The 3 Most Dangerous Words In The Human Vocabulary That Holds People Back From Success

Today I want to talk about the three most dangerous words in the human vocabulary that holds people back from success.

As I've mentioned before, confidence is one of the greatest assets you can have; however, there is a fine line between confidence and arrogance.

The confident person will say, “I can do it,” whereas the arrogant person will say, “only I can do it.”

As you gain success, you have to make sure that you don’t develop an inflated ego, because this can be one of your greatest obstacles to personal development.

If you think that you know everything, than you close yourself off from learning. The three most dangerous words in the human vocabulary are, “I know that.”

Consider the times when you may have used these words. Think back to the circumstances, why you said them, and to whom you were speaking to. Chances are that the conversation may not have ended well.

My belief is that you don’t actually know something until you are doing it. You need to live it in your life and in your business, because if you aren’t implementing what you know, you don’t really know it.

When you achieve success, it is important that you don’t let it get to your head. Humility is a vital component for achieving success in all areas of life. It means staying confident, while putting arrogance aside as you strive to achieve your goals.

Sam Walton, the founder of the largest retailer in the world, once said, “I have probably traveled and walked into more variety stores than anybody in America.”

Even though he was the richest man in the United States, he was also the most humble, because he understood that there was always more he could learn.

The most successful people in the world are always trying to learn and improve.  Don’t let your ego get in the way of earning success.  Understand that there is value in everything.

Watch the video below:

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Video transcript

Hey everyone this is Stefan from ProjectLifeMastery.com. In this video, I want to talk to you guys about something that holds a lot of people back from success, and a lot of people that are already having some success, but they're being massively held back because they could be having so much more success. I'm also going to share with you the three most dangerous words in the human language, that you need to avoid at all costs, that can massively hold you back.  

Now, I did a YouTube video not long ago on confidence and the importance of building confidence and how you've got to have belief and confidence in yourself, in your goals, your vision, and your business. Whatever it is that you want to pursue in your life, it's not going to come without confidence. Confidence is one of the greatest assets that you can have, that all of the most successful people have in common.  You've got to build that.

However, there is a point where the confidence can go a little bit too far. That's when your confidence turns into arrogance, and that's when you develop an ego. That's a very dangerous place, and especially as you gain some success and you make some money, you've got to make sure that, that success and that money, or the result of this incredible body that you might achieve, or whatever it is that you become proficient at, you've got to make sure that, that doesn't turn into arrogance, and that it doesn't turn into ego.

The three most dangerous words in the human language

If you do develop that arrogance and ego, then what happens is you think that you know everything and you close yourself off from learning more things because you believe that you know it all. In fact, the three most dangerous words in the human language are, “I know that,” because as soon as you say, “I know that,” then you're closing off your mind from expansion, you're closing off your mind from learning something new. You see, my belief is that you don't actually know something until you're doing it.

You could know what to do and not do what you know. The only way you really know something is if you're living it every single day, you're living that in your business, because if you're not actually implementing what you know, then you don't know it. You understand it, you might have an intellectual theory or concept of it in your mind, but you don't actually know it until you're doing it.

Oftentimes I see so many people that I try to help and I know I can help, but sometimes the ego gets in the way. The one quality that you also have to develop besides confidence is you always have to be humble. You have to make sure that you realize that you can always learn. It doesn't matter what level of success that you might have achieved in your life, you always have to be open to learning more. You always have to keep an open mind.

You can't close off your mind and say, “I know everything already.”  I'm always learning, I'm always learning from people that are more successful than myself. I'm also learning from people that might be more proficient in a certain area that I can still learn from.  Anyone that's doing something that I want to be doing or that he/she has experience with, I'm always open to.  I don't care if I'm making more money or less money than someone. I don't care if I have more followers or fewer followers. That doesn't matter to me because if they have a value that they can provide me, I'm going to be open and I'm going to listen.

I'm going to take notes. In fact, some customers that I have, I learn from.  I just had one customer share this incredible thing with me who was just starting off on his journey, and he shared with me something that he learned and that helped my business. That's only possible because I have an open mind. I'm always humbling myself. I'm always reading books and hiring mentors and coaches and learning as much as I can.

Sam Walton the founder of Walmart

It reminds me of a great story from Sam Walton who's the founder of Walmart. He's passed away since, but he wrote a really incredible book before he died called, “Made in America.”  Sam was one of the wealthiest people to ever live.  He's a billionaire, and what was most incredible about this man was how humble he was. In fact, one thing that he said is that he would spend more time in his competitor's stores than his own store.

He was always looking for answers. He spent 80% of his time at a competitor store because he always wanted to know what was the thing that they knew that he didn't know. He was always looking for new ideas and distinctions that he could use and implement in his own businesses. I remember one story where he went to Brazil. Sam is this multi-billionaire, nobody knew who he was, he's in a store and he's down on his hands and knees. Nobody knew who he was, they thought he was this crazy old guy, and so they called the police and they arrested him.

Here's Sam, he's a multi-billionaire and he's going to jail.  Nobody even knew who he was.  They asked him, “What were you doing, like why were you on your hands and knees on the floor?” Sam said, “Well, I was measuring the distance between the isles because I wanted to see if they knew something I didn't know.” This is a billionaire that is willing to get down on his hands and knees and has such an open mind and is willing to learn. He's that humble that he's willing to learn from anybody.

I think that you always have to keep that mentality in your business to be successful. You always have to have that open mind and understand that the most powerful way to learn is through repetition. For me, I've been to some seminars, like I've been to Tony Robbins, “Unleash the Power Within” about seven or eight times. Why would you keep going to the same event again and again? Why would you read the same books over and over again? Why would you go to the same seminar or the same program?

Because when I go through a training program, I go through it and then I go back through it again. I take all the notes and I review my notes, because it's not enough just to intellectually learn. You have to make sure you're applying and implementing what you learn. That's the only way that you actually know anything. I want to make sure that I've actually mastered what it is that I'm going through, and I can benefit from it fully.

Repetition is the mother of skill

I've been through the same seminars and again and again because I'm not fully living everything that's taught in that seminar. I'm going to keep going back because I understand that repetition is the mother of skill. Maybe it's something that I know.  The more that I hear it, maybe at a different moment, I could hear it in a different way or I could hear it in a different state, to a different filter, and by hearing it for the 50th time even though I already know it, by hearing it again and again and again on that 50th time, maybe finally then I implement it into my life and I act on it.

Also, sometimes when you're learning things, you're learning things at a different stage of your life.  There are certain things I might have learned five years ago, but learning it today, I might receive it in a different way because there's a different context for my life. I always recognize that and I'm always looking for those one or two ideas. There's always one or two ideas that can change everything for you. Sometimes you go through it again, and you miss certain things or things didn't really relate to you in a different way, but by hearing it again, you hear it in that way, and that idea stands out and it changes your life. That's the real power and benefit.

Oftentimes I might read a book, and I might know everything in the book, but I might just find those one or two gold nuggets, and those one or two gold nuggets can change everything for me. Even for Internet marketing, I've been doing this for years now, and I'm learning the same things I already know.

I already know how to build an email list and do a lot of this stuff, but sometimes I'll hear a little tip, a little nugget, a little piece of wisdom, or insight or idea or a concept, and that one little thing changes everything for me. You have to understand that when you're brand new to something, everything is new. Your learning curve is like this, and the more knowledge that you accumulate, then you're at a different stage, and your growth is more like this, but you have to find those little ideas and insights that can transform everything for you.

You always have to keep an open mind, you always have to be open to learning. For me, there's no such thing as a bad book, a bad program, or a bad seminar, because there's always value if you look for it. Again, even if you already know it and you hear it again and again and again, that's going to integrate what you know even deeper. There's incredible value in that because it will help you internalize that at a much deeper level.

This person is limiting his growth big time

I had one person that signed up for one of my courses and he asked for a refund. He said in the email that he already knows ninety percent of it, and he said, “I already know ninety percent of it and there's nothing for me to learn here.” I engaged with this person a little bit, and I said , “Great, can I see what you've done?”

Maybe I can give you some help, maybe I can give you some advice or feedback and help you grow even further. Sure enough, I did some research on this person.  I was looking at what he built. He had a YouTube channel and a few different things, and I was blown away. I'm looking at what this guy has done, and he doesn't even know less than 10% of what I'm teaching. There are so many things that I was able to see where he's missing out.

He had a YouTube channel and he wasn't even optimizing his videos and he didn't even have a description for his videos. There are so many little things that if he had just had an open mind and actually not closed himself off, it would have transformed everything for him. I know for a fact that it would have taken his business to a totally new level if he actually applied it and would make way more money than what he invested. This guy didn't even have a social media presence, like a blog. He wasn't doing so many things that I teach, and it just blew me away.

This person was making around $2,000 a month. I'm like, man, here's someone who's making $2,000 a month, and no offense to this person, I say this out of love and compassion because I truly care. I truly care about every customer that I have.  I want to make sure that everyone that invests in me, that I'm more invested back in them and I help them make way more money than what they paid, and that I over-deliver and help them get the result that they want.

That's always my passion, my mission, and why I do what I do. But man, you're making $2,000 a month.  I've got to humble this person a little bit.  I'm making around $2,000 every 12 hours in my business. If you don't think there's something to learn here, if you don't think that there's value here, then there's a huge success barrier that's holding you back. This person is limiting his growth big time because of the three most dangerous words, “I know that”.  This is ego and arrogance.

You've got to humble yourself always

You have to always make sure that you are learning and that you keep an open mind. There are personal trainers that help people to build their body. They know all the theory because they've got their certificate on personal training.

There are life coaches.  They have a certificate because they went to a class and they got the certificate. Sure enough, though, this person thinks that they know it all because they've gone to the personal training school and they got a certificate or a life coaching certificate class or whatever it is.  They think they know it all. But meanwhile, they're out of shape. Meanwhile, they don't have the body that inspires people.

Meanwhile, they don't have the life that inspires people.  I don't care what certificates you have. You always have to have an open mind. Just because you know all the theory of working out doesn't mean that you are actually living it, and not until you are, and not unless you have that incredible body that inspires other people, even then you should still have an open mind.

Michael Jordan was so humble.  One thing that Steve Kerr said about Michael Jordan was that, even though he was the greatest, the top in the world, when Michael Jordan would go to the bench and Steve Kerr, who is a bench player, would come to him and say, “Hey Michael, I've got a few little things here that could help your game grow a little bit further”, Michael was all open to that. He was open to all the coaches.

In fact, a lot of his coaches said that one of the reasons why he was so successful is because he was so coachable. He was open to learning from his coaches who were a lot older than him. They didn't have the same skill set, but were able to see things from another perspective, and Michael Jordan was always obsessed with learning and improving his game, that if he could become a micro % better, .0001% better, he'd be all over that.

Don't let your ego and arrogance get in the way

You see, when you're already the best, .001% is a lot at that point. When you're brand new, you can grow like this, but when you're already the best, like Michael Jordan's level, just that little improvement means a lot.  I remember Kobe Bryant, he went to Nike and he wanted them to make this tiny adjustment in his shoe, and I think it was related to weight or something of the shoe, and it was a little adjustment to his shoes, it was such a small minute change to his shoes, but he wanted that little edge, that little .001% advantage that could have helped improve his game just a little bit. The best in the world are always trying to improve, they're always trying to grow. They're always trying to learn things and they have always humbled themselves in that way.

I wanted to share this with you to help make sure that you're on the right track, to make sure that you're always growing, to make sure that you're always learning.  I want to make sure that you don't let your ego and arrogance get in the way of success, and earning even more success.

No matter how successful you become, understand that there's value in everything, and that you can learn from everything, that you should never say “I know that” because that's just BS.  The truth is there's always things that are available there, that if you have an open mind, you can actually receive it. If you have a closed mind, there could be incredible value right in front of you and you're not going to see it because you've already decided to close off your mind.

So, always have open mind.  That's the key component I think that's helped me, helped many other people in the world, and you always have to humble yourself, be willing to learn. Look for those little changes, those little ideas and concepts, because that can change everything for you. Thank you for watching this video guys, I'll see you guys in the next one.