My Biggest Blindspot of the Past Decade 🎯

📍 Coordinates: A backyard in Canada. 🇨🇦

📖 Reading Time: ~5 minutes

🧉 Housekeeping: Had some fun with AI video edits! And 2 important pieces of info for you: (1) Doors to the Warrior100 are closing in just over 2 weeks, on Aug 25. (2) We are capping participants at 300 total, in homage to the Spartans. If you’re on the fence, if you’re ready to take the leap — you’re time for action is approaching. Join us.

UBUNTU — I am, because we are.

I’ve had a major blindspot for the better part of a decade, if not my entire life:

A compulsive need to do everything myself.

In 2021, I co-lead The Ascent with HighExistence, an 8-week transformational bootcamp. In a session run by my collaborator , he asked us to close our eyes and picture what our ‘superhero self’ was. The version of us we dreamed up as kids to keep us strong and give us something to aspire to.

I didn’t have a specific individual, but I had a clear image of the multi-armed Hindu gods. “Cosmic centipedes” as Alan Watts used to say. Those who could do all things effortlessly.

That was my North Star of what it meant to be a true awakened individual: not relying on or needing other people, anytime, for anything. Being “truly sovereign”, a Jack-of-All-Trades.

In practice, this childish aspiration translated to an inability to ask for help, a narrative that there was no support/resources available, taking on too much work, and a merciless inner critic when I couldn’t do everything, effortlessly, alone, in isolation.

There are many positive aspects to this trait, it’s not entirely detrimental. I developed a unique skill set, became highly resilient, and cultivated a lot of personal sovereignty. But blindspots are blindspots for a reason: you can’t see them.

In fact, this neurosis of hyper-individualism is a blindspot of Western culture. It’s the fallacy of the ‘self-made man’ in full force.

No man is an island unto himself. You don’t grow your food, make your clothes, drive your Uber, build your car, design the phone you use, operate the internet. You stand on the shoulders of humanity at all times.

The smallest meaningful unit of humanity isn’t the individual — it’s a community, a family, a tribe. You can’t do anything without it. You could not survive without it.

It took me a long time, and a lot of fumbling around, to come to the realization that the thing I was lacking wasn’t a fault in myself, it was being deeply embedded in a community.

One of the byproducts of a hyper-individualistic culture is the belief that if something feels off, that’s a problem with you. So we take medication, do shadow work, get therapy, you name it.

And yet, maybe the thing you’re lacking doesn’t have anything to do with a personal shortcoming. Maybe your highly-sensitive organic vehicle known as your body senses a deep lack of something just as fundamental to its evolution as air or water: community.

As I grew and developed and found communities of shared interest — this immersion in shared interest groups radically transformed my progress. It’s like rocket fuel.

• I got clear, compassionate, direct feedback: my shadows and blindspots were quickly highlighted, paired with recommendations on how to correct them. I became more outspoken, more confident, took more leadership.
• I received loving accountability: being pushed and motivated to be better and increase my capcity, not from a place of pain or inadequacy, but from being held to high standards by brothers and sisters who could see the best in me. I did the best writing of my life, created brilliant experiences, and executed at a high level.
• My gifts were celebrated: others could see the best in me, and reflect that back to me. They saw me and held me in a way that made me feel whole, complete, and capable of anything. I saw clearly the best parts of me, gaining confidence and clarity in my own identity.
• My energy shifted substancially in these containers. Even the feeling of “I’m going to do my best so I don’t let the group down” pushed me do far better than I would have otherwise.

It’s like going to the gym with a buddy. You always push out that final rep, yeah? You always laugh a little louder watching something with friends, right?

The collective experience is critical. It is the missing link, it’s not something fundamentally broken in you.

If you feel this in your heart: the longing to come back to community, to immerse yourself in a group of individuals seriously dedicated to waking up, cleaning up, growing up, and showing up — I invite you to join the Warrior100.

I chose the Warrior archetype for our second experience specifically for this. The difference between the Warrior and the Hero, the adult vs. the child, is that a Warrior knows their limits. Warriors know they are limited. And so they train. They train together, with their crew, so that they can push past their limits.

The vision of doing everything yourself, of saving the world as a single individual, is childish. While it’s necessary to unlock the part of you that wants to show up, it’s the mature part of you that recognizes your limitations and takes the appropriate actions.

That is why we designed the Warrior100 to be a collective experience.

We are going through this initiation together, united as one. It’s not a failure to need help. It’s not a personal fault that you can’t do this alone.

But be honest with yourself. Recognize where you could use some help and act accordingly. Bring your own gifts, and your own flavour to this community. I know I need this. I need the support and feedback of others. I need the energy and motivation and accountability from the group.

A final note: in order to honour our community and create the intimacy we want — we will only be bringing on 300 people for the Warrior100.

We are calling in the 300 spartans to do this together. You’ll be in an intimate group of 20 for the experience, and have the full force of the 300 strong with you in the community and our lives calls.

Will you be one of the 300? We’re waiting for you.

If you want to be in a group with me and this readership, use ‘SERIOUSPLAY’ when you lock in.

👊🏻 HOOA. Eric Brown.

ps: In the spirit of not doing anything alone, if you can think of one person who could use this challenge, please send them the link: https://phoenixculture.earth/warrior100.