According to the economic theories of choice, man is a rational being who makes choices based on an order of preference.
So, as an example, let’s assume you had the option of choosing between chicken and fish. As a rational being, the economic theories predict that you would choose chicken if you prefer it to fish.
Now, what if the options were expanded to include beef?
The theories predict that if you prefer chicken to fish, you only have two choices. Either you select chicken, or, you select beef – if you prefer it to chicken.
Let’s go a step further.
What if after the options were expanded, you decided to pick fish, despite your initial preference of chicken? Well, according to the economic theories of choice, you just acted irrationally!
Truth be told, a lot of us are living irrationally.
If you conduct a simple social experiment asking random people whether they are satisfied with their current status in life, you can be sure that 8 out of 10 will express dissatisfaction. As it were, the reality is that a lot of people are stuck in the valleys of life – doing jobs they hate and running helter-skelter just to make ends meet.
Given the opportunity to choose between their current lives and a much better one, a lot of people will say that they prefer a better life.
However, if you take a moment to observe what people do in their day-to-day activities, you’d find a great deal of irrationality.
The result? The crowded valley remains full while there’s ample space at the top.
Do you desire to climb out of the valley?
Do you desire to take rational steps that would increase your chances of remarkable success?
If that’s you, keep reading to learn practical paradigm-shifting ideas that will uproot you from the pit and lift you to the mountaintop…
1. Understanding Where Your Responsibility Lies
You know, it’s funny that many people in the valley are quick to let others take responsibility for the position they find themselves in.
They are a number of favorable parties they love to pass the blame to.
It’s because of their family.
It’s because of their genes
It’s because of their color.
It’s because of their degree.
It’s because of the government and politicians.
It’s because of this, or that.
Naturally, the blame game works and many people end up postponing the time when they finally take responsibility for the direction their lives are headed. And in my opinion, this is one of the biggest reasons why the valley is crowded.
One of my role models, Andrew Wommack says it best:
“Until you’re sick and tired of being sick and tired, you will continue to endure the same results you have now”
If you don’t like the results your seeing in your life, take stock and reflect on the choices you’ve made in the past and maybe…just maybe, the answers you’re seeking have been hidden in plain sight and you didn’t know all along.
2. You Always Have a Choice
As I’ve hammered time and time again, the valley is crowded because many people are irresponsible with their thoughts. They are not deliberate with their thoughts and their lack of thought discipline allows weeds to grow in their minds. A person who is disciplined in his thoughts would have a cultivated mind that yields desirable actions and desirable results.
Understand: The first step to thought discipline is having a deliberate perception and awareness of your thoughts.
When you deliberately choose to elevate your perceptions, you’re also deliberately elevating your life.
Moving even deeper, there’s a perception that separates the Rich from the middle-class and poor. The valley is crowded and will continue to be so because a lot of people take this kind of perception for granted.
If you can handle it, here’s the mystery:
The poor and middle class avoid thinking about worst-case scenarios, while the rich deliberately think about worst-case scenarios.
I know that would rub many of you the wrong way, so let me explain!
In The Aggregation of Marginal Gains, I share the story of how I quit my job and jumped headlong into a business.
I did not have any safety nets. Neither did I have any extra funds to see me through the first rough months of my business.
Instead of factoring worst-case scenarios, I was busy visualizing success and how I was going to rake in millions of naira from people who bought my products.
That’s why this quote by Carl Jung resonates deeply with me:
“Until you make the unknown known, it would dictate your life and you’d call it fate”
Success is predictable because it is built on a foundation of principles. The valley is crowded because many people are oblivious to these principles.
Am I saying positive confessions and visualizing stuff is stupid? Of course not! I still do it to this day, however, I’m learning how to do realistic thinking by factoring worst-case scenarios!
And that’s how the wealthy’s perception elevates them to the point of wealth.
At this point, it’s also appropriate to mention that merely thinking worst-case scenarios is not enough.
The truth is that in the few times that poor people think of worst-case scenarios, they do it so that they can worry about it, or use it to create excuses.
For the Rich, it’s different. And here’s where choice perceptions and thought discipline comes into play.
Rather than worrying about worst-case scenarios, the Rich analyze them using these 3 measurements:
- They clearly identify the worst-case scenarios of their choices. Doing this prevents them from living in their heads. In fact, if you notice, thoughts are scarier in our heads than on paper. When written down, even the scariest thing can be solved with a logical plan.
- They think of the likely results that can arise from that worst-case scenario. For instance, if you want to ask your boss for a raise, what’s the worst thing that can happen? Your boss would fire you, right? The poor stop here and starts worrying. The Rich don’t stop here… They go on to think about how likely it is for the boss to fire them. They look at his personality, mood, likes and dislikes, desires for company, etc and see how they can use that information to reduce the odds of the worst-case scenario.
- Finally, they check whether the outcomes of the worst-case scenarios are worth the risk. If yes, they go ahead with their plan. If no, they make safety nets to catch them in the event that the worst-case scenario comes to pass. As the adage says, “to fail to peruse prepare is to prepare to fail’ If you’re building a skyscraper, you don’t buy harnesses when you’re on the 30th floor. Rather, you do that before you even lay the first brick. You might eventually not need the harness, but it’s better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it
3. Ignore Process at Your Own Peril
We live in interesting times where we are so event-focused.
Someone posts her marriage pictures on Instagram? Event.
Someone launches his book? Event.
Someone earns $1m per month? Event.
Someone graduates from the University? Event.
Unfortunately, our focus on events leaves us overwhelmed because we’re comparing the struggles of our day-to-day lives with the climatic events of other people’s lives.
What you don’t see on social media is this…
The number of heartbreaks the married girl suffered before she met her prince in shining armor. Process
The seasons of writer’s block that nearly drove the celebrated author to depression. Process
The loan that the business dude needed to Kickstart his business and is still paying back in installments. Process
The student who burnt the midnight oil for 5 years. Process
On social media, the more you look, the less you see. The valley is crowded because they do not realize that a picture on Instagram is only telling a part of the story.
The truth is simple: You only know yourself.
Stop comparing yourself with others because you don’t know what they are doing behind the scenes.
4. Begin With the End in Mind
There’s power in vision. There’s power in being able to get a peek into what God has ordained you to accomplish with your life. When you’re able to catch a glimpse of the magnitude of your destiny, you can’t help but be very deliberate with whatever you do with your time. Once you have a glimpse of your destination, you can’t help but be focused.
Sadly, the valley is crowded because the vast majority of people have the eyes of their hearts blinded.
As I mentioned in my book “The Aggregation of Marginal Gains“, journaling is one powerful tool that can help in keeping your vision/destination consistently at the back of your mind.
The perks of engaging in this habit – particularly at the beginning of your day – are very rewarding.
You are able to start your day with remarkable energy because you have something to live for.
You are motivated because you have something to look forward to.
And if you keep at this, it’s only a matter of time before you start achieving phenomenal results!
5. Something More Important Than Money
In my book, You Too Can Be Free, I emphasized on the fact that after the sin issue had been settled, the root of all our problems is knowledge.
You don’t have a money problem, you have a knowledge problem, and your knowledge problem is reflecting in your mental models and mindsets pertaining to every aspect of your life. This is the story for the vast majority. And this is yet another reason why the valley is crowded.
If a computer hard drive is virus-infected, and you keep on changing the monitor, the performance of the computer will still be poor. In the same way, if you take stock of your life to this point and you don’t like what you’re seeing, maybe it’s time to admit that what you’ve been doing isn’t working so you can try something else.
That’s why Paul of Tarsus advises us to engage in an exercise he called “renewing your mind”. You need to deliberately change the way you think in order to attain the results that God has ordained you to have from the foundations of the world.
God has done His part. Would you take responsibility and do yours?
6. Delayed Discounting is Your Biggest Downfall
“If you cannot immunize yourself from the temptations instant gratification, you will be hard-pressed to find success in health or wealth. Both demand a lifestyle shift from short-term thinking to long-term thinking. This is the only defense to lifestyle servitude… When instant gratification entices you to bite the bait…you become a causality…” – MJ DeMarco
At the beginning of 2019, I shared a short course where I mentioned that the year will yield phenomenal results for high-status individuals. I also explained the tool that can enable you to attain that level is increased willpower.
If you’ve read my book, The Aggregation of Marginal Gains, one thing I hammer on, again and again, is how easy it is to stand out today because of the sheer amount of people leading mediocre lives.
The valley is crowded and there’s ample space at the top.
However, to climb out of the valley, you need to be able to harness your willpower to escape the mediocrity that instant gratification brings.
You need to set your face like a flint and make a commitment to place more value on the potential that God had placed within you, as well as the destinies attached to you.
You owe it to them to be the best version of yourself possible.
And how are you going to do that? By the proper use of willpower to escape the temptations of instant gratification
7. Be Ruthless With Your Biggest Asset
When your outlook on life is from an abundance perspective, you’d realize that we’d never arrive at a point where we’d exhaust money. The worst that could happen would be that the Central Bank would print more cash.
When all is said and done, the true equalizer of life is time. The valley is crowded because the vast majority of people fail to recognize that time, not money, is your biggest asset!
It doesn’t matter whether you’re Black or White, Christian or Atheist…
You’ve only got 24 hours in a day.
That’s why the wealthy are very aggressive with their time.
It’s not pride.
It’s not personal.
It’s just an elevated awareness of the abundance of money and the scarcity of time
How have you been disrespecting time while hoping to make money?
Take stock of your life and make the necessary arrangements.
8. Clarity of Perception Isn’t Far From Perspective
We live in interesting times where more and more people are trapped within the quagmire of consumerism. For many people, as soon as their monthly salary/ weekly wages come in, they embark on a mindless shopping spree for either thing they cannot afford or things they don’t need. Needless to say, this contributes greatly to why the valley is crowded.
Interestingly, the wealthy understand that the very things that make you rich are not things. Rather, wealth comes when your perspective is first of all elevated from that of the common man. With this perspective, you realize that in the gold rush, your best bet is not to join the masses digging for gold in the valley…but to sell shovels.
Remember, you don’t have any other problem but that of organized knowledge. Little wonder Jesus said, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free”
9. Appreciate the Power of Systemic Thinking
If there is any story that emphasizes why the valley is crowded, it would be the mythological story of the Pharaoh and his two nephews.
So, once upon a time, two nephews were commissioned by their Pharaoh uncle to build two mighty pyramids. As a reward for completing the task, there would be riches and luxury until the rest of their lives.
The first nephew started hauling large stones to his building site. The people of the city hail him as a great hard worker. At the of the first year, the first nephew had completed the base of the pyramid while the second nephew is yet to lift a stone.
By the second year, the first nephew realized that he needed more strength to lift rocks to the next level, so he employed the services of the strongest man in the city to assist in lifting the rocks. On the other hand, the second nephew had not even started clearing his land.
Then, at the beginning of the third year, the second nephew arrived at his plot of land with a powerful machine that is capable of lifting heavy rocks with minimal effort. By the end of the week, the second cousin had finished the foundation of his pyramid – the same foundation that took the first cousin nearly a year to build. Then by the end of the 40 days, the second cousin as arrived at the same level as the first cousin who simply worked hard.
Needless to say, the second cousin finished his pyramid in record time – while also having spare time to engage in scholarly works and other creative inventions. The first cousin, on the other hand, never finished his pyramid because he died from a heart attack as he continued to toil lifting heavy stones.
So, which are you? The first cousin who spends his time toiling on a system that doesn’t work… Or the second cousin who spends his time building an efficient system that allows him to achieve more in less time?
10. Ignore the Law of Effection to Your Peril
There’s a concept referred to as The Law of Effection, which states,
‘The more lives you affect in an entity you control, in scale and/or magnitude, the richer you will become. Affect millions and make millions. The amount of money you have (or don’t have) is a direct reflection on the amount of value you’ve provided (or not provided)’
I think that’s self-explanatory: The more value you create, the more money flows towards you.
The valley is crowded because everyone is consumed by self-interest. No one wants to bring value to the table. Rather, everyone is a default money-chaser.
When you have a money-first paradigm, money seems to run away from you. As Napoleon Hill said in Think and Grow Rich, money has to be wooed like a beautiful damsel.
People don’t walk into the street and ask the first person they see to marry them. Rather, they become acquaintances, then friends, then they become romantically involved, then they court, get engaged, and then married. It’s a value ladder where every step makes the next step easier.
In the same way, if you want to woo money, you have to learn how to be a value dispenser everywhere you go.
Check the Bible, check the history books, carry out your research on the internet, you’d find an unmistakable pattern – money flows towards incessant value.
It’s not personal. It’s just the law of Effection at work.
So, how can you get the Law of Effection to work on your behalf as you gradually inch your way out of the valley?
It’s simple.
You see, many times we take our differences for granted. We’re so familiar with our uniqueness that we forget how they make us stand out.
Something that is second nature to you is the answer to another person’s prayers.
Stop waiting for an audible voice from the skies to strike you with innovative insights.
God has commanded you to dress and keep your Eden.
Why? Because that’s where your food will come from!
Go out there and be a solution provider in your environment.
Are you already thinking about how you can partner with this law? My book, “The Aggregation of Marginal Gains” is an important tool that will provide you 5 key areas where you can start dispensing immense value.
11. There’s Something Bigger Than Ideas
The valley is crowded because people naturally have a tendency to be loss averse. That means if there’s any chance of them losing time, money, effort or resources in any activity, they would run away from it. There is security in being loss averse.
The successful on the other hand are freaks of nature. They are not loss averse because of one important factor.
They see failure as feedback!
That’s why the wealthy are almost paranoid about execution.
They understand that there’s a learning curve in everything new, so they want to fail as fast as possible. They want to make the mistakes as soon as possible. By doing this, they are able to separate the gold from the dross and home in on the variables that work.
The poor on the other hand are there, folding their arms in the valley, waiting for the planets to align before they get their hands dirty.
Then when they eventually someone else executing their ideas, they complain to all who care to listen, “Ah! They stole my idea again”
Don’t be this person!
So, how can you be the person that is ready to get your hands dirty as quickly as you can?
Break the ginormous task down into smaller baby steps.
The valley is crowded because many people have a syndrome I call Difficulty Intolerance where they are extremely sensitive to the slightest difficulty.
As I shared in The Aggregation of Marginal Gains, the ability to fall in love with learning difficult things quickly is a superpower that would put you head and shoulders above the rest.
The poor and unsuccessful don’t know this. That’s why they are stressed and overwhelmed by difficult things. That’s why the valley is crowded and will continue to be.
People in the valley prefer to hang out on social media and continue scrolling down their news feed to infinity.
That’s the easy path of least resistance.
The Rich and successful think differently. They are not overwhelmed by difficulty. Rather, they think and act strategically by breaking down ginormous tasks to actionable chunks.
You too can do the same.
