Last post we looked at how stale thought patterns can restrict your creativity and thus your success. Let me give you a simple but stark example of this…
Over the weekend I was helping the ratings committee in my softball team rate new players, to determine what division they should play in. We have them hit, field, bat and throw, assigning a numerical ratings to each, to determine their division.
Unfortunately the regulation fields we normally play on weren’t available, so we were doing the tryouts on a Little League field, which has smaller dimensions. There were five other members on the committee with me, and they were having trouble deciding the rating for one player. The reason: Because they thought his arm was stronger and he could throw father, but couldn’t tell, because the bases on the field are shorter.
So I did something very simple. I asked the first baseman to move back 15 feet behind the bag.
Pretty simple right? So why didn’t anyone think of it? Because you always throw to the first baseman on the bag in a game and that created the thought paradigm we were thinking in. It’s a rule in a game, but the rules didn’t have to apply in this case. In this case, they were simply a limitation we were imposing on ourselves.
So that’s the analogy. What’s the lesson for you? What limiting thought paradigm have you imposed on yourself that simply doesn’t need to be there?
-RG
Reader interactions
57 Replies to “No Rules”
No rules! Yipeee!! I have so been waiting for this day! 🙂 Thanks Randy. Who cares about the analogy. I for one never liked rules…… Just kiddin’
Guess what happened to someone I worked with the other day. They lost their money order that was hundreds of dollars, in the parking lot of a grocery store. And do you know what happened? Someone found it and mailed it for him!!
No rules! Yipeee!! I have so been waiting for this day! 🙂 Thanks Randy. Who cares about the analogy. I for one never liked rules…… Just kiddin’
Guess what happened to someone I worked with the other day. They lost their money order that was hundreds of dollars, in the parking lot of a grocery store. And do you know what happened? Someone found it and mailed it for him!!
@brucearfsten Thanks 4 the love!
@brucearfsten Thanks 4 the love!
Breaking self-imposed mental barriers that must be to get everybody. Thanks Randy
Breaking self-imposed mental barriers that must be to get everybody. Thanks Randy
Dang! Today’s Happy Magic Love Dust pretty much said the same thing you’re saying, ‘cept I used the word, “expectation(s)”.
Dang! Today’s Happy Magic Love Dust pretty much said the same thing you’re saying, ‘cept I used the word, “expectation(s)”.
My biggest one is “I am too old to succeed as a musician with entrepreneurial tendencies”.Since I am involved with http://www.uncollege.org and a couple of other groups which want to encourage people to reform and rethink of college as the one true path, I interact with a lot of younger people, some of whom think I am around the same age as them, (since I speak with the passion and have a mindset open to new ideas which young people have, along with being able to pull off 20 something, despite being 30 if I trim my beard and hair).I feel a great deal of passion since I was denied support and opportunity to achieve what mattered when I was 18-22, as many of them are. Some are even in high school still, and they see the writing on the wall. A world where you’re expected to go into debt to live someone else’s dreams (or nightmares).It’s really changing my thoughts on my age. If I can help them make their dreams come true, while pursuing what I value, and transcend the age barrier, perhaps I may have a chance after all, in spite of the fact the entertainment industry values youth.If the youth value my work, it will be harder for other people to tell me no.
My biggest one is “I am too old to succeed as a musician with entrepreneurial tendencies”.Since I am involved with http://www.uncollege.org and a couple of other groups which want to encourage people to reform and rethink of college as the one true path, I interact with a lot of younger people, some of whom think I am around the same age as them, (since I speak with the passion and have a mindset open to new ideas which young people have, along with being able to pull off 20 something, despite being 30 if I trim my beard and hair).I feel a great deal of passion since I was denied support and opportunity to achieve what mattered when I was 18-22, as many of them are. Some are even in high school still, and they see the writing on the wall. A world where you’re expected to go into debt to live someone else’s dreams (or nightmares).It’s really changing my thoughts on my age. If I can help them make their dreams come true, while pursuing what I value, and transcend the age barrier, perhaps I may have a chance after all, in spite of the fact the entertainment industry values youth.If the youth value my work, it will be harder for other people to tell me no.
Hi Randy
This was a great analogy. Off the top of my head, I cannot think of any specific limiting belief I hold that is glaringly obvious but considering I have not fully reached where I want to be in life, I am sure there are several! I am getting better at probing my mind and uncovering them. It really is amazing that how everything turns out really lies with what we think, what we believe to be true. We falsely accept limiting beliefs as fact but in reality, we can change them to whatever we want them to be. One of those simple but not easy type things. Love your stuff Randy!
Hi Randy
This was a great analogy. Off the top of my head, I cannot think of any specific limiting belief I hold that is glaringly obvious but considering I have not fully reached where I want to be in life, I am sure there are several! I am getting better at probing my mind and uncovering them. It really is amazing that how everything turns out really lies with what we think, what we believe to be true. We falsely accept limiting beliefs as fact but in reality, we can change them to whatever we want them to be. One of those simple but not easy type things. Love your stuff Randy!
@LinFaceReader THanks 4 the love!
@LinFaceReader THanks 4 the love!
I’ve been cutting the ends of the ham before i cook it but for the life of me I don’t know why. That’s just the way my mom’s always done it. And her mom did too so that’s what I’ve always done.
But now that i’m reading this blog i’m starting to question this practice.
@Matt Shorty Wells LOL
I’ve been cutting the ends of the ham before i cook it but for the life of me I don’t know why. That’s just the way my mom’s always done it. And her mom did too so that’s what I’ve always done.
But now that i’m reading this blog i’m starting to question this practice.
Randy thanks! We change thinking!!!
Randy thanks! We change thinking!!!
Great analogy here Randy! My limiting thoughts used to be thinking that I wasn’t capable of becoming a writer because I had no formal education to do so. In the past, it kept me from writing the first word. I found myself each time I would start, playing that same song in my mind over and over again. And if it wasn’t that, it was that no one wanted to hear what I had to say. I finally silenced those voices by just doing it. Starting from where I am and allowing myself to grow as I go along. Since changing my way of thinking I have managed to start my own website, start working on my first novel, and I will soon be finish working on my first eBook. All of this has happened because I started where I was, with what I had to offer. I also believe that because I started somewhere and stopped making excuses; I’ve helped many others just by sharing my life experiences openly and honestly. Great message as usual buddy! Your messages are always empowering! Thanks mate! 🙂
@Deeone Higgs Love it! -RG
Great analogy here Randy! My limiting thoughts used to be thinking that I wasn’t capable of becoming a writer because I had no formal education to do so. In the past, it kept me from writing the first word. I found myself each time I would start, playing that same song in my mind over and over again. And if it wasn’t that, it was that no one wanted to hear what I had to say. I finally silenced those voices by just doing it. Starting from where I am and allowing myself to grow as I go along. Since changing my way of thinking I have managed to start my own website, start working on my first novel, and I will soon be finish working on my first eBook. All of this has happened because I started where I was, with what I had to offer. I also believe that because I started somewhere and stopped making excuses; I’ve helped many others just by sharing my life experiences openly and honestly. Great message as usual buddy! Your messages are always empowering! Thanks mate! 🙂
@grey5533 Thanks 4 the love!
@grey5533 Thanks 4 the love!
Of course we need rules or you have chaos, or worse, Congress. But rules for thought? No way – http://joehefferon.blogspot.com/
Of course we need rules or you have chaos, or worse, Congress. But rules for thought? No way – http://joehefferon.blogspot.com/
@Deeone Higgs Love it! -RG
@Matt Shorty Wells LOL
I am sure there are some limited things I carry-on with but mostly I notice how others want or even force me to be limited. I am a strong believer. I know who I am, what I am and what I can achieve. Looking back, I got EVERYTHING i wanted and went after. OK, some things aren´t easy to achieve by myself as single believer in the counry over here but I am working on those things already. I am very spiritual (not religious) which is very much uncommon for the country I live in. Very uncommon. But that´s what gives me lots of freedom and that´s why I achieved or even got a lot more than others in life.
Root cause: many struggles. Others did not have that many struggles in life. So, to them there is no reason to do things I do, to dream things I dream of and to run after new goals – they don´t have them.
Actually the disbelief and passiveness of others is limiting me. I do lose fun doing everything on my own. it would be much more exciting to talk about this and that with at least 1 person in life – this person isn´t here.
no complaining – you asked 🙂
@Leeloo I experience a lot of this with some friends and family.Yes, people DO want to limit you or force you to be limited. It doesn’t take a lot of time, energy, or money to help someone else succeed.But, for some people it’s easier to be mean, abusive, and apathetic.I honestly think people sabotage others sometimes because they want other people to be just as miserable as they are.Most people don’t have ambitions beyond “work for a living” or “struggle to get by”, and some view people who want to do more than just do what someone else tells them, as “arrogant”, “self-centered”, “never amount to anything”They just want to have a good job, and free pensions, and free healthcare, which of course they believe is their right, and those evil rich people forced them into it, and they’re responsible for the fact that the world isn’t a good place to live, and all the good jobs are overseas, and why a good education costs so much, etc.Personally, I think that’s a pretty horrible way to live. I struggled a lot too, was raised by people who LOVE Unions and government jobs. You can’t use your brain or be creative in either of those, and since you don’t need much of an education to get either, intelligence and education weren’t valued.I had a similar experience. Went to school with people who had parents that wanted them to at least have a career where they used their minds. I struggled not because of the income of my parents, but because they didn’t want to live in present, but live in a 1950s world where the company takes care of you, and you get a good job because you exist, not because you possess the knowledge, skills, or qualities necessary to warrant it.My parents say that rich people are greedy and don’t care, if anything they are far more greedy and apathetic than any rich person or their children that I have met.
@Leeloo At least rich people want to leave the world a better place than they came into. You can’t do that if you’re poor or middle class.I don’t see many of the middle class caring about anyone but themselves and their careers, which they believe they are entitled to. I don’t see the middle class giving time, energy, and money to solve the problems of the world. They expect the rich to do it all, but are eager to complain, yet don’t lift a finger to help.
@ThomasMrak thanks for sharing this! my experience is that my friends don´t understand my different thinking ´cuz they live the regular life, pretty well, many of them, you know w/in a family, house, cars, etc. and I wasn´t “the right woman” for these men over here. I flew over the cuckoo-nest with 100 km/h. they have EVERYTHING they ever wanted in their life and they can´t follow my thoughts of also wanting “this” much but I have to do crazy things to be interesting to men. I have no money on an account (neither my parents) like the other women I know who are married. Fact. I can lick every single finger for this “root cause”. Full hit. I don´t deserve such men with such thinking, but I deseve “my” man. this is why I go on. Fact. Our country is spoiled and I wasn´t.
Enjoy your day and work on your carreer!!!!!
@ThomasMrak well, to change the world you need to do something SO big that it´s been seen by many, many people. and THAT swallows money, yes. and you need to have some left for this dream or crazyness. but believe me, many who did this are those who were not bron with the silver spoon next to their silver plate 😉
I am sure there are some limited things I carry-on with but mostly I notice how others want or even force me to be limited. I am a strong believer. I know who I am, what I am and what I can achieve. Looking back, I got EVERYTHING i wanted and went after. OK, some things aren´t easy to achieve by myself as single believer in the counry over here but I am working on those things already. I am very spiritual (not religious) which is very much uncommon for the country I live in. Very uncommon. But that´s what gives me lots of freedom and that´s why I achieved or even got a lot more than others in life.
Root cause: many struggles. Others did not have that many struggles in life. So, to them there is no reason to do things I do, to dream things I dream of and to run after new goals – they don´t have them.
Actually the disbelief and passiveness of others is limiting me. I do lose fun doing everything on my own. it would be much more exciting to talk about this and that with at least 1 person in life – this person isn´t here.
no complaining – you asked 🙂
@Leeloo I experience a lot of this with some friends and family.Yes, people DO want to limit you or force you to be limited. It doesn’t take a lot of time, energy, or money to help someone else succeed.But, for some people it’s easier to be mean, abusive, and apathetic.I honestly think people sabotage others sometimes because they want other people to be just as miserable as they are.Most people don’t have ambitions beyond “work for a living” or “struggle to get by”, and some view people who want to do more than just do what someone else tells them, as “arrogant”, “self-centered”, “never amount to anything”They just want to have a good job, and free pensions, and free healthcare, which of course they believe is their right, and those evil rich people forced them into it, and they’re responsible for the fact that the world isn’t a good place to live, and all the good jobs are overseas, and why a good education costs so much, etc.Personally, I think that’s a pretty horrible way to live. I struggled a lot too, was raised by people who LOVE Unions and government jobs. You can’t use your brain or be creative in either of those, and since you don’t need much of an education to get either, intelligence and education weren’t valued.I had a similar experience. Went to school with people who had parents that wanted them to at least have a career where they used their minds. I struggled not because of the income of my parents, but because they didn’t want to live in present, but live in a 1950s world where the company takes care of you, and you get a good job because you exist, not because you possess the knowledge, skills, or qualities necessary to warrant it.My parents say that rich people are greedy and don’t care, if anything they are far more greedy and apathetic than any rich person or their children that I have met.
@Leeloo At least rich people want to leave the world a better place than they came into. You can’t do that if you’re poor or middle class.I don’t see many of the middle class caring about anyone but themselves and their careers, which they believe they are entitled to. I don’t see the middle class giving time, energy, and money to solve the problems of the world. They expect the rich to do it all, but are eager to complain, yet don’t lift a finger to help.
@ThomasMrak thanks for sharing this! my experience is that my friends don´t understand my different thinking ´cuz they live the regular life, pretty well, many of them, you know w/in a family, house, cars, etc. and I wasn´t “the right woman” for these men over here. I flew over the cuckoo-nest with 100 km/h. they have EVERYTHING they ever wanted in their life and they can´t follow my thoughts of also wanting “this” much but I have to do crazy things to be interesting to men. I have no money on an account (neither my parents) like the other women I know who are married. Fact. I can lick every single finger for this “root cause”. Full hit. I don´t deserve such men with such thinking, but I deseve “my” man. this is why I go on. Fact. Our country is spoiled and I wasn´t.
Enjoy your day and work on your carreer!!!!!
@ThomasMrak well, to change the world you need to do something SO big that it´s been seen by many, many people. and THAT swallows money, yes. and you need to have some left for this dream or crazyness. but believe me, many who did this are those who were not bron with the silver spoon next to their silver plate 😉
@ronkarr Thanks 4 the love!
@randy_gage Randy, you’re welcome.
@ronkarr Thanks 4 the love!
I think the devil uses habitual behavior as a weapon against us. It keeps us stuck, even if the habits are good, in the same pattern. As humans, I think we are creatures of habit, that’s why we hve to live through our spirit and away from our failed human nature.
I think the devil uses habitual behavior as a weapon against us. It keeps us stuck, even if the habits are good, in the same pattern. As humans, I think we are creatures of habit, that’s why we hve to live through our spirit and away from our failed human nature.
There are good habits and bad ones, the key is to nurture the good ones!
really good posts randy
There are good habits and bad ones, the key is to nurture the good ones!
really good posts randy
@randy_gage Randy, you’re welcome.
@IngerVerheul Thanks 4 the love!
@IngerVerheul Thanks 4 the love!
@AlekseyLeo Thanks 4 the love!
@AlekseyLeo Thanks 4 the love!
These limiting thoughts comes from our experiences and the environment around us. I’ve met some who wanted to be trainers but dare not do it because they haven’t gone through any certification. I became a trainer at the age of 27 without any certification. I trained people who are 20 years my senior. Most are brought up by the traditional education that got them to believe that to do something, they have to get a cert. That belief limits their progress, unfortunately.
But, how can we get past the limiting belief that most people have that without formal education you’re not capable?A lot of parents, companies, and individuals believe that you’re not worth very much without a degree and will scorn, ignore, or even mistreat you.Now, I think education is important, but people can learn far more on their own or with a good mentor, or being a part of something like a mastermind. We’ve made education not into enrichment, but a checkmark on a resume.That’s why I really dislike formal education. The way it is used as tool for enforcing the Classism it claims to prevent.What ever happened to an artist or a business person being able to feed their soul by creating something wonderful and providing and being rewarded for values which other people cherish?
These limiting thoughts comes from our experiences and the environment around us. I’ve met some who wanted to be trainers but dare not do it because they haven’t gone through any certification. I became a trainer at the age of 27 without any certification. I trained people who are 20 years my senior. Most are brought up by the traditional education that got them to believe that to do something, they have to get a cert. That belief limits their progress, unfortunately.
But, how can we get past the limiting belief that most people have that without formal education you’re not capable?A lot of parents, companies, and individuals believe that you’re not worth very much without a degree and will scorn, ignore, or even mistreat you.Now, I think education is important, but people can learn far more on their own or with a good mentor, or being a part of something like a mastermind. We’ve made education not into enrichment, but a checkmark on a resume.That’s why I really dislike formal education. The way it is used as tool for enforcing the Classism it claims to prevent.What ever happened to an artist or a business person being able to feed their soul by creating something wonderful and providing and being rewarded for values which other people cherish?