Try the Handle: Not Every Closed Door Is Locked

How many opportunities have you walked away from—not because you couldn’t, but because you assumed you couldn’t?

In this episode of The Hearts Hello, Keona shares the story that completely shifted her perspective and sparked a powerful realization: not every closed door is locked.

From a yoga class to a memorable scene in Home Alone, this conversation explores how often we make life-changing decisions based on assumptions instead of evidence. You’ll learn how Human Compliance shows up in everyday life, why we stop testing doors, and how one small act of curiosity can change everything.

This isn’t about forcing doors open.

It’s about stopping long enough to ask:

“Have I actually tried the handle?”

In this episode you’ll discover:

• Why we confuse closed doors with locked ones
• The hidden assumptions that quietly shape our decisions
• Different types of “doors” we encounter in life
• How to recognize when fear is making decisions for you
• A simple four-question framework to start testing doors this week
• Why one small action can provide more clarity than months of overthinking

This week’s Door Challenge:

🚪 What door have you been standing in front of?

What are you assuming about it?

And what’s one way you can test it this week?

Sometimes your next breakthrough isn’t waiting for more confidence.

It’s waiting for you to try the handle.

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#PurposeDriven

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#GrowthMindset

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#Doors

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#LifeLessons

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:53

Hey hey. Alright, so I have a question for you today. How many decisions have you made based on something that you've never actually tested? And I don't mean something you knew, I mean something you assume. Remember when we were in school, and I'm gonna go ahead and date myself, where we had science fair projects. Yes, I know these kids nowadays do science fair projects, but it's not like when we did them, where we actually had to do the project, we actually had a hypothesis, we actually did the work and then came up with the conclusion. See, I was reading a book the other night and I got to the very last sentence in the chapter, and y'all, when I say I laid there in

Assumptions We Never Test

SPEAKER_00 1:46

the bed like, oh my gosh, like I closed the book and just sat there because I couldn't stop thinking about it. See, basically what happened is this woman was um taking a yoga class, it must have been a hot yoga class, and she was already feeling a bit overwhelmed before the class started, and she wasn't feeling well. So she's in the class, um, she's already starting to sweat. Class has not even started, and the instructor comes in and says, I suggest you not leave until class is finished.

Hot Yoga And The Unlocked Door

SPEAKER_00 2:28

In her mind, she had already made up that she can't leave. Now, remember, I just told you that she was already feeling some type of way before class started. She's in there almost hyperventilating, she's so hot, she's getting ready to pass out, and the minute the class ends and the teacher says class is over, she darts towards the door immediately, goes to the bathroom so that she can throw up. She was already feeling some type of way in the class, but she stuck through it. Why? Because the teacher suggested that she not leave before the session was over. Now, the part that got me was the door was not locked. The teacher didn't come in and lock the door so that none of the students could leave. She just made a suggestion for them to tough it out that the class might get hard, but don't give up. Never did she say, I'm locking this door and none of you all can leave. Oh, it had me in the bed like my gosh. How many times have we been in moments where the door was not locked? Because how many times have we looked at a closed door and decided what it meant without ever checking it? So the more I sat with this story, the more I realized that we do this every day. And my hand is all the way raised because I do it too. We see closed opportunities, we see closed conversations, closed relationships, closed positions, closed business ideas, and before we ever reach for the handle, we've already made a decision that either, oh,

Closed Is Not Always Locked

SPEAKER_00 4:46

they're not gonna hire me, or they're gonna say no, or I'm not ready, or I'm not qualified, or it probably isn't it probably isn't for me. But how do you know? Did you test the door? Or did you decide from way across the room? Because there's a difference. Now, y'all already know that my mind starts making connections, and I've been gone to the movie Home Alone. Remember when Harry reaches for the doorknob, and Kevin had already heated the doorknob on the other side until it was scorching hot, but Harry had no idea. So from where he was standing, he couldn't tell that the door was hot. So the only way he found out about the truth of this doorknob was by him touching it. Now, now, wait a minute. I know, I know, I know you're already saying it. I'm not telling you to go and burn your hand this week. I'm not telling you to do that. But I am saying this. Before he reached for that handle, everything was an assumption. Now, mind you, Kevin had already been wearing

Touch The Handle For Truth

SPEAKER_00 6:01

them out at that house. Like it it was a bit much going on there. But after he reached for it, he had information. And the information changes how you move. So I think that's what we've been missing because some of us have been making life decisions based on assumptions instead of the information. We've been obeying stories we never verify. We've been living by rules that no one is enforcing anymore. And maybe we've even been carrying beliefs that somebody handed us years ago and we've never stopped to ask, is this actually true? See, that's human compliance. Not just recognizing your patterns, but recognizing the belief underneath your patterns. And here's where I got excited. Because then I started thinking, maybe life is full of different kinds of doors. See, there are revolving doors where no matter how many times you go through them, you somehow end up back where you started. Different relationship, same pattern, different job, same pattern, different friendship, same pattern. Sometimes it isn't the people, sometimes it's the pattern. Then you have automatic doors. They don't open while you're standing across the parking lot. You have to be in proximity for them to open. And I got excited, y'all. Sometimes opportunities in our life are waiting on our movement, waiting on us to get close enough. Not perfection, movement. Then you have sliding doors. See, sometimes

The Four Types Of Doors

SPEAKER_00 7:53

the opportunity is there, but you're trying to force it open the wrong way. Maybe the opportunity isn't resisting you, maybe it's asking for a different approach. And yes, yes, there are even lock doors. Some doors just aren't yours. Some seasons aren't right. Some doors are there for your protection. And here's the thing: you'll never know what kind of door you're standing in front of if you never try the handle. So here's what I want us to do. And when I say us, you know, I do the work with you. I want us to become people who test doors, not kick them down, not force them open, not manipulate our way through them. Just test them. Because testing the door gives you the information. Maybe it opens, maybe it doesn't. Maybe it needs a different key. Maybe it's protecting you, maybe it's preparing you. But at least now you're moving from truth instead of assumption. So here's your homework this week. I want you to write down one door you've been standing in front of. Just one. And then ask yourself these four questions. What door am I standing in front of? What am I assuming about this door? What evidence do I actually

Test Doors Without Forcing

SPEAKER_00 9:18

have? And what's one small way I can test it this week? That's it. No pressure because you have a whole life to figure it out. No pressure to know the outcome. Just gather the information. See, heart seekers, I don't think that we've been stuck because every door was locked. I think we've been stuck because we've confused closed with locked. And those are not the same

Four Questions For This Week

SPEAKER_00 9:50

thing. So again, this week, don't make decisions from across the room. Walk up to the door, reach for the handle, see what happens. Because whether it opens, stays shut, or turns out to be locked, you'll know something that you didn't know before. And sometimes, just sometimes, one tested door can change the direction of your entire life. So until next time, keep choosing you, keep growing, and before you decide what the next opportunity means, try the handle.