Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] To live a fully optimized, super awesome life, you yourself have to be fully optimized. I know you have a vision for yourself that's super healthy and fit, happy, successful and prosperous, and you see this version of yourself in some distant future. But let me ask you, what if you started living like you already are? That person right now, today? Hello, warrior Kings, and welcome to the Warrior Kings podcast. I'm your host, Michael Riggs, here to assist you on your journey to unlocking masculinity, manliness and the warrior spirit within and overall leveling up your life. Again, welcome. I hope you guys are doing well wherever you are. I'm feeling good today. It's great to talk to you today. Today we're going to be talking about five things that are destroying your success and holding you back from the success that you want to achieve in your life. If it's your first time here. My name is Michael Riggs. I'm a full time author, artist and entrepreneur. Husband and father of five. I know five kids sounds kind of crazy, but I have five kids. And it's my mission to teach men all over the world how to level up their lives, how to reach success in their lives, in their relationships and their relationships with women, in their lives and overall every aspect of their lives. So if that's not something that you're into, definitely don't subscribe to this podcast. But if it is, hey, stick around because I have obtained tons of valuable information throughout the years doing all of the wrong things and learning how to do all of the right things, and I'm here to teach it to you. So if you're into that, definitely subscribe and stick around. Tons of wisdom that I want to impart on men all over the world. So yeah, thank you for being here. If you're on the video version of this, you can see that my beard is getting very beardly. I'm in love with it. I don't think I'll ever shave again. So. But, yeah, let's not get too off topic here. I want to talk about five things that are holding you back from success in your life, whatever success means for you. Success means something different to everybody, but everybody is seeking some form of success, whatever that thing is to them. And I'm going to talk to you about the things that are holding you back from that today. So without further ado, let's dive right into the first thing, which is procrastination. One of the things that people struggle with the most when it comes to pursuing a dream is simply getting started. And it's easy to get caught up in the preparation. You know, I'll do it when the conditions are perfect, when I feel like I'm ready, when I have enough time. And the truth is, if you wait around forever, waiting for the perfect time, when you're ready to follow your dreams, you'll be waiting forever. One of the biggest pieces of advice that I can give, based on my own personal experience and pursuing many different paths, many different visions, is to just launch, just go and do the thing and be honest with yourself. Are you being a perfectionist or you just afraid to launch? And I feel like so many people get so caught up in the preparation that they waste so much time that they could have taken building that thing, pursuing that thing, building that business, right? Only to realize that when they finally get started, they still have miles and miles to go. Because no matter where you start, no matter when you start, you're starting at the beginning, you're starting at the bottom. And whatever that thing is, it's never going to be perfect right away. You have to learn over time and improve over time. And this comes through experience. I had a friend once who was composing his masterwork. It was going to be the album. He was a musician, and this dude is what most people would consider a perfectionist. He wants everything to be just right, everything to be tuned in and perfect, polished 100% before he does anything with it. So every few months, I would check on him. I would send him a message, a text, or call him, and I would ask, like, hey, how's it going? How's the album going? When's it coming out? When can I finally hear this thing? And every time that I asked him about it, he would respond in a way that would imply that he was just getting started. He was, like, just beginning creating and crafting this thing. And to this day, I have never heard this album. I have never heard this masterwork. I have never heard this amazing album that he was creating. It still doesn't exist to this day. Or at least maybe it just exists in bits and pieces on his drives, but I have never personally heard it, and I've never seen it released anywhere. And for all I know, he's still caught up in the preparation. And you got to ask, is he being a perfectionist, or is he afraid? Is he afraid to launch the thing? Is he afraid of what people are going to think? Is he afraid of any negative outcome from producing and just putting this thing out there into the world? When I self published my first novel, I had no idea what I was doing. I just pushed publish. Then after that, as time passed and I wasn't selling very many books, I started researching and learning what makes a successful book launch, how to make a book successful, how to even sell books, how to optimize the SEO on the books and the keywords and all of that kind of stuff I had to learn over time, like what makes a book successful. And then after publishing several books, now, I've learned everything along the way in that process, and I have a very firm grasp on that business that I built up, which is publishing books, writing and publishing books. If I had spent years perfecting that book, polishing it, editing it over and over and over again, I would have started at the bottom still years after, when I actually got started, because like I said, no matter when you start, no matter when you launch, you're starting at the bottom, you're starting from scratch. You still have to build your way up in that business and learn through experience over time. And this actually happened to an author who was an acquaintance of mine just recently. At first, she published some novels, and they didn't do very well. So she took them off the marketplaces and all that and relaunched the book. And it took her like, one or two years, I don't remember exactly, but she's building this thing up on social media. She's trying to get pre orders, people who will commit to reviewing the book when it launches, when it comes out, so that it'll boost up in the algorithms on all of these selling platforms. And she took so much time in the preparation and making this thing the best that it possibly could be, making this book launch super awesome that when she finally released the books again, they completely tanked. Like, they, she sold almost no copies. Almost all of the people who had committed to reviewing the book on those marketplaces online, they didn't review the book, and the books were already out there to begin with. Like, there was no need for the preparation. She could have just marketed the books and published another book and another book and moved on from there and made this super awesome business around books, kind of like I did. But instead, she got lost in the preparation and when am I going to be ready? When is the right time? Is this thing perfect enough? I got to edit it again. I got to get enough people committing to buying it when it comes out. And wasted one or two years that she could have been building her business, and now she's right back at the beginning where she started. So you have to get started, launch the business, push publish, launch the channel, do whatever it is that you're pursuing. Just get started. You have to start the thing. Stop putting it off. Like, are you being a perfectionist or are you being lazy? That's gonna hold you back from the success in your life, because you have to be doing the thing to be doing it. You have to be building yourself up in that thing over time. It's not gonna happen right away. It's not instant. And that's another aspect of what I think holds people back, is the need for instant gratification. They just say, I didn't spend enough time preparing, or I need to start over. I need to do something totally different, you know, like, you have to start. Just start. And it's going to take some time, but you're doing that over time. Like, if you don't get started, like I said, you're starting at the bottom. No matter when you start, just launch the thing. Go and do it. No more procrastinating, dude. And the second thing on my list of five things that are destroying your success is not believing that you are meant for something more. Do you believe in your. Do you believe that you are meant for greatness? Everybody wants success on some level, no matter what that means to them. And like I said, it's different for every person, the definition of success in their life. But very few people believe that they are worthy of it, worthy of that success. And belief is everything, bro. Belief is how things are accomplished. It's how things get done. If you want to be successful, you have to believe, and believe deeply, that there is a purpose for your life. You have to believe that there is a divine calling for your life. You have to believe that you are meant for greatness. The goal isn't the big house, the cars, the bulging bank account. These are all things that might just be a result of you following your higher calling, the reason why you're breathing. For many who pursue something bigger for their lives, who pursue a purpose, who pursue a calling, who pursue a dream and really go for it, there's always been this deep down feeling, even since they were children, that they were supposed to do something great. They were meant for more. There's a purpose for their life. They're supposed to be something amazing, that they were born for something great. And this is what gives these people the confidence to just go for that thing. And if you don't have this trait where you always felt like you were meant for something big in your life, like there was a reason why you were born, you need to do some self exploration and figure that out. Cultivate that. Cultivate that trait. Cultivate a belief in yourself that you are meant for greatness. You are meant for something more. There's a purpose and a calling for your life. And when you find that thing, pursue it relentlessly and don't give up. Believe in yourself and believe that you were meant for something more. Believe that there's a divine calling for you and a purpose for your life, something that you're supposed to be doing already. Believe that. Believe that it's true. It is. And the third thing on this list is not focusing on personal development. And this applies to every aspect of your life. If you aren't doing anything to improve yourself mentally, physically and spiritually, you're basically just waiting around for a miracle to happen. You have to constantly seek getting better and better a little bit every day in every aspect of your life. To live a fully optimized, super awesome life, you yourself have to be fully optimized. I know you have a vision for yourself that's super healthy and Fitzhe happy, successful and prosperous, and you see this version of yourself in some distant future. But let me ask you, what if you started living like you already are that person right now, today? How much more successful would you be if you really had that daily routine, that daily routine of self care and personal development, the one that you fantasize about that you haven't actually made a plan for and gotten started on yet, that routine that you see your CEO, super optimized self having every single day? What if you actually read those books and did those workouts, you did those prayers and meditations, whatever the things are for you, how much faster would you reach that success that you want out of life? How much faster would you get that if you would just start living like you already are that person right now, today? And if you start living as that super healthy, super successful, super optimized person, are you not already successful? Is that not the definition of success? If you are the best version of yourself possible in every aspect of your life, is that not what success is? Even if the monetary success doesn't just happen right away, if you are your best self, is that not the definition of success? If you are everything that you want to be, and you started living like that right now, today, you just decided to be that person, are you not successful already? Focus on personal development and growth and cultivate a continual growth mindset every day and watch you just watch how much faster things start happening for you. And number four on this list is not believing in a future that only you can see. One thing that always starts happening when you start pursuing a dream, unless, of course, you have just super awesome friends and family is people start beginning to question you and doubt you and question and doubt the thing that you're doing or the thing that you're pursuing, and they'll try to give you advice, and some of them might even act like the thing that you're doing or the thing that you're pursuing is stupid. And the thing is, those same people who doubt you when you make it are going to be the same people who say that they saw the vision from the start. They say, oh, I know him. I supported him the whole time. Those are going to be the same people. They're going to be trying to be your best friend, right? And when you're pursuing a dream, when you're going for it, when you're pursuing anything in life, you have to believe in a future that only you can see. Nobody else is going to see it. You have to see it. You have to know where you're going, and you have to see it in your mind. And even if everybody else around you can't even see it, you have to know where you're going, even if nobody else can see it yet. And for some of you, this really happens. You think that if you were to go for that dream, if you were to pursue that thing that you really want to be doing, you think that it would be a great shame to your parents, to your family. You think that you should be ashamed of yourself for going for something different and pursuing your own path in life because they have pressured you for years, even maybe since you were a little kid, that you were supposed to be this one thing, and that was their vision for your life. But, hey, man, it's not their life. It's your life. When people treat you like you're failing and when they try to make you feel dumb for the thing that you're trying to go for, that dream, when they're trying to tear you down, just start believing that they have no idea what they're talking about because of that future that only you can see. They can't see it yet. It's your vision, and you know that it's gonna work out. You know that it's gonna be true. You know that it's real. Just know that they have no idea what they're talking about. And just look forward to a day where you can say, this was my plan all along. When they ask you how you did it, say, I never had a doubt. I saw it from the start. I knew it since the very beginning when I first went for that thing. Fantasize about that day all the time where you can make them feel dumb for doubting you. In the beginning, people will ask you why you work so hard on something so dumb. And in the end, when you reach that success, they'll say that you got lucky. There is no winning with this type of person. You know where you're going, you know the end game, you know the end results, you know the goal, you know the dream, you know where you're going. And nobody else is going to see it until you get there. Only you can see it. Believe in the dream. Dream that only you can see. You have to see it when nobody else can see it. And you have to believe that it's already yours. And the fifth and final thing on this list of five things that are holding you back from your success and destroying your success is trying to do it without God. You can't, man. You can't do it without God. You need God in your life to reach the success that you want in life. You can't do it on your own if there's a divine calling and a divine purpose for your life. If there's something that you're supposed to be doing, something that will bring you all of the success in the world while helping others, most importantly, serving others, you need God in your life. He is the only thing that can make it possible. Think about it. Can you do it on your own? And if you think you can, you're highly mistaken. You need God in your life when you're pursuing a vision, when you're pursuing a dream. And you know, a lot of people probably clicked out of this podcast episode as soon as I said that because they don't believe in a God or anything like that. But I can promise you, as someone who has gone from a complete nightmare in my life into living my dream life with a beautiful wife, five kids, everything I've ever wanted. I didn't have anything until I had God. You need God in your life if you're going to pursue, pursue a dream. Seek him every day. If you don't believe in him, explore what that means to believe in him. You know, do some searching, do some inner work. You know, the best advice that I can give is start praying. Because before I prayed, my life was a nightmare. When I started praying, everything turned around in my life in miraculous ways that I won't even get into right now. But you wouldn't even believe it, bro. To reach the success that you want in your life, you need God in your life. And I'm going to leave it there. Absolutely critical. Those are my five things that are holding you back from achieving the success that you want in your life. I hope you guys got something out of this episode. If you did, definitely let me know. Reach out to me in the comments on whatever platform you're getting this on. I don't know, man. Find a way to contact me. I would love to hear from you. I'd love to hear that I inspired you in some way in your life, because that's why I'm doing this. It's my mission to reach as many men all over the world with these positive, encouraging messages to be better men in their lives, to level up every aspect of their lives. So again, if that's something that you want to help me with, definitely subscribe and stick around. Share this with some friends. Let's blow this thing up, because this is what we should be doing. Inspire each other, lifting each other up, being strong men. Together, we're growing a strong community of like minded men around this thing, and I'm super excited about it. So again, thank you so much for being here. And I'll catch you guys on the next one. Thank you, guys. Bye.
