The Invisible Prison The Mind Traps That Quietly Keep You Small

 Most people believe their biggest obstacle is money, opportunity, or connections. But what if the real prison is invisible? In Intelligence Briefing #2 of Black Sheep Black Ops™, Athena Renee explores the hidden mind traps that quietly keep people thinking small, doubting themselves, and repeating inherited beliefs. Learn how to recognize limiting mental patterns, protect your environment, and begin using the Black Sheep Operating System™—Observe, Analyze, Execute—to make your next move your best move. 

 #BlackSheepLeadership #BlackSheepBlackOps #StrategicIntelligence #Leadership #Mindset #PersonalDevelopment #ThinkBig #PatternRecognition #LeadershipPodcast #MakeYourNextMoveYourBestMove 

"INFORMATION IS EVERYWHERE EXECUTION IS RARE"

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:28

The Black Sheep Podcast. This is where the underdogs, the Misfits, and the Black Sheps come to turn pain into power so that they could build a life by design and leave a legacy behind. I'm your host, Athena Renee. And before we begin, let's do this quick vibe check. Because if you're looking for excuses, if accountability offends you, or you're more interested in comfort than growth, get your ass up out of here because this is not it. But if you're ready to think different, lead different so that you can make your next move your best move, welcome home, family. First and foremost, if this is your first time stopping by, I appreciate that. Welcome, welcome. And if you stopping back again, I appreciate you, family. You know, I don't take your time. I don't take you stopping by here very lightly. I really appreciate you stopping by today. Now, by the end of this episode, you're gonna be walking away with practical steps that you can execute immediately. Now, let's get to work. I want to welcome everyone to our season two. This is all about black sheep blacks ops, where we don't just react to the world, we learn how to read it. Every intelligence briefing is designed to help you make your next move your best move. Now, remember the black sheep operating system from episode one. It's all about observation, analyzing, and executing. Because strategy isn't about knowing everything, it's about seeing what other people miss or choose to ignore, then understanding what it means and making better moves because of it. All right, now today's operating phase, we're still talking about observation, and our objective is learning to recognize mental patterns before they become life patterns. All right, so welcome to intelligence briefing number two. Now, last week we discussed and introduced the full, the complete black sheep operating system. We learned that you can't change what you don't recognize, and most people react to events, but strategists recognize patterns. We also learned that life isn't checkers, it is a game of chess. And the people who consistently make better decisions aren't always the smartest people, they're simply the people who notice what everyone overlooks and make the correct move from what they observed. Now, today we're gonna go a little bit deeper into the observation phase. But instead of observing the world, we're gonna do something much deeper. We're gonna talk about thinking patterns and mind traps. Let me ask you a question. Have you ever met someone who had talent, opportunity, support, resources, and still never really did anything with their life? Or they became one of those people that is bitter now and blame everything on everyone except themselves? See, most people immediately will blame money, bad luck, the government, their family, their boss, their circumstances, and trust and believe, as a black sheep, you know for a fact that sometimes those things do matter. But many times the real prison, it isn't around them, it's between their ears. See, every prison doesn't have bars. Some prisons are built out of beliefs, and the dangerous part is if you don't realize you're living inside one. That's why today's briefing is called The Invisible Prison. Because one of the first jobs of a black sheep strategist is learning to observe the thinking that quietly shapes your future. Okay, thinking. Um, Minister Joyce Myers, and which I've loved, she's from St. Louis, she had a crazy upbringing, but she coined the term stinking thinking. Because if what a man thinketh, it comes from his heart. As a man thinketh, so shall he be. And don't get caught up with the genders, okay? As a man, human, right? We're all one. But the way people think, whether it's about themselves, their circumstances, or you, it eventually comes out through their mouth or through their actions. So we're gonna talk about multiple mind traps that you need to observe in two ways. Either the way you're thinking or someone else's thinking. All right. Mind trap number one, the small thinking trap. One of the first mental traps you have to observe is small thinking, not small beginnings, those are different. See, everything starts small businesses, movements, families, dreams, even apple trees, everything, even our life, everything started as a seed. But a seed isn't thinking small. A seed contains something much bigger than itself. Think about that. An apple seed can eventually become an orchard. That's big thinking. The creator designed the world this way. Small beginnings, massive potential. But somewhere along the way, people begin shrinking their vision to match their environment. Instead of asking, what could happen if this work? I know it might not work, but what if it do work? They ask instead, what if I fail? What if I mess up? Instead of asking, how can I build this? If I fall, how can I get up and do it again and do it better with the new information that I have? Sometimes they worry about, oh, no one in my family has ever done this before. It's a trap. Because if everybody before us thought small, we will still be riding around in horses and buggies. We wouldn't have any lights, we will still be walking around with candles. Somebody even imagined airplanes. Somebody else imagined the internet. That was not small thinking. Somebody imagined putting a computer in your pocket, better known as your smartphone. That was not small thinking. Every major advancement started with someone who refused to think inside yesterday's limits. Here's what I've learned. Thinking big does not guarantee that you'll hit every goal. This is why I always say, if you shoot for the moon and miss, you will still land on the stars. See, when you shoot real high, even if you don't make it, the place that you'll land will be far more better than if you simply just sat back and was thinking small. Let's talk about mind trap number two. This is the doubter trap. The doubter. Now keep in mind, I'm not talking about someone that's keeping you balanced and not having some type of realism about it. But everything that we see right now at one time was nothing more than an idea in someone's head. That's every single thing, right? The Stanley Cup, laptop computer, an automobile, a bicycle, electrical cars, the internet, GPS, email, everything that we use today, right? Everything that we use today, if somebody or the people that uh brought those to us, those ideas and pursued them, we wouldn't have all the access that we have today. And see, the doubter, whether it's yourself and you like to talk yourself out of your ideas, but a lot of times it really comes from our outside influence. And if you've ever noticed, every time you share an idea with some folks, they have a reason why it won't work. Every opportunity comes with the warning, every dream comes with criticism. Now, don't understand me. As I told you, sometimes you need people who help you see blind spots, that is wisdom, but there's a difference between constructive realism and chronic negativity. Here's something I noticed before every breakthrough, somebody looked unrealistic. Sometimes you have to be just a little bit delusional. I know you've probably been hearing that going through the internet now because people are really coming to that place where they understand that the people that really are the movers and shakers and are living their life by design and building legacies to leave behind, they're delusional about it. And the reason why is because it's easy to talk yourself out of something that has not been done, even if it has not been done in your bloodline, in your family tree, even if it has not been done by someone of your ethnicity, your nationality, or your gender. Okay, and to accomplish something you've never done before, you've never seen it before as well. It's not delusional because it can't happen. Delusional is delusional because nobody around you has ever seen it happen. Okay, think about that. It's not delusional because it cannot happen, it's delusion because nobody has done it, nobody has ever seen it happen before. See, history belongs to the people who were willing to believe beyond their current evidence. This is what faith is really about. Faith is all about being delusional. If every voice around you keeps pulling your vision back to what's comfortable, observe it. If you tell somebody, hey, you know what, I'm gonna go back to school and get my master's degree or my PhD, and they don't do it. Or they start to tell you, oh man, you know, you you can't do that. You're too old, you're too young, it's not the right time. Observe it. Don't argue with them, don't even debate it. Just peep game, just peep gain. And from that point forward, you understand something. You have observed that they are not the people you need to be discussing your future with. Let's talk about mind trap number three. Inherited thinking. Here's a trap nobody talks about. Many of the beliefs you have aren't even yours. They were inherited. You inherit ways of thinking about money, success, relationships, risks, leadership, and what's realistic. Sometimes people don't think small because they're incapable. They think small because that's all they've ever seen. And if you don't stop long enough to observe your own beliefs, you'll spend your entire life defending programming. You've never consciously chose. That's why observation comes first. You can't upgrade thinking, you haven't identified. This is why you have to identify these different mind traps. That's why we're going through these things because you cannot change what you don't recognize. A lot of us have been surrounded by small thinkers, doubters our whole life, fearful thinking, to the point where we actually think it's normal. Right? And if you don't recognize it for what it is, you'll stay locked up in those mental prisons. Mind trap number four, this is a huge one that really is like make or break on a lot of different things, and that is the environmental trap. Listen to me very carefully. Your environment is always teaching you something. The question is, what is it teaching you? If everybody around you complains, complaining starts to sound normal. If everybody around you settles, settling starts to feel wise and smart. If everybody around you doubt everything, faith begins to look foolish. Environment doesn't usually force you to do anything. What it does is it quietly normalizes you. Think about it when we were in high school, especially if you a black sheep. Remember, if you let's say, for instance, if you went to a school that was just ridden by gang violence and crime and violence the way I did, and you decided to say, you know what, regardless of what's going on where I'm at, I'm going to excel because I know education can take me to the next level. Well, guess what? In that environment, that's not normal. So they'll start to push you around like what you're doing is not normal. Because they have a way of thinking that because of where they are now, this is where they belong, and this is where they will be their whole life. And this is why your environment is super important. Think about it if you wanted to get your health in optimal conditioning. Think about it if you want to lose weight or gain muscle. If you have an environment of people that's not about that life, they will try to talk you out of it. See, as a black sheep, we have to become ruthless about protecting the quality of our environment. Not because we're better than anyone else, but because we're responsible for the direction of our own life. And here's the mistake that many people make. They spend years trying to change everybody else's mindset. But let me save you some time, family. Changing your own thinking is hard enough. Don't waste years of your life trying to convince somebody else who's comfortable where they are. I've already been there and done that. And as a black sheep, you probably are as well. Because we often see more in other people than we see in ourselves. And it's game over for that. Now is a time for you to really observe and analyze, then make your next move your best move. No more forcing people to change their decision when they continue to make that same decision. When people show you who they are, whether they're telling you or not, they can tell you many things, but when they show you with their actions, it's time for you to set yourself up and position yourself so that you can make your next move, your best one. See, around here, we call observation peep and game. You're not judging people, you're studying the patterns. You're asking yourself, what keeps showing up? What seems very normal here? What's influencing my decisions to even be around here? Ask yourself then what beliefs have I accepted without even ever questioning them? Because once you recognize the patterns, the pattern loses some of its power. That's strategic intelligence. So let's talk about the black sheep action move. Number one, observe your own language this week. Pay attention to every time you say, I can't, I'm not, people don't like me, or people like me don't, or if you're from here, we can't. Write those statements down so that you can start to learn how to recognize your own mental traps. Because you have a with the digital age and the information age that we're in, you have unlimited potential for the most part. How can I speak with so much conviction on that? Think about the people that were born during the times where there were not there where there weren't any technology, no internet, no phones, no cars. And they continue to create solutions and things that made life better. You know why? Because they didn't put a cap on their thinking, they didn't put a cap on growth and ideas. Action move number two, observe your environment. Observe your environment. This is one that I'm really working on. Because you got to ask yourself, the people that I'm around, are they helping me or are they hindering me? Who consistently expands my thinking? Who consistently shrinks it? Who wants me to fit into their bubble that they created for me? Because see, as a black sheep, you got a lot of potential, but people will purposely try to put their foot on your neck. Action move number three challenge one inherited belief. Ask yourself, who taught me this? And is this really true? Like, where did I pick this up from? Okay, these different mind traps, because I'm telling you, is limitless opportunities out there. And here's what's so cool about the age that we're living in now. Even if you felt like it was limitless or it was limited opportunities, if you have access to the internet and a smartphone, even just having purpose in general, you can create opportunities out of thin air, simply starting by your thinking. This is why it's important to be around people, places, and things that will help you expand your thinking, not imprison you with small, doubtful thinking. Your future changes the moment you start stop accepting every thought as truth and start observing where your thoughts came from. Because a lot of times it's people, it's people whom we were around that we thought it was normal, and they installed these different things. It's almost like software. Because when you're around someone a lot, Think about this for a second. Have you ever moved from one country to another or moved from one part of the states to a different part, and they had a different dialect and the way they speak? Next thing you know, you're speaking like them, and you're like, I don't even know where that came from. It came from the environment. Because what you are around eventually becomes a part of you if you are not super intentional. But black sheep, one thing about this time that we're in right now, if you want to see accelerated results and change in your life, I promise you the thoughts that you're thinking and the environment are the first two things that you can start to change. Between now and our next intelligent briefing, don't try to change anybody. Don't argue, don't debate with these folks, don't even defend nothing. If you're sharing ideas, always say if you really want to know what you're working with, share a small idea and see how they act. And simply observe. Observe the conversations, observe the excuses, observe the possibilities, observe the limitations, but most importantly, observe yourself. Observe how you feel when you're around these folks. Observe yourself and how you're thinking and the things that you're saying. Observe who you allow to be in your environment. Because once you can recognize a mental trap, it becomes much harder for that trap to quietly control your future. Today's mission wasn't to inspire you, family, it was to sharpen your awareness. Remember, before you change your habits, you have to recognize your patterns. And before you recognize your patterns, you have to slow down long enough to observe them. See, that's why a lot of people think because they're moving fast and a lot of busyness. A lot of people feel like that's really productive, but it's not. Because a lot of times in those moments when you're moving fast, you miss things. And that's when you slow down long enough to observe these things, that's where the strategic intelligence begins. The next briefing, we'll continue building on the observation phase. Until next time, keep your eyes open. Peep the game and never stop learning. I want to thank you so much for joining me for another episode of the Black Sheep Leadership Podcast. If today's intelligent brief has challenged your thinking, share it with another black sheep who's ready to level up. Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss the next briefing. And remember, information is everywhere and execution is rare. I'll see you in the next intelligence briefing.