Here is the problem: 99% of people out there are already doing what they think is in their best interest. Of course, there’s the 1% who hate themselves and are self-sabotaging, but for the most part, you are probably doing right now, what you think is best. But why is that a problem?
Well, if you want to achieve a higher level of success or happiness, no matter your current level, you are going to run into a problem.
David Sandler found three areas where people get stuck in their growth and development:
- Attitude
- Behavior
- Technique
If you have plateaued in some area of your life, chances are you have a negative attitude about taking the next step, you don’t know what to do, or you don’t know how to do it.
And on top of that, most of us don’t know what we don’t know, so we can even find these problems, obstacles or opportunities in our own lives. We have a saying here at Sandler Training: “You can’t read the label from inside the bottle.”
The first step in reaching higher levels of success is realizing that you are the only thing holding yourself back.
So the answer for, “What’s holding you back?” It’s YOU!
- Has the economy or your market taken a downturn?
- Are your company’s offerings not really unique?
- Are your customers uneducated & cheap?
- Are you too comfortable or afraid to fail?
Guess what? You are the only one responsible for your ultimate success and happiness. Other people are succeeding in this economy. You can always get another job if the company is not right for you. You choose who you call on and how valuable they see you.
You even choose how you respond to real outside obstacles and challenges. Do you get competitive and motivated when someone is challenging you, or do you give up because it’s too hard? That choice is also yours.
The second step is to find someone on the outside who can see the real issues.
This might sound self-serving because it’s what we do, but only a great coach, mentor or trainer from the outside can help you accurately assess yourself and the problems you run into.
It’s the reason professional athletes have coaches. How long do you think it would take George Brett or Tiger Woods to figure out what was wrong with their own swings? What if the real problem was in their heads? What if it was their attitude?
It is very difficult to assess our own performance because we already believe we tried our best. It is even more difficult to assess a problem inside our own heads! That is usually where the problem lies in the first place. If we have the right attitude, we will generally figure out what to do or ask someone else. We are also willing to try different techniques until we find something that works.
Coaches can also help you with those behaviors and techniques, but fixing our head first is really what allows for huge leaps in performance and ultimate success and happiness.
