risk the success they’ve already become? And why shift the boundaries of the future when the present is so prosperous and safe? 

Graves researched this stage of growth more than thirty years ago. He called it the alpha fit:

A place where the individual is in sync and relatively successful. They have it together in their personal world, believing it will be relatively smooth sailing for a while. Their systems are in a state of equilibrium and homeostasis. They maintain a worldview that has worked for them which they have never doubted. God is in heaven and all is right with the world. The mountain has been conquered and there is no apparent frontier. 

Sounds blissful. 

However, most of us mere mortals don’t have that luxury. Not yet. We’re still searching for the right opportunities to maximize our gifts. We’re still hungry to take our talents on the ride they deserve. 

Thus, reinvention is a requirement. 

I spent the first decade of my career working for myself. It was glorious. The freelance world suited my personality and skillset perfectly. Plus, the idea of getting a straight job and commuting to an office and having a boss and working with a team made my bum wink. 

But spend ten years doing anything, and you’re bound to question yourself. 

Thankfully, my mentor challenged my stubbornness. He said:

You’re making this law for yourself by believing you’re blocked from entering the field. But it’s just a story. It’s an artificial construct that’s too convenient to be killed. And if you’re willing to do work at the edge, that experiential zone where your deepest and most relevant growth happens, there are untapped reservoirs of fulfillment waiting for you on the other side. 

It took five years for that insight to finally settle in. But once it did, I was able to leave my past behind and reinvent myself. 

Remember, as long as we are alive, we never exhaust our opportunities for growth. No matter how successful we think we are, each of us can still awaken a more elaborated identity on top of what already exists. 


What are the powerful psychological forces aligned against your reinvention? 

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Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag


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