What really holds people back in life?

I did a facebook live video earlier today about this very subject. What holds people back in life almost always has something to do with the emotion of fear:

https://www.facebook.com/ben.hetzel.1/videos/10102359347891561/

I remember starting up my network marketing business. I was encouraged to read and research into successful people and the idea of “personal development” which was a foreign concept to me at the time. But I did start to learn a lot of sobering facts about business and success.

Some of these ideas were not at all positive, but were just the facts of life. One of them is that 95% of businesses fail. The actual number is closer to 99% over a three year period, but these are small details. The point is that the vast majority of endeavors that break the molds of society end up failing.

Its enough to make anyone question whether or not they should even bother at all! It is much safer to do what most other people do, accept your little plot of influence in this world and do your best to stay afloat. Don’t rock the boat, don’t stray too far from what the masses are doing. Be a good little boy, or girl, and accept your position of mediocrity.

Not on my watch.

The fact of the matter is that most people have very little original thought in their heads. Almost everything that we hear in terms of how to live life is just something that someone else already said before. It becomes ingrained in the subconscious...in the psyche.

The sad reality is that most people operate almost perpetually out of fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of failure, fear of ridicule by other humans. Fear of looking bad, of going broke, possibly becoming homeless. Possibly losing everything.

Operating out of fear is a disease of the mind that has caused untold numbers of dreams and aspirations to be disregarded and abandoned. Entire ideas, businesses and inventions are simply taken to the grave, never realized.

The most heartbreaking fact of them all? All these fears are just illusions. They’re not even real. They are fictitious scenarios created in people’s minds and then simply accepted as fact. Its a cult-like mentality. Its brainwashing, indoctrination and mind control.

This type of mental weakness is encouraged by society, mainly by others that have been ensnared by the same fear and don’t wish to see other people take away their illusions. This is the mind matrix that holds other people back. Almost every single major institution preaches the same ideology: conform and stay in line. Get a safe job with benefits so that when you’re 65 and no longer have the physical strength to chase down your dreams you can finally retire. Teach your children to do the same, and their children after them. Encourage mediocrity and group-think. Alienate and ridicule those that question the narrative.

These are the thoughts of slaves and losers. These are the thoughts of people that have been so indoctrinated to the point where they couldn’t even tell you what their dreams and aspirations are because the very idea has been beaten out of them by a largely mediocre society filled with slaves of various assortments.

Something great happens, however, upon learning about what the truly remarkable and successful people have been doing since the dawn of mankind. You start to see patterns. These people don’t think like the rest; there is something different about them. A different energy, a sense of purpose that we don’t see with most of the automatons. A seeming lack of fear. Only that is not the case.

The key takeaway when it comes to going for your dreams is that you must actively seek out uncomfortable situations where fear is present. Then, like an inoculation, you feel the fear and do the deed anyway because that’s what having a purpose really means. It means neglecting and actively evading the comfort zone and all the mindless pleasures that are tempting us at every turn in life.

The only thing holding people back is their own minds. With this realization comes the ultimate power and that is the power to choose to act differently and to defy the societal norms.

One of my favorite movies for a number of reasons is The Fifth Element. Not only are there so many different parables and metaphors to the mysteries of life and history, but I also take inspiration from the main enemy, the dark planet (maybe a symbol for the mythical Nibiru?). Recall the scene when the space fleet launches a bunch of missiles at the dark planet. Except that the dark planet absorbs them and actually becomes stronger.

That is how I see the idea of fear and going for dreams. There will be haters at every turn. Trolls. Assholes. Miserable, chained down slaves that desperately want to drag you back into the death pit known as “average”. Use their energy the way an Aikido warrior would. Turn that negativity and doubt into more power for you. It makes you stronger, gives you armor.

Confronting fear is the only way to truly banish it the way a candle will instantly bring light to a room. No amount of darkness can put out a candle. Shine the light on your fears, feel the adrenaline cocktail in your body. Then decide to do what 95% of people choose not to. Go for it.