My friend Bedros Keuilian once described struggling high performers as "Ferraris driving with the emergency brake on."
 
It doesn’t matter what horsepower you have in ‘your car’...

If your brakes are on while you’re trying to speed down the road, you’ll be “neutered” in terms of your results.
 
There are many ways our mindset can prevent us from breakthroughs – scarcity, addiction, procrastination, fear of failure, etc.
 
But the biggest problem I came across in my high-performing clients in 2021 was...
 
Complacency.
 
Even though clients “complain” about wanting more...
 
The fact is that so many of them still have it “good enough”...
 
So good that the fire (the one that existed years ago that fueled you to get this far) has gone out.
 
Most of the rich got richer in 2020 and 2021. Did you?
 
If you came from a childhood of modest means... having a 6-figure income, nice house, happy family, and regular workout routine can subconsciously be the brake holding you back.
 
Life is simply too good (aka “good enough”) for you.
 
You go through life consciously claiming to want more...
 
But subconscious complacency kills.
 
You “have enough” money and success so you are “ok” with spending your time ineffectively.
 
Now I know what you’re thinking...
 
“You’re wrong, Craig! I’m NOT complacent!”
 
Sorry.
 
You’re wrong.
 
But it’s not your fault…
 
This is NOT a conscious mistake!
 
Complacency is a subconscious mental anchor weighing you down.
 
Complacency is the #1 killer of dreams, businesses, & relationships.
 
Here’s why I’m so concerned with your complacency...
 
This year might have been good for you personally but it sure was turbulent for the world.
 
And I’m convinced that the next year and likely the decade will be less pleasant for America and the western world.
 
There will come a point where we all wish we had made more money during the good times and done more preparation for the tough times ahead.
 
Time is of the essence and you can’t let complacency kill your future.
 
You need to think about your kids and your kid’s kids.
 
NOTE: Overcoming complacency doesn’t mean going back to 12-hour work days and sacrificing your health and family time.
 
Killing complacency (so it doesn’t kill you) requires you becoming a more effective Empire Builder who “works” less and THINKS more.
 
The exact 3 tactics for killing complacency are:
 
1. Clear Setting of Goals & Deadlines 

2. Detailed Goal Achievement Planning (using my 90-Day System)

3. Public Accountability... burn the boats, tell the world, lay it on the line
 
Let me give you a real world example of how these work....
 
In 2015 I was a single multi-millionaire ... and trapped in a zone of complacency
 
I had an EZ life of traveling the world. I had no dependents and few responsibilities (outside of my employees and dog – who essentially spent all of his time with my mom on the old farm).
 
It sounds so good... and was so tempting to continue down that path…
 
BUT…
 
The complacency was killing me.
 
I knew there was more.
 
And I fought daily against the inertia of remaining in that complacent comfort zone.
 
Ultimately I used the 3 tactics outlined above to “save myself”.
 
Most people don’t know this but I deployed these tactics in a “personal ad” disguised as a book.
 
That’s right... the REAL reason I wrote the Perfect Day Formula was to find my wife Michelle!
 
The book was secretly an old-school personal ad you would see in a newspaper’s “singles section”.
 
I got the idea from legendary copywriter Gary Halbert – who in the 1980’s took out a full page ad in the LA Times (at a 6-figure expense) to find his wife.
 
Not being as bold as Gary, I slipped my single’s ad inside a productivity & personal development book ... you’ll find it in Chapter 21. 
 
That’s the Vision Chapter that manifested Michelle.
 
I put my personal ad out there to the world so that at every event readers and coaching clients would ask me “How’s the search for Mrs. Ballantyne going?”
 
I wrote it so that Bedros would repeatedly ask me about it on our Empire Podcast episodes.
 
I wrote that chapter to kill my complacency! (You might find this genius or insane… or both.)
 
Every time someone brought up my Vision Chapter it put the squeeze on me to act in real life.
 
Planning + Accountability + Deadlines KILL COMPLACENCY.
 
It hasn’t just worked for me.
 
My good friend Zander Fryer applied the EXACT same principles to meet Maddy, his wife and the love of his life.
 
Zander, long single, was encouraged to publicly share his goal of finding an amazing woman — with a Facebook group of 2000 coaches. 
 
He set a deadline (Dec. 31st) with consequences (if he failed he had to run down the streets of San Diego naked!). He received accountability from friends & fans.
 
It killed his complacency ... and attracted his dream in record time.
 
Over to you.
 
Don’t let complacency kill your future.
 
1.     Set the goal.
2.     Create the plan (in great detail).
3.     Tell the world for accountability.
 
And you’ll finally kill that complacency holding you back from being your best self.
 
Success Loves Speed,
 
Craig