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Episode 817 · Jul 24, 2023

You Were Born to Win But You're Being Programmed to Lose

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George Wright III opens this episode of The Daily Mastermind with a statement that stopped him cold during a trip to Dallas: *You were born to win, but you're being programmed to lose.* It's a simple idea with serious implications, and George unpacks exactly what it means for your identity, your philosophy, and your ability to take back control of your life.

The episode grew out of a weekend in Frisco, Texas, where George was surrounded by high-level entrepreneurs, authors, and coaches. One comment from businessman and author Jared Burnett cut through the noise and stayed with him. Rather than keep it to himself, he brings it straight to you.

Where Does Your Programming Actually Come From?

Before you can change your programming, you have to understand its sources. George traces the origins to three main streams: your upbringing (the beliefs, values, and worldview of the people who raised you), your environment (the neighborhood, the job, the content you consume, the billboards you pass on your commute), and the people you spend time with.

"Your environment and the people in your life and even your upbringing has really programmed you."

None of those sources are neutral. Most of them, George argues, are not designed with your best interest in mind. They are shaping you toward their ends, not yours.

The Difference Between Conscious and Subconscious Programming

George draws an important distinction that most people overlook. Conscious programming is the stuff you can identify: the lessons you were taught, the opinions people voiced directly, the experiences that left a clear mark. Subconscious programming is everything else. It is the social media scroll at midnight, the background noise of the news, the ambient messages you absorb without realizing it.

"Subconscious programming is happening all the time."

The danger isn't the programming you can see. It's the programming you can't. Once you understand that both streams are constantly running, you can start to be deliberate about what you let in.

Why Your Philosophy Determines Your Direction

George shares a concept he learned from his mentor Robert Stuberg: your philosophy is the set of a sail on a boat. The sail doesn't control the wind or the waves. But an experienced sailor sets the sail in a way that lets them move in any direction, even directly into the wind.

Your philosophy works the same way. The outside world, the economy, other people's opinions, unexpected setbacks, none of that has to determine where you end up. What determines your direction is how you think, what you believe, and the identity you have chosen for yourself.

How to Shape Your Identity on Purpose

Identity, George explains, is made up of three things: your background, your beliefs, and your conscious self-definition. You can't change your background. You may have inherited beliefs that are hard to rewire. But you can absolutely choose your conscious self-definition right now.

Decide that you are the person who was born to win. Decide that you do not allow others to program your direction. That decision, made deliberately and reinforced daily, is the starting point for everything else.

How to Recognize and Control Outside Influences

Once you know what you're up against, you can start managing your inputs. George is direct here: look at your screen time. Ask yourself how many hours a week you spend scrolling versus working on the things that actually matter. Look at who you are surrounding yourself with and whether those people are helping you grow or keeping you small.

If your environment is genuinely difficult to change, George's prescription is to flood your system with positivity from every available source: books, podcasts, online content, whatever gets the right ideas into your head consistently.

Why Daily Rituals Are the Real Leverage Point

The third strategy George offers is creating daily rituals aimed at the person you are meant to become. These are not passive habits. They are intentional practices designed to give you clarity, sharpen your vision, reinforce your affirmations, and keep your mind and body working at a high level.

"A productive mind doesn't have time for distractions or the good opinion of other people."

Rituals oriented toward your purpose crowd out the noise that would otherwise program you in the wrong direction. They keep you moving forward rather than chasing short-term pleasure or comfort.

Action Steps

  • Write down your conscious self-definition. Put in writing who you are and who you are becoming, and read it every morning.
  • Audit your screen time this week. Identify the biggest time drains and replace at least one with something that moves you forward.
  • Evaluate your inner circle. Are the five people you spend the most time with lifting your standards or lowering them?
  • Build one morning ritual this week focused on clarity and vision, whether that is journaling, reading, or focused planning time.
  • When the environment pushes negative programming at you, consciously counter it by flooding your inputs with positive, growth-oriented content.

You were born to win. That is not a slogan. It is a fact about your potential and your nature. The programming working against you is real, but so is your ability to recognize it, reject it, and replace it. Set your sail, define your identity, and get back to the life you were meant to live. It's never too late to start living the life you were meant to live.

READ THE FULL TRANSCRIPT

All right, welcome back to The Daily Mastermind, George Wright III with your daily dose of inspiration, motivation, and education. We have a lot of stuff to cover this week. I'm super excited to be here with you. I had a great weekend. I just got back from a trip in Dallas, out to Dallas, Texas, Frisco actually, and we were able to launch a brand new health product out there. It was amazing. I'll have to fill you in on it a little bit later in the week. Huge success. We sold over 5,000 units in less than four hours. And there were so many principles involved with that product, the product launch, the marketing, the branding. So I want to cover that with you on our business day on Thursday. But I really want to just talk to you about a key idea that I came back with. I had a lot of ideas I came back with, but one in particular today. But just to give you a play-by-play, you know, this week when I was out there in Dallas, I met with several really, really high-end players. I mean, we're talking about, I met with a health and nutrition company that's been around for 12 years. They do over $50 million. They're completely debt-free. I met with a multi-multi-millionaire mentor, trainer, businessman named Jared Burnett. And we'll be having an interview with him coming up soon. He just released a new book, You're Going to Be Blown Away. We actually went to his book release at another gentleman's house. this guy his name is Tony Leary he's actually an author of I think it's like 50 books and he's a coach to the top CEOs in the in the world we have an interview coming with him as well but we did this launch party for his book and I captured a couple of ideas in fact it was later on I think it might have been on Saturday I went to one of his events where they packed the Toyota Stadium in Frisco and you know I've taken a lot of notes when I've been mentored and you know like anyone else, I want to learn and I want to grow. But there was a thought that got thrown out that I just grasped and I wanted to talk to you about it today because I've shared a lot of thoughts over time and I've heard a lot of things over time, but there was one particular comment in particular that it just really impacted me and I thought it would you as well. Jared had made a comment and I'm not sure where it came from, but it was one that I feel like I've only heard for the first time, even though it's absolutely true and I think it's going to ring true for you. And here's the statement. He said, you were born to win, but you're being programmed to lose. Think about that for a second. You were born to win. You've heard me say that many, many times. You have greatness inside of you You were born to win but you being programmed to lose And it working against you I want you to think about that because one of my goals is to make sure that you know and you believe and you understand that you were born to win And you have what it takes. And you know that you can grow and evolve and overcome any situation. And I think many people would also agree with the idea that your environment is programming you lose. It's even become more apparent to people nowadays. but I want you to really think about that. How much time do you spend thinking about the fact that even though you were born to win, you are being tethered, you've been held back, you're being programmed to lose. It's working against your unique nature. So what does that mean? You know, how is this happening? Well, let's talk about it for a second. We'll back up, let's back up a little bit even before that. Where does our programming come from? Where is it that you've been programmed in your life? Well, you know, all of us, you know, for the most part had parents or individuals in our life as we were growing up, right? And so you get programming from the beliefs or the religions or the politics or the, you know, the types of things with people that are raising you. And then you, you know, you are programmed from your environment, right? The conditions you live in, the, you know, the job you have, the neighborhoods, whatever it is, you're programmed from your environment. And then you're most certainly program from the people that you're around. The people that influence you will be programming your thoughts and beliefs and things like that. And backing up to your environment, your environment involves everything, your phone, your news, the TV you watch, the movies you watch, the stores you go in and out of, the signs and billboards you see along the road. Your environment and the people in your life and even your upbringing has really programmed you. And most importantly, your experiences in life have embedded programs and beliefs in your life as well. And most of the things out there are not designed for your best interest. Most people don't have your best interest in mind. Most people are not going out of their way to make sure that you are growing and evolving and becoming the best version of yourself. But there's also certainly another aspect to your programming that I want to draw your attention to, and that is that there's both conscious programming and there's subconscious programming. And the thing that you've got to, and I'm sure you'd agree with that, right? The conscious programming is the things that you learn and experience and the people say to you. But how often are you thinking about or aware of the subconscious programming the messaging that going the streams you seeing on social media the stuff you hear and see along your way whether you driving to work or whether you taking your kids to school or whatever it is Subconscious programming is happening all the time. Ultimately, ultimately, your program is going to determine how you think. It creates your philosophy. That's what Robert Stuber used to talk about a lot with me is what's your philosophy? The way you think. because the way you think and your philosophy is going to determine where you're going in your life. Robert Stuburg, as many of you know, one of my mentors is no longer with us. He liked to explain your philosophy like the set of the sail on a sailboat. Now, whether or not you've sailed or not, you know what I mean. If there's a boat on the water and it has a big sail, think of it as Pirates of the Caribbean or whatever you want, but the set of the sail is your philosophy because it doesn't control the wind or the outside circumstances or anything else, but the sail and the set of the sail does control your direction. It does control your direction. That's why experienced sailors can sail directly into the wind. I think it's called tacking. But if you have the proper set of your sail, regardless of circumstances, regardless of how the wind blows, what the environment is doing to you. If you set yourself right, your philosophy, you can determine your direction you're going to go. But your programming is going to work for you or against you. The secret and the key is awareness. Because once you're aware that you can create your life, that you create your identity, that you shape your philosophy, once you're aware of that And once you're seeing what's happening around you, you're going to be much more conscious of what programming you're receiving. So let me give you a couple of suggestions, strategies, ways I believe you can recapture your greatness and take control of the programming or maybe even reprogram, reprogram your mind. The first thing to think about is that you've got to understand and shape your identity. Because your identity, as we've talked about in the past, it's made up of your back three things, right? Your background, your beliefs, and your conscious self-definition. You may not be able to control your background. You may not be able to control your beliefs, but you can influence these things. But you certainly can set a conscious self-definition of who you are. You're the person who's born to win. You don't allow others to program you in any other way. You create your identity, number one. Number two recognize and control those outside influences those subconscious programs Your screen time on your phone How much time are you spending on your phone How much time are you scrolling social media How much time do you have for Netflix versus the work and the passion and the purpose that you have in your life How are you controlling the people in your life? Meaning, you know what I mean by this, right? Who are you allowing to influence you? Who are you surrounding yourself with? I surround myself with positive people. I surround myself with successful people. So recognize and control these outside influences. And this includes your environment. If you have a difficult environment, because I know some people have difficult environments, just overload and flood your system with positivity. Get online, listen to the right things, read the right books, but recognize and control your outside influences. So learn to shape your identity, learn to recognize and control the outside influences. And the final one is create daily rituals that lead you specific intent towards the person you were meant to be. Create daily rituals that give you clarity, that have a vision, that are affirmations. You physically work hard. You mentally work hard. A productive mind doesn't have time for distractions or the good opinion of other people. Stay busy. Stay focused. Create rituals that are focused on moving you forward, Not getting you short-term pleasure, but creating the life you were meant to live. So remember this as we take off here. You were born to win. You were born to win. And although you may be being programmed to lose, you can control whether or not you allow that. You have what it takes. You've got to be the driver, though. You've got to get in the game of life. You've got to be aware. You've got to take control. and you've got to shift your direction and create your identity and your philosophy. And I know you can do it. I know you can do it. I appreciate you being here with the Daily Mastermind. Remember, you're the average of the people you hang out with. And so I hope this is some inspiration and motivation that allows you to move more forward in your life towards the better version, the best version, the version you were meant to be of yourself. That's my message for today. Do me a favor. If this brought you any value, if it got you thinking, share this episode. Share it with someone. You can do it on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok. Share it with someone and tag me in it so I can see what's going on. I want to be able to help you. I want to give you feedback. But it'd mean the world to me. I'd appreciate it if you did. Once again, I have a lot of things to share with you this week. But for now, I'm going to let you get back to it. Thank you for joining me. Once again, my name is George Wright III. This has been The Daily Mastermind, and I'll talk with you tomorrow morning. Thank you.