Unwavering Conviction Fuels Authentic Artistic Expression and Progress

Key Quotes

"hey your conviction just gets tested imagine you're an artist and you spend two three years working on the most important project right whether you're a painter or a musician or you're a writer or you're doing that artistic sculpture or project that you really care about you pour yourself into it two three years and you're just about to release it to the public in in your gallery or you're about to launch it or you're about to finally like show people it it's like it's your pride and joy and someone comes along and says hey i don't like that i'll give you a million dollars to change that to do it in this style versus the style that you've just worked on i'll give you a million dollars would you take it would you change"

Brendon Burchard uses this hypothetical scenario to illustrate the immense pressure artists and creators face when their deeply personal work is met with external criticism and financial incentives to alter it. Burchard highlights that this moment tests one's conviction and the willingness to compromise their artistic integrity for external validation or gain.

"when you switch your brain into progress mode it's a little bit of a requirement to have conviction to have belief beyond what would even seem normal to have conviction in a sense of urgency and a sense of personal power to do what is important to you otherwise you end up with some type of abandoned life a sense of an inner world that says i didn't do my thing i'm not living authentically and that is a great challenge in all of our lives"

Brendon Burchard explains that adopting a "progress mode" mindset necessitates a strong sense of conviction and belief, even when it seems unconventional. He emphasizes that without this internal drive and personal power, individuals risk living an unfulfilled life where they feel they haven't pursued their true path or lived authentically.

"if you want great progress in your life i need you to get obsessed about something i need you to become a little bit maniacal about something i need you to look into the greater details of something so many people in their life they're always skimming at surface levels and because they're skimming at surface levels they never have great leaps of progress there's no innovation there's no bold move there's no deep understanding of excellence or skill set so they advance so slow because they didn't master something"

Brendon Burchard advocates for deep immersion and obsession with one's chosen passion or skill to achieve significant progress. He contrasts this with a superficial approach, arguing that skimming the surface prevents innovation, bold moves, and a true mastery of excellence, leading to slow advancement.

"i don't want it to be written for sixth graders you know because what i was being pressured to and this is important and i was being pressured in all areas of my life like hey some of your stuff brent it's a little it's a little advanced a little it's a little technical you know you're in your frameworks you're in your research you know dumb it down they would say i'm like my audience is not dumb they're like yeah but it's over the head sometimes i'm like good that's that's learning that's coaching that's challenging like of course i want when i learn i want it to be over my head that's the challenge of growth and competency i don't want it to be simple that's entertainment i want to grow that's challenge"

Brendon Burchard describes the pressure he faced to simplify his writing, which he resisted, believing that challenging content fosters growth. He argues that making material overly simple caters to entertainment rather than genuine learning and competency, and that pushing intellectual boundaries is essential for personal development.

"i turned it in to the editor i mailed into them like you print it out like i mailed it in um and this person the editor at this publishing house gets it edits it you know writing on the margins in big red letters and a red pen sends it back and there are pages after pages where the person just crosses out the page in red ink like page after page there are notes in the side of the pages saying this makes no sense are you on drugs uh you know this is you know wacky like it was like it was not a nice they was like you know imagine you get you get your art back there's hundreds of pages basically saying really like literally questioning your sanity"

Brendon Burchard recounts the intensely negative and dismissive feedback he received from an editor on his manuscript for "The Motivation Manifesto." The editor's critique, marked with red ink across numerous pages and questioning his sanity, highlights the extreme rejection and doubt Burchard faced regarding his artistic vision.

"the question is did you artistically live your unique life and stay in progress mode to what matters i want you to think about your passion projects i want you to think about your career i want you to think about where you are headed in life and i want you to stay in progress mode baby"

Brendon Burchard prompts the listener to reflect on whether they have lived their unique life artistically and remained in "progress mode" towards what truly matters to them. He encourages them to consider their passion projects and career paths, urging them to maintain this forward-moving, authentic approach to life.