Why do so many people struggle to be as productive and successful as they'd like? Goal achieving can be fairly simple: set the goal, take actions over time, and reap the rewards. Right? Except when sometimes we don't do what we intend...
This happens to everyone! There are many reasons for this, and I discuss the various challenges we all face -and offer some solutions- in other posts. The main concept for this post came to me while writing a chapter in my upcoming book "Lead With Moxie" on what happens when people get to a point of feeling overwhelmed and stuck.
What causes hard-working, capable, talented people to get stuck at a certain level of success despite their many efforts to make changes and experience different results?
I remember reading about how it is impossible for each of us to outperform our own self image. It may have been Maxwell Maltz or Napoleon Hill or Wallace Wattles? Regardless, it is not a new concept! However- rarely does standard goal-achieving include specific actions to help change how a person sees their own self.
The enormous power of this concept really hit home for me when I applied it to myself intentionally in 2006 as an experiment to see if I could improve in an area that I was struggling with: running.
For most of my adult life, I believed I was simply not a "runner." For whatever reasons, I thought I just didn't have the right body type or enough training early on to be one of those people who ran for exercise. At some point I seemed to have accepted that I would never be a runner. I would see people running out on the streets while I was driving or walking. I was jealous! I would think and say, "Oh, I wish I could do that. I wish I could have what they have - that runner life-style and physique." I felt like they had something that I could never have: the ability to go out for a run and enjoy it.
Very early on in my coaching career, I had access to a coaching program I used with my new clients. It was essentially all about having a success mindset, and contained a process of changing their self image in order to achieve a specific goal. It occurred to me to use this 30-day program to tackle my non-runner self image, and I did the work consistently for 30 days.
During the process of overcoming my old self image, I started to see things differently.
One of the realizations I had was that it is normal for children to run. Almost all children run just for fun or as a regular way to get from one place to another. I realized that as a child I also ran. I wasn't handicapped or physically incapable in any way. The more I thought about it, I remembered that I actually won a few ribbons for sprinting and long-jump when I was in elementary school. But at some point, I started believing I wasn't capable of real running. I wasn't unhealthy and I wasn't unfit, but it sucked being one of the last ones out there on the track during the annual physical assessment! Looking back now, I can see that I was more focused on frequent side-stitches and some very unattractive heavy huffing and puffing. (Have you experienced this?)
Share the love!
I hated how it felt to not be good at something, so probably my subconscious mind crafted a story about how it was harder for me than for others.
Can you relate this to an area of your own life?
During those 30 days, the coolest thing happened: I became a runner. I wasn't fast, but I was doing it. I ran for 30 minutes straight just a few days before I traveled to my complete my first coaching certification. (I also became licensed to use and sell those programs, because I had experienced my own transformation and wanted to share this process. I have since helped many clients overcome their self-imposed limitations in their businesses. Pretty awesome!)
Over the next few years, I completed countless races of 5K and 10K lengths, plus others. The year I turned 40, I completed 2 half-marathons. Pretty solid for someone who "couldn't run." Smirk.
I overcame my old self image!
It was all about me getting past that big mental hurdle and following through on the actions.
I found that running had become a normal part of my life. I experienced all the things I had been jealous of before (except maybe that running would feel effortless - ha!). I traveled to some races in desirable destinations, new friendships were formed, and of course I collected a wardrobe of colorful clothing and shoes, as well as lots of race bibs and finisher medals. I mean, come on - that's part of the appeal!
Get past your mental hurdles so you can achieve new goals where you failed in the past! @HeatherLegge #EnvisionSuccess
Once I could see myself differently, I knew I was capable of achieving the goal.
So uh-hem, in case you hadn't realized it yet: This can be applied to anything!
-->>How can you apply this idea of outperforming your old self?
-->>Where are you holding yourself back because your self image isn't matching up with your goals?
It's time to evolve.
Here's to your success!
PS- Curious about what it would be like to work with me to overcome your perceived limitations? Try a free block-busting call with me!
“You can never outperform your self image.” I absorbed this sage advice over a decade ago and it radically transformed how I achieve my own goals and help clients build their intentional legacy. Here I share insights on how to apply it to out-perform your Old Self! #EnvisionSuccess