Everybody talks about the great things regarding growing a business, as well as how to overcome the challenges that you face. But, what if the challenge is you?

We each have our personal limits. No matter how great you are, you still have ways that you get in your own way. Of course, when you are going for large scale growth, these limits have larger consequences, and will stop you quicker (and with larger messes) if you don’t address them.

The key to entrepreneurial effectiveness is to clarify how you get in your own way, and then notice how you overcome this self-imposed limit. That way, you have clear, conscious access to moving past this limit as soon as you notice it.

I was in a discussion with a group of clients this morning. All of these people are actively growing their companies. We talked about how each person gets in their own way, and how they move past these self-imposed limits.

Some of the stumbling blocks included:

• Self-doubt
• Getting lost in the details and missing the big picture
• Getting too emotionally involved – assuming other people’s intent (as bad) when something goes wrong
• Worrying about what others think and doing things just to keep others happy
• Thinking “My way is the only way”
• Wanting to stay strategic, and resisting other’s needs for detail

These are just a sampling of ways we stumble over our own feet. Then people shared how they move past these limits, when they notice them.

• Talk to others, to regain perspective
• Journaling
• Planning
• “I give myself a pep-talk”
• Write to a friend about it
• Look back and remind myself how far I have come
• Talk to people who are my natural “cheerleaders”
• Take a few deep breaths
• “Slow down, stop talking and start listening, both to others and to myself (within)”
• Take a walk
• Focus on the relationship and let go of the concern

Regardless of what your own limits are, part of large scale growth is growing past them. The best way to grow past your limits is to notice what you do to get in your own way (or get stuck), and then also look to see what you do to “unstuck” yourself.

Two Ways to Shift

There are two different ways to shift things when you are not happy with how you are feeling. The first is to change your physiology. Whether it is to stand up, sit down, take a deep breath (or 10) or take a 20 minute walk, all these changes in physiology will change how you feel.

If you feel happy, you may smile more. Well, if you smile more (or laugh), you will feel happier. As humans, we are just wired that way. Use your own physiology as a tool to support you.

( By the way… this isn't some airy fairy, positive thinking idea. This is backed up with tons of research data and has been repeatedly proven from Darwin in 1872… The evidence is conclusive! If you smile a lot, you will feel happier. If you frown all day, you will feel more negative feelings.  Try it! )

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The second way to shift is to change your focus. If you focus on the negative (even to avoid it) you will get more negative. If you focus on what you want, you tend to get more of what you want. Your brain doesn’t seem to hear a negative qualifier.

For instance, if I am golfing, and there is a pond to the right of the green, I have found myself saying (to myself), “Don’t hit it in the water. Don’t hit it in the water. . . . plop! How did that happen?” My subconscious doesn’t seem to hear the word “Don’t”.

However, if I say to myself, “Hit a strong clear shot to the green, a strong clear shot to the green”, I seem to get the ball on the green more often.

By making this a conscious process, you will gain access to free yourself up quicker and get back on task to grow your business consistent with your goals and commitments in life.