A Simple Unlock with Chris Laping

“It’s the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen.” —John Wooden

“Work hard. Play hard.” That used to be my mantra. I gripped my professional success like a child grips a comfort-blanket. Every bad habit was excused by me saying, “This is a tiny, harmless vice. I deserve this.” Drinking alcohol fell into this category.

I now know this was a terrible lie. Professional success does not lead to happiness and fulfillment. And certainly, booze doesn’t either.

In the beginning of 2018

I was riding a wave of success from my best-selling book, People Before Things. The focus of my writing and life’s work was change and transformation. In particular, I wanted to answer the question, “How do great leaders support their people when something really big changes at work?” In highly credible and popular studies, researchers have found that 70% of all change fails. I knew a large audience of people were struggling with this topic and so, I wrote the book.

After appearing as a guest on a leadership podcast, the show’s host connected with me on LinkedIn. As I explored his profile, I stumbled upon a blog he liked that was written by Andy Ramage. The premise of Andy’s blog was that elite athletes don’t drink. If you want to be elite in your professional career, why would you drink? Of course, he touted the benefits of signing up for a 28-day alcohol-free challenge with One Year No Beer, and I was intrigued.

My wife, Kristine, and I jumped in head first and had great success with the 28-day challenge. Though we went back to moderating, we constantly reflected on how our lives changed during that month of alcohol-free living. Several months later, we jumped back in and decided we would take a break from alcohol for 365 days. Honestly, we never looked back and are in the home stretch of our 2nd year.

During that time, I made a key discovery

Professional success doesn’t lead to happiness and fulfillment. Personal happiness and fulfillment leads to success. More on that in a minute.

As the undeniable benefits were unlocked in our lives, Kristine and I knew we had more than a passive interest in One Year No Beer. We started asking, “How can we help?” With a mission this big and this important, we wanted to do more than talk the talk. Soon, we became investors…then I joined the Board…Kristine did volunteer work with the OYNB team…and this year, I became the MasterMind Head Coach.

I had a specific interest in leading the MasterMind course as I was fortunate enough to take it during my own journey and it led to a number of breakthroughs for me. The purpose of MasterMind is that when you enjoy alcohol-free success, you naturally ask, “Now what? What’s next?” An OYNB Challenger or Legend becomes interested in resetting his/her compass. The 6-week focus with a tight-knit group of people leads to extraordinary self-reflections and a complete reframing of what’s possible.

MasterMind is where I made my key discovery

It turns out that beyond being alcohol-free, there are five other simple and intuitive unlocks that lead to massive transformation in our lives. It’s not like “the clouds part and the angels sing,” and we have a single breakthrough moment. Instead, it’s simple unlocks in our day-to-day lives that create life-changing results.

When I took the MasterMind course, I could’ve never imagined that I would go from Participant to Guide. Though, it shouldn’t have surprised me. My whole career has been about change and transformation from a team and leadership perspective. The only tweak is that MasterMind is about personal change and transformation. And there are common themes between the two. Again, this shouldn’t have surprised me: we have one heart and one mind that direct us in our personal and professional lives.

I’m grateful that the universe introduced me to One Year No Beer. It sounds cliche, but it truly changed and transformed my life. I believe that I’m able to handle discomfort much more effectively, I confront my fears and failures, and I’ve achieved more success in the last 2 years than I ever thought was possible. Most of all, I’m closer to happiness and fulfillment than I’ve ever been. 

Interested in mastering your mind?

If anything that I have said in this article resonates with you, if you are asking yourself questions like ‘what’s next?’, or ‘how do I go about reaching this new goal?’, then I encourage you to learn more about our MasterMind course. It was life-changing for me, and I have no doubt that it will be life-changing for you too. 

Find out more about MasterMind

 

Chris Laping is the best-selling author of People Before Things. He is also the co-founder of People Before Things, LLC, a boutique firm focused on coaching/consulting individuals and teams on change and transformation. To join the conversation, follow @CIOChris, @pplb4things on Twitter or find him on Facebook.