Unrealogical

Chapter 1 Logic Is the Key to Failure Have you ever stopped to really think about the powerful role logic plays in our daily lives? We’ve been taught from early childhood to look at things logically, equating logic with common sense. Logic is supposed to be our friend, keeping us safe and helping us make decisions. That’s what we’ve been taught, but, unfortunately, it’s all wrong. Logic is actually the key to failure! Whatever your ambition in life, if you’re relying on logic to get you there, you may as well forget it; it will never happen. The bigger the ambition, the less likely logic can play any part in helping you achieve it. Now, I know that might sound ridiculous because it goes against every ounce of your conditioning and defies conventional wisdom. That little voice in your head (which is your logic, by the way) is likely already telling you to put this book down, and stop reading such nonsense. But don’t listen. Hang in there with me. Remember the Coachability Index? Are you willing to learn new things? Are you willing to change? Here’s what we must realize: Logic is simply the accumulation of our past experience and our present knowledge. It’s our history, our experiences, and all the emotions that go along with them. It is the sum of everything we have done and everything we have learned so far. So, how on earth can we expect to use that past experience and present knowledge to do something we’ve never done before? We can’t! Logic will never be able to explain how we are supposed to reach the pinnacle of success, whatever true success means to you. Instead of urging us forward, toward what we want, our logic will do anything it can to keep us stuck right where we are. There will be thoughts of doubt and worry, feelings of fear and anxiety, and an all-out attack designed to make us give up and retreat to the safety of our comfort zones. Don’t get me wrong; logic is absolutely necessary. It plays a big part in our lives, as I will explain later, but it has no place in the pursuit of our dreams. Logic is the key to failure if we rely on it to make decisions about our future—period! Think back over the years. How many times have you had a great idea and then talked yourself out of it because you were scared or didn’t have all the answers? It happens to all of us. It’s normal and natural, so don’t feel bad. But, do you want to be normal? Do you want to be just average? Do you want to be most people? Or, do you want to be remarkable? I think the answer is obvious: You wouldn’t have picked up this book if you were satisfied with being normal and average and staying stuck where you are. It’s time to be remarkable! Remarkable people don’t play in the realm of logic. They discover what they really want to be, do, and have. They dare to dream. They are willing to build big, beautiful, unrealistic fantasies that come from deep in their hearts and souls. Then, they go after them with everything they have. Remember, that doesn’t mean we completely ignore logic. It’s just that, now, we’re going to learn how to use it instead of having it use us. At this point, I expect your logic is yammering in your ear, wanting to know, How on earth am I supposed to believe in a completely unreasonable, unrealistic fantasy? Right? I get it. I asked the same question, and the answer was very surprising. It changed the way I looked at things forever. So buckle up! It’s time to open your eyes to a whole new world. But first, I think it will be helpful for you to understand a bit more about me, so please allow me to introduce myself. My Story – Deb Cheslow I didn’t grow up with a silver spoon in my mouth. I don’t have any super-human special abilities. I’m not a remarkable person. Yet, I’m living a remarkable life and have done all kinds of things that other people would call “remarkable,” but it wasn’t always that way. I had a great start in life, but then—wow—did I crash and burn! I come from a very middle-class family in Baltimore, Maryland. My parents were amazing role models. They both lived their passions and jumped out of bed each day to go to work, thoroughly enjoying their roles in life. Through their examples, I learned several principles very early on that were ingrained into my core. 1. If you make a commitment, —even if you don’t necessarily like what you have committed to—you follow through. 2. Make decisions; you will never have all the information you need to make a perfect decision, so make decisions where you are with what you have. 3. Anything is possible, but you have to take action. You can’t just wait for things to be handed to you. It’s only fairly recently that I have realized that not all parents are like mine. As I was growing up, my parents put absolutely no ceiling on the level to which I could, or should, aspire to achieve. They allowed me the freedom to explore my interests and develop my talents, and they never encouraged me to have a Plan B, to be cautious, to protect myself, or to avoid risk. As a result, I relentlessly pursued my passions in life and never allowed people or circumstances to sway me. The phrase, “failure is not an option,” may be a cliché, but it was truly the motto I lived by when I was growing up. I never even considered what might happen if I failed at something, and I never entertained the possibility of quitting anything. Now, that doesn’t mean that the path to what I wanted was always easy or that I always got what I wanted exactly when I wanted it (because believe me, I didn’t), but I was doggedly determined and passionately persistent in the pursuit of my goals. From the start, I was always attracted to structure and discipline. I suppose that is one of the reasons I did well in sports, earning eleven varsity letters during high school; why I got straight A’s throughout my high school career; and why I was valedictorian of my graduating class. It didn’t necessarily come easily or naturally to me, but I was incredibly disciplined about practicing and studying and was willing to do the work required to be successful. I was teachable, and I reaped the rewards of the structure I placed in my life. I didn’t know about the Coachability Index back then, but, somehow, I managed to keep my score maxed out. When I got to college, I met a lot of people who were also valedictorians in high school, but many of them didn’t even graduate college because they had little discipline, no systems in place, and they didn’t hold themselves accountable. They flunked out of college because they didn’t know how to study and work hard, and because many of them had no idea what they really wanted. They were going after what they thought (or were told) they should want, or they were settling for something they thought they could get. Throughout my teenage years, I followed my heart and dared to dream. As I was formulating the answer to the, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” question, I knew two things: First and foremost, I wanted to be a wife and a mother. Second, I was not going to be content to wait around for “Mr. Right” to show up. I wanted to have a meaningful, exciting career—preferably utilizing math and airplanes—in the meantime. I wanted to pilot the space shuttle!