Overcoming what Holds you Back and Releasing your Potential
We all face obstacles and resistance in some way. Life is hard, and so is work. If everything were easy, everyone would do exactly what they needed to do, when they needed to do it. Finding ways to persevere and persist are what sets people apart. In our retail world, most leaders face the same types of challenges — time: who has enough time to do everything they want or need to do? People: do you have the perfect team around you, or could you use additional folks or upgrade some talent? These are just some examples that any of us might face.
It is easy to ask the questions, hard to find solutions, and even harder to put into action consistently. We all have something holding us back. And often, it is the perceived obstacles that are the most challenging to overcome. I don’t have enough time to do that. There are not enough quality people available to fill my open position. I cannot find anyone to work for that amount of money. Do those sound familiar?
The first step to working past these types of obstacles is to recognize that they are holding you back in the first place. It doesn’t even mean that there isn’t some element of truth to your thoughts, but until you believe you can do something about it, you will not take action. We can all do something to move forward, even in small steps, but we must get past that first roadblock of realizing that something has stopped us from trying.
“Overcoming obstacles is what makes differentiating possible”
Second, and you have heard me say this previously, ask yourself, ‘what would it take to make this possible?’ With this question, you can open many doors that may have seemed closed before. When you ask it, do not place any barriers on the possible responses. Dream big, be unreasonable, just capture it all, so you have a starting point to say, ‘where can I begin?’ When you have multiple options, you can define those first initial steps to overcome the challenges you face.
Third, begin to take those actions. Start small. This can be a ‘bite-size chunk’ exercise. This probable has been a big ‘hold back’ for you. You’re likely not just going to break through the barrier and find it easy sailing on the other side. Instead, you will meet resistance; it will be one small step at a time to build momentum and finally get moving at a quicker pace to find long-term resolutions. Patience is necessary. Track your progress. Refine your plan. These are all ways to help you finally get moving forward on that vexing problem that is holding you back.
When you feel that you are wrapped up in the constraints of reality, work hard to take a step back and evaluate the situation from a fresh perspective. Ask yourself, ‘what is holding me back?’ Then ask, ‘what would it take to make the outcome I am looking for possible?’ Moving with small steps will help get you started to find a solution that will make sense for you, your team, and your business. In most cases, we are what holds ourselves back. The great news is, we are also the best way to move forward.
What is your biggest ‘hold back’? What steps can you take to overcome it?
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