Do you ever feel lectured at?
Having to listen to someone drone on about how you should do this, how you should be able to do that.
Where they claim that all you need to do is to flick some sort of mental switch and you’ll be easily be able to be as successful as them?
There are a lot of such “lecturers” out there.
Sometimes they’re bullshitting – just peel back the surface a bit and you’d find that it’s not all roses in their garden. Or they have been successful – for a brief period. Or they’ve been born with the silver spoon in their mouth – and are simply ignorant of their own privilege. Or they’ve simply been very lucky.
There’s only one pair of shoes we’re intimately familiar with. Our own. No one else walks in them. But, by the same token, we don’t walk in anyone else’s either.
Are you lucky? Privileged? For example, are you white? Male? College-educated?
Sometimes we think we’re done well when the reality is that we’ve simply been lucky. It can be hard to get your ego out of the way. Of course, similarly, sometimes we think we’re done badly when all that’s happened is that we have been unlucky. It can be hard to avoid invalid negative self-talk.
How do you keep yourself honest? What do you do to increase the chances of you having an accurate view of things?
Ask people who’ve been successful at what you’re trying to do?
Mastermind group?
Accountability buddy?
Different tactics work for different people.
But consider doing something!
Another method that might be of interest is to take a look at Mike Michalowicz’s “Fix This Next” methodology. It helps you identify the weakest link in your business. He also has a book of the same name – it’s a terrific book – you can dip in and out of all its self-contained sub-sections without having to read it cover to cover.
I used his methodology to identify my own business’ weakest link. It confirmed what I suspected. But it was good to get that emotionally detached outside perspective.
The starting point for all these approaches is humility – a recognition that you don’t (and can’t always know what’s best.)
What do you do to get that outside perspective on how you’re doing and on what you’re doing?
If you’re interested in having a business confidante who’ll give you that emotionally detached outside perspective, email me.