Let me set the record straight on limitations. You and I have real limitations. Anyone telling you that you can live in a world without limitations is trying to delude you—or has already deluded themselves.
For instance, there are only 24 hours in a day. You need food and shelter to survive. These are limitations.
Also, each of us has some basic level of work we must do to “pay the bills.” It may be a job, a current business you operate or a coaching program to maintain. Each of these has a time requirement that limits how much time you have to invest in “achieving your dreams.”
I don’t know about you, but my preference is to confront reality rather than to “dream of a life without limits.” I’ve found this works well for my coaching clients, too.
One thing I would like to point out: Most of us impose a lot more limits on ourselves than really exist. I’ve had dozens of clients tell me, “My clients would never accept ‘he’s not available’ as an answer when they try to reach me on the telephone. I have to make myself available, and I better respond to their emails right away.”
As a test, I get them to try restricting access to themselves for three months with a couple of their smaller clients. Within that time, they implement restricted access for all of their clients. They quickly discover their clients will embrace the new system because it helps them get their projects done more quickly, which is what they really wanted to begin with. It even works if you are working a job. The fact that you are busy working is a powerful message to send.
This is just one small example of the obstacles we place in front of ourselves. I had a big client that sucked up so much of my time that I couldn’t focus on more important tasks. I couldn’t get rid of this client because the work was generating the revenue I needed to pay my bills. It was almost impossible for me to build a new business with scalable income because I was stuck trading hours for dollars so I could get by.
It’s the same situation with a lot of people who are working jobs. You have a full-time career while at the same time you are trying to build a new business.
I faced the limitation and came up with ways to overcome it. I created better processes for getting the client’s work done without my direct involvement. I limited my time and forced the client’s projects to have longer deadlines. Then I prescheduled time for me to create my new business opportunities on my own time. I didn’t allow anything to break my appointments with myself, and I worked until I broke through.
One of your limitations could be a lack of knowledge. Your problem is that you don’t know what you should do, or worse, you think you know and you don’t even realize you are headed in the wrong direction.
That’s what the IMA community is all about. Through the library, forum, ask an expert and one-on-one consultations, you can get access to the knowledge you need to prevent unforeseen mistakes, to make the time you invest more valuable and to overcome obstacles more quickly.
While we all have limitations, most of us make more of them than we should. When I’m faced with an obstacle and I start getting frustrated and down on myself, I’ve learned to stop and say, “Robert, you are focused on the obstacle; instead of thinking about the obstacle, think about the ways you’ll overcome it.”
This slight change in thinking is responsible for more of my breakthroughs than any other strategy. Rather than thinking about not having enough time, think about how you can schedule your time for maximum productivity. Rather than getting frustrated because you don’t know what to do, obtain a curriculum of training (or hire a coach/expert) to get the knowledge you need. Rather than getting frustrated with your limitations, focus on how you’ll overcome your obstacles.
This is a lot more productive than dreaming of a life without limits.
What do you think all this? Do you agree or do you believe that we should believe we have no limitations so we achieve a lot more than we ever imagined possible? Let me know your thoughts. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and post a comment. I read every comment and reply when appropriate.
About Robert Skrob
