Month: November 2010

Continuing with our discussion on self-limiting syndrome, we’re gonna look at this nasty little thing called comfort…

Problems:

• Comfort is safe – Danger would be far too uncomfortable.
• Comfort implies a lack of motion – You don’t need to move if you like where you’re at.
• Comfort is boring – Unless you like stagnation.
• Comfort does not equal growth – A seed is probably much more comfortable in a bag than in some soil.
• Comfort is relative – Your comfort may be my discomfort. That may be the only thing keeping me from being as successful as you are.
• Comfort makes us complacent – If you like coasting along comfortably, you need not worry about tweaking or optimizing your process.
• Comfort is not motivating – My couch has never explicitly encouraged me to go out for a run.
• Comfort dulls our senses – Comfort makes us sleepy and slow to respond. It lulls us into a coma.
• Comfort is subjective – Even seemingly uncomfortable activities can be comfortable for people who do them regularly.
• Comfort makes us blind – We tend not to see what’s going on outside of our comfortable little bubbles.
• Comfort is seductive – It’ll suck you in every time.
• Comfort stifles change – The status quo is the epitome of comfort.
• Comfort lies – It’ll tell you that here is always better than there.
• Comfort holds you down – Why move up when sitting down feels so darn good?
• Comfort sucks – It sure does.

(more…)

Keeping with the theme of overcoming self sabotage and battling limiting beliefs, we’re going to talk about a devastating disease called self-limiting syndrome. Please bear with the analogy. I’ve been out of the medical field for about 9 years now.

SLS, I’ll call it, is a disease in which the victim suffers from a life lacking fulfillment, satisfaction, and success. This condition is typically due to flawed thinking, negative internal dialogue, and a general unwillingness to break through previously established limiting beliefs and behaviors.

(more…)

I found this video on YouTube the other day. Please take a moment to watch:

Think what you will about Michael Jordan, but he was the greatest basketball player to ever play the game. I love the message here:

“I’ve failed over, and over, and over again in my life. That is why I succeed.”

Words of wisdom from one of the most successful people to ever grace his industry…

Are you willing to fail over, and over, and over again?

Yesterday we got rid of some internal self-defeating garbage. Today we’re going to get practical.

Hopefully, we’ve now decided that we are going to refuse to be identified as failures. That’s the first step and an important one at that. It frees us up to take the next step and start working towards our dreams, goals, and vision.

In refusing to be identified as a failure, we’ve saved ourselves from immobilizing fear. Unfortunately, we’ve not been absolved of our need to proceed skillfully. The concept of failure and the consequences of such do still remain.

In order to understand failure, we need to look at some common myths surrounding failure:

(more…)

This week, we’re going to be talking about failure.

Of all the negative thoughts and self defeating attitudes that every one of us struggle with, the fear of failure is the most dangerous.  This fear is a defense mechanism. It will keep you safe. It will safeguard your comfortable lifestyle. It will protect your reputation.

The fear of failure accomplishes its task by locking you in a box. Your safety is a result of limited exposure. Your comfort is birthed from ignorance. Your reputation is shielded from attack by the maintenance of an unremarkable status quo.

(more…)

This is hilarious. Surprisingly, there are some really solid nuggets of truth in here.

Yesterday, we looked at the value of adopting a positive mindset.

Trying to succeed while carrying the burden of self-defeating attitudes is like trying to swim with a 3 piece suit on. You’re going to fight unnecessary resistance the whole way. I’m not saying you can’t do it, but things are going to be very, very difficult. Today’s post is all about shedding those ugly negative thoughts and setting yourself up for a much smoother ride.

As my regular readers know, I’m coming from a decidedly Christian worldview. If you don’t share my beliefs, I would ask that you stick with me here. Not only are these principles practical for everyone, but they might help you to better understand the God that you may not be so familiar with.

(more…)

You’d love to start your own business…

but you “know” you’re not smart enough.

You dream of quitting your job and moving to Africa to build clean water wells…

but you don’t think you’re strong enough.

You want to change the world…

but what can one person really do?

These are the dangerous lies we tell ourselves in order to rationalize living out lives of mediocrity. We use fear as a crutch to justify an unwillingness to take a giant leap of faith and do something that really matters.

(more…)

I had to reach pretty far back for this example…

Think about the last time you successfully approached a member of the opposite sex. A time when you walked away with a date, a phone number, or just a name  – go,go, gadget Facebook.

• What was going through your mind?
• Were you freaking out?
• Had you already convinced yourself that you were destined for utter rejection?

(more…)

As leaders, we can take ourselves a little too seriously sometimes. We’re at the helm of the ship, so we feel like we’ve got to have our game faces on 24/7. We try to portray perfection and embody some idealistic model of the uber-leader.

We take the focus off of our vision and we place it on who we are and what we want as opposed to what our mission really needs.

We trick ourselves into thinking we’re some infallible being and that everything that we do has to fall in line with that definition. This can come from a prideful place. It can also come from an insecure place. Either way, this is an unhealthy way of doing things.

You’ve gotta get this in check before you find yourself at the top of the ivory tower delivering proclamations down to your people like the mighty white wizard…

(more…)