“You can’t learn if you think you already know. You can’t get better if you think you are the best.”

Ryan Holiday

Let's start off our time together by looking at this quote through the Selling from the Heart lens.

You can’t learn if you think you already know. You can’t get better if you think you are the best.

Ego is the Barrier to Authenticity

In following Selling from the Heart, you've learned about the dangers of being labeled an empty suit, someone who shows up polished on the outside but hollow on the inside.

Ego feeds that emptiness, that hollowness. When you think you already know everything, you stop being real, stop being curious, and stop connecting. Authenticity requires humility and openness, not ego.

Curiosity Creates Growth

The best sales professionals live with a learner’s mindset. They constantly seek feedback, ask deeper questions, and remain students of their craft. Thinking you already know slams the door on growth. Staying curious keeps you sharp and makes you a trusted resource to clients.

The Discipline of Getting Better

At Selling from the Heart there's a massive emphasizes on disciplined habits, activities such as prospecting, preparing, listening, reflecting. If you think you’re the best, you’ll likely neglect these disciplines.

The most authentic professionals keep doing the small things, consistently, because they know that’s what drives trust and sustainable results.

Humility Builds Trust

People can spot arrogance quickly. Salespeople who position themselves as the best risk alienation. When you humbly show up to learn, listen, and improve, you build authentic relationships.

Trust grows not from ego but from vulnerability and authenticity.

The Inner Work Never Ends

Selling From the Heart is ultimately about inner work, the ongoing process of self-reflection and growth.

Ego says, I’ve arrived, while authenticity says, I’m still learning. Those salespeople who thrive long-term are the ones who keep doing the hard, unseen work on themselves.

To grow, you must stay teachable, stay humble, and stay real. The moment you think you’ve arrived, you stop doing the very work that builds trust, creates value, and sets you apart.

Complacency = The Enemy of Authenticity

The biggest enemy to your personal and professional growth is not the market, it’s not your competitors, it’s not the economy, AI, or even your boss, it’s you. Specifically, the version of you that clings to complacency and ego like a security blanket.

It's that inner voice whispering, you’re doing fine… why push harder? or You already know this… you don’t need to change.

Growth requires vulnerability, it's admitting you don’t know it all, being willing to learn, and asking for help.

People, your clients, don’t trust ego-driven salespeople. They crave sincerity, relevance, and relational depth. The Trust Formula (Authentic Relationships + Meaningful Value + Inspirational Experience + Disciplined Habits) cannot work if ego is at the center.

My question to you, as we start off our time together... What could your life look like if you ditched the complacent, egotistical mindset once and for all?

And if you could do this, then imagine:

• Deeper client trust because you show up consistently, vulnerably, and real.

• Stronger revenue growth because your habits (prospecting, follow-up, value delivery) compound over time.

• Greater fulfillment because your work aligns with your heart, not just your wallet.

Are you ready to continue to the journey?

The Lies of Complacency and Ego

Complacency whispers, you’ve already done enough, while ego boasts, You’re already better than most people.

Folks, each is quite dangerous. Combined, they create a toxic cocktail that numbs your ambition, blinds your perspective, and locks you inside the prison of mediocrity.

Pause for just a moment and ask yourself:

• How often have I passed on a growth opportunity simply because comfort felt safer than courage?

• How many conversations have I avoided because my ego was unwilling to risk the sting of feedback?

• How many times have I mistaken activity for progress because complacency assured me that it was good enough?

Ego and complacency are the twin engines that fuel emptiness and empty suits.

This type of thinking fuels stagnation, shallow relationships and becomes the catalyst that allows opportunities to slip through your fingers.

Here's the truth, the real battle isn’t external, it’s internal.

Every day, you face a choice, you can either surrender to the lies of complacency and ego, or commit to the harder path of authenticity, humility, and disciplined growth.

One path leaves you empty; the other fills your life and your career with meaning.

Growth Begins Where Your Ego Ends

If you’re not growing, you’re not going anywhere.

If you truly want to grow personally, professionally, and spiritually; it starts with humility.

Growth isn’t an accident, it’s the byproduct of alignment, consistency, and relentless action.

Ego creates blind spots and gaps. It resists feedback, confuses motion with progress and keeps you busy but not better.

Humility opens the door to transformation. Those who choose to lay down ego create room for:

• Authentic reflection by having the courage to ask, where am I falling short? What needs to change?

• Continuous learning by recognizing that no one arrives; the best never stop being students.

• Deeper relationships because the moment one stops pretending to have all the answers is the moment others start trusting you.

Ego leads to the empty suit, shiny on the outside, hollow on the inside. Humility leads to authenticity, real, trustworthy, and growth-oriented.

Humility is not weakness. It’s strength under control and it’s the decision to silence ego long enough to grow into something greater.

The moment you stop trying to prove you’re enough, you finally create the conditions to become more than enough.

The Cost of Staying Comfortable

Comfort costs far more than you think. On the surface, it might feel safe, predictable and familiar, but beneath; all that lies is decay.

Comfort kills your momentum.

Every single industry is rapidly changing. You have technology evolving by the minute, as client expectations reset daily.

While you’re sitting still, the world and your clients are sprinting forward. If you’re not relentlessly evolving, you’re not just standing still, you’re actively falling behind.

Comfort erodes trust.

Ego convinces you that you’ve already earned credibility. Complacency tells you you’ll always be relevant. I'm here to inform you that your clients see through the charades.

Trust isn’t a trophy you win once; it’s a habit you nurture daily.

Comfort robs you of fulfillment.

Deep down, I guarantee you know when you’re coasting. It's that nagging voice at night that whispers, you were made for more.

You know what? That’s not noise, it’s your potential, crying out for you to do something about it.

Comfortable is costly, as it costs you opportunities, relationships, credibility, and your purpose.

What Happens When You Ditch Ego and Complacency?

Let’s imagine.

What would happen if you woke up tomorrow and chose a different mindset?

I bet your growth would start to skyrocket. Instead of settling, you’d constantly be seeking opportunities to sharpen your skills, expand your thinking, and deepen your emotional health.

You’d live out Pastor Craig Groeschel’s reminder that “It’s not what you do occasionally that matters, it’s what you do consistently.”

I bet your relationships would flourish. Ego creates walls around connection and humility opens the door.

By focusing on authentic relationships, meaningful value, and disciplined habits, you’d become the kind of person people want to follow, buy from, and stay loyal to.

I bet your influence would expand, as people trust those who are real. When you ditch ego, you give others permission to be authentic too.

Do you want to be remembered as someone who played it safe and acted important, or someone who inspired, grew, and served?

The Call to Courage

Dropping ego and complacency isn’t easy. It takes courage.

Those who are courageous always outgrow the comfortable.

The marketplace doesn’t need more empty suits. What your clients, your team, and your family need, is the authentic, growing, fully alive version of you.

Here's my challenge... Stop coasting and squash the ego. Do the heart work and watch your growth explode.

• Adopt a beginner’s mindset every day

• Seek uncomfortable conversations

• Commit to consistency over comfort

Discipline is the antidote to complacency.

One last question to leave you with... If you keep clinging to ego and complacency, where will you be in 5 years?

Here's the better question... If you ditch them, who could you become?

That’s the choice in front of you. Now, go sell from the heart.

Originally published on Larry Levine's LinkedIn.