Delusional thinking is the enemy of world-class results. The President of Iran, Mahoud Ahmadinejad, has become the new poster boy for this destructive phenomenon. If you saw his speech at Columbia University yesterday, you know what I’m talking about. If you didn’t, prepare to be shocked. What can we learn about delusional thinking from this sociopath? I can’t wait to read your comments on this one! (4:11)
19 thoughts on “Delusional Thinking on Homosexuals and The Holocaust”
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Mason,
I agree with your premise that leaving the vote to middle class thinkers is scary. Of course, a lot of them don’t even vote.
I wish I knew what we should do in Iran. I agree that we have to do something or this maniac will be at our throats eventually.
Glad you’re enjoying the Fat Losers program. Keep staying 100% complient. It’s not worth it to have to face the wrath of Dawn! I should know! 🙂
Thanks for taking an active role in the mental toughness community.
All the best,
Steve Siebold, CSP
http://www.thefatlosers.com
Kenneth,
I agree. I’ve fallen into this trap myself. And sickness is a big business. It’s so easy to kid yourself and fall into delusion of all kinds.
Thanks for your thoughts!
Steve Siebold
http://www.mentaltoughnessmastery.com
Steve,
It’s forums like this that keep those of us professional-but-still-quite-humans from losing track of what we need to do to stay at the top of our game.
Thanks!
Tamara
Steve,
I’m enjoying the blog and your coaching through the Mental Toughness Institute for Weight Control program. I had to comment about middle class thinking and world class thinkers in our world today. Do we think that it would be a safer and better world to let the leader of Iran have Nuclear technology? He is going to have his way if they succeed in getting us (US) out of the middle east. So many of the masses believe that we would be better off not being where we are when we are where we are because of some pretty smart people who are leaders and fortunately are in charge for now. The Democratic process can be laying our trust in the middle class thinkers if they vote.
Hopefully our leaders exercise your “world class” thinking and will keep Ahmadinejad in check.
Steve
Isn’t delusional thinking what most people do with their health? They aspire to a long and healthy life but will not exercise their bodies on a regular basis nor eat healthily. Worst of all many doctors will contribute to the delusion by propagating, that diabetes and high blood pressure are in your genes, almost as if they are an inheritance to proud of.
I wish you well on your new blog!
Kenneth Castiel
Jeno,
Thanks for your comments. Coming from an NFL star like you, I think it gives all of us hope. When will we see the Jeno James Blog? I can’t wait for you to begin sharing your thoughts with the world on what made you one of the best football players. People will be fascinated to hear what it took for you to rise to the top of the one of the toughest professional sports in the world. From the streets of Alabama to the Super Bowl! What a story you have to tell, my friend!
Steve Siebold, CSP
http://www.mentaltoughnesssecrets.com
Steve Siebold
Tamara,
I’m with you. I coach some of the best and brightest salespeople and sales managers in the Fortune 500 in Mental Toughness and I still delude myself all the time! It’s crazy, but I think the first step out of delusional thinking is awareness. I might be delusional, but I’m more aware of that fact than I was before which gives me a chance to alter my beliefs. Thanks so much for your comments on this.
Steve Siebold,CSP
http://www.mentaltoughnessmastery.com
Me? Delusional?? NO WAY!!!
I’ve NEVER had a delusional thought! In fact, I’m a therapist, I’m the EXPERT at avoiding delusion!
Yeah, right!!!!
Seriously . . . . I think that the kind of delusional thinking that has been most hazardous in my own life has been the kind that keeps me thinking that I can do less, that I am less, that I am worth less than I actually am. For example, I was told when I was 7 years old that I don’t have a sense of humor. So, I walked around for the better part of 41 years cracking people up and all the while, thinking I don’t know what’s funny! Of course, professional speakers have to have a sense of humor, so that one was a big hurdle to overcome. Once I realized that I’ve been funny and that I’ve held a delusion that I’m not, I was able to let it go.
So, what comes next? Well, about 8 weeks ago, I started training twice per week with a personal trainer. Now, I had been TOLD that I had Chronic Fatigue and the early stages of Fibromyalgia. WHAT??? I could choose to believe those things or go do something about it. So, I decided since low energy comes from un-stressed muscles, I hired the trainer. The first time he told me that I was going to do 100 situps or 55 pull-ups or 55 push ups or 250 lunges, I asked: “Do you really think I can do that?” He never answered me. He just waited for me to start. And so, I busted my own delusional thinking that I’m limited because of a label someone else threw at me. In my first month, I dropped 3% body fat. Take THAT delusion-creating medical establishment!!
Imagine it, then become it. There is no room for delusion in creating success.
Tamara Johnson
One area of my life that until recently I wavered in delusion then in objective reality, was about my fat. Because I spent the better half of my young life being a competitive athlete, I had a strong, healthy body. When I let myself get into the “corporate” training and development business travel lifestyle in the hotels (with the big meals) and long hours of work, I would gain a lot of fat, then lose a lot of fat. Because I’m genetically gifted with a curvy body, it never seemed to affect my dating life/relationships. However, when I realized how much of an opportunity cost for me personally was going on in terms of feeling 100% energetic and alive, it hit me to do something drastic. On 9/24/07, I joined The Mental Toughness Institute for Weight Control (http://www.thefatlosers.com) and really have made a 100% decision to get rid of this issue of fat once and forever. I even put together a blog to build in a daily routine to stay motivated and inspire anyone else who may be going through the same challenges (http://theslimmichelle.blogspot.com).
Two weeks prior to joining the class, I swam 17 days in a row on purpose to create a sense of daily discipline. It allowed me to lose 4 inches around my waist and 4.5 inches around my hips. That motivated me to be 100% compliance all week. My mind has shifted from delusion to objective reality, and it’s going to stay in reality. I can tell in my day-to-day lifestyle, I’m different and I’m happy for this way of seeing things as a world-class thinker.
Delusion is a waste of energy and time and resources!
Thanks Steve for this great blog!
– Michelle M. Strbich
Wiz Withers brings a huge amount to the table. We go through our “everyday” lives worried about things that seem to be important (at least to ourselves). Then you read Wiz’s comments and you see there is a real world out there and there are some decisions that people make that are truly a matter of life or death.
I am not suggesting that things that most people think about or worry about are not important or real. I am suggesting is that you take away from his story that decisions we make while they are not life or death they can certainly impact another persons life.
As a business owner, if I don’t follow up on something that I am supposed to do, simply because I really don’t want to do it and I am procrastinating. I effect not only my own income (or happiness) but the people that trust me with their livelihood.
Steve,
The challenge here is how do you break through to a person who is delusional. I know I get delusional at times, but I think that I am very open to feedback and seeing other perspectives. It is sooo frustrating to try to help someone who is delusional and will not see any other point of view. It is like an alcoholic or drug addict who do not think they have a problem. Are there techniques for waking people up from their own delusional coma?
Dear Steve,
The path to Mastery is giving yourself permission to be a white belt and stay there and be open for learning until you naturally progress to the next level. Often people give up in their vision because they are stuck on a plateau but a true master learns to love the plateau and embrace it, unless of coarse ,you have a gig lined up with ticket sales and you cant play the song than your just plain screwed!!!
As for comments on Mahoud…..Hmph….. no thanks will not give him that much power. He’s not worth it!
Steve:
Awesome concept! The blog is a tremendous tool not only for yourself but for your listeners as well.
As far as delusional thinking is concerned, I am sure you can imagine that for the millions of alcoholics and addicts in North America, delusional thinking is the ONLY way they think. As a person in recovery from 25 years of “delusional thinking” (A.K.A. denial), I can vouch for this destructive mental process. Once I finally broke out of this debilitating thought pattern, due to a personal health crisis, getting sober and healthy was (and I’m not trying to downplay the necessary hard work) almost “easy.” The sooner you are able to separate the thinker from the thought, the sooner you will be able achieve mental toughness, mindfulness and a greater awareness of your emotions, beliefs and subsequent behaviors.
I look forward to continued messages on this excellent blog!
Thanks for allowing me the opportunity to share my ideas.
Sean
Steve,
In my first career I was a Navy helicopter pilot. I had always wanted to fly, and when I was accepted for Navy flight training I made it one of my goals to be the best “stick” (pilot) I could possibly be.
Once I finished training, though, I thought I had “arrived”. I thought I was top dog, I was the best. I was very cavalier about my flying, and very cocky, without good reason. Then I found myself standing at the end of a long green table – at the other end were six senior Naval officers, including one admiral, and they were NOT happy. I had done something stupid, and they were deciding whether or not I would ever fly again. It was my wake up call!
They gave me a second chance – the Admiral said, “Lieutenant, if you were a cat, you would have just burned 8 lives. So make the last one count!” I completely turned my career around: I flew any and every mission I could. I studied all the manuals until I almost had them memorized. I worked along side the maintenance crews, learning every line, switch and system until I thoroughly understood the aircraft. And in three years I was ranked by my commander as the #1 pilot in the squadron.
That was all nice – but 5 years later I found myself responding to a distress call in the middle of the Pacific Ocean – the captain of a merchant freighter had been seriously injured and needed medical attention. I flew our ship’s doctor over to the merchant ship, but there was nowhere I could land. I had to maneuver the helicopter between two deck cranes and lower the doctor with a hoist. We were in the open ocean: the ship was constantly moving – rocking back and forth, pitching up and down, and the wind was blowing about 30mph – and I had to follow every movement of the ship precisely or my rotor blades would hit one of the cranes and I would crash. I estimate I only had 10 feet of clearance at most. It was 40 minutes of some of the most intense flying I had ever done.
I now know that had I not applied myself during those previous 5 years, I never would have had the skills to deliver the doctor in those conditions and the merchant captain might have died. And today I have the satisfaction of knowing that – because I stopped deluding myself and did what it took to become a truly professional pilot – I helped save a life.
I still am a “master of delusion” in other areas of my life – and I’m working on some of them. Thanks, Steve, for the reminder about delusional thinking!
Wiz…
As a person who has been involved in personal growth for over 20 years I can certainly relate to this. For the past 4 1/2 years as a LifeSuccess Consultant I have been focused on sharing this information with thousands of other people and I have found that everyone regardless of their level of success has experienced this.
More importantly, many recognize it, want change and don’t take action. As you said, if you want to have a band and don’t put in the effort and take the time to practice it isn’t going to happen. Many have watched The Secret and look at it and say “if I just believe it is going to happen, it will”. Well, that’s half the truth, the other part is that you have to take the action steps to make it happen.
For me personally, like many others have put on a few (okay a lot) of weight over the years and like many others I too said “I can lose it whenever I want” and from time to time went on a diet. Recently, I attracted many nutritionists into my life and I realized that I need to take action, massive action. So, I decided that dieting is not really the answer, it was my lifestyle, my eating habits that needed to change. So I hired one of the nutritionist (just like a coach) and she showed me how to make changes I needed to not only lose weight without being on a “diet” but also how I can be healthier.
There are many things you can do to make your life happy, healthier and more productive but it has to start with being honest with the person that means the most … YOU!
Wow Steve I listened to your blog and I can’t believe that I fell into severe delusion.
I’m a drummer and my vision is to be one of the top ten best drummer in the world and guess what? I hate to says this but I’m not practising every single day. Your blog was a huge wake up call to me. I will now start pratising everyday and put in the hours to achieve that goal. I can’t believe I just did that.
Thanks for the wake up call,
Will