Interview Christoph Ulrich Mayer
In your lecture topic “The Reality Distortion Field” you highlight the extraordinary success strategies of Elon Musk and Steve Jobs. What do you think were the most important basic principles that made Musk and Jobs the most innovative entrepreneurs of our time?
Christoph Ulrich Mayer: “The term’ Reality Distortion Field’ was coined by Steve Jobs at Apple. When he entered the room, the experts were sure that an irrefutable reality will prevail against Jobs plans. When he left the room, everything was suddenly completely different and everyone was surprised how he did it. Jobs was simply resistant to contradictions and obstacles. There are many things that Steve Jobs, Elon Musk or Richard Branson do or do differently than others. But one thing is striking: almost all major, successful entrepreneurs have or had a clear vision of the future, and nothing has stopped them from pursuing that vision. On one hand, however, the skill involved is to design the vision in such a way that it is actually sustainable and can be successfully implemented, and on the other hand to have the mental power to pursue one’s path unswervingly. The path is therefore not always easy. Most of the’ big ones’ have therefore also experienced at least one big bankruptcy. It is a way of learning that remains what remains, but it is always the focus on what will happen in the end. I see my mission in this seminar as finding a clear focus, helping to create a powerful consciousness and also in optimizing the vision, product idea and/or business orientation so that it works.”
“Jobs was simply resistant to contradictions and obstacles…”
Why do some take chances and others don’t?
Christoph Ulrich Mayer: :”I think we have all already observed this: One gets a chance, recognizes and simply seizes it. The other one hesitates because he is not sure, or because he deeply believes that he is not worthy of achieving, receiving or becoming the extraordinary Many people do not recognize their chances at all, because they need mental and emotional clarity. Once you have gained awareness of yourself, i. e. who you are and where you want to go, you recognize opportunities. To take advantage of the opportunities, you need the right emotions – and the inner belief in yourself. Everyone is sometimes in a difficult situation, e. g. an important customer meeting, business meetings, examinations, job interviews. You suddenly get nervous. Your brain blocks you because it’s trapped in anxiety patterns. You don’t have the right ideas, your body language expresses inner conflicts and you end up with’ failure’. That’s why in my trainings I train positive emotions for those key situations. One of the many tricks is to’ redirect’ the emotions in places where the psyche and body begin to react negatively. There is also the problem of self-esteem. Research has shown that love relationships exist only between people who have a similarly strong self-esteem..
There are no partnerships between people with low self-esteem and people with high self-esteem. The same applies to business relationships or sales talks. If you lack self-esteem, you behave cautiously and contradictory, the person you are talking to gets a bad gut feeling, which is why you end up failing. Another problem is that we have grown up in a world where outside problems are habitually found and tackled. The advantage of this is that you can make yourself believe that you have nothing to do with the problems and that you can influence everything by external actions. The disadvantage, however, is that one often does not realize that most problems are created or solved by one’s own inner attitude.”
“Nearly all big, successful entrepreneurs have or have had a clear vision of the future and have not been deterred by anything.”
You are a successful mentor and coach. So you obviously made the right decisions and seized the opportunities. Was that always the case, or are there retrospective decisions you regret?
Christoph Ulrich Mayer: “If I could say what I could have done without to get to where I am now, I could perhaps regret this one step. In the end, however, I needed weaknesses, wrong decisions and defeats to learn and grow. Experience makes you wise! Of course, it would have been a great dream if I had known what I know now and the methods I already knew as a child or teenager. Then I would have achieved a lot very quickly. But who knows: maybe I would have leaned back in satisfaction. Especially for people like me, who want to help others to go their own way successfully, it is valuable to experience and overcome all the obstacles personally. In person, I have always tried a lot of possibilities before finding a real solution. This way I know the most effective ways and can also help people with very different challenges. Without this path, this would not be possible in such quality.”
“Our brain blocks us because it’s trapped in anxiety patterns.”
Do you have an example of a stupid decision that will ultimately bring you much benefit?
Christoph Ulrich Mayer: :”Oh yes! I was camping in the mountains and I pitched my tent in a 100 meter wide river bed, when there was only a small stream. An hour later it started to rain easily. I thought to myself,’ Be careful, the water quickly accumulates in mountains and can flow into the stream’. But another voice said,’ Calm down, it’s already late and nothing will happen. I stayed. A short time later I woke up, grasped water beside me – everywhere! While I was still setting up inside the tent, a raging stream washed over the whole tent. I just made it out, but I got carried away. With all my willpower I have grabbed my bag and my backpack, tried to find a hold somewhere.
Luckily, a tree trunk rose into the river and I was able to hold on to it and save myself on the shore. It was extremely dark, I had only one shoe on my feet. Keys, wallet and all the papers were gone. I had nothing, alone in the wilderness, feeling that I lost all. However. I have felt such power, determination, fearlessness and clarity as never before in my life! I understood that it doesn’t matter what I have or what the circumstances are like. As long as I’m there I always find a way – for every problem, but above all to have a wonderful life. This was one of the most valuable experiences of my life, born of a decision that I can see was REALLY stupid.”
If I could find out what I could have done without that, to get where I am now, I might regret this one step.
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