For three and a half decades, Phil Stutz has been helping Hollywood elites crush their fears, ignite their creativity and unleash their inner greatness – In this short clip, he demonstrates how The Reversal of Desire tool will help you overcome your biggest fears.
Ignite Your Inner Greatness
Life has a way of repeating itself – most events that happen in our lives are reincarnations of something from our past in a slightly different form. The majority of us deal with the circumstances as they arise and act accordingly, but it’s a rare few who have the foresight to turn their experiences into a playbook for a life well lived. To Ray Dalio, the world’s preeminent hedge fund aficionado, it’s about a set of Principles. A thinking process and a set of tools that make dealing with recurring situations seamless and more consistent. He shares his understanding and reminds his world-class team and the rest of us that ‘life consists of an enormous number of choices that come at us and that each decision we make has consequences, so the quality of our lives depends on the quality of the decisions we make.’ He further elaborates that as human beings, “we aren’t born with the ability to make good decisions; we learn it….{And} as we move towards our goals, we encounter problems, make mistakes, and run into personal weaknesses. Above all else, how we choose to approach these impediments determines how fast we move towards our goals.”
If you’re a high achieving entrepreneur, you undoubtedly encounter your share of challenges; and that cycle never seems to end. It shows up when you least expect it, often testing your will and always stretching your imagination; but unless you, too have a toolkit for living, you’re likely to keep getting knocked down. Like Dalio, bestselling author, and Hollywood’s acclaimed whisperer, Phil Stutz has been using his own set of tools to inspire his clients to achieve consistent results for over three decades. Whether it’s a defining business decision, a questionable relationship, or just plain old fear – he’s got a tool for that. His are tools of action, still as you’ll hear him repeatedly say, don’t take his word for it – try them for yourself and see if you don’t see a dramatic shift in your results.
I’ve had the great honor of interviewing Phil several times, including back in 2013 when he and his partner, Barry Michels released their seminal book – The Tools: 5 tools to Help You Find Courage, Creativity, and Willpower, and Inspire You to Live Life in Forward Motion, and not a week goes by when I don’t reference one of the tools for something that I’m dealing with. My latest conversation with him was tailored specifically around a set of questions that I received from those familiar with his method, and eager to dig deeper. Here’s a glimpse of the insights that he shared:
- By knowing nothing – you become wiser
- Fear has to be dealt with in the present – Run away from it and it grows, go towards it and it shrinks.
- Next time you sense fear lurking – Use the Reversal of Desire tool: Envision the fear as a cloud directly in front of you and move right into it with the following three statements:
- Bring it on..
- I love fear ..
- Fear sets me free..
- You’ll know you’re dealing with failure properly when it doesn’t affect your self-image. Making it a part of your game plan will enable you to fail sequentially and maintain your confidence.
- Stop chasing ‘what’s next’ – Always make your mark of success something that happens in the present.
- Success has two components – Primary and secondary:
- Primary Success is always the state of mind that you’re in the present moment. It’s hardly about results – instead, it’s a focus on what brings a sense of happiness and fulfillment to your life.
- Secondary Success is about the chase of something material – Not only is it beyond your control, but it’s often empty on the other side.
- Relentless forward motion is the path towards primary success because you’re focusing less on the outcome and more on the action itself.
- The Laws of Action:
- Speed – Speed is a force. The more time you allow to lapse between taking action, the weaker you become.
- Density – It matters how many actions you take in a given time period – 3×3 = 9!
- The Pre-win – Disconnect from the result and celebrate the action.
- Death-cookie – When an action has the tag on it ‘extreme fear’, it likely has the greatest value. Pursue it with vigor because that’s how you value action – not on whether you succeed or fail, but based on the amount of fear that comes with it.
- When you’re willing to eat a Death-cookie, your unconscious will reward you with more ideas, your creativity will elevate & your primary success will strengthen.
- Leaders who have impact master these three traits:
- They tolerate being alone
- They tolerate hatred and misunderstanding
- They tolerate & embrace uncertainty
- Resources: