Last time we talked about the phenomenon that in almost any population, you will have 5% who are superstars, 15% who show potential, and 80% who for the most part will not ever rise to the top.
So the question that comes up is…Why don’t the 80% move?
Scientists may blame DNA and assume that if nature didn’t give a person the “right stuff”, no amount of nurturing will do it.
New Age Spiritualists may say “it’s not your time” for you to succeed. They may believe we continue to evolve over many different lifetimes.
Psychologists blame subconscious programming and beliefs. And here is where I start to become a believer!
What we know nowadays about the conscious and unconscious minds would confirm this. Let’s review.
|
Conscious |
Unconscious (subconscious) |
| Inside our current awareness | Outside our current awareness |
| Controls 2-4% of our behavior and decisions | Controls 96-98% of our behavior and decisions |
| Rational thought and reasoning | Feelings, urges, and memories |
| Able to accept and reject | Accepts based on repetition and emotion |
Up until about age 7, our conscious mind – which can accept or reject ideas – is not fully developed. That means our subconscious mind is a sponge for everything we are told, taught and observe. And anything experience repeatedly or with strong emotion, imprints our subconscious and becomes a belief.
Unfortunately many of the beliefs we were programmed with about ourselves are not very empowering. That’s why they are called “self-limiting” beliefs. They are not necessarily true, but we believe them like they are true.
Maxwell Maltz of “Pshycho-Cybernetics” says that “All of your actions, feelings, behaviors, even your abilities are always consistent with your own self-image. You can never exceed the limits you put on yourself (although – you can set new limits by changing your self-image.)”
This means that if we don’t spend any time reprogramming the unconscious beliefs we have about our self – we will never exceed those limiting beliefs. Thus the 80%.
But at some point, you get turned around. You start to question your path. Perhaps a detour came up that got you sidetracked. Pretty soon, you’re heading back to San Francisco.
Then, somehow, you get some new inspiration or information and correct your course and start heading to LA again. You make some progress. Maybe even make it halfway. But lo and behold, something happens and you get turned around again.
When this keeps happening, it is conceivable that you could spend your WHOLE LIFE going in circles and never reaching your destination. This is how it feels to be in the 80%. It’s not that they don’t want something different (they really want to be in LA), it’s that they don’t know what to do to stop reverting back to what their unconscious programming believes is comfortable and safe (San Francisco).
Next time, I will share a model that alerts you EXACTLY when you’re about to revert back. And I’ll explain what you have to do instead to make it to the 20% of top performers in any field.
