High Performance Leadership

What stands in your way when it comes to achieving your goals? Life will give us lots of obstacles. We have to learn how to deal with them. But, we also give ourselves some unnecessary barriers. We build walls out of our limiting beliefs. Limiting beliefs are those thoughts that we believe so strongly that they prevent us from doing what would otherwise be possible. They are different from person to person, but they often sound like this: "I'm not good enough...they would never appreciate me...I failed at this before so why try again...that's the kind of person who always gives me trouble..." and on and on. Our limiting beliefs are so deeply ingrained, many of them formed when we were very young children, that we often are not even aware that they are there -- or that they are limiting our possibilities. Our job is to increase our possibilities and choices, not limit them. Not to take unnecessary risks or subject ourselves to danger, but to overcome the lit...

Have you ever fooled yourself into a limited choice? We fool ourselves endlessly and don't always know it. Narrowed choices that lock us in dispute. There are always other choices. The possibilities are endless. Let go of the tight grip you've got on that goal and another goal will likely appear. Clarify. Expand. Breathe. We trick ourselves into sacrificing what we really want for something that feels like an obligation. I'm not saying to ditch your responsibilities. Do keep your commitments. Be responsible. Just don't be recklessly limiting in your scope, in your promise, in your possibilities. What if you didn't need to sacrifice what you really want? What if sacrifice is a false choice? -- Doug Smith

Do you focus mainly on possibilities or on limitations? We need people who focus on limitations so that we can determine how to overcome them or avoid frustrating our efforts. We need people who focus on possibilities because the answers are out there, we just need to find them. There are always better ways to communicate. There are always better solutions. There are always new ways to bring joy and to reduce suffering. These are all in the possibilities that we develop. I'd much rather talk about possibilities than limitations . Often, by expanding possibilities we overcome what we had perceived to be as limitations. We can get creative. We can patiently pursue perfection without judging our imperfections. Possibilities are our future. Without thinking critically of those who think critically, I like the expanded (and expanding) view. What's your view? -- Doug Smith

Do you have any limiting beliefs? We all have limiting beliefs. We all think things that may not be in our best interest because they slow us down, hold us back, limit our ability. Many of these beliefs aren't even true. "I'm not good enough" "They would never agree to that" "My supervisor just doesn't care" "Management just wants to hold you down" - these are all examples of limiting beliefs. Thinking them long enough can even make them individually true. Recognizing our own limiting beliefs is the first step to overcoming them. - What beliefs do you have that may be holding you back? - When was the last time you let go of a limiting belief and started believing that something was possible for you? What would it take to do that again? -- Douglas Brent Smith http://frontrangeleadership.com