Do you ever feel like you are just along for the ride in your life? Like all these things are happening and youโve got no say in what, when, where, or why?
Thereโs a lot of things out of our control and when that happens, it makes us feel nervous, lose confidence (maybe even in progress weโve made), and go numb.
Thatโs when you need to tap into your O factor.
And by O, we mean the queen bee herself, Oprah.
If you donโt know Oprahโs story, take a moment and read it here. Basically, this woman came from some of the most challenging upbringings you can ever imagine and made her big dreams and goals happen.
She fought for everything she had. She didnโt get a handout or a leg up…and she found massive success.
Hereโs the thing: everybody has the O factor…we just have to learn how to tap into it. But most of us have some major blocks standing in the way of truly accessing it, so today, weโll dig into how to overcome them and make magic happen.
Wait. Whatโs the O factor?
Glad you asked!
Think of it this way: what makes Oprah be Oprah? How did she come to be somebody so impactful, phenomenal, powerful, and polarizing? What was it about her that made her have so much more success than another person chasing the same path?
Itโs like Steven Pressfield said: โMost of us have two lives: the life we live and the life weโre capable of living.โ
A lot of us feel this, right? Weโre going through the day, getting through the grind, making progress, having setbacks. Thatโs life, right? But deep down, we know weโre made for more…so we spend hours dreaming big, setting goals, and scoping out our dream house on Zillow.
We dream bigger because thereโs another life we know weโre capable of living.
To tap into your O factor is to live the life youโre capable of living. But to live that big, beautiful life, you need to tap into that O factor to blast through the blocks in your way, own your passion, and choose inevitable success.
Block #1: Your Circumstances
Have you ever heard the saying that everybodyโs fighting a battle you canโt see? Itโs true; everybody faces negative circumstances.
The question is do you want to be a victim of your circumstances? Or do you want to tap into your O factor and decide to move past them?
Even if you donโt always quite know what youโre doing, taking imperfect action can be better than taking no action at all. Why? Because the one thing you can control in life is your action.
So even if the action you take today has zero positive results on your life, your business, your family, your health, anything, it doesnโt mean you donโt take the action. It means you do the best you can do. Because then, more often than not, circumstances will turn around and youโll want to be in the best possible position when they do.
Block #2: Your History
Raise your hand if you ever fall victim to what youโve experienced in the past. โOh, this happened to me seven years ago, I know how this plays out now.โ
As humans, weโve been taught to learn a lesson once and never do that thing again so we donโt experience the pain, right? But the truth is, you donโt know how it will turn out this time. You know how it played out seven years ago, but not today.
You canโt keep looking at your past and saying, โI know whatโs going to happen,โ if you want to be an entrepreneur. We canโt allow past pain, mistakes, misconceptions, or poor experiences in the past to define our future. Instead, feel confident walking into the situation with more knowledge than you had before.
Youโre in the driverโs seat. If you change nothing, nothing changes. Be brave enough to take that chance.
Block #3: Your Comfort Zone
Weโre all about comfort over at the Thrivers team, but weโre gonna be real: nothing good comes from your comfort zone.
All youโll get? Stagnation.
Think of comfort zones like a roller coaster. In life, business, pretty much anything, thereโs this dramatic buildup, right? Maybe you go to cosmetology school, meet all these phenomenal people, and love what youโre learning. You get hired at your first salon and itโs amazing. Then that feeling peters off a little and you either get complacent or comfortable in the face that youโll always be a struggling stylist and you decide to cruise…ending up in the comfort zone.
But what happens after the roller coaster hits its peak? It crashes down on the other side six times faster. The rise to the top may take a long time and a lot of work, but the plummet to the bottom can be almost instantaneous.
The key is to never get complacent, to never get comfortable, to never feel like youโve reached the top. There is no โIโve made it.โ There is no comfort zone; thereโs always more.
Thatโs the mindset of somebody whoโs in touch with their O factor and therefore wildly successful.
Block #4: Being Locked into Routine
A lot of us are creatures of habit, right? Healthy habits are a wonderful thing, but being so locked in your routine that you never want to shake it up or push outside your comfort zone traps you into the history of your choices and your circumstances wonโt change.
But if thereโs one thing we learned in 2020, itโs that nothing is predictable. Meaning itโs good to develop good habits, but not to depend on routines.
You canโt be afraid to break out and try something new. Go ahead and shake up your schedule; so what if that one client is mad? Is Carrie being happy because youโre still working nights and weekends more important than your own happiness?
If you put everybody elseโs happiness in front of yours, it wonโt bring you joy. Itโll breed contempt, frustration, and you might even start to feel upset about the industry you chose.
Do you think Oprah was afraid to make choices and shake up her routine? Nope. Neither should you.
Block #5: Solitude
Do you ever feel like youโre totally alone on this journey to success? Like you work really hard in your business, but your coworkers mock you for it? Then the isolation kicks in and you start to question everything.
This block can do you in, even if you break through the previous four. The judgment and isolation of people telling you youโre wrong is so difficult.
Hereโs the honest truth: you canโt build a great business alone. Itโs so important to have somebody you can go to as an allyโnot your partner, not your best friendโfor business support.
Going to your business peers over your personal inner circle means if you explain whatโs on your mind, theyโll totally get it and can give you tangible advice.
Having that network keeps you from straying into the dredges of nobody gets me, Iโm alone in this. So align yourself with people fighting the same fight instead of trying to rally people who arenโt even on the battlefield. Look for stylists and salon owners whoโve achieved massive success, whose goals are like yours.
Because if you are the product of the top 5 people you surround yourself with, why wouldnโt you surround yourself with badass people with a really positive mindset?
Block #6: Fear
If we put the first 5 blocks into a circle, fear would surround them all.
Fear is what holds us back from achieving a big, crazy goal that you arenโt sure you should try for, solely because you arenโt sure if it would work out. Totally get it, but think of it this way: whatโs the worst thing that could happen?
The more we ask ourselves that question, the more fear loses its power.
Think of fear as a gremlin on your shoulder, chatting it up in your ear, pouring in negative self-talk 24/7. Heโs trying to keep you in your comfort zone, in your routine, reminding you how it hasnโt worked out in the past, making you feel like a loser.
But letโs say you ask yourself whatโs the worst thing that could happen and the answer is you could lose revenue. What could you do now to prevent that? How can you save-proof yourself from those circumstances?
Suddenly that gremlinโs got nothing to say.
Feel the fear and do it anyway.
Your O factor is essentially this: feeling all those fears, those blocks, that negative self-talk, and doing it anyway. Step one? Recognizing and moving past these blocks so we can start living our biggest, best lives.
Donโt be afraid to show up being the person you are fully capable of being. Youโve got this.