Owen Hemsath does the video marketing thing like nobody’s business and he’s my guest on this edition of “Entrepreneur Mind Hacks.” Together, we are discussing his contributions to my 2-book set, Entrepreneur Mind Hacks.
One of the chapters that Owen contributed is titled The Law of “As-If”, and it really resonated with me. According to Owen, the biggest enemy you’ll face is your own doubt.
We are constantly battling a force called “resistance ”. Because of this, we tend to take the path of least resistance and only go wherever we think is easiest. Along this path, for some unknown reason, there are voices in our minds telling us that we are not good enough, we’re not original enough, and that we won’t succeed.
But, what separates entrepreneurs is an uncanny ability to think differently. And, even among entrepreneurs, we need to be thinking “stronger thoughts” than other entrepreneurs in order to rise to the top. When we are able to do this, we quarantine those defeating voices in a place where it cannot be heard.
We need to constantly be reinforcing our value propositions to ourselves. In other words, we need to remind ourselves, “You are the best at what you do! You are unstoppable!” But, Owen isn’t talking about simple mantras or daily affirmations. Rather, he means a real, genuine look in the mirror with honest encouragement.
These negative voices that we battle come from the most beautiful of angels – who fell from heaven – according to Owen. The original translation of the name Satan is actually “The Accuser”, which makes total sense. There is a force of evil in the world that wants to see you fail… each and every one of us. So, all that negativity that puts resistance in front of us, according to Owen, comes from the world, our own flesh, and the devil. The bottom line is that the devil wants you to beat up on and hate yourself simply because you were made in the outstanding image of God. Toss in the dads who berated us, uncles who discouraged us, girlfriends that dumped us into the recipe… and success becomes a tough, uphill journey.
To battle all this, Owen engages in a lot of prayer, positive thinking, and he surrounds himself with positive people. And judging by the success of The Video Spot, it’s working!
When it comes to self-doubt and self-defeat, Own wrote that it’s a fast, downward spiral that we need to avoid.
“It’s even crazier that the more you doubt yourself, the more you will doubt yourself.”
It’s basically the simple law of momentum. If you allow yourself to continue moving in a certain direction, you will find yourself, in no time, moving faster and faster in that same direction. That’s basic physics. And the same is true in our psychology and confidence.
That’s where the Act “As-If” Time comes in! Instead of continuing to beat yourself up and “Charlie Browning” about, look at yourself in the mirror and remind yourself that you are created in God’s image. You are powerful. You are more than a conqueror. Act as if you ARE who you AIM TO BE. When you do this, you’ll see those Charlie Brown moments slip away.
What’s also crazy, according to Owen, is the human brain’s inability to discern between an illusion and reality. This is why movies are so impactful. There is a part of our brain that is triggered by the illusion up on the screen, and reacts as though it is reality. So, when you are creating your own mental illusions that you’re terrible and your life is awful, your brain doesn’t know that these illusions are just you being depressed. So, the brain triggers and reinforces this belief. To combat this, you need to “hack” your mind and convince it of life’s actual reality.
Then you need to act on it!
As many experts have said, a goal without action is just a dream. You can dream all you want, and even hack your mind, but you need to follow all that up with action!
Practically speaking, I know that there are some of us who have grown up in very depressed situations and have huge obstacles to get over in order to succeed at their entrepreneurial goals. Even identifying their pessimism is hard enough, much less chiseling away at it and getting rid of it in order to Act “As-If, as Owen prescribes.
But, as Owen puts it, the person who doesn’t strive to reach out and go farther than they are in something… the person who doesn’t aspire for more… are not living up to their full potential. Amazingly, human beings are the only creatures who can do this. A tree grows and grows until it dies. It doesn’t ever convince itself that it’s grown enough or that it just can’t grow anymore. A squirrel doesn’t gather food only until it’s time for the game to start or until it gets distracted. No, squirrels gather all the food they can – with surplus, if possible – until they just can’t get any more.
Owen shares a story about a friend of his who was suddenly disabled and told by the government that he would no longer ever be able to work again.
“You’re telling me that you can’t type on a computer from your wheelchair?” asked Owen. “You can’t provide SEO service for people? You can’t set up a web based store and get into e-commerce?” You’d be amazed at what we can do – even when our bodies are limited – if we allow our creativity and ingenuity to expand our boundaries!