Control Your Strengths

strengthsYour strength can be keeping you in your comfort zone or limiting you in some other way and preventing you from reaching your full potential. If you know your strengths, ask yourself how they are limiting you. They do, and it deserves some thought. Let’s walk through an example.

My number one strength is my learning ability. I have the ability to learn new things quickly and effectively. This strength is very useful when I am faced with new challenges, or I want to pursue a new path. You may be thinking that this strength would create few limitations, but you would be wrong. Here are some potential risks:

1. Lack of Focus: Since I like to learn new things, I learn a lot of different things. This drive to continue learning can lead to a lack of focus. There are so many subjects to learn about in this world, and I find them all fascinating. I must use discipline and systems to keep myself focused. If I don’t force myself to focus, my attention easily wanders.

2. Lack of Depth: Without focus, I may also develop a multitude of general knowledge without developing any expertise. Or as an alternative, I may find myself developing to be an expert in disparate topics.

3. Lack of Delegation: At times I find myself doing a task because I want to learn how to do it, even though I would be better served if I delegated it, or hired someone else to complete it. In some cases, I should know something about how to do tasks I delegate, but it is not always required. This can keep me from working on more important issues.

These three potential risks are real for people that are strong in learning ability. These people find the process of learning enjoyable no matter the topic, and it results in real problems.

This week, think about your greatest strength, and the risk associated with it. Try to define three real potential road blocks based on your greatest strength. If you discover questions that you need help to pursue, feel free to contact me.

What Belief Is Limiting You?

beliefsLimiting beliefs live in your head, and therefore are invisible. They are filters that shape your world, and are built over a lifetime, but they are holding you back. You create these filters as protection. They keep you in your comfort zone. They keep you from being hurt, embarrassed, or being a failure.

If you are going to tap into the unlimited potential that exists within you, you will have to kill these limiting beliefs. Here are a few methods.

1. Disprove them. Just jump beyond your comfort zone and prove that you can do whatever you thought you could not do. Want to be a better speaker? Join toastmasters. Want to be a better leader? Join a John Maxwell Team mastermind group.

2. Live outside your comfort zone. This is much harder because we all naturally want to be in our comfort zone. If you can purposefully stretch yourself beyond the edge of your comfort zone each day, you will grow beyond your dream.

3. Find a coach. Most of us don’t even know our limiting beliefs. They are part of our view of the world. A coach can help you find your barriers, and then step through them. A coach can help you articulate your dream, and hold you accountable to achieve it. The reality is that most people will not be able to conquer their limiting beliefs without a coach. The John Maxwell Team is a great place to start.

Paul R. Scheele said, “Humans, with the capacities of higher-order thinking, can overcome limiting behaviors and fears.” Animals act on instincts an feelings, humans act on the thoughts that originate from within their sub-conscious mind. We have the ability to change our thoughts, change our actions, and change our results!

Growth Starts from Within

waitingMany people are waiting for the right circumstances to make a change in their life. Maybe they believe they don’t have time, or they need more experience, or they need some type of knowledge. Whatever they are waiting on, they should realize it is not going to happen to them. They need to drive the change from within.

Do they really need more time, or do they just need to change how their time is spent? Do they need more knowledge to start, or can they learn what they need as they practice?

Dr. Robert Anthony said, “Waiting is a trap. There will always be reasons to wait. The truth is, there are only two things in life, reasons and results, and reasons simply don’t count.”

This week’s reflection exercise is to determine what you are waiting for. Schedule some time to think about what you want to accomplish that you have not yet started. Discover your roadblocks, and define your actions to eliminate them. You must eliminate your waiting from within.

You Are Not Here to Judge

judgeTruths applied to yourself result in growth. Truths applied to others result in judgement. If we want to help other people grow, we must find a way for them to discover their own truths. If we give them our truths, then we will only be judging them.

It is difficult to place ourselves in the shoes of another person, and view the world from their vantage point. It is not the natural way we think of the world. Yet everyone has a different unique view of the world. Everyone has their own inner voice that speaks for them.

If you are interested in helping someone else, here are three things that can help you avoid judging.

1. Help them discover their own truths. Engage in conversation that is thought provoking for them. Ask about their thoughts. Continue to delve deeper allowing them to really contemplate what they are telling you.

2. Stop giving advice. Instead of giving advice, ask about options. If you help them discover numerous options or alternative paths, they will have a chance to decide the correct course in their world.

3. Don’t be attached to an outcome. Most of the time we have a solution for people. We want them to reach a specific conclusion. We want to guide them to see things our way. You need to throw away that thought and allow people to develop their own solutions. Be supportive whatever the outcome.

Is there someone close to you that you have tried to direct, and it has resulted in a poor outcome? How can you adjust your relationship to be more supportive, and less judgmental?