Breaking Free: Releasing the Old to Embrace the New

I want to share a hard truth about growth that others may not tell you: the life you desire in the future is going to cost you your current one.

It’s going to cost you your comfort zone. It's going to cost you peace. It will cost you certain family and friends, certain activities, and familiarities.

But if you desire to reach new levels, you need to accept these truths. The sooner you do, the sooner you can close the gap between where you are now and where you're headed in the future.

The best part is that everything you “lose” won’t truly be lost. What you gain will propel you forward. It will be just outside your comfort zone, helping you grow into the person you're destined to be. You'll gain new friends who not only like you but also love and respect you. What you lose won't compare to what you gain as a result.

In Dr. Henry Cloud's book, "Necessary Endings," he stated that endings are necessary for new beginnings. On the Pathway to Progress, this is the first truth you'll need to come to terms with for your new beginning.

Four barriers keep people stuck reliving the same experiences:

1. Not letting go of people, places, and things that keep them stuck.

2. Not letting go of things that refuse to change and grow.

3. Not letting go of good things that are out of alignment.

4. Not letting go of their comfort zone.

Without an operating system or the correct one, you won’t know how to prune the wrong things from your life. Pruning means cutting off or cutting back parts for better shape or more fruitful growth - to cut away what is unwanted. Do you have a process for removing, cutting off, or cutting back things to help continue on a pathway of progress?

If not, it’s okay because today, I'll share a pruning operating system that will be vital for your present and future.

The Pruning Operating System

The objective of this system is not just cutting people off—if you think that, you're wrong.

Pruning is understanding that growth requires things to end. It's about you, your time, resources, and limited energy. It's ensuring that everything, especially your top priorities, gets the best of you.

The pruning operating system revolves around these four things:

1. Vision and personal calling statement.

2. Mission and values.

3. Personal standards.

4. Your priorities.

If you don't know these four, no worries, we’ll cover them in the newsletter soon. Just remember this statement: pruning based on the outcome (vision) you want in your life.

Pruning requires you to do three things extremely well:

1. Focus a majority of your attention and mind on things relevant to the four areas above.

2. Block and reduce things that aren't relevant to your four areas of priority.

3. Keep your focus and attention to produce desired actions for progress.

Remember, if everything is important, then nothing is important. There are specific levers and things you must do well daily to achieve your desired future. You'll only discover these things through attention and focus.

Whatever has your attention and focus—has your life…

The pruning operating system is designed to free your focus on what is necessary and predetermined by you.

It encompasses everything you deem worthy and necessary for the life you want to have and build. It's about redirecting your energy, resources, and time toward things that will give you the greatest return.

To operate with focus and attention, spell out no more than three priorities. These priorities aren't the only things that matter, but they're the things that matter most.

Example of a family priority:

Family

• Vision: To be present, create loving experiences every day, and be one with my wife.

• Mission: Communicate daily, listen effectively, have weekly date nights, and speak life to all family members with love.

• Values: Encourage daily positive communication, create intentional moments for laughter and communication, respect and listen to each other, plan outings to strengthen family bonds.

• Personal Standards: Never bring work home, find ways to serve others in the home, communicate throughout the day, never take family for granted.

This is a basic level depiction of a family priority. Anything that would detract from this priority is ripe for pruning. This is why pruning is vital for growth. Without a pruning operating system, you'll soon find yourself with more things than time.

Remember, attention and focus are key—You can do anything, but you cannot do everything.

The most challenging aspect of the pruning operating system is evaluating people.

You'll quickly learn that the statement "your net worth is tied to your network" holds true. Most of life's blessings and curses will be linked to the relationships you maintain.

There's no skill quite as valuable as evaluating the people in your life. It's not just about assessing them, but also discerning who deserves your time, energy, and resources. This doesn't imply you're better than anyone. It simply means not everyone will add value to you, and vice versa.

You must decide where to allocate your time, energy, focus, and attention concerning people. With the information presented here, determining where your time, energy, and focus should go should become more straightforward.

When it comes to people, remember: quality over quantity.

Right now, you probably have three types of people in your life, and they fit into these categories:

1. Those who have a negative impact on you and the four areas discussed earlier.

2. Individuals on whom you're trying to impose change but who repeatedly show they're unwilling to change.

3. People who are good to you but are currently out of alignment with your direction.

Most of us can identify someone who fits into one of these categories. The issue arises when, nine times out of ten, we're still investing the same amount of time, energy, and resources into these people as we do with our priorities. By not letting go, we hinder everything else trying to enter our lives simultaneously.

Regarding pruning, you'll discover that less is more when you have higher quality within that smaller circle. The less time spent trying to push people forward allows you more time for personal growth and being around individuals who energize rather than drain you. Reducing time spent with negative individuals results in greater energy and a better quality of life.

In Conclusion…..

Without a plan, it's hard to know what to let go of. That's where having a system comes in handy. It's about having a clear idea of what you want, what matters most, and what needs to go to get there.

Deciding who to keep close and who to let go can be tough. But remember, it's more about quality rather than quantity when it comes to people. There are these three types of folks: those pulling you back, those not changing, and those who don’t quite fit where you're heading.

Trimming down your circle can actually give you more time to grow and be with folks who lift you up. Spending less time with negative vibes means more energy for a better life.

It's not an easy system, but it works. Letting go doesn’t mean losing; it means choosing what's best for your future. This system helps you figure out what's worth holding onto and what's better left behind.

So, remember, when you're starting something new, it's about making space for what really matters. It's about taking steps toward the life you truly want. And sometimes, that means making tough choices about who and what stays with you on that journey.