I’m happy to say you guys talk to me…(or I should say email me, and it does make me happy.)
And you share stuff. Maybe things you don’t speak out loud to many others.
So when I asked you…
What is your biggest obstacle in 2016?
The #1 answer I hear was…ME!
You believe you are your biggest obstacle.
We all get in our way sometimes. But the road to success means we must discover ways to get out of our way; otherwise your business dreams will never happen.
We get stuck believing we really can’t make the money we want. Or that we’re “not so good on the phone, so why call a prospect?” Some of us believe we’re not worthy of success.
There’s a lot of power in our beliefs. So much power it’s often really hard to overturn the rotten, untrue things we believe about ourselves. Those beliefs, unfortunately, guide a great portion of our lives.
I bet that’s not what you want for yourself.
Much of what you think of as your “personality” grows out of this untrue things we hold on to. And much of what is holding you back from your true potential grows out of this mindset.
Now I’m not a mindset expert. I have my own limiting beliefs I’m working through.
However, there is at least one resource I turn to that enables me to actually change my mindset…really transform it permanently…without that nasty little voice in my head saying, “Ya. Sure. You can’t do that.”
The concept is simple as developed by Dr. Carol Dweck. Your limiting beliefs arise from a Fixed Mindset. You believe your abilities are carved in stone. They are what they are. Nothing you can do about them. They are the hand you have been dealt.
So we work to prove—over and over again—that our limiting beliefs are true.
Instead, think of this hand you’ve been dealt as your starting point for development. And let’s give it a new and better name…your Growth Mindset.
When you begin to live in your Growth Mindset, you work to believe your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through a bit of effort.
You can grow through application and experience.
Let me show you the difference between the two:
Fixed Mindset: “I’m not good at sales.”
Growth Mindset: “What can I do to get a little better at sales?”
Fixed Mindset: “That never works.”
Growth Mindset: “What could I do a little differently?”
Fixed Mindset: “I’m not good at numbers.”
Growth Mindset: “What if I hired someone to do my numbers and help me learn to analyze them.”
This switch isn’t about confidence or buying some b.s. It’s about first taking small steps to change your perspective on what’s possible by reframing your approach to challenges.
Are you willing to try this?
What’s just one of your limiting beliefs about yourself and your business? Now ask yourself how you can open yourself to a Growth Mindset, to reframe the belief you have about yourself.
This is about choice…your priority. Would you prefer a life of success and validation or lots of challenges?
Oh by the way… If the very brief conversation we’ve had here about Fixed versus Growth Mindsets intrigues you, check out Dr. Dweck’s book, Mindset.