"Your next big breakthrough is already here - If you watch a lot of movies, then you’re familiar with the trope where the main character screws up, screws up, screws up, then 90 minutes into the film is like, “OMG! I’m totally different now!” Famous blockbusters like Star Wars and The Matrix turn on these epiphanic endings. And pretty much every rom-com ever involves one or both people having the “I changed!” moment towards the end… you know, right before they live happily ever after.
But, as you (hopefully) know, movies are not reality. Life doesn’t work this way. This desire for epiphanies is a trick of the story’s narrative—a little tactic that satisfies us. Our minds like clear before/after pictures. And our movies deliver it to us, over and over.
But that desire for before/after narratives doesn’t just happen with movies. We do it to ourselves, in our own lives. And we usually don’t even realize it.
For instance, in Subtle Art, I wrote about how my friend’s death marked the clearest before/after point in my life—a true transformational experience. And indeed, even today, it feels like it was. But if I’m being honest, a lot of things happened that year that influenced me. I dropped out of music school. My girlfriend broke up with me. I stopped doing drugs. I read some incredibly inspiring books.
Each of those experiences altered me a little—one degree turn here, another couple degrees turn there, another few degrees again—and suddenly, I’m headed in an entirely different direction.
Our minds don’t recognize these dozens and dozens of tiny changes in our lives, these imperceptible turns. Instead, our minds focus on the most emotionally impactful changes and give that event all of the credit. Thus, “My friend died, and I became a new person.”
Put another way, it’s not like I was one person, then had a huge breakthrough and became someone different. My breakthrough was happening in slow motion, across many months and was due to a multitude of decisions and experiences.
Understanding this is incredibly important because there are many, many, many people in this world that will try to sell you your next breakthrough. And if you buy into your mind’s narrative, then you’ll buy into whatever fad or trendy solution is being offered.
But there is no breakthrough. Your breakthrough is already happening. Through hundreds of small, forgettable, simple choices, it is constantly occurring, constantly evolving. At this moment. And the next. And the next.
(Note: I wrote a site member’s article about this many years ago. See: Your Next Breakthrough is Already Happening.)"
But, as you (hopefully) know, movies are not reality. Life doesn’t work this way. This desire for epiphanies is a trick of the story’s narrative—a little tactic that satisfies us. Our minds like clear before/after pictures. And our movies deliver it to us, over and over.
But that desire for before/after narratives doesn’t just happen with movies. We do it to ourselves, in our own lives. And we usually don’t even realize it.
For instance, in Subtle Art, I wrote about how my friend’s death marked the clearest before/after point in my life—a true transformational experience. And indeed, even today, it feels like it was. But if I’m being honest, a lot of things happened that year that influenced me. I dropped out of music school. My girlfriend broke up with me. I stopped doing drugs. I read some incredibly inspiring books.
Each of those experiences altered me a little—one degree turn here, another couple degrees turn there, another few degrees again—and suddenly, I’m headed in an entirely different direction.
Our minds don’t recognize these dozens and dozens of tiny changes in our lives, these imperceptible turns. Instead, our minds focus on the most emotionally impactful changes and give that event all of the credit. Thus, “My friend died, and I became a new person.”
Put another way, it’s not like I was one person, then had a huge breakthrough and became someone different. My breakthrough was happening in slow motion, across many months and was due to a multitude of decisions and experiences.
Understanding this is incredibly important because there are many, many, many people in this world that will try to sell you your next breakthrough. And if you buy into your mind’s narrative, then you’ll buy into whatever fad or trendy solution is being offered.
But there is no breakthrough. Your breakthrough is already happening. Through hundreds of small, forgettable, simple choices, it is constantly occurring, constantly evolving. At this moment. And the next. And the next.
(Note: I wrote a site member’s article about this many years ago. See: Your Next Breakthrough is Already Happening.)"