Successful people are always looking for the perfect system. A system for losing weight, for checking email, and for walking to the grocery story. A system for pursuing their biggest dreams and overcoming every bit of suffering they experience in their lives.

The reason you want a perfect system is because, as a high performer, you are a master of systems. You’ve conquered educational institutions, corporate environments, and social circles. So, whenever you encounter a problem, you start looking for the perfect system to fix it.

The bad news is if you want to do something beyond what others are impressed by, create a far-reaching impact, and leave a lasting legacy, you have to move beyond the safety of systems and learn to live where you fear by trusting your gut and opening your heart.

Maybe you think you do this pretty well already. Perhaps you think you make great business deals by following your heart and your gut. However, there is a vast difference between trusting your gut with a good business deal and trusting it through the waters of grief, self-discovery, and deep vulnerability. There is also a big difference between trusting your heart to woo the being you desire, and trusting it to deal with the tender edges of conflict and unmet expectations in your longest and deepest relationships.

In client after client that I’ve worked with, I’ve found there is a secret barrier where these amazing successful people stop trusting themselves, and it usually has something to do with how familiar they are with that space.

For areas they’ve conquered, they trust their guts. But, for everything else, they slip into fear, which is why they play out the same dramas again and again.

Fortunately, it need not be like this, but to change it requires real courage and a willingness to walk a tightrope without a net.

This is why, for your deepest work, your most inspiring pursuits, and your most powerful creations, you need to let go of trying to find the perfect system. Instead, create a container to practice in and stick your hand in the yuck!