You Think That's Air You're Breathing?

Posted on January 06, 2016 by Sarah Kalil, One of Thousands of Entrepreneurship Coaches on Noomii.

There’s a scene in The Matrix, early in Act II, where Morpheus is training Neo to free his mind. He kicks Neo’s arse in a kung-fu training room, and as Neo’s lying there panting, Morpheus leans in and says, “You think that’s air you’re breathing?” (Silly Neo. There is no air in the matrix.)

Then Morpheus stands up, and he tells Tank, who is watching the fight with the rest of Morpheus’ crew, to load the Jump Program. Tank does, and Morpheus and Neo are suddenly standing on the top of a skyscraper.

“Free your mind,” Morpheus says to Neo, before he leaps to the rooftop of the neighbouring skyscraper, 200 feet away.

“Whoa.” says Neo. His turn.

Tank and the rest of the crew watch anxiously. “What if he makes it?”
“No one ever makes their first jump.”
“Yeah but what if he does?”
“He won’t.”
“Come on, Neo.”

Neo focuses. “Free your mind,” he repeats to himself, as he walks to the far edge of the rooftop, to give himself space to run before he jumps. “OK, free your mind.”

He takes a deep breath. He runs. He leaps.

He plummets to the ground.

If it was the real world, he’d be dead.

But it’s not the real world. And that’s why he failed.

Neo was in a world where he could literally create anything – anything! – but what he did was bring the rules of his old world into the new world. His mind wasn’t free; it was wrapped up in what it already knew. The simple fact that he gave himself a running start demonstrates that he still believed that the rules of velocity, distance and gravity applied inside the matrix. And the result followed those rules, exactly.

This is how it often goes for us when we are presented with a new possibility. We tend to resist the unknown, so we take what we already know – the rules we’ve always followed, the ways we have always been – and we bring them with us. And then we get upset when we create the same results that we’ve always created.

Everyone has a relationship to the unknown. Some people, when plunged into the unknown, immediately learn everything they can, so that it can be known again. And others panic, retreat, stop moving, straddle the line (one foot in, one foot out), or any variation in between.

The impact of trying to control the unknown is that, like Neo, we don’t really create anything new. If we run faster, or give ourselves a longer runway, we leap five, maybe even ten feet further. But 200 ft? It doesn’t happen. Because we’re still trapped in what we know.

Now, this shouldn’t need to be said, but just in case…This is a metaphor, people! I am NOT saying that the rules of physics don’t apply, and I am definitely not suggesting that you should try to leap between skyscrapers.

What I am suggesting is that you take a couple minutes to consider the rules you live by. I’m not talking about rules like “Don’t talk with your mouth full.” I’m thinking bigger picture like, “It’s not possible to make money in a creative career,” or “The only way to move forward is sacrifice.” Consider how you bring this rule with you everywhere and how it limits the decisions you make and the person you get to be.

Then, break the rules. And watch what happens.

If you’d like some support to bust out of your own matrix, book a conversation with me right now. We will distinguish your core rules, identify how their impacting your goals, and see what might be possible if we broke those rules.

Thanks for reading. Until next time!

xoxo