Forged in Fire

In metallurgy, once a metal is forged in extreme, high-temperature heat, it becomes highly resistant to ordinary fire. Gold, for example, is so resilient that engineers use it to line the engine bays of race cars. It takes the heat and reflects it. It absorbs the pressure without melting. The alchemy of life is similar. The world is going to send its own flames. Now, granted, there are levels to those flames. Some fires will test you with a difficult divorce, financial ruin, or the fight to break an addiction. Others will test you with starting over—a new job, a new town, a new life. These fires will consume and can be devastating if not managed. But there is a second kind of fire. One that will make you wiser, stronger, and better. The fire of change.

If you want to survive the fires of the world, you have to go through the fire of choice. The kiln of personal change burns hotter than the fires of the world because this is what forges you. But what does that fire actually look like? The late Jim Rohn described it as five distinct decisions. You must get serious. You must get smart. You must get going. You must get excited. And you must reflect. It’s the deliberate, uncomfortable act of reading, studying, seeking a mentor, and doing the quiet, unglamorous work of self-correction. In the kiln of personal change, the fire will burn away pride, prejudice, excuses, and all that you've been clinging to. And once you've been forged, the random fires of the world can't break you. They might send you reeling or singe a hair or two, but you will become nearly indestructible. The kiln of change gives you a strength and presence inside yourself you didn't know you possessed. Sometimes it requires multiple trips into the kiln. The process of forging takes time. Even I’m still being shaped. But the more times you go through it, more is revealed, the stronger you become.

So if you're standing in front of new challenges, new beginnings, or old habits, choose to step into the fire of change. Get serious. Get smart. Get going. Get excited. And reflect. That's the fuel for the fire in the kiln of personal change. Let it burn away what no longer serves you and find out who you really are—and to achieve greatness.

I'll see you on the other side.