Rejecting a message without scrutinizing it

When I published the first book on greatness at the end of 2017, I expected lots of buzz and excitement, at least from underdogs around me. I was wrong. Deaf silence!

Out of curiosity, I reached out to some of my book readers’ to know their take on the new book. Many told me they didn’t get time to read the entire book. I didn’t buy the reason, though. How come all the readers of my previous books got busy simultaneously? There must be something they’re not telling me. I then decided to further push some of them with the hope of squeezing out the very reason why they’re not reading the book. Fortunately, a few dared to tell me the uncomfortable truth. What they shared can be summarized in one statement: they didn’t resonate with the message.

I didn’t take this generic feedback at its face value. I probed further by asking follow-up questions. The revelation stunned me. Though I thought the greatness message was appealing and presented it so that anyone from anywhere would find it palatable, I didn’t achieve my goal. It didn’t click, at least for those people I talked to! Let alone invoke excitement or touch nerves; they didn’t even read the book beyond a few pages. The book’s promises in the first couple of pages weren’t appealing to them. They thought I was out of touch and living in a bubble. One of the readers lamented, “While we’re trying to survive and make ends meet, you talk about becoming great. I’ve got many problems and immediate needs I’ve to take care of. I may come back in the future when I get a breathing room to read the rest of the book.”

Though they used different words to express their disinterest, they all agreed that the message was irrelevant to the state where they were in life. One person complained, “Assegid, this book may excite other people who aren’t in the same situation I’m in. You wrote this book for a different audience. People like me, we are trying to survive.” These few conversations were very revelatory.

I felt bad momentarily. Nonetheless, I immediately recognized what was happening. The problem wasn’t the message nor the people who read the book per se. The culprit was the culture that conditioned them from childhood that they meant just to survive. I know the power of culture and how most inhabitants of a given culture are blindly loyal to it without even knowing it. It is so powerful that it sits in the driver’s seat of one’s mind and drives the person's aspiration, attitude, behavior, decisions, and actions. Knowing the controlling power of culture (subculture and family psyche), I didn’t judge them. I sympathized.

They dismissed the message without even fully understanding it. They didn’t bother to check it out, let alone dig deeper and do their homework. Without researching and investigating to see if what I was talking about in the book gave any sense, they deemed it unworthy of their time and attention. That is what happens when someone is conditioned. This thing happens, most of the time, at the subconscious level. You reject anything that doesn’t align with what you have repeatedly told. That was what happened with those readers I chatted with. They lowered their bar and accepted that they meant to prioritize survival. Unconsciously, they admitted that they were unworthy of greatness and found my book irrelevant and out of touch.

Many are victims of their own cultures

By the way, this wasn’t new to me. More than two decades ago, back when I was still in my hometown, Harar- in the Eastern part of Ethiopia, I tasted the brutal tyranny of culture. When I began sharing the lessons I learned from the great ones and encouraged people around me to aim high and become their best selves, most rejected the message immediately. They dismissed it without even hearing me out and asking any questions. More than the words they used to dismiss the message, their accusatory tone in their facial expressions and non-verbal were harsh. They didn’t say it verbally.

But, I could read from their look and demeanor asking, “He is one of us. Why does he talk about greatness? Doesn’t he know who he is and who we’re? We’re poor. We are meant to survive one day at a time. Talking about an aloof concept like this doesn’t satisfy my hunger and quench my thirst!”

Who blames them? First, they never heard anyone who looked like them (me) talk about success and greatness. All the influencers in our village and town never talked about becoming your highest self! Second, nothing in me and around me sounds and feels great, so they were questioning why I was advocating something I hadn’t yet experienced in my own life. Third, while we were all struggling to survive and living life one day at a time, they couldn’t comprehend why I was wasting my time and, most importantly, theirs by talking about ‘nonsense.’

Some were even unfriendly, while a few went too far. The latter did cut ties with me. They also tried to isolate me from everybody else. Some of them badmouthed me and did many ugly things I don’t want to mention here. I resented and wondered why people so close to me went that far to hurt me. I was asking myself, “Why are they so mad? I didn’t do anything bad or ask them to do anything harmful. I was just sharing what I learned, which is what relatives and friends do. I cared and didn’t want them to miss the life-transforming insights and stories I was exposed to. I was doing a favor here!”

To be sure, that was then. Looking back, that was a blessing in disguise. If I had stayed in the same counterproductive relationships for a while, slowly but surely, I’d have returned to the norm, and you wouldn’t have heard of me at all. I forgave them a long time ago. They didn’t know better. They were cultured and conditioned to think, behave, and act the way they did. No hard feelings.

For your information, I met some of those who had rejected the message a few decades ago in the US and when I went back home for vacations. I even talked with a few about the good old days and our arguments. We had fun! None of them treated me the way they did back then. They could see in their own eyes the message paid off. They could see how far I’d come. Many of them confessed that they couldn’t believe I was the same guy in that village a few decades ago. Some attributed the transformation to luck. It wasn’t luck!

That said, I didn’t expect the same pushback I had more than two decades ago in the US following my first on greatness, which was published at the end of 2017.  In the US, one of the richest countries in the world, I didn’t expect people to lower their bar that low and pushback against this message. If someone who lives in the US, the land of opportunity, struggles to have a possibility thinking, where else on earth can the person believes that there is a chance for them to succeed if they pay their dues?

The message works for everyone

Don’t misunderstand me here. My message works for anyone from anywhere. Look how far I’ve come from one of the poorest villages in Ethiopia!

Truth doesn’t have favoritism. It doesn’t change with location, altitude, or distance. Anyone, from anywhere, can become great if they:

·  Develop an ‘I can, and I deserve’ mentality by dropping some disempowering beliefs and incorporating a few empowering ones,

·  Take quantum actions based on those empowering beliefs,

·  Build high-performance habits,

·  Learn to grow continually,

·  Become resilient and endure till the end, and so on. By the way, this is the prime message of this book. We will talk about this more.

Do you see which race or ethnicity you should belong on the list? There is also no preferred geographic location enlisted. You don't also see anything about which Ivy League universities you should attend, your IQ level, what exceptional talent and gifts you should have, and so on. Therefore, please note that I’m just sharing my frustration against people who have relatively better options in the US but fail to tap into the relatively better opportunities they are presented with.

To be sure, I’m not naïve. I know how hard life is and the multitudes of barriers people worldwide face. Earlier, I was just making a comparison.

Compared to many other countries, people who live in the US have a relatively better chance of pursuing their individual passion and achieving greatness. Otherwise, like every other country, the USA isn’t perfect. Minorities and immigrants in the US must make so many additional efforts and go the extra mile to succeed compared to those who are part of the mainstream. However, being part of the US mainstream, such as white and male, doesn’t license someone to be great without paying their dues. On the other hand, though their numbers are few, there are many rugs to riches stories of minorities such as Oprah Winfrey, Mickael Jordan, Jay-Z, and Tyler Perry, to name a few. This shows that people who attain greatness come from all races, ethnicities, genders, and diverse geographic, religious, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds.

You see! I was sidetracked and wandered off-topic. But I don’t want to undercut my own message because of the disappointment I faced from some people in the US who were exposed to my message. They have better opportunities than others in other parts of the world with limited options. Otherwise, even if their numbers are small, there are great ones in every country and culture, some of whose stories I’ll narrate in this book. They ignored the belittling culturally conditioned voice within. They questioned the disempowering beliefs of their native culture (subculture and/or family psyche). By stopping to live for survival, they vowed to excel and manifest their highest selves by recognizing their unique purposes, tapping into their unlimited potential, and unchaining the best version of themselves.

We don’t have any excuse for not discovering who we’re, knowing our passion, the reason for existence, envisioning, and showing commitment to pursue our purpose until we tap into our unlimited potential and ultimately manifest our highest selves. These few great ones in every culture and nation overcame the same challenges their contemporaries encountered, but that didn’t stop them from becoming the best version of themselves.

Let me come back to the point I was trying to make about why many people may reject the greatness message. The elephant in the room is culture. Seeking greatness is taboo in many cultures, subcultures, and families.

Many people are victims of their cultures. Very few national, community, and/or family cultures are empowering their inhabitants to pursue greatness. Most cultures discourage greatness. Instead, they mold their inhabitants to abide by some limiting norms that have existed for centuries. People in these disempowering cultures focus on survival, staying safe, and remaining average like everybody else in that environment.

If you ask the gatekeepers, king and queen makers, and those enforcing the cultural norms, they don’t see it that way. They have some seemingly golden justifications, at least for them, about why individuals should scarify their individual identities and be like everyone else. They don’t realize that it is possible to take care of one another, defend the common interest, execute the shared goals, and work together for the greater good without molding everyone to think, believe, behave, and act the same. It's unfair to tone down the individual's aspiration and make everyone focus on survival. It is a disservice not only to the individual but also to the greater good.

A given team, organization, and country misses out on the best of everyone when they attempt to create a monotonous citizenry. Without tapping into the full potential of everyone, it is impossible to survive, most importantly, thrive in the 21^st C. If you study those individuals, teams, organizations, and communities that experienced quantum leap and became great, they first changed their habits (individuals) and culture (how things are done within that team, organization, or society). There is no shortcut!

Let me stop talking about culture here. If you’re interested, I’m working on two books. In the first book, I will give some background info about the power of culture and how it is impossible, whether individually or corporately, to experience true and lasting transformation without reforming the underlining culture. I’ll also show you how to create a unique culture for a competitive edge. I’ll dive deep into the second book and show you how to transform your existing culture. Visit our Books page  www.successpws.com/books once in a while to purchase the books when they become available, or go to the bottom of our home page www.successpws.com and sign up for our free newsletter so that you will be alerted when the book is published and to take advantage of promotional offers.

Many are victimized by their brain wiring

You may not relate to my frustration with disempowering cultures. You may live in a culture that fosters the kind of message I’m promoting in my greatness books. Or, regardless of a disempowering national culture, you may live in a subculture and/or family culture (family psyche) that encourages members to become their highest self. Or you used to live and operate in a limiting culture, but you freed yourself from the limiting beliefs of that culture. In the latter case, congratulations! I applaud you first for opening your eyes to see the drawbacks of your culture. Second, for taking a risk and courageously refusing to show blind loyalty to certain aspects of your culture that stop you from becoming your highest self.

Very few dare to examine their respective culture. Most people are blindly loyal and never question it. Even if you point out to them the damning effects of the culture and how that affects individuals and the entire community, it doesn’t matter. They will persecute you. They don’t even listen to you. They may even solicit others' support to gang up on you!

Even if you are free and don’t need it, just bear with me to help many of my readers who may still struggle to embrace the greatness message and take it seriously. Reading this part, however, may help you deal with if some disempowering and faulty beliefs create discomfort at a subconscious level.

By the way, I can’t help people who oppose the message and never read my books. I’m trying here in this section to help those who picked the book but are unable to get inspired, continue to turn pages, and ultimately take action to translate their learning into tangible results. If somebody picks a book on its title that contains GREATNESS, this person would like to be world-class in what they do at a conscious level. They’ve got the intention to unchain their greatness. Unfortunately, deep inside and subconsciously, some might harbor a few disempowering beliefs. In the background, the latter might make them believe they are unworthy of becoming great. These faulty beliefs operate subtly, and not that easy to spot their dissenting inner voices.

If there is any doubt, consciously or unconsciously, about whether someone is worthy of greatness, it is unlikely that this person would take the path I’m putting forward in this book. Even if they do, they may not take it to the end until they unchain their greatness to the fullest. Without their conscious awareness, they resist going all in. Their brain wiring sabotages their progress. They will find some seemingly justifiable reasons why they cannot go to the next level even if their assessment is inaccurate.

Notice, I’m not here suggesting shortcuts and easy steps. One must go deeper. Manifesting one’s highest self requires defeating any remnant disempowering beliefs that may exist at a subconscious level. I’m here in this section arming you with some counterarguments that will help you tone down or even shut up the critical inner voice that attempts to stop, slow, or resist your advance on the spectrum of greatness. Let me share with you my thought process. It may help you if you’re resisting the message consciously or unconsciously. It may also help you experience a paradigm shift in your thinking, go all in, and begin this rewarding journey. Let me show you what kind of thinking freed me from disempowering beliefs. Let me reveal why I strongly believe you’re meant to be great, and you should go all-in until you unchain your greatness.

Even if you’re not resisting the message, you deserve to know my framework of thinking and what I believe at the early stage of the book. If there is a huge disparity between what you strongly believe and mine, no pressure, stop reading further. Just dump the book in a trash can. No hard feeling. Or give it to someone who may consider reading it.

I should be honest from the get-go. I strongly believe that becoming great is the birthright of anyone born human regardless of their race, ethnicity, gender, educational and socioeconomic status. Anyone alive and walking on this planet should attempt to become their best version before they phase out from it. Seeking greatness should be encouraged, incentivized, and promoted in every culture, subculture, and family. In all cultures, attaining greatness in one’s unique way should be the norm, not a rarity.

I’m convinced that every one of us is prone to be great in our unique way during our lifetime because:

1.     Our greatness isn’t rooted in our bodies

2.     Becoming your best version doesn’t require having a superior mind

3.     Your highest self, which transcends time and space, is the source of your greatness

Let me explain.

1.   Our greatness isn’t rooted in our bodies

First of all, let me address the elephant in the room. I don’t believe that our physical body is the source of our greatness. Many people may immediately assume that I’m talking about the body when I talk about humanity's greatness. This is partly because of our cultures. Many cultures associate greatness with certain in-born traits, external looks, and body statures. If you’re a minority, you may immediately withdraw and discount yourself as a potential candidate to be great in that culture. You know well that you don’t qualify the cultural expectations; thus, why listen to me in the first place and try to become great?!

Even if you are among those in the mainstream of a given culture, you may discount yourself if you don’t have special physical gifts and talent. You may downplay your worth if you don’t have a perfectly healthy and good-looking body with vigor. The reality is that very few have such a body. It doesn't last even for those who got lucky with a great body. It ages and loses its beauty and vigor. Thus, if somebody thinks I’m talking about greatness based on one’s physical attributes, they immediately disregard my message. As a result, they don’t have hope of becoming great; therefore, they take the sidelines.

The fact of the matter is that every human being commences its journey in this universe as a microscopic cell in a womb. This tiny DNA evolves into a complex creature consisting of over a hundred trillion autonomous, interdependent, and intelligent cells communicating and working together as one well-functioning entity. Our body is a walking miracle!

It may take us an eternity to fully understand what each part of our body is made of and how exactly it functions. For instance, we barely comprehend how one of our tiny organs- the eye, operates. Regardless of its sophistication and beauty, humanity doesn’t have any competitive advantage that emanates from our bodies. Some animals are more agile than us. They can easily outperform and outrun (fly/swim) us. There are also stronger and more dangerous animals that can easily eat us alive.

Thus, our greatness isn’t rooted in our bodies. The greatness I’m inspiring you to pursue transcends the physical body. We have so many great ones with so many physical disadvantages. They unleashed their greatness regardless of so many physical challenges.

The greatness I’m talking about also has nothing to do with feeding our egos. Ego is closely tied with our physical body, bloodline, and history. It is preoccupied with survival. It is shortsighted and looks for shortcuts. As I discussed in The Highest Level of Greatness book, such greatness is unsustainable and unfulfilling even if one achieves it. We have seen many once great in sports and beauty contests losing it as they age or their influence declines. Such temporary greatness is the lowest level in the book, and I’m not promoting such lowly greatness here.

2.   Becoming your best version doesn’t require having a superior mind

Another stumbling block for many is their mental status. They assume that greatness takes having a superior mind. This is also because of our faulty education systems. They measure their worth based on their brain power. They may feel insecure and inadequate if they’re uneducated, from low-income families, live in inner cities, and drop out without proper education. Taking upon themselves, they compare their mental faculties with other people around them. When they realize they don’t have a high IQ, they immediately think they’re not made to be great.

Interestingly, many great ones who succeeded in the past and even now have been labeled ineducable. Many of them were dropouts finding the education system unproductive to become the best version of themselves. Thus, I don’t believe we have any competitive advantage if we only depend on our intelligence. 

Not so fast. I’m not undermining our minds. Our body is important for our survival and to fulfill our assignments. It helps us, our highest self from within, stay ‘legal’ in the physical universe by obeying the physical laws, navigating through the terrain, and protecting us from the harsh elements in the outer world. Likewise, our mind is also critical for us to transcend into the metaphysical universe, which sustains the physical universe.

In the first book, I encouraged my readers to tap into their minds and envision the accomplishment of their purpose. Many great inventors, some of which I mentioned in the previous book and now in this book, tapped into the quantum universe to bring forth what hadn’t existed in the physical. They invented many discoveries that advanced our civilization because they employed their minds and operated in the metaphysical universe filled with limitless potential and provisions.

That is to say, our mind gives us a little bit of competitive advantage compared to other animals. Again, I’m not talking about IQ here. Every human being begins with a blank mind as a baby, like other babies of animals. But, that empty brain accumulates vast knowledge, processes, and analyzes complex information as the baby grows and taps into the mind and the quantum universe.

Endowed with the frontal cortex and extra neurons per unit, we humans excel in thinking, creating, and innovating more than any other animal on earth. These unique physical features of our brain are the tip of the iceberg. They are physical portals necessary to connect us with the metaphysical universe that other animals don’t have access to the way we’ve. Our mind utilizes laws and principles in the quantum universe to give us an extraordinary edge in this physical universe where we’re underdogs physically.

Because of our minds (which we haven’t yet scratched below the surface), we are the most intelligent beings experiencing quantum leaps in the physical universe. But we shouldn’t forget that though we had the hardware (brain) and the software (mind) installed in our skulls when we joined this universe, we were in caves and laboring for centuries, competing with other animals and fighting with mother nature for survival. Thanks to our ancestors' progress in evolving mentally, we left the caves. We have advanced our civilization by living a comfortable life our ancestors never dreamed possible. What is more, as we continue evolving mentally, we’re aiming to colonize other planets. Still, our true greatness isn’t because we have a superior mind.

If we confine ourselves in the quantum universe alone, we can’t fully tap into our human potential to the fullest. When you review history, most great ones went beyond their mind. From reading their biographies, most of them went beyond the physical and metaphysical universes. You, too, can do the same! You have what it takes. It doesn’t cost you anything you cannot afford. Built-in, you’ve what it takes to navigate in the metaphysical universe.

3.   Your highest self is the source of your greatness

If our bodies and minds aren’t the sources of our true greatness, you may ask, what else is there?

We may have different religious backgrounds. We may have some differing spiritual beliefs. However, I hope we may agree that humans are conscious beings able to transcend space and time. I’m among believers from diverse religious backgrounds who believe that we’re primarily souls that think and live in bodies. I firmly believe that our eternal soul emerged from eternity into time and space in this generation to accomplish assignments unique to her.

The soul being spirit cannot survive in the physical universe. Let alone operate to fulfill her assignment on this planet hostile to spirits. She needs a body that obeys the physical laws and a mind that understands and uses the principles and formulas in the metaphysical universe to overcome physical challenges, solve problems, create, and innovate. Unfortunately, many people lose sight of the real deal within. They consider the bio-suit or the thoughts and imaginations in their minds as the main things forgetting these resources are just meant to serve the soul- one’s highest self.

It is sad to witness many people primarily serving the body and the ego's interest, sacrificing the needs and assignment of their soul. No wonder why the great ones became extraordinary as they primarily served their souls' assignments. They were selfless and visionaries. On the other hand, the majority in their respective generations remained ordinary and average. Conscious or not, they were preoccupied with attending to their temporal bodies' needs and pursued the ego's selfish agendas.

The soul gives every human being a unique fate. Unlike humanity, every other creature has a fixed destiny. They have foreseeable futures, from microscopic beings to grander creations like the sun. Every creation has built-in intelligence. The latter operates in the metaphysical. The intelligence within each creation, including those we consider non-living, dictates how they perform their functions in the physical universe by following the physical laws. Even if animals are more intelligent than plants, they have been only making slow and insignificant evolution in the physical and mental realms that have been almost the same for centuries. These evolutions only helped them to adapt to the ever-changing physical universe. Those who failed to evolve went extinct. They could not reengineer their genes, rewire their brains, and inherit whatever they learned to the next generation. They were doomed!

Humanity has evolved faster and transmitted evolutionary data to future generations through genes and cultures. We evolved in our minds in the metaphysical universe so much that we have easily ruled and governed nature and other creations in the physical universe. Sadly, our spiritual evolution is so slow that humanity isn’t yet where it is supposed to be. We are still primitive compared to where we would have been if we evolved enough spiritually the way we’ve been evolving mentally. But I’ve faith in this and coming generations. I hope many in this generation will push some boundaries and further tap into our unlimited mental and spiritual potential by continuing to evolve mentally and spiritually so that the human race may experience a quantum leap jump and evolve to the next level of civilization.

A quick note. Though humanity has been tapping into the metaphysical via our minds, schools don’t want to acknowledge this. Most schools apply material science and believe that there is only matter, which can be perceived by our sense organs, neglecting the mind. Only self-help books and some unconventional schools outside the mainstream school system entertain concepts such as the existence of the mind. 

Nonetheless, most self-help books focus mainly on how to master using our minds to achieve success. Very few touched on the importance of tapping into our spiritual side. The reason is obvious. We haven’t yet evolved spiritually as we did in our minds. We don’t yet understand many spiritual laws, let alone use them to our advantage. Still, I’m sure that the more we evolve spiritually, the more wisdom we gain. And this is my hope that, in the future, many self-help books will empower us to evolve spiritually and tap into the power of the spiritual universe. For now, just trust me when I say we are greatness material primarily because of our souls. We’re spiritual beings.

The great ones manifested their highest self because they evolved both mentally and, to some extent, spiritually. They realized what Pierre Teilhard de Chardin did: “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.” Our being spiritual and having human experience predisposes us to be great. We shouldn’t allow cultural and scientific limitations that keep us in the physical and metaphysical universes alone. We should understand that we are limitless. The great ones were evolving mentally and spiritually. That was why they transcended the physical and metaphysical and functioned in the spiritual realm. You, too, can do the same! You were built to function this way. You have what it takes within.

It is unfortunate that the objective reality on the ground paints a totally different picture. Rather than each one of us becoming great in our own unique ways and tapping into our limitless potential, we compete unproductively. I’m not talking about healthy competitions. A competition that is not based on our competitive advantages and uniqueness is unhealthy and counterproductive. Worst, we fight bloody wars like animals. It is unfortunate and beneath who we truly are at our core.

We’re endowed with unlimited potential, not because of our bodies and mental faculties alone. Our mind enables us to transcend matter and the metaphysical to design, create, and bring forth those things that had never existed in the physical. Mind shapes, molds, and overrides matter. All the things we have been creating and innovating came from the unique capabilities of the mind. Everything that hadn’t been part of the original creation process didn’t exist physically until the inventors and innovators saw them in the metaphysical universe using their minds. We don’t need to be inventors or innovators to be great. But, we must see in our mind’s eye the accomplishment of our purpose. We must tap into the limitless metaphysical universe that can fund, support, and sustain our purpose.

What is more? We should also free our souls- our best versions, from within. Without acknowledging and cooperating with our spiritual identity, we cannot unchain our greatness and become our best version. Sadly, many faulty beliefs prevent us from taking this journey, which the great ones took. If we desire to unleash our highest self (the spiritual self), we should first deal with faulty beliefs and incorporate empowering ones.

Faulty beliefs are coming in the way

Regardless of our glorious destiny, it’s saddening to witness many unable to claim their birthright of greatness. Faulty beliefs come in the way of making the vast majority of humanity:

·  Think that they are biological accidents,

·  Feel that they’re their bodies and thoughts,

·  Acknowledge only matter and what they can see, touch, hear, etc.,

·  Compare themselves with animals,

·  Believe that they are ordinary,

·  Consider themselves not worthy of greatness.

Hence, they:

·  Live as fugitives than royals,

·  Walk as wanderers without a clear purpose,

·  Settle for mediocrity,

·  And finally, leave the planet unceremoniously.

I couldn’t be silent

By now, you have figured out why I cannot remain silent. I can’t walk away from evangelizing the greatness of humanity. I’m passionate  about demystifying faulty beliefs and letting everyone on this planet know that they are:

·  Highly favored, more than any other creation,

·  Chosen to manifest the greatness of their Creator,

·  Predisposed to shine,

·  Wired to have an undeniable impact,

·  Crowned like royals to be kings/queens on earth,

·  Appointed for signs and wonders in this universe,

·  Predisposed to become great and leave an indelible mark, the current and future generations will remain appreciative.

I’m glad that you’re still with me on this journey toward unchaining your highest self. Let’s jump in and talk about the Unchain Your Greatness model.