Book Appointment Now
Top Performers Believe It Before They See It
You don’t want to be an optimist or a pessimist.
You want to be a realist.
There is a story I heard about prisoners of war and their mindset when they were in captivity.
One of them was a high-ranking officer, a man who survived years in a brutal Vietnamese prison camp. When he was finally released, someone asked him, “Who didn’t make it out?”
His answer was immediate.
“Oh, that’s easy,” he said.
“The optimists.”
That surprised everyone.
He explained: “The optimists were the ones who said, ‘We’ll be out by Christmas.’
And Christmas would come and go. Then they’d say, ‘We’ll be out by Easter.’ And Easter would come and go. And then Thanksgiving. And then Christmas again.”
And slowly, they gave up.
Because each missed expectation broke their spirit a little more.
The ones who survived were not the ones who told themselves comforting lies.
They were the ones who accepted, “This is going to be a long, painful journey. I don’t know when it ends. But I know I will survive it.”
They held two truths at once:
- That their current reality was brutal.
- That they would eventually get through it.
And that paradox – facing the harshness without flinching, while holding onto belief without a timeline – that’s what carried them through.
Taking Ownership of Your Reality
I think about that story often.
Because it speaks to something deeper than mindset.
It speaks to agency.
It means you choose to own your reality.
You take ownership of your reality – even if you didn’t choose it.
Even if the terrain is unforgiving.
And I’ve seen this play out in business too.
Over the years, I’ve worked with top producers – people who eventually became the best in their industries.
But here’s the part most people don’t see:
They believed they were top producers before the numbers said so.
There is a Price to Success Which Must Be Paid
Not in a loud, fake-it-till-you-make-it kind of way.
But in a deep, quiet certainty about who they were becoming.
They showed up like top producers.
That meant treating every prospect – whether it was a 1-room flat or a multi-million-dollar penthouse – with the same level of respect and dedication.
They didn’t obsess over the size of the commission cheque.
They obsessed over delivering solid results and favorable outcomes for their clients.
They planned like top producers.
They made sacrifices, built systems, and made decisions like someone who already knew their trajectory.
They understood there’s a price to success – and they were willing to pay it.
Because the concept of “living into a reality” means this:
Actively choosing the mindset and behavior that aligns with a desired future – even before it arrives.
This isn’t blind hope.
This is conviction through action.
Not waiting for external proof.
But preparing to meet the future you say you want.
This is a form of faith with action, rather than faith without responsibility.
Aligning Your Present Towards Your Future
The most powerful people I’ve met don’t escape their circumstances.
They live into the future they believe in – step by step, decision by decision, without needing external proof.
And somehow, that quiet choice…
to stay in the fire
to keep showing up
to take ownership in the middle of the mess,,,
That changes everything.
Not because the storm disappears.
But because they become the kind of person who can walk through storms.
