How To Separate Yourself
We live in a world today where knowledge is endless and free. If you find healthy sources, this breadth of wisdom could take you as far as you want to go.
Yet the abundance of information has created a strange paradox. We have more access to answers than ever before, and yet fewer people are truly learning. Noise has disguised itself as knowledge. The line between understanding and imitation is blurring.
That being said... truth is dying. It is becoming more and more difficult to decide if what you just saw was real or true or not. Was it something I should believe or a fabrication of reality?
This confusion doesn’t just live online, it bleeds into how we think, how we act, and even how we define success. When everything looks polished and certain, the courage to be raw and uncertain becomes rare.
Not too long ago, the term "receipts" was an attempt to call the world on its B.S., but it seems to have come and gone. To ask someone to prove what they are claiming has merit to it.
Although this trend seems to have spiked and fizzled....this request is the answer. We need to stop looking to the voices of the crowd and start focusing on those in the arena. Without personal experience… without "receipts," you are just a parrot repeating empty truths. This is the world today...an echo of an echo of an echo.
You have to be the one willing to swing for the fences. To Fail. Fail hard. Fail early. More importantly fail late, and most importantly fail forward.
Failure isn’t a badge of shame, it’s the receipt that you showed up. Every scar, every bruise, every lost opportunity becomes the very proof that you were not afraid to be in motion while others stood still.
You must have the real world experience. Don't get me wrong, there will be a season where false truths dominate. Where the amazing story, whether true or not, will hold people's attention. Eventually people will become fed-up.
On the far side of it, the world will hunger for those that were there. They didn't hear about it. They didn't "know a guy". They did it. They were there. They got the t-shirt.
They’ll speak with a weight that can’t be faked. You’ll feel it when they talk—not because of what they know, but because of what they’ve lived.
In truth, this is the only way you live a healthy and full life. Those who were willing to lay it on the line. To take a chance. To be the one the story was told about… not the one who tells the story.
The protagonist will emerge again…but what does that mean for you?
It means you have to break the mold and kill the tradition. Stop doing the same thing every day, month, and year. Be innovative. Approach your work with the mindset that you have nothing to lose.
I know what you’re thinking .. Janek, I do have something to lose.A family. A spouse. A life built on stability.
Maybe.
Or maybe what you’re really losing is your chance to live.
The fear of losing everything is often the very thing that keeps you from gaining anything. You protect what you have so tightly that you never reach for what could be. The irony is in trying not to lose your life, you stop living it.
True security isn’t found in avoiding loss,it’s in knowing you can rebuild after it. Confidence doesn’t come from guarantees; it comes from proof that you can recover.
Experience is birthed through exposure. You have to be willing to put yourself out there….The key words being…out there.
Start a business in your spare time. Give yourself away to help someone. Stop doing the same thing every weekend. Going on the same trips every year. Take a different route home, go to a different store, start a conversation with someone you don’t know.
This is coming from someone who thrives on routine. Getting in rhythms is where I thrive the best, but those disciplines are what affords me the freedoms to do the things I’m describing. Choosing to put yourself out there and push yourself outside your box is not mutually exclusive to a discipline routine.
Having those systems frees up your mind to be able to push yourself outside your norm. You only get to live this life one time. It's time to actually live it.
Today’s Forced Challenge: I want you to FORCE yourself to attack at least one of these challenges:
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Take the first step: Write down one risk you’ve been avoiding and act on it this week.
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Do something that excites you: Block one hour to work on something that stirs passion, not obligation.
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Say yes to fear: Commit to something that feels uncomfortable but moves you forward.
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Unplug to reset: Turn off every notification for a full day and see how your focus changes.
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Choose aliveness over productivity: Do one thing this week that makes you feel alive, not efficient.
You were never meant to live on repeat. The rhythm of your life was not designed to sound like yesterday. Every new day carries the quiet invitation to start again, to test the edges of what you know, and to see what else might be possible if you just stepped forward.
Freedom isn’t found in abandoning structure. It’s found in mastering it so well you can let go without losing your footing. Build the systems that steady you, then use that stability to take the leap. You only get one life. Don’t let it become a loop.
“Security is mostly a superstition. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.” – Helen Keller
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