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A couple weeks ago, my wife and I took our Cabo kids—who've literally never seen real snow—to Park City, Utah for some skiing and snowboarding.
They're 8 and 10. Yeah, it's kind of embarrassing they’d never worn any form of winter gear. But we fixed that.
On the way back, we got hit with a couple-day delay in Salt Lake City. So we're looking for low-key things to do with the kids, and we ended up at the Museum of Illusions.
For an hour and a half, we walked through exhibits specifically designed to make your brain 100% certain of something that's completely wrong.
There's this tunnel you walk through—straight path, level ground. But because of the screen around it, you feel like you're falling sideways. You're physically leaning left, bracing yourself, even though the walkway is perfectly straight.
There are pictures where two boxes look totally different sizes. You'd bet money on it. Then they hand you a template to prove the tops are identical. Your brain still doesn't buy it.
Two lines that look different lengths? Same size.
Even after you know the reality, you're standing there thinking, "How the fuck is that possible?"
It's fun. You move from exhibit to exhibit, laugh about it, and go home.
But here's what hit me as we were leaving:
What if you're operating under some kind of illusion about something that actually matters?
Not in a controlled museum environment where it's entertaining. I'm talking about your business. Your growth. Your potential.
What if one of your core beliefs—something you're dead certain is true—is the exact thing keeping you capped?
The Pattern I Keep Seeing
I've spent the past year working with two very different groups of entrepreneurs.
One group has built $50M, $100M, $200M+ businesses.
The other has built solid $500K, $1M, $2M businesses—and they're stuck there. They're trying to hit $10M, $20M, $50M. But they can't break through.
The difference isn't work ethic. It's not intelligence. It's not even strategy.
It's belief systems.
The founders who are stuck are holding onto something they know is true—something so obvious they don't even question it—that's actually bullshit.
And as long as they hold onto it, they're fighting reality.
No matter how hard they work. No matter how many reps they put in. No matter how much effort or intensity they bring.
They're trying to move forward while holding onto an anchor.
The Most Common Illusion
Here's one I see constantly (and have held myself):
"I'm essential to the day-to-day operations of my business."
You believe it. So you stay in the weeds. You keep doing the shit you don't actually have to do.
But here's the thing—you're not as essential as you think. You're just convinced you are.
And that conviction keeps you trapped in execution mode when you should be building leverage.
The founders of $50M, $100M, and $200M that are enjoying the benefits of true business ownership simply don’t share that same belief. And because of that, they make different decisions and take different actions.
Other illusions I see all the time:
"This business doesn't have the potential to hit $X."
"Outbound doesn't work anymore."
"SDRs don't work in my market."
"I need more money / experience / connections before I can do that."
"I'm too young for this." Or "I'm too old for that."
Pick your poison.
The point is: what if that thing you're certain about is wrong?
What if it's not a fact—it's just a very convincing illusion?
The Question
So here's what I'm asking myself right now:
What is one belief I'm dead certain is true... that isn't?
What assumption am I making that's keeping me from the next level?
Mark Twain said it best:
"It ain't what we don't know that gets us in trouble. It's what we know for sure that just ain't so."
That's the real danger. Not ignorance. Certainty.
So take a minute. What are you certain about in your business that might just be another illusion?
Adios,
Ray