What is keeping you from being the best you possible? As I was growing up, my father used to say so many things to me that I failed to understand. Now, later in life, many of dad’s quirky sayings make sense and are tidbits of “Dad Wisdom” that I try to call upon daily. One that sticks with me more than many others is this: “There are “thems” that do and “thems” that don’t” That’s right…”THEMS” A dad word for sure…but it makes sense to me now. In order to be successful, in order to “get stuff done” we need to choose to “DO”. What dad was actually saying was that the people in life who get up, decide what they need to do, what they want to do, and then take action on these things are more successful than those who just think about it or talk about it. Filling this gap between knowing and doing allows each of us to realize our potential. Let’s take a look at how we can fill that gap and actually take on the challenge of “doing”.
The “DOING GAP” is the space between who you are and who you could be. It's the space between your potential and your reality. This gap is created by your self-limiting beliefs. These are the beliefs that you hold about yourself that prevent you from achieving your full potential as a friend, a teammate, or leader. This is the negative “self-talk” the voices that convince us that the journey to success is too difficult, challenging ,or time consuming. Here is the cool part. The “DOING GAP” can be closed by challenging your self-limiting beliefs. This means identifying your beliefs, examining them, and then replacing them with more empowering beliefs. This causes your mindset to change from “I can’t" or "I won’t” to “I can" or "I will”.
It takes courage to challenge your beliefs and to step outside of your comfort zone. But in order to grow, to achieve more, and to become more, we must all step out of our comfort zone, into the learning zone, and then the growth zone in order to find out what our potential may be.
Closing the gap is a journey, not a destination. It's a process of continuous learning and growth. So…here are few helpful hints:
Be aware of your self-limiting beliefs. What are the things that you tell yourself that hold you back from being a great leader?
Challenge your self-limiting beliefs. Ask yourself if these beliefs are really true. Are there other ways to look at the event, the challenge, or the situation?
Replace your self-limiting beliefs with more empowering beliefs. What do you want to happen? What tools can you use to make things happen? What would you believe if you were a great leader?
Take action. Don't just sit around and think about it. Take action to challenge your beliefs and to close the “DOING GAP”. Remember...there are "thems" that do.
Be patient. It takes time to close the “DOING GAP”. Don't get discouraged if you don't see results overnight. The three valuable steps to remember in any process is to understand; Plant, Water, and Grow. Develpment and growth take time.
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