Myths: Introduction

We’ve addressed the 6 Gravitational Laws that inhibit growth. Before I introduce the One Truth that enables us to defy the 6 Laws, I’m going to identify the 3 Myths that routinely seduce and mislead even the most intrepid leaders among us, often without even knowing it. As with the 6 Laws, I don’t present these myths as a comprehensive list. I’ve select these three because of the frequency with which they appear among the people I work with. (I include myself in that group.) Also, I refer to these as “myths” because of their ability to present an alternate reality.

Think of this portion of your Selfship journey as an opportunity to strengthen your immune system to mythologies. As you improve your ability to recognize when you’ve been seduced by a myth, you’ll find you’re better equipped to fight off its infection. Better yet, you’ll be able to avoid its infection in the first place.

Keep in mind also that we can’t blame the myths when we get carried away by them. We’re to blame. We’re the ones that buy into the myth, which provides them with the power to persuade and mislead us. Why do we buy into them? Because we’re in the market for myths. We long for something to deliver us from the mundane, the routine, the weightiness of life. In the language of Selfship, we want relief from the Gravitational Laws, and so we enter the marketplace of myths in hopes that they’ll deliver us.

Myth #1: Inspiration

Much of the world’s greatest art and inventions arose from a person’s inspiration. Look at your own life and you can probably identify numerous examples of things you wouldn’t have accomplished if you lacked inspiration. Undoubtedly, you have people that have inspired you along the way, and people that continue to inspire you to this day. You’ve served as an inspiration to others as well.

Given its contribution to our lives, how is it that inspiration earns its designation as one of the three myths?

I had just finished speaking to about 500 brand leaders from a global apparel company when an attendee approached the stage and profusely thanked me for my presentation. For several minutes she shared how the presentation impacted her as a leader and how she couldn’t wait to share the insights she’d gained with her team. She was inspired.

Let’s look at the anatomy of inspiration to better understand her response. Think of inspiration as a link in a chain reaction that begins with insights. These insights lead to inspiration, and inspiration produces intentions. The audience member gained insights from my presentation, from which she drew inspiration, and formed intentions—“I can’t wait to take this back to my team!"

Intentions are an illusion. They’re a fabrication of our imagination. Without further attention, they’ll atrophy and die. I want to think the audience member acted on her intentions, but what’s more likely is that life’s urgent demands immediately consumed her attention after leaving my presentation.

This all may sound like I’m against inspiration. Not at all. I’m a big fan of inspiration. In fact, at the time of my writing this, inspiration courses through my veins because of a few personal and professional endeavors I’m working on. (Including this one. As I said, inspiration is the lifeblood of innovation, creativity, and our innate human genius. It’s a central element to being human.

I identify it as a myth because of its ability to captivate our attention, manufacture intentions, and then abandon us. Inspiration acts like a drug. We remain in a drunken stupor until reality comes along and sobers us up, eviscerates inspiration, and sends us crashing back to earth. Then we watch an inspirational TED talk, go to a conference, or read a self-help book to find our next hit. The cycle continues as an endless feedback loop.

As I said when we were going through of the 6 Laws, they each share a common goal: they aim to keep you at the same level in your personal growth. Inspiration without transformation is stagnation. That’s the problem with the myths. They all promise to help us defy the Gravitational Laws, but they can’t deliver. Not unless they lock arms with the One Truth.

What’s your susceptibility to falling under the spell of inspiration? How strong is your immune system to this myth? Some of you don’t relate to this myth. Maybe you’re not one that gets swept away by inspiration. Don’t worry. We have two more myths to go. While others of you know exactly what I’m talking about. I would remind you that inspiration is a gift. But if you don’t understand the misleading nature of inspiration it can degenerate into a curse.

Life’s limitations and mundaneness gives rise to our appetite for inspiration. We want to escape reality, and inspiration provides the promise and the illusion that we can. The next myth draws from a different motivation—the desire for control.

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