Quantum Leap: It’s Not About Trying Harder…

I first read this story in a short book given to me by John Assaraf, titled “You2 “(squared) by Price Pritchett. It’s profoundly simple and powerful story to help you understand the Quantum Leap mindset. ..

“I’m sitting in a quiet room at the Milcroft Inn, a peaceful little place hidden back among the pine trees about an hour out of Toronto. It’s just past noon, late July, and I’m listening to the desperate sounds of a life-or-death struggle going on a few feet away.

There’s a small fly burning out the last of its short life’s energies in a futile attempt to fly through the glass of the windowpane. The whining wings tell the poignant story of the fly’s strategy: Try harder. But it’s not working.

The frenzied effort offers no hope for survival. Ironically, the struggle is part of the trap. It is impossible for the fly to try hard enough to succeed at breaking through the glass. Nevertheless, this little insect has staked its life on reaching its goal through raw effort and determination. This fly is doomed. It will die there on the windowsill.

Across the room, ten steps away, the door is open. Ten seconds of flying time and this small creature could reach the outside world it seeks. With only a fraction of the effort now being wasted, it could be free of this self-imposed trap. The breakthrough possibility is there. It would be so easy.Why doesn’t the fly try another approach, something dramatically different? How did it get so locked in on the idea that this particular route and determined effort offer the most promise for success? What logic is there in continuing until death to seek a breakthrough with more of the same? No doubt this approach makes sense to the fly. Regrettably, it’s an idea that will kill.

Trying harder isn’t necessarily the solution to achieving more. It may not offer any real promise for getting what you want out of life. Sometimes, in fact, it’s a big part of the problem. If you stake your hopes for a breakthrough on trying harder than ever, you may kill your chances for success.

Price Pritchett”

What I took away from this story is that trying harder is rarely the answer, especially for women entrepreneurs. We have to stop trying and start BEing.

As R2D2 (?) in Star Wars said “Try? There is no ‘try’. There is only Do and Do Not”…;-).

I certainly used that one on my daughters as they were growing up. I use it on myself just about daily when I catch myself saying “I’ll try”.

To get yourself into a Quantum Leap mindset, stop beating your head against the proverbial window and visualize the perfect end result… think creatively about how you might accomplish it instead of just doing things the same way you’ve always done them.

 

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Quantum Leap Women "Just Do It"…

Yesterday, I shared my brand new “Quantum Leap Mindset” talk outline with my best girlfriend and colleague Michelle Anton, and she got off the phone super inspired. When we spoke later on in the evening she announced that she had just booked a 12 city, paid, sponsored speaking tour to go talk about her book Weekend Entrepreneur (!). Now, we both know speakers that have been speaking for years and haven’t figured out how to get one of these gigs.

And this tour didn’t happen overnight, it had been percolating in the background for a couple of months, and yesterday it reached the tipping point.

(I’ll write about exactly HOW it came about in a future post in a few days because that is another Quantum Leap Woman who decided to Just Do It .  The key point to make here is that Michelle has never done anything like this before but that didn’t stop her, she just said “yes”.  And let the Universe take care of the details.

What’s the Quantum Leap for her? Now she can lay claim to “nationally touring speaker”…

The Moral of the Story…Want to make a Quantum Leap? Just Do It!

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Howard Berg, The World's Fastest Reader

I met Howard Berg through my good friend and Xtraordinary Women Mastermind partner, Maria Carter. He holds the Guiness Book of World Records for being the world’s fastes reader.

And he was in San Diego doing a course for the Learning Annex on speed reading. I wasn’t expecting to learn anything new and was I ever floored! He actually teaches a strategy called “accelerated learning” which among other things in this Age of Information Overload helps entrepreneurs read more, faster, and retain more of what they read.

He runs a virtual school called Gateway Prepatory with his partner, Kuni Beasley, and there are 16 year olds using these strategies and techniques to get their Associates Degree before they graduate high school and 19 year olds getting Master’s Degrees! Visit Gateway Prepatory School for more information on THAT.

I recorded an interview with Howard which I’ll upload very soon.

Fascinating, and definitely one of the smartest human beings on the planet.

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