This is the second of three posts examining facets of the Star Wars universe through the lens of coaching.
Star Wars has captured the hearts and minds of countless people for over four decades.
Even those not versed in the Star Wars universe have likely heard of lightsabers, the Jedi, Ewoks, R2D2, and Darth Vader.
The first post was a character study of sorts on Anakin Skywalker (a.k.a. Darth Vader) and how he could have benefited from a life coach.
This second post dissects ten of Jedi Master Yoda’s best quotes and how they apply to life coaches. Let’s get to them!
1. "You Will Find Only What You Bring in"
In mindset work, everything will be clouded by what you’re bringing to the table. What you consider reality is a set of circumstances filtered through your lens. And by lens, I mean your thoughts.
Said differently, your lens, or thoughts, shape your reality. Unless you change the substrate (thoughts), you cannot change the product (what you find).
If you want to find different or new results, then you need to focus your efforts upstream and do the necessary thought-work.
2. "If No Mistake You Have Made, Losing You Are. A Different Game You Should Play"
How can you lose if you don’t make mistakes? I just finished watching The Queen’s Gambit, and I’m pretty sure that the goal is not to make mistakes to win at high-stakes chess matches, right?
While that may seem ideal, to go through one’s career, for example, without so much as a misstep is so unlikely it should be considered impossible.
If you instead view failures as a necessary step towards growth and evolution helping you hone your path to success, then you won’t view them as mistakes or failures but as learning opportunities.
In last week’s Weekly Update sent to my subscribers, I shared a thought akin to this that basically said if you’re hitting 100% of your goals, you’re not stretching yourself enough. Yoda agrees with this sentiment. He challenges you to try something different.
3. "You Must Unlearn What You Have Learned"
Similar to the first quote above, in order to grow and progress, you need to first do the necessary mindset work. For the vast majority, that involves discovering and dismantling limiting beliefs. Limiting beliefs are ingrained patterns of thoughts that drive the narratives we construct about ourselves.
Some are blatant that people offer up as simply part of who they are, like:
- I have terrible hand-eye coordination
- That’s just my luck!
- I’m the middle child, that’s why (okay, that one might be legit…just kidding)
Others are more insidious, hiding under the surface and yet shaping our feelings and actions:
- I will fail at this because I always fail
- I am not good enough
- I am not worthy of…
You must unlearn your limiting beliefs before constructing new positive beliefs.
4. "Named Must Be Your Fear Before Banishing It You Can"
Continuing the theme of the last quote, a fear (e.g. limiting belief) must be identified and explored before it can be banished (or unlearned).
5. "Out of Acceptance Comes Wisdom"
This is Yoda’s version of telling us to stop fighting reality. When we fight reality, we lose 100% of the time.
What do I mean by that?
We cannot always control the circumstances in our lives, but we do get to choose how we react to those circumstances. We do this by intentionally choosing thoughts about circumstances that serve us in some way.
Dwelling on the fact that the circumstance occurred and was out of our control, for example, does not serve us. In fact, it only causes pain and suffering. When we ruminate on this, we get stuck fighting reality.
If we instead accept the circumstance as is, then we are able to move on. Acceptance does not mean we have to agree with what happened. However, it does mean a willingness to be able to experience things as they are without insisting they be as we want them to be.
6. "Of the Moment, Be. At the Moment, Live. The Art of Remaining in the Present, Learn"
This is the central crux of mindfulness—living in the moment. Here Yoda is reminding us to actively focus on the present. To be intentional with our attention.
We are prone to worrying about the future and dwelling on the past, all the while missing the now. Remaining in the present is an ongoing goal for which we should all continually strive.
7. "Your Path You Must Decide"
You are responsible for your destiny. No matter your circumstances, you get to choose the thoughts you want to best serve you and the results you want.
Your life does not control you; you control your life. Be intentional with it.
8. "Already Know You That Which You Need"
Everything you need for self-transformation is within you. You have the answers, you just need to engage in mindset work to find the clarity to access them.
9. "Train Yourself to Let Go of Everything You Fear to Lose"
This quote stems from Jedi dogma stating that attachments to the material world, including other beings, promote greed and selfishness. Anakin “failed” in this endeavor as I explored last week here.
However, interpreting these words sans the contextual overlay of Jedi philosophy allows for a meaning applicable to life coaches:
Learn to approach things with a mindset of abundance. Override your innate programming of scarcity and loss aversion, which keep you in your status quo and not achieving all of which you are capable.
10. "Do or Do Not. There Is No Try"
I saved Yoda’s most famous, quintessential quote for last. If you haven’t heard this one, then you’ve been living under a rock. One of those rocks without WiFi.
When you decide on a result you want, you 1) plan out the actions that will get you there, 2) determine what feeling you will need to feel to take those actions, and 3) practice the thought that will generate the aforementioned feeling.
Now you go after it. In your mind, you will succeed. You have to believe that first before you can actualize your success. Then you do it.
Having the mindset or using the language “I will try” allows for not giving full effort. It’s a mechanism by which your brain helps you feel safe and secure in justifying less than giving it your all.
Now you may not actually succeed with your first or second or third iterations even with the correct mindset. But you will narrow the range of possibilities by eliminating paths that do not work, and you will keep “doing” until you get there.
Bonus Quote!
What would a top ten list be without an 11th item?
This is an exchange between Luke Skywalker and Yoda:
Luke: “I don’t believe it.”
Yoda: “That is why you fail.”
You will never succeed if you do not believe you can (see #10 above). Mindset work at its essence.
There you have it, folks! Yoda, the original life coach himself, dropping coaching pearls as if he had been doing this a while (around 900 years)! Let me know your thoughts below in the comments section.
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