The nonsensical ways you limit yourself through mass identification

When you’re the smartest person in the room, it’s time to find another room – get quote

Earlier this spring, I watched two historical (and I use the term loosely) baseball deals get done.

First, Bryce Harper signed the largest deal ever in the history of baseball when he agreed to join the Philadelphia Phillies.

Just a few weeks later, Mike Trout’s deal with the Angels eclipsed those numbers.

These deals are each worth hundreds of millions of dollars. When combined, they are worth just over three-quarters of a billion dollars ($755 million).

As you see that number and read the details in those links, I can hear a number of you saying, “Ridiculous! No one is worth that much money!”

And I bet a number of your close friends, and maybe your family members, think exactly the same thing.

How did I know that? Because human beings are social animals. We tend to surround ourselves with those who think like us (or we tend to take on the thoughts of those around us so that we can fit in).

We like to be liked.

And therein lies the trap of what I will call Cultural Tribalism.

What is Cultural Tribalism?

It is the ideas and beliefs that we take on as our own, as true, based on the environments in which we grew up or currently live.

From rooting for the local teams in your area, to regionalizing your loyalty to a state or country, or possibly just living old family roles and beliefs, we are generally blind to these ties until they begin to no longer serve our growth.

I remember working with people who had never attended college, but were rabid fans for the state’s college sports teams. Their emotional connection to this place that they had never been was based entirely on the idea that it was in their state, possibly in their town, and that the college in the next state was a rival of some sort.

While it’s understandable and relatable, it is nonsensical group-think.

From nationalism, to sports, to politics, it is a polarizing soup that keeps us separated as we focus on the unities that divide us, rather than embracing the differences that unite us and make us stronger.

When we identify strongly to a group, and discount all other ideas from outside of it, we are committing intellectual incest.

You can see it nightly on MSNBC and FoxNews: a buffet of web-footed, curved-spine baby-thoughts that breed over and over and over again, as they are preached to the masses who consume them.

You are what you eat.

There is little truth in polarization. By definition, a polar perspective is limited.

There is some truth in each pole, but not the whole truth.

The truth can only exist in the whole.

Which means confronting your limiting beliefs and creating a holistic approach to your beliefs about who you are and what empowers you.

Revisiting No One

Let’s go back to the idea that started this article. Specifically, that “No one is worth that much money.”

I can understand your feelings, I felt the same way once, but I’m here to tell you this: That thought is doing nothing but limiting YOU.

Who is included in the over-generalized statement, “No one?”

That’s right. You are included. You just said you are not worth that much.

So, I ask you, what are you worth? What do you think your value is?

Is it what you are currently earning, or is it a vision that you have for ‘some day?’

If your ideal earning is a future-based idea, what’s keeping you from achieving it now?

Take your emotion out of the equation for a moment. Consider this: That player, earning that much money, is being paid by a successful business owner who know exactly how much they can spend to make the deal.

In fact, rather than looking at it as spending, I bet they are looking at the transaction as an investment.

Why? Because these players are difference-makers. Their influence on a team’s culture can shift the group to new heights based on their leadership.

Remember, we are social animals…when you introduce an Alpha presence in leadership, the rest of the team follows. Those who don’t fit in will be gone, and a focused, success-driven mindset and work ethic is embedded.

From that insight, and from the fact that successful teams have higher awareness and attendance rates, (cultural tribalism at work – we want to root for winners, we want to be part of the water cooler discussion at work, we want to be able to converse socially and be up to date on topics), which results in higher revenue for the organization, what can you now conclude?

Yes, those players are worth exactly that amount of money.

And so are you…once you break free from you limited thinking and see yourself as a winner, a millionaire, a person of unlimited power.

Unleash yourself. You’re worth it!

Are you ready to be the CEO of your life and create your culture of success? If so, contact me here.