Tony Robbins famously said, “Proximity is power.”
Out of all the great wisdom Tony has shared, this might be perhaps my favorite.
The reason why, is because it affirms the truth that we are all a product of our environment.
And I don’t mean the environment from our childhood – although that’s probably the environment that holds most people back and keeps them stuck.
I mean that we are a product of the environment that we choose to put ourselves in now. Each and every day.
The reason some people seem to constantly reach their goals, while others don’t is because they apply this principle.
They put themselves in proximity to the people and things that make it more likely to achieve their goals.
And I want to teach you how to do the same thing. To learn how you can use proximity to reach your goals, keep reading.
3 ways to use proximity to reach your goals
Make a vision board
Okay, depending on your level of exposure to and experience with personal development, you may or may not have just rolled your eyes when you read “make a vision board.”
I get it. And if you did, no worries. I’m not telling you to take time to make an overly extravagant useless piece of wall art.
Nope.
I’m talking about creating an energetic relationship between you and what you want.
See, the intention behind creating a vision board is for you to be able to be constantly reminded of and in proximity to your goals.
How many times have you set a goal only to forget about it? If you’re like me, probably a lot.
Life happens. And if we’re not intentional about setting up ways to constantly remind ourselves of our goals, it’s easy for them to take a backseat.
But, again, that’s why some people seem to always achieve their goals, while others don’t – because they don’t let their goals take a back seat. EVER!
When you make a vision board, there are a few key things to keep in mind:
Only put things that are actually important to you on it
It’s called a “vision” board for a reason – because it’s supposed to be a reflection of how you envision your dream life to be. So don’t waste your time putting things on there that you don’t actually want. Doing that will create a negative emotional relationship with something that’s meant to create a strong positive emotional connection.
Put goals from all areas of life
One of the biggest mistakes people make when making vision boards is only accounting for a few areas of life (typically monetary and material things). The problem is, if you actually create that vision in your life (Which is the intention behind doing it in the first place… duh!), then you’re setting yourself up for a life of imbalance. Enter every old wealthy dude who hates his life. That’s why you want to be sure to account for all areas of life on your vision board (Health, relationships, finances, career, spiritual/personal, family and friends).
Put the board somewhere you’ll see it everyday
Obviously, this entire article is about proximity, and the power that it has to help you achieve your goals. Well… then that means you need to keep yourself in close proximity to the vision board that you create. Ideally you put it somewhere that you’ll either see if first thing when you wake up, or shortly thereafter. You also want it to be in a place where you’ll see it multiple times a day. That’s extremely important, because repetition is key to building belief. So the more you’re exposed to your goals and dreams on your vision board, the more emotional connection that will be built. And emotion, my friend, is the driver of action.
Creating a vision board and following these 3 guidelines will create an environment where you have constant contact with your goals.
The one key I didn’t mention above, is to actually take time to consciously review your board each day. These are you biggest freakin’ goals for Pete’s sake (sidebar… I still have no clue who the heck Pete is!), so take time to connect with them each and every day.
Being able to do that will allow your subconscious mind to create new beliefs about your ability to achieve those things, which will make it much more likely that you will.
Write down your goals daily
To piggyback off of the first strategy of making a vision board, the second way you can use proximity to help you reach your goals is to write down your goals daily.
One big key to keep in mind is that you want to write your goals from a positive of power – like they’re happening.
Most people go wrong by writing their goals from a position of want or wishing. They’ll start our their goals, whether writing or talking about them, by saying something like, “I want” or “I’d like to.” Problem is, wishing is not a strategy for success.
You have to take ownership of your goals. Write them with some confidence, as if to say, “damnit, I’m making this my reality!”
So, rather than writing something like, “I’d like to become one of the top
in the world,” I could rewrite that as, “I’m becoming on of the top coaches in the world.” Which one of those expresses more personal power and ownership over your goals?
One is written as a wish. The other is written as a statement of fact.
When you write your goals, you want to write them like the latter.
Another reason why writing your goals daily is important is because it allows your RAS (Reticular Activating System) to go to work making them a reality.
To keep this as simple as possible, and not nerd out too much on you, your RAS is basically an attention filter. It allows you to only focus on information that is relevant to you.
It is the reason you can be in a crowded, noisy place, and clearly hear someone across the room say your name. Obviously you name is important to you, so you RAS is hyper-sensitive to hearing your name.
It’s also responsible for phenomena like seeing cars similar to the one you just bought, even though it felt like you never saw them before. They were always there, but they just weren’t important to you, so your RAS filtered it out.
When you write down your goals daily, you’re telling your RAS, “Yo, this is important to me!” Then your RAS can start to work it’s filtering magic and start making you aware of things that can help you achieve your goals.
So start writing those goals down daily, from a position of power, so you can start to reach them.
Surround yourself with people who have what you want
Okay, we’ve covered some great ground so far. And if you just do the first two things I mentioned, you’ll definitely increase your chances of reaching your goals.
But, this one right here… this is next level use of proximity to help you reach your goals.
We’ve all heard the saying, “Your network is your net worth.” Well, there’s a reason it’s stuck around so long… because it’s true!
There’s no greater influence on you being able to reach your goals, than getting around people who have already reached it.
I love how Ed Mylett describes the power of proximity when it comes to your network. He says that we all operate at our own temperature in life. Kind of like how most homes average about 72 degrees, we all operate at a certain success temperature in life.
Well, the people we hang out around either elevate our temperature or lower it. If you’re typically an 85 degree-er in the area that you’re trying to achieve a certain goal, then you don’t want to be hanging out with 70 degree-ers in that same area.
No… you want to be hangin’ around 100 degree-ers, or 110-ers! Those are the people who have already achieved what you want.
Don’t miss this… because like I said, there’s nothing more impactful when it comes to reaching your goals than the people you choose to be in proximity to.
Like Jim Rohn said, “you become the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with.” So, if you want to reach certain goals in your life, you best be certain you’re keeping in close proximity to people who operate at a higher temperature than you!
Putting it all together
Do you see now why I said that Tony Robbins was right when he said that proximity is power? It’s amazing stuff.
And the best part about it, is that you’re in control! So many people feel helpless when it comes to reaching their goals, not realizing that there’s so much they can do on their own to move them closer to them.
Are there other things that go into reaching your goals? Yea! Like taking action. But that’s a no-brainer for someone like you.
I wanted to give you a few hacks that you can use in your life right now to start using proximity as a weapon for your success.
Let me know below which one of these strategies resonates the most with you.
Be UNCOMMON!