Preston Smiles found out he had a genetic heart condition when he was 25 years old. The diagnosis of an irregular heart beat shook his world but at the same time set him on an incredible journey. What followed was a restructuring of his life’s priorities. Through that process, he found a more enlightened state which he now shares with the world through social media and YouTube.
“I want everyone out there to know that real change is possible as long as your heart is open and you are ready to do the work,” says Smiles. “Chasing a goal is difficult work… but we have all done difficult things before. It’s important to remember that we are stronger than we believe ourselves to be.”
For Smiles and his clients, the message is clear: Once you’re ready to dedicate yourself to the process, it is only a matter of taking the first step. To help you take that step, Uproxx reached out to Smiles to get five keys that will set you on the fresh path for 2023. (All wisdom to follow from Smiles.)
1. Answer The WWW
“The ‘WWW’ stands for three questions. Where am I? Where am I going? Why? This step starts with taking inventory of who you are and where you are currently. For this to work, it requires you to be brutally honest. There are things that we tell ourselves, without really thinking what they mean. Or perhaps we say we are doing something without actually doing it. That can cause a delay in our success as well.
“From there you need to decide where you want to go and where you are going. That will give you that inner GPS system that you are going to need to move forward in the right direction. Perhaps that first goal might be to impact 100,000 people. That is a big goal, but it is one that you can move towards and see progress. Finally, the why is just as important as everything before because it fuels the fire. That is the impact you are going to feel immediately, with those first steps in the right direction.”
2. Elevation Requires Separation
“There are many instances where you might find yourself held back from your success by an idea, habit, or individual. That doesn’t always mean they are bad ideas or individuals, but they just aren’t helping you fulfill your purpose. One of the critical points in my life is when I went about letting those things go that were delaying me. I cut out alcohol. I cut out coffee. There were a few people that I had to cut out as well.
“I went beyond that though. I let go of my apartment. I needed to put myself in an environment that would support what I was doing. I let go of my ego. I let go of the need to look good and wanting to look good. I even had to cut my communication with my father. I had a conversation where I told him how I loved him, but I couldn’t talk to him every day because I required focus. I told him that I would return to him and our talks, but I needed to go away to accomplish what I needed. This process is addition by subtracting.”
3. Find The Who, Not the How
“For many people who want to achieve a dream, the first thing that they start to ask themselves is how they are going to do it. But what they don’t really consider is the fact that in many ways the path has been laid out before them. That is what I realized on my ascent, is that I couldn’t source what I wanted to do all on my own. I knew that there was someone out there that had done what I wanted to do or close to it. I knew that there was someone who had experienced what I wanted to experience.
“The ‘who’ in this case were all of the coaches, therapists, books, and seminars that I could find. I went directly to the source, to the ‘who,’ and I went out to connect with them. The books that I started with were The One Thing by Gary Keller, Conversation with God by Neale Donald Walsch. I went to seminars led by James Malinchak and Jonathan Sprinkles. I surrounded myself with the who, and the how presented itself.”
4. Make Aligned Committed Action
“This ‘aligned committed action’ is different, and better, than simple action. Rearranging your shoes inside of your closet could be considered an action, but it’s not the kind of action that will truly move the needle. During my growing phase when I truly wanted to be productive, I would decide on something that would usually take me a week and make it take a day. Then I found something that would normally take a month and get it done in a week. Then I would find something that would normally take six months and get it done in a month. Before long I had done what I would have considered impossible before.”
5. Celebrate Every Step Of The Way
“I have learned to let every cell in my body experience celebration. I believe and know that an unhappy journey will never lead to a truly happy ending. How many times have we as kids been asked who we want to be when we grow up? What effect do you think that would have on a person’s worth? What if we had been asked how did we want to become who we are now? Perhaps we would have been looking forward to that journey more. I knew that going into my own process. I knew that I had to enjoy the ride and every move I was making at every moment. That is also important because the true goal can take time and if you are beholden to the ‘when’ your happiness will always be waiting.”
Find more coaching from Preston on his site here.