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#23 - Stress, Struggle, and Success: The Process You Can’t Skip
48 Plays4 months ago
You want to level up? Then stop skipping steps. In this episode of Mindset Mutiny, we go deep into the grind and pressure of progression—what it really takes to push past your limits, adapt under fire, and forge yourself into someone who can't be stopped. I break down why stress is your proving ground, why skipping the fundamentals will leave you exposed, and how locking in each level is the only way to truly move forward. Whether it’s in fitness, business, or life itself, the path to mastery is earned—not given. So step up, own your level, and prove you're ready for more.
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Transcript
Intro
Introduction: Mindset Mutiny Podcast
00:00:21
Mike Ivanov
Welcome to the Mindset Mutiny. I am your host, Mike Ivanov. Join me as we challenge the status quo, break free from self-imposed limits, and redefine what's possible.
00:00:32
Mike Ivanov
Welcome back, everybody. This is part two, the grind and pressure of progression. If you haven't listened to the previous episode, do that now because it builds off one another.
The Grind and Pressure: Why Endurance Matters
00:00:45
Mike Ivanov
So last time, we talked about levels to this shit, how every stage of progress demands something from you. And you skipping those steps, it will keep you stuck.
00:01:00
Mike Ivanov
We broke down the brutal truth. If you haven't mastered level one, you've got no business expecting to thrive at level 10.
00:01:11
Mike Ivanov
But now we're going to go a little deeper because knowing that there's levels just isn't enough for some of us. You got to fight for them. And that fight, it's messy.
00:01:26
Mike Ivanov
It's painful. It's scary. It's the pressure that makes people fold. But you can't look at pressure as your enemy.
00:01:38
Mike Ivanov
It's your proving ground. For a long time, I used to run from the pressure. I to hide from it. I'd live a life of comfortability.
00:01:49
Mike Ivanov
just avoiding everything that would stress me.
Understanding and Managing Stress
00:01:55
Mike Ivanov
But stress is a catalyst for growth. For thousands of years, stress has forced living organisms to evolve.
00:02:09
Mike Ivanov
That's how it happens. Survival the fittest. Whoever can adapt to the stress and grow from it is the ones that will succeed. It's no different now.
00:02:20
Mike Ivanov
The only difference is, is people want to be comfortable, but then they're fucking miserable.
00:02:28
Mike Ivanov
The more uncomfortable I am and I'm ah able to push through it, the happier I become because I'm proving that I can use stress, right?
00:02:40
Mike Ivanov
As a signal for growth, no stress, no growth, live a life of comfort, Be ready for anxiety, depression, self-doubt, fear, all of these things to come creeping into your life. And we know what that does to you.
00:02:59
Mike Ivanov
There's a lot of people out there that are suffering.
00:03:05
Mike Ivanov
They have a lot of stress, but they don't identify what it is. They don't write it down. You write it down, you take the power from it.
00:03:16
Mike Ivanov
When you write it down, you can take steps to fix each one of the things that's stressing you out.
00:03:23
Mike Ivanov
I can remember there were times when I'd be super stressed and somebody would ask me, what's wrong? What are you stressed about? And I couldn't even communicate it. I didn't even really know. So then you make up some bullshit ideas of what you think is stressing you out.
00:03:37
Mike Ivanov
And the problem with that is your brain will help you there. It'll, it'll justify, it'll rationalize. So the things that says that are stressing it out, aren't the actual things that are stressing it out. It's surface level shit that you want to think is the stressor.
00:03:53
Mike Ivanov
So for example, you could say, um man, I'm so stressed. I'm just really busy at work. Okay. But like the real stressor is, is that you're not living the life that you want to live and you don't know how to do that.
Stress as a Catalyst for Growth
00:04:10
Mike Ivanov
That's what it is for me. when I first started talking about stress, I'd come up with all these surface level things, you know, oh, I'm stressed with with money. I'm stressed with, you know, work. I'm stressed with, um, know, I got so many things I got to get done. That's not it.
00:04:26
Mike Ivanov
That's not it at all. What was stressing me out was that I was insecure with who I was and I didn't know fix it. What was stressing me out was that I knew I needed to do things differently.
00:04:39
Mike Ivanov
but I couldn't bring myself to do it. That's the stuff that really fucking stresses you out. You know, you need to go to the gym because you want to fix your health and you don't do it.
00:04:52
Mike Ivanov
There's the stress because you didn't do something you know you're supposed to do. You broke a promise to yourself. Every time you break a promise to yourself, that's the stress.
00:05:04
Mike Ivanov
But when you identify it that way, now you got more work to do. And that could create a level of stress for people too. And then they avoid it. I'm just talking about what's going on with me.
00:05:18
Mike Ivanov
And I hope it resonates with some of you. Stress is good. Stress unmanaged is bad. So a lot of people are walking around unmanaged stress.
00:05:29
Mike Ivanov
And they put a different name to the stress. Which then takes them off course to fixing it.
00:05:36
Mike Ivanov
Self-imposed stress has changed my fucking life, my physical being, my mindset, everything. So I used to think stress was bad.
00:05:49
Mike Ivanov
Now I know that it's good. Unmanaged is a problem. If you don't talk about it, write it down, look for a way forward to fix it, then you're going to be in trouble.
00:06:04
Mike Ivanov
But just again, remember, pressure isn't the enemy. It's the proving ground. Again,
00:06:14
Mike Ivanov
whether it's fitness, business, life itself, the ones who rise aren't the ones who wish for it.
Embracing Uncertainty for Achievement
00:06:24
Mike Ivanov
Hope for it.
00:06:27
Mike Ivanov
Newsflash for all of you. Hope is not a fucking strategy. Hope will not get you there. Hope will not bring you everything that you want your life.
00:06:40
Mike Ivanov
The grind, the pressure, the unknown, people that embrace that, that's what brings what you want.
00:06:50
Mike Ivanov
Getting comfortable in the chaos, refusing to tap out when things get hard, that's what matters. So in this episode,
00:07:02
Mike Ivanov
We're going to talk about what it really takes to level up. How to push past your breaking points. Adapt under fire and forge yourself into someone who can't be stopped.
00:07:14
Mike Ivanov
Someone who you won't even recognize.
00:07:20
Mike Ivanov
That transformation will give you unlimited power. When I look back five years ago, don't even recognize myself.
00:07:32
Mike Ivanov
Physically, spiritually, emotionally, energy-wise, I'm a completely different person.
00:07:42
Mike Ivanov
It's to the point where I think that age is just a number at this point.
00:07:47
Mike Ivanov
The older I get, I'm getting more energy. I'm understanding the world better.
00:07:53
Mike Ivanov
came across somebody the other day that was like, hey, when you 40, I'm more energy. You know, wait for, wait for, you know, the train to feel like it ran over you. I'm like, get the fuck away from me. Like, dude, don't bring that energy my way.
00:08:07
Mike Ivanov
I feel the best i've ever felt my entire life. 38 years old.
00:08:12
Mike Ivanov
It's not by accident. It's the diet. It's the sleep. It's the mental exercise. It's seeking the stress. It's building things, not running from my problems, running from my stressors,
00:08:27
Mike Ivanov
pretending like anxiety
00:08:35
Mike Ivanov
is running my life. I'm in charge. I've experienced all of that at the worst levels. All of it disappeared when I started doing the things that I knew I needed to do. Not the things I wanted to do.
The Process of Progress and Mastery
00:08:51
Mike Ivanov
The things I needed to do.
00:08:56
Mike Ivanov
There's a difference. And people always say, well why do you do the things you don't want to do?
00:09:07
Mike Ivanov
It's very important. My answer to that is that I want to grow. I want to build something. I don't want to look back on my life and regret all the missed opportunities because I wanted to seek comfort instead.
00:09:29
Mike Ivanov
And there's so many things in your lives that you've been avoiding, that you want to do, but you make excuses for doing them. The day you do the things that you really want to do, you'll feel the feeling that I'm talking about.
00:09:45
Mike Ivanov
But we live in a world that celebrates speed, right? That's the biggest problem. Fast results, overnight success.
00:09:53
Mike Ivanov
But I'll tell you right now. Real growth that lasts doesn't work like that. There are zero shortcuts to mastery. Progress is a process, and if you don't respect it,
00:10:09
Mike Ivanov
it will humble you.
00:10:12
Mike Ivanov
So I'll make an analogy. Think about video games for a second, and I fucking hate video games. I know some of you play them. You're wasting your life, your energy. I get that it helps you unwind and do things like that.
00:10:28
Mike Ivanov
But so does reading a book. So does going out for a walk or a run. So does working on a business you're trying to build. So does anything else. Okay.
00:10:42
Mike Ivanov
put the fucking video games away, but this analogy works, right? So with video games, you don't start at the hardest level, right? It's a new game. You don't know how to play it. You start the tutorial, which is fucking boring, right? Nobody wants to just, you know, learn how to move the character around or learn what buttons to press to do what, right? Just want to jump right to fuck in.
00:11:04
Mike Ivanov
And why is that? Why do you have to hit the tutorial?
00:11:09
Mike Ivanov
You got to learn the basics first. You got to be able to walk before you can run. But in life, people want to skip that tutorial and they want to go straight to the final boss, the ultimate test, literally the highest level of pressure without ever mastering what came before it.
00:11:31
Mike Ivanov
Sounds fucking silly, doesn't it? But we all do it in all different parts of our life. And then we wonder why we fail.
Foundation and Discipline: Keys to Success
00:11:40
Mike Ivanov
How many times have you opened up a piece of furniture or anything that, you know, requires directions to assemble, right? And you think, ah, fuck it. I don't need the directions. I can figure this out myself.
00:11:53
Mike Ivanov
And then by the time you're done, you got leftover screws and the fucking table's all wobbly, right? We convince ourselves for some reason that that we can skip the tutorial, skip the directions, the fundamentals, and somehow everything will just work out.
00:12:13
Mike Ivanov
Life doesn't work like that.
00:12:17
Mike Ivanov
The process isn't there to slow you down. It's there to prepare you. Each level exists for a reason. Level one, you're building discipline.
00:12:29
Mike Ivanov
You're learning how to show up consistently, even when it's hard, even when you don't want to, even when you don't have the time.
00:12:41
Mike Ivanov
well Don't even get me started on the time excuses. Number one, that pisses me off.
00:12:47
Mike Ivanov
Everybody says, I don't have time. I'll do it if I had time. When I have time, listen, time is our greatest resource. So make it fucking count.
00:12:59
Mike Ivanov
If you go through your life, you go through your daily routine, you can find so much time that you've wasted. Pull out your fucking phone right now. Look at your screen time.
00:13:11
Mike Ivanov
Three, four, five, eight hours. You don't have fucking time to go to the gym. You don't have time to read a book. You don't have time to spend time with your family. It's all bullshit. It's all stories you're telling yourself.
00:13:26
Mike Ivanov
I do that with people often. When I suggest things and I get the time excuse, it's like, let me see your fucking phone. And then you show them like the five hours of screen time and they start just the excuses just start fucking flying.
00:13:41
Mike Ivanov
I just wish that people would stop making the excuses and just start taking action. So
00:13:52
Mike Ivanov
level two, right? You're figuring out how to manage time. Set priorities. Stay focused. So by level five, you're able to juggle multiple responsibilities.
00:14:07
Mike Ivanov
Work, family, fitness, relationships, growth. And you learn to do it all without breaking. So when level 10 comes, you can lead others.
00:14:23
Mike Ivanov
You can manage stress, deal with the level of pressure that most people can't even imagine. And here's the catch. If you don't respect that process, you won't be ready for what's coming next. It's that simple.
00:14:37
Mike Ivanov
If you skip level one, you're not going to have the discipline to handle level five. If you avoid the hard work at level two, you're not going how to manage your time when life gets busier.
00:14:51
Mike Ivanov
then the excuses will start fucking coming. Every skip step is a weakness that will come back to haunt you. I'll tell you something else. Life doesn't care about your excuses.
00:15:04
Mike Ivanov
And I'm sorry that that hurts a little bit.
00:15:11
Mike Ivanov
Doesn't care why you're not ready. It'll test you anyway. And if you're not prepared, you will fold. So what's funny is when I started podcasting,
00:15:27
Mike Ivanov
I had no idea what I was doing. I remember I sat in front of the microphone first episode by myself, nobody around. I started blushing.
00:15:38
Mike Ivanov
was already scared shitless to even press record. I hit record. Boom. Nothing comes out.
00:15:47
Mike Ivanov
That was a humbling experience.
00:15:51
Mike Ivanov
I've never felt anything like that. And I had a choice right there and then. Fuck it, I quit. Or, shit, Mike, time to address some of the deficiencies.
00:16:02
Mike Ivanov
Time to look into why you're having a problem. I wasn't at level 10. I thought when once I hit record that I'd automatically be at level 10. I wasn't.
00:16:16
Mike Ivanov
I was at level one, a fish out of water.
00:16:21
Mike Ivanov
A beginner. Everybody thinks it's easy until they're sitting there and they got to answer the bell. Everybody thinks they have a plan until they get punched in the fucking face. Right?
00:16:35
Mike Ivanov
think Mike Tyson said that. But it's so true.
00:16:41
Mike Ivanov
I was sitting at level one thinking I should have been at level 10. I didn't know how to plan an episode. Why the fuck would I think I belong at level 10? I didn't know how to structure my thoughts.
00:16:54
Mike Ivanov
If you can't structure your thoughts, what makes you think you should be a level 10?
00:17:00
Mike Ivanov
I even struggled to speak with clarity and purpose. And you know what? Those first attempts were fucking horrible. But take my own advice.
00:17:13
Mike Ivanov
I didn't skip the steps. I studied. i practiced. I learned. I watched others that were very good at it. And I'm still climbing.
00:17:25
Mike Ivanov
I don't have any of it figured out. I'm just putting in the reps, believing in what I'm saying, trying to help people change their lives.
Taking Action: From Beginner to Leader
00:17:36
Mike Ivanov
That's what's going to help me build up to the next levels.
00:17:40
Mike Ivanov
Every little tweak helps you get there. But you don't get there without taking the small steps. I had a friend tell me that when I first started, you know, I'm trying to plan it all out. I'm like, I need this camera.
00:17:53
Mike Ivanov
I need this. I need that. He's like, dude, just start recording episodes. What's wrong with you? One little step at a time, one brick at a time, right? We talk about stacking bricks.
00:18:07
Mike Ivanov
Great. Every episode I record is another stacked brick. I'm going to have to do this shit for years. Before anybody gives a shit about what I'm saying and I'm okay with that.
00:18:23
Mike Ivanov
I will continue to climb. The same thing happens in all the things I mentioned. Fitness, relationships, leadership. You can't expect results you haven't earned.
00:18:38
Mike Ivanov
That's the quickest way to feeling anxiety and depression and all these things, expecting something for doing nothing.
00:18:51
Mike Ivanov
I'm sorry. It's just how it is.
00:18:57
Mike Ivanov
So for leadership, you can't expect to lead others if you haven't learned to lead yourself. Who the fuck is going to follow somebody that can't set the example, that can't hold the standard?
00:19:11
Mike Ivanov
You can't expect to manage your team if you can't manage your own time.
00:19:17
Mike Ivanov
Listen, it's okay 100% to start at level one. It's okay to be a beginner. You have to get through that barrier.
00:19:33
Mike Ivanov
For four years, I was petrified to start jiu-jitsu. Because I didn't want to be a beginner. I'm not a beginner in anything else in my life aside from this podcast and jiu-jitsu.
00:19:49
Mike Ivanov
And every time I get into it, it scares the shit out of me.
00:19:56
Mike Ivanov
But it's so good for me. We're all confronted with things in our lives that scare us.
00:20:05
Mike Ivanov
Walk into it. You're not going to die. Get that through your head. Your body and your mind are going to make you think that death is around the corner when you go to be a beginner. That's exactly what I thought.
00:20:19
Mike Ivanov
Walking in to get on the mat, I'm like, oh man, like my heart was accelerating. I kept making excuses in my head. You know, ah my stomach was bothering me. Like all of these things were happening.
00:20:31
Mike Ivanov
But I'm like, you know what? I just have to walk into this place. And then to make sure I come back, I go sign up for a year. And the best part about that is as I'm signing up, the lady's reading me like the disclaimer and it's like, blah, blah, blah. You have to pay x amount of dollars if you quit, which is like couple thousand bucks.
00:20:58
Mike Ivanov
And I'm like, awesome. And she's looking at me like I'm a complete psycho, right? She's like, I'm telling this guy he's got to pay all this money if he quits. And I say, awesome. The reason it's awesome is because I know that if I didn't just go and sign up for a year without thinking, I probably wouldn't still be doing it because it's scary.
00:21:21
Mike Ivanov
I'm still a beginner. I'm still getting my ass kicked. And I love every second of it because when you can embrace being a beginner, that's when life changes.
00:21:32
Mike Ivanov
Being a beginner is necessary.
00:21:37
Mike Ivanov
And it's okay.
00:21:41
Mike Ivanov
In the right environment, people want to help beginners.
00:21:47
Mike Ivanov
But you got to put yourself in that environment to be exposed to that. What's not okay is not putting yourself in that environment and avoiding it. And skipping the process, expecting greatness to magically appear in your life.
00:22:05
Mike Ivanov
You don't deserve what you haven't worked for.
00:22:12
Mike Ivanov
I'll repeat it. You don't deserve what you haven't worked for. None of us do.
00:22:19
Mike Ivanov
Remember that.
00:22:26
Mike Ivanov
So I mentioned, right, my Jiu-Jitsu journey.
00:22:31
Mike Ivanov
So when I stepped onto that mat as a complete beginner, right? Knowing zero, no martial arts, no hand to hand combat experience, nothing, no instincts, no technique, just a raw effort and a willingness to learn.
00:22:51
Mike Ivanov
So you're walking in there with people that have been doing it for quite a while. Okay. Here's the fresh meat coming on in.
00:23:01
Mike Ivanov
That's scary shit.
00:23:04
Mike Ivanov
You know, somebody said, the hardest belt to get is your white belt. Well, you start off as a white belt.
Facing Fears and Building Skills
00:23:13
Mike Ivanov
And what that means is just walking into that room, stepping on those mats is the hardest thing you will do.
00:23:23
Mike Ivanov
And I will tell you right now, and this may sound silly, walking in that first day, was one of the scariest and hardest things I've ever had to do.
00:23:35
Mike Ivanov
And I've done a lot of scary and hard shit. But for some reason, there was this mental block that was just stopping me. It was fear. It was uncertainty. It was, I didn't want to be the beginner. i didn't want to get my ass kicked because my ego wouldn't be able to handle it.
00:23:53
Mike Ivanov
I didn't want to be found out to be a fake, right? Because there's no faking it in jujitsu. Either respect the process or you get humbled fast.
00:24:06
Mike Ivanov
At first, I got choked a lot. I still do. Last night, got my lights put out. And I loved every second of it. Last night, I was rolling with someone who' was extremely experienced.
00:24:21
Mike Ivanov
Tied me up like a fucking pretzel. And the whole time I'm sitting there, this guy's just running over me. 50 pounds lighter than I am.
00:24:33
Mike Ivanov
That's what a beginner is.
00:24:37
Mike Ivanov
And I find that I just love it. Learning every single time I step on the mat. So for you, doesn't have to be the mats, but everybody's got that jujitsu, right?
00:24:49
Mike Ivanov
that i That thing. You all have something you're avoiding that you really want to do, but because you have to be a beginner at it, you don't want to do it. Jump right in. Okay.
00:25:01
Mike Ivanov
Don't think, just do it. Don't think about whether you have time in your schedule, whether you can afford it, whatever, because if you do that stuff, you give your mind a chance to talk you out of it.
00:25:16
Mike Ivanov
So yeah, back to me getting choked, right? Happens, but I'm learning how to block those chokes. I've gotten slammed. I've struggled. I've got stuck.
00:25:28
Mike Ivanov
But then I kind of learned how to recover. I find myself in positions where I used to panic, where used to think there was no way out. But I kept showing up.
00:25:41
Mike Ivanov
I kept drilling.
00:25:43
Mike Ivanov
And then instead of, you know, just surviving, one day I'm thriving. One day I start converting those bad positions into offense.
00:25:56
Mike Ivanov
I started getting those submissions, catching a few arm bars, some chokes, smashing people and wearing them down.
00:26:05
Mike Ivanov
That's when I knew I might have been starting to lock in level one.
00:26:14
Mike Ivanov
Don't get too focused on the jujitsu. And I recommend every buddy that wants to be able to defend themselves and wants to feel more confident, take it on. However, look at the jujitsu as something in your life right now that you've been avoiding for years that you've always wanted to do, but you've always made excuses as to why you can't do it.
00:26:36
Mike Ivanov
I promise you, you can do it. And once you do, all the fear disappears. And once you step into whatever it is, you're going to say, God, I don't understand why I was scared of this for so long.
00:26:49
Mike Ivanov
It's brought so much value to my life now. God, I wish I had just gone and done it four years ago.
00:26:58
Mike Ivanov
But the reality is, if I'd skipped those steps, if I'd tried to jump ahead before mastering the fundamentals, which I'm still so far away from, there's years and years and years and years more fundamentals to learn.
00:27:14
Mike Ivanov
But that's what makes it so great. If hadn't learned those, I'd still be getting tapped out every single time.
00:27:22
Mike Ivanov
So if you're too focused on level three, when you haven't mastered level one, you're going to get put to sleep. Literally. That's the price of skip of the process. That's why I love jujitsu.
00:27:35
Mike Ivanov
The feedback is instant. Every move you make has consequences. If you get it wrong, you pay for it. If you get submitted, there's no way around it. You got to go back, fight harder, refine your game, fix your ego.
00:27:53
Mike Ivanov
You got to prioritize your recovery. You got to get used to walking around like you got hit by a school bus, but you still have to show up to lift and run.
00:28:06
Mike Ivanov
That's what locking in the levels looks like.
00:28:12
Mike Ivanov
It builds that foundation so you don't crumble under the pressure.
00:28:17
Mike Ivanov
I can't stop lifting and running and do jiu-jitsu. No, I have to do all of them to keep that level locked in. course, you got to find that balance.
00:28:28
Mike Ivanov
You got to find the right combination, but it can be done. So the next time you're tempted to skip the tutorial, to ignore the directions or to rush ahead.
00:28:44
Mike Ivanov
Remind yourself of this.
00:28:48
Mike Ivanov
Every skipped step is a weakness waiting to be exposed.
00:28:54
Mike Ivanov
So respect the process and you'll be ready when life tests you. Skip it and you'll be humbled. Whether that's in business, fitness, on the mat,
00:29:07
Mike Ivanov
Master the level, then move up. There's no other way.
00:29:13
Mike Ivanov
So lock that level in. What does that mean? talk about all the time. It means mastering. It means getting so good at the basics that they become second nature, automatic, like breathing.
00:29:30
Mike Ivanov
You don't even have to think about them anymore. They're just part of who you are now. So let's go back to fitness. You don't start bench pressing 305 pounds on day one.
00:29:42
Mike Ivanov
course, you would like to. You got to start with the bar, but maybe a little weight on it. You got to focus on your form, your grip, your breathing, your control.
00:29:54
Mike Ivanov
And you don't move the weight up until you've mastered those things. If you skip that step, what happens? You can get injured. You can plateau. Shit, you can quit.
00:30:07
Mike Ivanov
Why is that? Because the foundation wasn't strong enough to handle the extra weight. The same thing applies to every area of your life.
00:30:20
Mike Ivanov
If you try to lead that team, but you haven't mastered self-discipline, your team will fall apart. They will mirror your chaos. If you're trying to grow a business, but haven't learned to manage your time, your business will outpace your ability to control it.
00:30:36
Mike Ivanov
And it will collapse under its own weight. So here's the key. Locking in the level isn't about moving up.
00:30:45
Mike Ivanov
It's about maintaining everything you've built while you move forward.
00:30:51
Mike Ivanov
Think about it for a second.
00:30:56
Mike Ivanov
You can't forget the habits, the discipline, the lessons you learned at level one. You can't let them slip.
00:31:05
Mike Ivanov
If you can't sustain what you built at the last level, then you're not allowed to move to the next one. This is a negotiable. It's not an optional thing. Every new level builds on the one before it.
00:31:18
Mike Ivanov
If you try to move forward without maintaining what you've already built, everything will come crashing down.
Momentum and Mastery: Handling Challenges
00:31:25
Mike Ivanov
Witnessed it. It's like zero to 100. Walk before you run.
00:31:31
Mike Ivanov
all that stuff. So let's say for an example, you've mastered getting up at 5 a.m. m every day to hit the gym.
00:31:40
Mike Ivanov
That's your level one. Now at level two, you got to add meal prep. Maybe you're tracking your macros. Maybe you're lifting heavier. But here's the catch. You still have to wake up at 5 a.m. m You don't abandon that foundation. And if you do, everything at level two falls apart.
00:32:00
Mike Ivanov
That's where locking it in is so powerful. It's not about proving you can handle what's on your plate today. It's about showing you can keep handling it tomorrow and then the day after that and the day after that and about proving to yourself and to the world that you've earned the right to move up.
00:32:21
Mike Ivanov
And the best part, when you lock in a level, you create momentum.
00:32:29
Mike Ivanov
You're not carrying the weight of your past progress. You're building on it.
00:32:34
Mike Ivanov
every habit, every discipline, every skill you mastered becomes a tool in your arsenal.
00:32:43
Mike Ivanov
You don't start over at each level. You're stacking wins, accumulating momentum.
00:32:50
Mike Ivanov
And when you stack enough wins, that's when you become unstoppable.
00:32:56
Mike Ivanov
So consider if you've locked in your current level.
00:33:02
Mike Ivanov
Have you mastered it?
00:33:05
Mike Ivanov
Are you maintaining what you've built or are you letting it slide while you're trying to rush to the next big thing?
00:33:14
Mike Ivanov
Because if you're not locked in, if you haven't mastered that foundation, you're not ready to move forward.
00:33:23
Mike Ivanov
Like I've said, life will test you. That's a promise.
00:33:29
Mike Ivanov
It'll throw things your way to see if you're really locked in.
00:33:35
Mike Ivanov
If you crumble, it's because you skipped a step. But if you've done the work, if you've built the solid foundation and you're maintaining it, you'll rise.
00:33:48
Mike Ivanov
Locking in those levels isn't about surviving. It's about thriving. It's about making every level you conquer the new baseline for your life.
00:33:58
Mike Ivanov
This is who we are now. Tell yourself that every level, this is who we are now. This is who we are now. Don't give it a chance to go backwards. Don't shave things off.
00:34:10
Mike Ivanov
Keep loading it up.
00:34:14
Mike Ivanov
Last episode, I talked about stress. Bring the stress. You can handle it.
00:34:22
Mike Ivanov
I promise.
00:34:26
Mike Ivanov
So stop rushing. Stop skipping steps. Lock it in. Master it. And when it's time to move up, you'll know. Because nothing and no one will be able to stop you.
00:34:44
Mike Ivanov
So the challenges will change all the time.
00:34:52
Mike Ivanov
As you level up,
00:34:56
Mike Ivanov
the playing field becomes different. At level one, it's just you. Your habits, your discipline, your mindset.
00:35:05
Mike Ivanov
You're focused on showing up, proving to yourself that you can stay consistent. By level five, things can shift. Now you're balancing personal growth with responsibility, your career, your relationships, the expectations of others.
00:35:20
Mike Ivanov
And then by level 10, you're managing people, working on projects, high-level problems. All with real consequences if you get it wrong. But here's the thing.
00:35:33
Mike Ivanov
Every level is designed to prepare you for the next. The struggles you're facing right now aren't setbacks. They're training. They're teaching you. You just don't see it.
00:35:46
Mike Ivanov
So don't complain about the difficulty. Don't resent the struggle. Embrace it. Learn from it. Grow through it. And here's the brutal truth.
00:35:59
Mike Ivanov
going to die a few times before you can beat that final boss. You're going to get knocked down. You're going to fail.
00:36:08
Mike Ivanov
You're going to think you have it all figured out only to realize you don't know shit. And that's exactly how you learn. You got to get choked out before you figure out the escape.
00:36:20
Mike Ivanov
You got to lose before you understand how to win. You got to get crushed by the weight before you build the strength to lift it. You don't level up just by going through the motions.
00:36:32
Mike Ivanov
You level up by playing with intention.
00:36:38
Mike Ivanov
You got to load up more weight. You got to take on more responsibility. You got to put yourself in positions where you have to adapt. Because breaking the system and rebuilding it, that's what drives the adaptation required to move forward.
00:36:57
Mike Ivanov
I can remember when I first started managing people. Thought I was ready. It wasn't. I thought being a leader was about working hard, making good decisions. But the truth is, leadership is about communication.
00:37:11
Mike Ivanov
It's about patience. It's about balancing authority with trust.
00:37:17
Mike Ivanov
It's about balancing confidence with humility. And I had none of those skills at first. I had to go back to level one and earn them. And now those skills are second nature.
00:37:29
Mike Ivanov
But I wouldn't have them if I hadn't respected the process. If I had just gone through the motions, I would have been stuck. If I refused to learn, refused to adapt, I would have been exposed.
00:37:43
Mike Ivanov
So here's the takeaway. Stop looking at the next level like it's just going to happen to you. You have to earn your weight there. You have to get beat, get broken, and come back stronger.
00:37:56
Mike Ivanov
You got to play to win, not just show up.
00:38:01
Mike Ivanov
If you're not actively pushing yourself, if you're not willing to break and rebuild, then you're not leveling up. You're just running in circles, stuck at the same checkpoint, waving to everybody as they pass you by.
00:38:19
Mike Ivanov
And that's not who you want to be.
00:38:23
Mike Ivanov
So step up. Take the hit. Adapt. That's how you move forward. That's how you really level up.
00:38:32
Mike Ivanov
So where does this leave you? And be honest. Are you dominating? You're locking it in? Proving you're ready for more? Are you stuck?
00:38:44
Mike Ivanov
Stop chasing the end result. Stop obsessing over people who are miles ahead of you. Their journey isn't yours. You haven't earned their level yet, and that's okay.
00:38:57
Mike Ivanov
But what's not okay is standing still, wishing for something you haven't worked for.
00:39:06
Mike Ivanov
So lock in this level. Master it. Build the habits, the discipline, the resilience that'll carry you forward. Because if you don't, if you try to skip the steps, life has this funny way of exposing you.
Conclusion: Growth is a Continuous Process
00:39:22
Mike Ivanov
You'll get choked out. You'll get crushed under the weight. You'll get left behind by those who actually put in the work and remember this.
00:39:33
Mike Ivanov
There are no shortcuts, no hacks, no easy way through. Growth is earned, not given. The next level, it won't open up until you prove you're ready.
00:39:49
Mike Ivanov
So step up. Own your level. Master it. And when the time comes to move up, you won't have to ask for it.
00:40:01
Mike Ivanov
You'll know you're ready because you've earned it.