Don’t have time to read this short story? Listen to my motivational short audio version below.
When I was 16 my pap took me to take my driver’s test for the first time. He was gracious enough to let me use his little Chevy Malibu (it later became my car funny enough).
The first time I took my driver’s test I showed up all confident and ready to put my hours of practice to the test. I had trained, I had prepared, and I was ready!
The instructor stepped in, buckled up, and asked me a series of questions, which I aced. That meant we were off and ready to go!
My very first task was parallel parking. I pulled up, looked in my mirrors, reversed, and slide the car into the perfect parallel position. Put it in park and awaited my next step in the process.
She instructed me to pull out of the parking lot and hit the road, in which we would do a lap around and come back.
I began to put the car in drive and pull out of my parallel parked spot when I realized the car wasn’t going anywhere. I gave it a little more gas and it slowly crept forward, not moving too much at all. Instead of stopping, I insisted on giving it more gas as it began to pick up speed, enough to leave the spot and head towards to the road.
Something didn’t feel quite right. Before I could even get on the road my instructor calmly said, “Would you like to take off the emergency brake now?”
I felt so dumb.
First, for forgetting it was on.
And secondly, why the hell did I even put the emergency break on in the first place??
After I took it off, it was smooth sailing. I glided down the road, hands positioned at 10 and 2. Hand over hand when I turned. And I even made sure to come to perfect stops at red lights.
I almost forgot what it felt like to drive without it. It wasn’t a good feeling driving with that brake on.
But now I want to ask you this...
Are you driving your life with your emotional emergency brake on?
Are you holding onto any limiting beliefs that are keeping you from gliding and coasting down your metaphorical highway of life?
When I was taking my drivers test, I kept giving the car gas. I was pushing harder and harder to make it go, but something was holding it back. The brake.
In life we have negative images and suffer mental and emotional effects of powerful experiences we haven’t yet resolved and released. We stay in our comfort zones. We maintain inaccurate beliefs about reality or harbor guilt and self-doubt.
And when we try to achieve our goals, these negative images and preprogrammed comfort zones always cancel out their good intentions - no matter how hard we try.
What we need to do to be successful, on the other hand, is not use increased willpower to constantly push the gas to go faster and faster. All we need to do is simply, release the break.
Let go and replace our limiting beliefs, change our self-images, and release the negative emotions we hold like fear, resentment, anger, guilt, and shame.
I had trained so hard to pass my drivers test, yet my brake was still holding me back from achieving my ultimate goal.
All of that hard work I had been putting in was for nothing because I simply didn’t let off the brake.
Where can you let off your brake? Where in your life have you been working so hard but still have the emergency brake on? It’s time to take it off.
This won’t always be easy because it could mean forgiving someone who once hurt you, not forgiving them for your relationship's sake, but simply, for your peace.
It might mean letting go of your belief that you aren’t good enough.
It might mean putting yourself outside your comfort zone and posting more content on social media.
Maybe releasing your break is finally launching the website you've been putting off.
Maybe releasing your break is taking the leap and getting certified in that course you've been wanting to take.
It could mean telling yourself a different narrative about yourself entirely. Instead of saying to yourself that you don’t deserve to be financially wealthy as an adult because you grew up in a home where your parents couldn't afford much as a child, what if you changed that narrative?
What if you told yourself that you can have all the wealth you need to be successful and finally live financially free?
Releasing the brake won’t be easy, but once you do it will be the smoothest, most freeing ride of your entire life.
Enjoying This Content?
Join our weekly newsletter to receive exclusive content like the latest articles, episodes, recipes, and access to our Ultimate Autoimmune Reset™!
