Save yourself

“...work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” - Apostle Paul, Philippians 2:12

I think of this verse often, and always out of context.

See, the book of Phillippians was a letter from Paul to a group of his friends, essentially. And he was telling them not to take their salvation for granted, and to do the work to both understand it and act as someone who is gracsed with salvation.

The context for me is that no one person is going to come save me. I have to do the work constantly to understand both how I work and how the world works. Only then can I contribute something meaningful and with impact. 

Essentially it means to constantly redefine my reality.

And the best way to work out reality is to ask questions. Every time I find one that yanks me out of a stupor and see the world differently, I write it down. People that I have borrowed these questions from include Tim Ferriss, Sahil Bloom, Morgan Housel, and Jason Cohen.

Once a month I have time on the calendar to sit down and ask these questions in one focused session.

There’s no better way to pull yourself out of a rut, break through a plateau, or get to the next level of perception. 

So, if you are interested in trying this out and bending reality, here is a list of questions to ask yourself:

• Am I focusing on the big, weighty, important tasks that will provide sufficient reward for my energy or am I burning calories chasing the tiny wins that won't move the needle?

• What would this look like if it were easy?

• If I were the main character in a movie of my life, what would the audience be screaming at me to do right now?

• What are my strongest beliefs? What would it take for me to change your mind on them?

• What fear are you willing to release in order to live with more courage?

• What's something that should be delegated but isn't?

• What’s sucking my energy?

• What do I believe is true only because believing it puts me in good standing with my tribe?

• What annoys me about other people that I sometimes do myself?

• Who has the right answer but I ignore because they’re a bad communicator?

• Who is full of it but I pay attention to because they’re a good communicator?

• Is this thing I’m worried about actually a problem, or am I looking for problems to worry about because they make me feel in control?

• What in my field do I think is a law (works all the time) but is actually just a rule (works some of the time)?

• Is there something in my life I think I’m “passionate” about or “focused” on but I’m actually just addicted to it?

These are all hard questions. 

But if you tackle even 1-2 in a sitting, you’ll have a clearer picture of the limiting beliefs holding you back.

Cheers and have a great weekend!

Swanagan

P.S., if you are getting good vibes from these emails, send it to 5 friends and I’ll send you a sick t-shirt.