“There’s not a snowball’s chance in hell that you’ll advance here in this company. Your worldview is not your friend, and it makes you your own worst enemy.”
My new client’s dismay was evident as he shared his annual review results with me.
“I was too embarrassed to tell him that I didn’t even know what a worldview was, much less what mine was.”
This was clearly a young man, hoping to advance and have a great career at his company. I admired his apparent dedication to advancing through the ranks. But I also empathized with his feelings of being lost at best, with no clue of what to do to step up his game, in order to achieve the advancement he deeply longed for.
Whether it be a professional matter, a desire for an excellent relationship, financial matters, or a health concern … our worldview has everything to do with … whether we do or whether we don’t … move forward toward our hopes and dreams.
What is a worldview? It has been defined as:
- An explanation and interpretation of the world and applying this view to our life. In simpler terms, our worldview is a view ‘of’ the world and a view ‘for’ the world.
- The set of beliefs about fundamental aspects of reality that ground and influence a person’s perceiving, thinking, knowing, and doing.
- One’s philosophy, philosophy of life, mindset, outlook on life, formula for life, ideology, faith, or even religion.
Where does our worldview come from?
- Our exposure to our parent’s view of the world while we are children (or other primary caregivers)
- Trauma that sets our worldview in stone
- Media
- Life experiences
- Faith, religious, and spiritual experiences
Worldview as a topic that almost never comes up. I’ve never had a conversation at a dinner party or social gathering of friends, and had someone chime in and say, “Hey … let’s each share our worldview!”
I get that it sounds a bit nerdy, but that’s the kind of dinner conversation that lights me up. A healthy worldview cannot be overstated and is well worth taking center stage as a topic anytime, anywhere. Our worldview, known or unknown, is what sets all our 5 senses into motion on a daily schedule! And that’s whether we want to acknowledge it or not.
It’s concrete consciousness and unconsciousness.
It’s how we …
See.
Hear.
Taste.
Touch.
Feel.
Experiene.
Perceive.
Interpret.
The world.
Our world.
Is there anything we can do about our worldview?
ABSOLUTELY!
“Be transformed by renewing your mind.”
Wisdom proverb written to Romans
What is a worldview made simple?
It’s how our mind and heart view the minutes, that shape our hours into days of fulfillment, our days turning our months into one step at a time victories, transforming our hopes and attitudes into mountain moving years! Or exactly the opposite! I all hinges on our worldview!
We have complete influence on our worldview. The challenge is that most of us never assess our worldview, or even know what it is, or don’t take the time, and/or perhaps we just decide: “What’s the use?”
Yet it’s a big deal. Because our worldview is how we process our every moment … and how we navigate our way through life. It effects everything … every day!
I asked my new client if he would be interested in hearing the worldview of Champions, so that he could evaluate his own. And make appropriate changes in his worldview, to successfully navigate his way to advancement in his career.
He was eager and excited about the possibility. I hope you will be too! Here are some of the top worldviews Champions adopt.
1. TODAY IS AWESOME … AND THE BEST IS YET TO COME.
“I love the sound of that, but that just hasn’t been the story of my life,” my client confessed.
With a smile, I leaned toward him with compassion, because our worldviews truly do direct our lives. So I had to ask.
“When you consider how you look at each day, and how you look to the future, what are the thoughts come to mind?”
He ducked his head just a bit, obviously, ashamed of his coming response, “How do I make it through another hard day. And avoid the next bad thing that might happen!”
It was almost heartbreaking to hear this, but I knew I had to keep probing, so I asked, “And… has your life lined up with that worldview?”
He nodded in agreement and reported that he was always friendly to the clients and customers, and he had a secret hope each day that things wouldn’t go the way it usually did … very poorly.
It was so consistent with the statement of many young men and women, longing to be Champions, but trapped in the ongoing results of a worldview that predicts anything but fulfillment, success, or greatness!
My blessing/my challenge … on my journey … is simply this:
Guiding every heart to an awakening moment! To see that their view of the world, had little or nothing to do with them (which could be a good thing or a bad thing). But when they see and discover it, then they can make it have everything to do with them in an empowering, productive way!
I explained to him that most Champions are not just born with this worldview. As a matter fact, most Champions originally picked up the worldviews of their parents and their great hopes and dreams remained flat, just like his.
When we truly understand, accept, and embrace that our worldview is within our control, we can make major life changes in a very short period of time.
I remember the first time I began examining my worldview about each day of my life and my future. Mine was filled with huge roadblocks and hurdles to any path that would create a quality of life.
My worldview was based on being good enough, or sometimes perfect enough, to have good things happen to me. As for my future, it was pretty lousy, because I had a long history of falling short of perfection or achieving the ridiculously high bars that I had set to consider myself ‘good enough’.
I distinctly remember the moment that I had the realization that my worldview was in my control.
Although I didn’t understand that “a worldview” was the phrase to describe the situation, I realized that my life would go about the way that these deep beliefs guided it to go.
I was reading one of Tony Robbins early books, Awaken the Giant Within. I realized that not only was my life hard because of what I believed, but that I could change it.
He gave instructions about how to drown out your old beliefs and install empowering new beliefs. He talked about movement being important.
I was inspired, so with that in mind, I started running on the little country road that I lived on. I was deeply committed to making the change. I remember running hard and fast and I felt like there was lightning in my bones.
I was reciting the things he had instructed aloud, yelling at the top of my lungs! Expecting transformation as I dismantled and dismissed my old worldview and installed a new empowering one.
Over an hour later, I felt it sink deep in my heart and my soul. This new worldview was mine!
Suddenly, I looked around, and I had no idea where I was. But it didn’t matter, because for the time in my life, I knew it was an awesome day, and that tomorrow would be even better!
I prepared my client for the exercise, and as he left, I prayed he would do differently than what many do. Which was to do more than just think about it. Because thinking about it will not bring about change. There’s no transformation in that. I prayed that something would happen to him as it happened to me that day that I made the change that turned my life into something totally different than I ever dreamed it could possibly be.
What about you?
What is your worldview about today?
About tomorrow?
Next week?
Next month?
Next year?
Because that’s how your life will go.
If your worldview isn’t powerful and empowering … press pause right now.
Identify the old and cast it out. Identify the new and install it.
Get in motion and order the old to go (I told mine to go to hell). Tell it that it has no place in you. That you no longer embrace it.
Then install the new with great determination, by proclaiming it aloud again and again till you sense it falling into your very soul!
You can do this.
2. THERE IS STILL GOOD IN THIS WORLD, AND I WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THE GOOD AND EXPECT MORE OF IT.
“In my home we followed the worldview of the Christmas song … You better watch out you, better not cry, better not pout I’m telling you why … And real heavy on the ‘watch out’ vibe!”
I laughed because I see that worldview often.
Then he added, “Or perhaps it’s more from the world of Chicken Little… The sky is falling! The sky is falling! The insanity is you grow up believing negative is perfectly normal?!”
He continued, “Yeah … I also grew up believing that the world is a very scary place. There’s nothing good left like it was in the ‘leave it to beaver days’. And as far as contributing good to the world … I never quite understood it, but I heard often how that ‘no good deed goes unpunished’.”
I laughed again, because I remember my dad saying to me once that doing good for others is like spitting in the wind.
If these are popular worldviews, is it any wonder that we live in a world where so many want to keep to themselves, do nothing good for others and brace for the worst?
True Champions believe that there’s much good in this world. And because they set the RAS (reticular activating system) in their brains to searching for the good … they find it.
Not only do they find it, but their commitment is to add to the good in the world daily.
Recently, someone asked me how many hours were spent weekly on my blogs. Counting me dictating it, me doing a brief edit, then sending it to my top shelf power editor, it probably equals anywhere between 10 and 20 hours weekly.
The follow-up question was: “Why would you do that and just put it out there for free? Do you think anybody even reads it?”
I chuckled because I knew the worldview behind that.
But I simply responded: “I don’t know how many people read it, but whether anyone reads it or not, it’s my contribution to our great world.”
I didn’t take offense to the rolled eyes that I got in response, because I knew that it was a wonderful person I was speaking with, we just have two very different worldviews.
My client mused as I shared this: “I wonder what difference adopting that worldview would have on my career path?
With a big smile I responded, “Well, it sounds to me like you have absolutely nothing to lose!”
What about you?
What do you believe about the good in this world?
What about ‘you’ contributing to it?
Almost always, when I present this to my clients, they remind me of school shootings, tragic losses of a space shuttle and astronauts, the horrible war in the Ukraine, etc.
Yes, those all exist. My heart breaks for each and every one of those situations. But I refuse to allow those things to color my worldview.
You deserve to have a worldview about the good on this planet. I promise you, and research proves, if we set our minds to that, the good heavily outweighs the bad.
And even on days when it doesn’t seem to be the case, your contribution of good to the world could be the very thing that tips the scales!
The ‘health’ of our worldview effects all 5 senses!
- Seeing each day with grateful opportunity, which creates vision
- Hearing the morning sounds of life brings strength from those joyful sounds
- Tasting the goodness of daily bread turns each moment into enough, which is more than enough
- Touching a life with what we have turns our lack into treasure
- Smelling the roses along the way … for that’s how worry dies
Get a healthy worldview, my friend! Life is sweeter!
3. EVERYTHING I DO AND SAY HAS AN IMPACT, SO I WILL SOW GREATNESS IN WORD, CHOICES, AND DEEDS.
True Champions stop, think, look … before reacting or responding … to ensure that their motivation is to be ‘present,’ For they live knowing every moment matters. They take every opportunity in choices, word, and in deed to contribute to the greatness of others and to the greatness in their world.
I asked my client how he viewed his impact on the world. His response was one I hear often.
“Oh, umm … I’m just me. Uh … I’m just a young man trying to get my life together and climb the career ladder. I don’t think what I do or say has much impact on others in any way.”
I asked him, as I’m asking you, “Has there ever been an opportunity that came before you to help someone, a family, a group, the community? And you participated in that and saw great results?”
At first, he had the facial expression of a deer in headlights who had no clue what I was speaking about. But I could tell by the lateral movement of his eyeballs that he was trying to access something.
He said, “I’m not sure I’ve done anything, but something like that happened to me when I was a little boy.”
I nodded with interest, so he would continue…
“I was riding my bike, which was the only possession I had of any value. Actually … it was a P*O*S of no value, but to me it was everything. It was the way I could get out of my house, and ride as far away as possible.”
I nodded and waited as I could see him visualizing a very painful moment. This mattered.
“I’d just crossed the street, and the man in a truck was turning into the west sun and did not see me. He ran over the back part of my bike and crushed it. I didn’t get hurt or anything, so I guess it was OK.”
I was stunned and I asked, “It doesn’t sound like it was OK to me? It sounds like that little bicycle was your only way to escape something very difficult at home?”
I leaned forward with concern and waited.
After a moment of silence with pain numbing his face he continued, “Yeah, when the drinking started in the afternoons, whoever was closest got the razor strap. And they got it good too!”
Trauma takes a toll on all of us. And it does this ‘one thing’ to us all!
Trauma’s ‘expertise’ is tangling our hopes and dreams into a pile of neuronal ‘brain threads’. Full of mixed signals that we had to create in order to simply survive. To create for our souls a sense of normal. Trauma creates the perfect manifestation of … let’s find the needle in the haystack … and then makes us believe.. . oh by the way … good luck!
Buried deep beneath this maze of cress-crossing neuro signals is your gift. The real you. But the trauma infused subconscious noise on repeat in your head is how you’ve learned to see and hear the world. It’s your worldview on life support. And… it’s not your fault!
But it is our challenge to change and heal our view of living and doing life in this world. And how we see, smell, taste, touch, hear our world is how we function and thrive in it … or die trying.
I believe that one of the sure ways of discovering the Champion within, starts with us paying attention to the constant reoccurring thoughts looping inside our head. Thoughts that keep saying to us …
“I’m not living up to my potential”
“I know I’m good at ____?____ ”
“The life I’m living is not my dream”
“I’ve just got to try this”
“How do I start?”
“Life’s too short”
“It’s time” etc.
This is the voice of the ‘who’… you were meant to … it’s Your Champion!
Simply put, it’s that one thing we’ve always thought we could do or become …
And then doubt if we can …
And then think we can all over again …
And then again think we could never become it …
And then think we CAN again and again and again …
It’s the cycling call of abundant life, to our Champion within, calling us to the journey of finding our bliss!
But it’s buried under piles of tangled electrically active neuronal threads, carrying both the I can signal (Champion stuff) and I could never do that signals … trauma based stuff. Beneath this is the call to that one thing we can never shake. That’s always been there.
This scene from the long-ago movie ‘City Slickers’ a scene with the late actor, Jack Palance (aka Curly) and Billy Crystal, who’re both on horseback, is a Champion moment for Crystal’s character.
“The secret of life boils down to this,”
Curly says pointing his index finger upward,
while his thumb keeps his fingers in a partial fist.
Crystal’s character responds,
“What?!
A finger?!”
Curly laughs while he speaks through his partially closed mouth while keeping his half spent cigarette perfectly balanced, lit, and smokeable.
“No … that ONE THING,” Yells Curly!
Then with mentoring disgustm with his index finger still pointing up, Curly quietly shares.
“The secret of life comes down to just one thing. You stick to that and everything else don’t mean sh*t,” Curly laughingly exclaimed!
“So that’s it?! Well, what’s that one thing,” Crystal’s character asks?
“Ohhhh … that’s for you to find out and do,” Curly said with riding off!
Champion resurrection time!?
WHY?
Somebody needs to see, to taste, to touch, to hear, to feel YOUR gift!
The gift you long to pursue and be … your Champion call! It’s time to have a worldview with you doing what only you can do in it!
********************
“So, I’m guessing that your crushed bike meant you were trapped in danger to some extent.”
He nodded as tears escaped his eyes.
“The old man was very kind and made sure I was OK. I told him I was fine, and the bike was no big deal. He asked me if I lived nearby, and I told him I lived over across from the basketball hoops at the school.”
“I walked my bike home and then hurled it into the dumpster at the school.”
“A few days later, I saw the truck again. I waved at the old man and kept walking. He pulled up beside me and said: ‘Hey young man, peek in the back of my truck.’ There was a brand-new fancy bicycle back there. He unloaded it for me. I thanked him profusely, telling him he didn’t have to do that.”
“As he put the tailgate up in his truck, he came alongside me on the sidewalk as I was admiring the brand-new bicycle. He put his hand on my shoulder and said something I didn’t understand at the time. He said, ‘Just pay it forward someday … just pay it forward’!”
More tears were flowing as he commented, “Maybe that’s why my life has not turned out well. I didn’t pay it forward because I didn’t know what it meant.”
Softly, I asked him, “Do you think you might find an opportunity in life to do that now?”
With the half smile, he commented: “If I take on the worldview of Champions, I bet I can!”
What about you, my friend? What is your worldview? Is it a worldview that brings you the exciting, fulfilling, adventurous, joyful, and peaceful life you desire and deserve?
If not, may I encourage you to look at your worldview. You are in complete charge of it, and from a healthy worldview, you can have a great life you’ve always wanted.
My client did indeed pay it forward. Because of the impact the bicycle experience had on him, he did a “bicycle drive” for Christmas. He and a group of volunteers went down to the inner city and gave trucks full of bicycles away to kids.
Not only that, but on his next review, he was promoted and awarded a hearty raise. He made the decision to put the entire “raised addition” to his salary aside in his bicycle fund.
Later, he told me that his boss told him in his review that whatever happened to me that inspired me to do the bicycle drive turned me into a “real Champion!”
“Can you imagine that, Dr. Neecie? He even used the word: ‘CHAMPION’!”
The Champion is in all of us.
Adopt the worldview of a Champion, and your life will move to greater things than you ever imagined. And you will have more fulfillment, joy, peace, and contentment that you ever dreamed possible.
It’s yours my friend! Embrace it and pay it forward!
