(1) Lack of Boundaries: Let’s get real for a second: If your business & goals are the center of your universe, you’re setting yourself up for burnout. When your entire life revolves around work, you're basically worshipping it like some sort of messed-up deity. That’s where everything else in life gets sucked into a black hole. And then you wonder why you feel like garbage. Here’s a hint: Humans are multidimensional. You’ve got needs outside of work, and if you keep ignoring them, your body and mind are going to slam the brakes—hard. One of the first things I get people to do is set a damn shutdown time. No work on weekends, period. You’ll actually get more done because you’re not running yourself into the ground. Balance equals better performance. Sacrifice equals slow death. Your choice.
(2) Avoidance Behaviors: There’s this low-level tension most people carry around like it’s normal. Always on edge, always busy, always running from one thing to the next. You might think it’s “hustle,” but it’s really just your brain in survival mode. Your mind thinks there’s a saber-tooth tiger lurking around every corner. So what does it do? It distracts itself. You scroll Instagram, you binge-watch Netflix, you find a million ways to procrastinate. And the more you avoid, the more you reinforce the idea that there’s something to run from. Your brain prioritizes survival, not your dreams. Want to break out of this? Stop feeding the tension and stress you're carrying. You can read my stuff on Joyful Performance, and find a way of working, that doesn't push your brain to want to numb itself.
(3) Stress-Inducing Thinking Let me put it bluntly: You’re making yourself miserable. No one else. If you wake up tired and overwhelmed despite getting enough rest, it’s your thinking patterns screwing you over. Telling yourself you’re worthless unless you hustle 24/7 is toxic. If your internal narrative is something like, “I’m weak, I need to grind because I’m not good enough,” then congratulations—you’ve created your own personal hell. Real growth isn’t about grinding. It’s about expanding. You need peace of mind to perform. Period. And that means getting brutally honest with yourself about the stories you’re telling yourself.
(4) Scarcity Beliefs If you’re constantly in “push” mode, squeezing out every bit of effort like it’s life or death, chances are you’re operating from a place of scarcity. It’s like having a parasite in your brain, gnawing away at you. Pushing through stress and tension only feeds your limiting beliefs. Want to grow faster? Slow the hell down. Get in tune with what’s really going on inside you. When you stop living in a mental scarcity nightmare, you free up the energy to actually level up.
(5) Grinding Mentality: The more you “push” yourself, the more you condition your brain to hate whatever you’re doing. Sure, some people thrive in the grind, but newsflash: Those people often have deep emotional issues, trauma, or just have personality & brain types that FEEL less than most of us. It’s not sustainable, and it’s not how regular, well-adjusted humans operate. Grinding kills creativity, balance, and joy. Want to live in a constant state of stress and dissatisfaction? Keep grinding. Want to work smarter and actually enjoy your life? Ditch the grind mentality.
(6) Not Prioritizing Needle-Moving Activities: If you’re not prioritizing what actually moves the needle in your business, you’re just playing around. Get strategic. Know what truly matters and attack that first. Everything else is noise. For most of my tribe, we do 4 x 90m work blocks, and do not allow anyone to work more than that. We get more results and outcomes, with less workload. By getting far, far better at what we do.
(7) Neglecting Health Habits: Your health drives everything else. If you’re not taking care of yourself—physically and mentally—you’re sabotaging your own success. I’m big on biohacking and optimizing your body’s energy systems, but pick whatever works for you. Just make sure you’re doing it.
(8) Ignoring Mental Health: The slow lane is filled with people who’ve checked out mentally. They’re just going through the motions. Same business, same mindset, same results year after year. Mental health is the engine that drives long-term success. Want to break through to the next level? Work on your mind first. The best investment you'll make, is in your biology, and in your inner world. In short: you.
(9) Not Working on Yourself: Hardcore accountability means holding a mirror up to yourself. And guess what? Most people don’t like what they see. They avoid the tough inner work that would actually elevate them. If you want to grow fast, get someone who will call you on your BS and hold you to it. Stop lying to yourself.
(10) Lack of Balance: Your business and personal goals are important, sure. But the real purpose of life? It’s about connection, relationships, and actually living. The memories you make, the time you spend with people you care about—that’s what matters. So yeah, in IronWill, we don’t work weekends. We’ve got hard cut-off times for work. We go after success in every area of life, not just business. It’s about joy, not grind. The more you balance your life, and actually enjoy it, the faster you'll progress. Because progress and effectiveness, is a natural state, that you're likely blocking through your own stress-inducing ways of operating. Shift your energy, and win.
– Ravi
(2) Avoidance Behaviors: There’s this low-level tension most people carry around like it’s normal. Always on edge, always busy, always running from one thing to the next. You might think it’s “hustle,” but it’s really just your brain in survival mode. Your mind thinks there’s a saber-tooth tiger lurking around every corner. So what does it do? It distracts itself. You scroll Instagram, you binge-watch Netflix, you find a million ways to procrastinate. And the more you avoid, the more you reinforce the idea that there’s something to run from. Your brain prioritizes survival, not your dreams. Want to break out of this? Stop feeding the tension and stress you're carrying. You can read my stuff on Joyful Performance, and find a way of working, that doesn't push your brain to want to numb itself.
(3) Stress-Inducing Thinking Let me put it bluntly: You’re making yourself miserable. No one else. If you wake up tired and overwhelmed despite getting enough rest, it’s your thinking patterns screwing you over. Telling yourself you’re worthless unless you hustle 24/7 is toxic. If your internal narrative is something like, “I’m weak, I need to grind because I’m not good enough,” then congratulations—you’ve created your own personal hell. Real growth isn’t about grinding. It’s about expanding. You need peace of mind to perform. Period. And that means getting brutally honest with yourself about the stories you’re telling yourself.
(4) Scarcity Beliefs If you’re constantly in “push” mode, squeezing out every bit of effort like it’s life or death, chances are you’re operating from a place of scarcity. It’s like having a parasite in your brain, gnawing away at you. Pushing through stress and tension only feeds your limiting beliefs. Want to grow faster? Slow the hell down. Get in tune with what’s really going on inside you. When you stop living in a mental scarcity nightmare, you free up the energy to actually level up.
(5) Grinding Mentality: The more you “push” yourself, the more you condition your brain to hate whatever you’re doing. Sure, some people thrive in the grind, but newsflash: Those people often have deep emotional issues, trauma, or just have personality & brain types that FEEL less than most of us. It’s not sustainable, and it’s not how regular, well-adjusted humans operate. Grinding kills creativity, balance, and joy. Want to live in a constant state of stress and dissatisfaction? Keep grinding. Want to work smarter and actually enjoy your life? Ditch the grind mentality.
(6) Not Prioritizing Needle-Moving Activities: If you’re not prioritizing what actually moves the needle in your business, you’re just playing around. Get strategic. Know what truly matters and attack that first. Everything else is noise. For most of my tribe, we do 4 x 90m work blocks, and do not allow anyone to work more than that. We get more results and outcomes, with less workload. By getting far, far better at what we do.
(7) Neglecting Health Habits: Your health drives everything else. If you’re not taking care of yourself—physically and mentally—you’re sabotaging your own success. I’m big on biohacking and optimizing your body’s energy systems, but pick whatever works for you. Just make sure you’re doing it.
(8) Ignoring Mental Health: The slow lane is filled with people who’ve checked out mentally. They’re just going through the motions. Same business, same mindset, same results year after year. Mental health is the engine that drives long-term success. Want to break through to the next level? Work on your mind first. The best investment you'll make, is in your biology, and in your inner world. In short: you.
(9) Not Working on Yourself: Hardcore accountability means holding a mirror up to yourself. And guess what? Most people don’t like what they see. They avoid the tough inner work that would actually elevate them. If you want to grow fast, get someone who will call you on your BS and hold you to it. Stop lying to yourself.
(10) Lack of Balance: Your business and personal goals are important, sure. But the real purpose of life? It’s about connection, relationships, and actually living. The memories you make, the time you spend with people you care about—that’s what matters. So yeah, in IronWill, we don’t work weekends. We’ve got hard cut-off times for work. We go after success in every area of life, not just business. It’s about joy, not grind. The more you balance your life, and actually enjoy it, the faster you'll progress. Because progress and effectiveness, is a natural state, that you're likely blocking through your own stress-inducing ways of operating. Shift your energy, and win.
– Ravi