Killing Your Ideal Self
Thoughts from 'What's the Rusch ' and Michael Gervais
"When you meet the Buddha, kill him". This is a Zen Buddhist koen (riddle) that Michael Gervais introduced in our conversation. We were discussing identity and how we all build one for ourselves and often that title (athlete, entrepreneur, CEO) is related only to our work and is truly limiting. Do you describe yourself by what you do or who you are?
Consider this: when you meet the ideal version of yourself, kill that too, because the goal is to continue expanding yourself and your identity. This mindset keeps us from being encumbered by the ideal of anything.
During my difficult, long post-concussion recovery, I grappled with my identity as a world-class athlete and mourned the idea that I was losing or going to have to kill this version of myself. In reality, the challenging introspection led me to learn that the athlete is only part of my whole being.
The full conversation in Ep. 1 of What's the Rusch with Dr. Mike is soulful, insightful, and playful. I hope you'll tune in and let us know what you think and feel after listening.
And of course, don’t forget the special perk from our sponsor. Use code RUSCH20 to get 20% off your first order of Momentous products at livemomentous.com.