This article is part of our series on Next Level Marketing, a movement to replace outmoded and inferior business tactics with their superior, modern counterparts driven by a compassionate ethos. Today we’re delighted to take a look at how our ethos starts with our belief in ourselves and how success can be possible and probable. The next article in this series will talk about our commitment to others, and then our commitment to the business opportunity.
What happens to the person who never believes they are as good as they really are?
ASEA Founder Tyler Norton recently posed the question to his son, a young man just entering his twenties. He gave an insightful response:
I suppose they never reach their potential.
Tyler shared this exchange with ASEA associates during his closing message at ASEA® 2022 Global Convention in Las Vegas. He then continued by sharing the second half of the conversation:
Why do some people not believe they are as good as they really are?
His son’s response:
Because they are either too hard on themselves or too quick to compare their weaknesses to others’ strengths.
An ethos from the beginning
From the truth of that conversation, now hanging over the receptive audience, Tyler proceeded to build a powerful new application of the ASEA Ethos. For those unfamiliar with the ASEA Ethos, it is the core essence, or spirit, that inhabits and guides the ASEA corporation (the body). From the company’s founding in 2010, Tyler Norton has prioritized the teaching and promoting of our collective cultural values—ever insisting that ASEA should have a soul.
With the recently unveiled ASEA brand promise We power potential, there is greater alignment than ever between the corporate entity, its products, and its mission to be a force for good. That overarching brand promise not only describes product and business benefits, but it also provides a principled approach for living a life of significance.
Dimension 1 of 3 in our ethos: How you see and treat yourself
Tyler teaches three dimensions to the ASEA ethos, and we’ll spend the rest of this article focused on the first: how you see and treat yourself.
“If you don’t get this part right, the math problem is never going to add up,” says Tyler. “Let’s be kind to ourselves. If someone were to get in your head and listen to the conversation you have with yourself, would it be kind? Would it be accurate? Would the conversation you have with yourself be subtractive, fair, or biased? I’m convinced this is where success starts. It’s the conversation you’re having with yourself. I invite you to be kind and be a little bit slower to be critical or subtractive.”
Watch out for second-hand maps
When you’re going through life, you may be given what Tyler calls a “second-hand map”: a piece of incorrect or ill-informed information about yourself that can send you off course. “Perhaps at one point your math teacher gives you one that says you’re bad at math,” Tyler shares, “or your coach gives you one that says you’re no good at basketball, and then when you start running off that map for years, it becomes your map.”
The challenge now is to toss the second-hand map. We’re not supposed to take these words at face value without questioning them first! And when we question them, we find out that they don’t really hold up under scrutiny—they’re just someone else’s opinion dressed up as fact.
“The process of discarding a second-hand map starts with forgiving ourselves and then forgiving others,” continues Tyler. “I’m not dismissing real struggles, real damage, and real heartache that has happened, but I do challenge you to discard the second-hand map and move forward. Moving forward is part of our physiology.”
Don’t lose possibility thinking
Possibility thinking is a way of thinking that focuses on the positive aspects of a situation and encourages you to think about what you can do to achieve your goals. For example, if you’re going to an interview for a job, possibility thinking focuses on why you will be great for the position and how you can prove it in the interview. This kind of thinking gives us confidence and makes us feel better about ourselves. It’s also a powerful way to motivate us because instead of focusing on all our failures and weaknesses, we focus on what we can do right now so we can succeed in reaching our goal!
Possibility thinking is about looking at the outcome as something more than just a mathematical probability. It’s about believing that you have the ability to change how things turn out. For example, if you’re trying to get a promotion at your job, possibility thinking might include thinking about what kinds of things would help you get that promotion: studying for certifications and taking classes, networking with people in your field, or practicing speaking up during meetings.
When we allow ourselves to look at possibilities, we are enthused by hope, faith, and positive anticipation; probability thinking tells us that outcome follows a cause and effect trajectory, so we might as well reconcile ourselves to ‘what might happen’ and await the outcome. That we have a choice to cause a change in attitude and thinking is absent.
Success can be possible and probable
Probability thinking is the belief that things are the way they are and nothing more. It’s about accepting reality, no matter how challenging it may be. It’s about being realistic, not dreaming of what could be. It’s about being concrete, not abstract. And most importantly, probability thinking is rational and logical—which means you’re practical!
Probability thinking is based on the idea that outcomes should follow cause and effect trajectories—so if one thing happens, another must happen too. For example, if you study for certifications and take classes and network with people in your field but don’t get promoted, then maybe it wasn’t meant to be. Or maybe it was! Either way, probability thinking doesn’t allow for much room for change; it only allows us to try again until we get it right (or give up).
If one resorts to possibility thinking, the individual will tend to gauge the outcome in terms of ‘what can be’; while one who is preoccupied with a probability approach will compel himself/herself to anticipate outcome as ‘what may be.’
Your potential: Where possible and probable come together
“Courage comes from the French word “cœur,” which means “heart,” says Tyler. “I love the notion that heart and courage come from the same place. David Whyte says ‘Courage is the measure of our heartfelt participation with life, with another, with a community, a work, a future.’ For those of you telling yourself that it’s too late to accomplish something big, just remember what my dad did at age 69 years old when he knew what ASEA could do for others.”
Verdis Norton wasn’t afraid to wonder even though he professionally operated in odds and numbers. You can have both likelihood and wonder if you lean into possibility thinking. Success can be possible and probable. You need to ask yourself what the possibilities are for you. You have to own what you’ve been given in terms of tools, resources, training, and mentorship. This is where human potential lives. Bring these two worlds of possibility and probability together and embark on the journey of being your best self.