No Man Is a Prophet in His Own Land

Can you rely on your friends for support on your personal journey to success?

Is your network really your net worth?

I used to believe in the first being true while unsure of the second. Then I entered a business that emphasized those concepts and met the harsh reality of them. Not only did I lose friends, I got to know the real value of my network at that time. I had to take a cold hard look at who or what members of my network could provide a mutually beneficial relationship to advance. And I could only count on my hands those who could do so. I learned that this was the best case scenario of that truth, because many are unsure if they even have anyone.

At the time, I had a business, connections to wealthier entrepreneurs than I, and an insatiable understanding of the human mind to assist them in their own journeys. I saw that outside of those bounds, most I observed were figuring things out for themselves and had no interest in helping me or each other. Eventually, I put the business down because, as well as it did, I discovered that I didn’t have an optimal network for the things I wanted to accomplish.

Utilizing leverage & influence, I deviated while i was ahead. I decided to start from scratch, building a network by sifting and sorting out people. In this moment, strange thing happened. Once I stopped appealing to friends and family, breakthroughs began to occur for me.

Ever since my platform & growth became independent of them, I grew more eyes and respect than ever, including those in my network that ignored me before. Along that journey I ran into this pause worthy quote:

No man is a prophet in his own land.

I saw this a few months along this new segment of my journey and felt the power of those words. My success no longer depended on particular people. It depended on me. And if particular people didn’t want to be involved, someone else will if I got it in front of them. This idea launched me into a new way of living that changed my interactions with people for the better. It wasn’t about who to talk with, it was about who would listen.

Once you realize that your locality isn’t enough to grab the respect you desire, you learn that you must go outside of what (in this case who) you know to succeed.

This is an interesting concept because you would think, in most cases, that your success starts with the support of those around you. Yet, in many cases, it’s quite the opposite. The explanations for this are abundant but I believe these 3 reasons stand out most:

The greatest advantage of people who you know you is your greatest disadvantage.

People, no matter if you know them or not, are still people.

Life only begins at the end of your comfort zone.

Your Greatest Advantage is Your Greatest Disadvantage.

The fact that people know you works for you as much as it does against you. People who know you trust you. That trust is enough to get your foot in the door when offering something new as opposed to a stranger offering them the same. However, the downside of this trust is it’s based on them identifying you with an image they have of you, not who you actually are.

If you grow big enough to violate that image they have of you, it will cause turmoil & will encourage them to bring you back to something more familiar. A prophet is one who carries a divine standard for giving their gifts to the world. For that reason, they have to let go of what they are for who they are becoming. I wouldn’t call myself a prophet, as I am in my own becoming process not bound to that label, but I take great pride in emulating the journey as a prophet would.

The more you become divine in your work, the more uncomfortable it will make those around you. Of course it should make them uncomfortable if they are not used to you elevating yourself. People who know you want you to be safe. But they may take safety to mean you staying the same or doing something they’re familiar with.

Many who have taken the steps to advance their own life have seen this concept play out in their journey. When others think of you, they think of a fixed idea of you. Although they may be right in their idea for some segment of your time together, it doesn’t immediately occur to them that you are more than one thing. This is doubly so if you’ve shown this convincingly. But understand that not everyone close to you immediately thinks that the tides of life are always changing (which is the true error).

Since many lack this awareness, it shocks them when you take the time to demonstrate that (seemingly scary) truth. In turn, many will hit the defensive button and seek to revert you to something you no longer are (or weren’t to begin with) so that their consistent worldview isn’t shattered. No matter what people will say think or do, most will go to the ends of the earth for 2 things 1) their offspring 2) their worldview. If that were not true, we wouldn’t have conflict ranging from disagreements to all out genocide.

People, no Matter if You Know Them or Not, are People.

Many of which are unpracticed in living individually. Many are not raised to live in this way. And without that knowledge, they may fall victim to behaviors such as only following social proof. The kind where someone else has to validate you before they have the courage to. 

This phenomena has nothing (directly) to do with you and it’s an external reminder that those who know you may not take you where you want. It’s usually the stranger (who we’ve been taught to shy away from) who is much nicer, more receptive, and (if you make a strong enough connection) more willing to genuinely help you out.

The stranger provides a clean slate for you to be anyone you wish to be and have that taken at face value. In this realm, you hold all the cards needed to win at your own game. In the prior, that power is mostly out of your control (shared at best) because something else has made a determination of what you are before you get the chance to change it. In the end, you want to be holding the cards for your desires. You want this, being who you really are, so you can share them.

Life Only Begins at the End of Your Comfort Zone

We’ve all heard this one before. People get comfortable when things get easy. Relationships that just work out and feel optimized give you no reason to improve them. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it right? Believing that idea will always result in a crisis. You will waste valuable time mending relationships when they’re broken because you didn’t take the opportunity to improve them.

If life begins at the end of your comfort zone, with that thinking outlined above,  then life will always be anchored by pain. You won’t be able to focus on improving your network or net worth because you’re trying to put out the fires in your current network. Remember what I said about your network looking for someone to validate you before they do? The only assurance that they will validate you is if that “someone” is you. 

Great things and influencers don’t get where they are by not growing. They don’t get there by isolation or stagnation. Great things come about by sharing ideas to accomplish great things. The ideas best suited for the task are those that advocate for advancement. They get there by stepping into their greatness.

This requires social contact to be possible. It’s possible that you don’t have the default access to people who are best able to help them advance. That’s why it’s called net-WORK-ing. You’ll have to get yourself out and find the help to effectively advance your interests. That help will likely not come through your initial circle. However, your circle will lead you to expand your horizons or create new ones if the path doesn’t suit you.

Concluding Thoughts

Your gift is more readily accepted to be worshipped by unfamiliar people because they let your gifts speak for themselves. In your own land, people will see what they see of you and let that serve as a barrier to give the love you desire.

This does not mean that your friends, family, and other loved ones are going to reject you. Rather, do not put your gifts expression in the hands of such a limited crowd. First, success in anything begins and ends with you, not parties outside of your control. Second, while your success depends on interactions with others, leaving your expression to few entities limits your potential when there’s more power available outside of your safe knowledge base. If your immediate crowd successfully receive your gifts, great. If they don’t, and you heed these words, you won’t become a victim to doubt knowing that your gifts can still find expression elsewhere.

Doubt, unchecked, is your greatest enemy. If you rely on those close relationships too much, doing so in a perverse way, they have the ability to breed that doubt in you. As clearly as those close people can look at their actions as doubt, they will only see it as loving you or protecting you. Doubt is still doubt. Many are not practiced in using doubt the right way. So this doesn’t serve you if you lay in it. If you choose to let it ride outside of your control, you will struggle more than you would imagine.

I left you a hidden answer to how you can be a prophet in your own land. If you truly believe you can make those around you listen, then take the time to make them understand you are not fixed. The problem was that this didn’t immediately occur to them. However, it can occur to them. It’s possible. And if you really want to make it happen, it’s doable.

But I will ask if you do take this route to evaluate how much its worth to have those people listen to your word and validate your changing existence. If it’s worth them validating it, and they do so, great. If they don’t, you will submit to doubt. And if you’re not practiced, it will break you.

With all that time and energy, you would have reached those who’ve been dying to meet you. And if you doubt yourself before you can reach them, you’ve missed the prophets calling.

Consciously choose what’s important to you.