Have you ever wondered why it is that you are not making any
progress on an issue?
Or
Know that you can achieve more than you are and can’t seem
to breakthrough to the next level?
Or
Notice that you always seem to ‘trip up’ just when something
important is at stake?
If you have had any of these thoughts did you actually stop to think through the answer or did
you just ‘try harder’ or walk away?
What are the stories
you tell yourself about your life, your work, your industry?
We all ‘get in
our own way’ and often prevent ourselves from being even more brilliant that we
actually are. We do this through our own unconscious patterns of behaviour and
limited thinking, telling ourselves:
“It can’t be done”
“It’s not possible”
‘If I do that x (usually something shameful or awful) might
happen”
“ In this business the only way to make this happen is y
(usually the old tried and tested way)”.
“This always happens to me”
All of these are
stories. They blinker us and these beliefs we have are always driven by fear
and often from a place of thinking you are fundamentally flawed, you’re being
disloyal, you’re a burden or you can’t stand out
They stop us from seeing what just might be possible.
As a leader in business you are constantly learning and
working to be better at whatever you do as the world constantly changes around
you. Yet most of us focus on tasks and management tools and techniques. These
all help, however, our stories are created in our head. No amount of busyness
or management tools and techniques will change the stories.
What you have to
change is your mindset.
Your mind and the way you think is what opens possibilities
that will allow you to work smarter not harder. So you need to start by
becoming aware of your thoughts – those voices in your head – the unconscious
thoughts. I want to stress here that it is about awareness and not judgement. The voice of judgement
is usually one of those voices in our head too.
It is about being a little kinder to your self and simply
noticing and being curious and often acknowledging how you think. This alone
can bring BIG insights to your
patterns of thinking and how you may be sabotaging yourself.
Judgement takes us into collapse, guilt, shame, fear and may
lead us to giving up and accepting things as they are. Awareness on the other
hand, leads us to compassion, curiosity, understanding and growth.
If, like me, you want to be the best you will discover it’s
a life long journey as just as you get to where you set out you discover
another path to explore. I compare it to peeling an onion to reveal one layer
only to find there is more to it, and the deeper you go the more powerful
it/you are.
Getting out of your
own way
The good news is you can do something about this. One of the
best ways is to work with someone like a coach or good mentor. An external
person can often see what we can’t, our blind spots, and a good coach or mentor
can help you work through it.
Yes the internet will give you some hints and tips, and it
may also feed some of your limiting patterns….. and there are some good books
out there too. I have found that working with someone has helped me make the
biggest progress in the shortest amount of time. It has also provided me with GREAT support.
So, the question is are you ready to take yourself to your
next level of greatness?
If you are, be prepared – you just might turn out to be the
super star you’ve always wanted to be!!
“All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The
mind is everything. What we think we become.”
Guatama Buddha
