We love the message of the Olympics: “never give up, believe in yourself, follow your heart, live your dreams…”
But most of us also feel a bit (or a lot) skeptical about the realism of that message – only because our own dreams haven’t been achieved and our thoughts center on “I can’t.”
A lot goes into making a dream come true: self-belief, persistence, ACTION… and the demons of low self-confidence, fear and doubt are very quick to make their presence felt – causing us to lose that self-belief, slow our momentum and ultimately quit. The reality is, we have to LEAD ourselves until we believe wholeheartedly in our dreams. Only then will our thoughts, speech and actions match up seamlessly. Only when we BELIEVE, will we SEE.
How can you self-lead? One method is to set goals, and stick to them. Action creates forward progress; forward progress leads to motivation and overcoming fears. Create a workable plan of small, manageable and persistent actions and DO NOT allow yourself to not take action. Being your own leader means being a strict disciplinarian at times. When you encounter uncomfortable actions, you must take them. Anything less will cause you to self-sabotage.
In the business world, your real focus is on the customer. It’s a “we” mentality (as opposed to the “I” mentality of athletics). You have to be sure that your dream and the needs of your audience are aligned; meaning that your offering meets their needs and solves their problems. So get to know your audience, and then take that information and use it as a point of focus.
You build self-belief and confidence when you wholeheartedly approach your dream from the perspective of helping others. In other words, take the focus off yourself and put it on your audience. This immediately takes away your self-centered emotions of fear and doubt. Think about the last time you helped a friend through a crisis. Did you once think for a second that you couldn’t help him or her? Of course not. You were 100% focused on your friend’s need, and you simply did your best to meet that need.
Not giving up is easier when you remain focused on helping others because it’s not all about YOU anymore. It’s about US. That is powerful!
You’ve just learnt two components of self-leadership: setting goals (and holding yourself accountable); and focusing on your audience. Challenge yourself: take the leadership role and make sure these two are aligned – and make your dreams happen!
Inspired by a blog on www.integrallife.com