As an entrepreneur, it’s easy to become your own worst enemy in achieving your goals. You undoubtedly have dreams, but making those dreams a reality can often seem out of reach. When this happens, it’s because you’re talking to yourself inside your own head and telling yourself stories about why you can’t do something or achieve the goals you have set. You become paralyzed analyzing what might happen.
These kinds of thoughts inhibit you from succeeding because, as people, we tend to believe the things we tell ourselves. When you give yourself an excuse or tell a story in your head about why something is out of reach, you give yourself an excuse. It makes you feel validated in failing to take action or take a risk necessary to reach your goals.
You might tell yourself that you don’t have the necessary skills, or it isn’t the right time to take action. These are phrases that allow your self-doubt to get in the way and cause you to either procrastinate a task or fail to take action altogether.
Learn to recognize when you’re telling yourself stories that won’t result in a positive outcome. Perhaps you think things like “I’m not ready yet,” or “What if I fail?” When you believe these things, you make it impossible to succeed. You can try to turn these thoughts around into positive self-talk, but it’s important that what you tell yourself is true and believable, or your brain will dismiss it. For example, if you don’t have the skills you need to complete a task, don’t tell yourself, “I can do it.” Instead, say something like, “I don’t have the necessary skills, but I am ready to learn them. I’m a quick learner.”
Changing your mindset and the stories you tell yourself can be difficult and requires frequent corrections to begin thinking more positively. Sometimes the best thing you can do for yourself is to simply get out of your head entirely. Stop imagining what might happen if you take action, and simply focus on the present moment and what’s in front of you. Take the next step and do it quickly.
The ability to focus on the present is an important skill for entrepreneurs because it is vital to success. You cannot simply sit around all day and think about what you’re going to do—you have to actually do it.
The future doesn’t really exist. At least not yet. All that exists is the present moment, and in that moment you can choose to do or not do something, to take a risk or not. You can use the present thinking about what you will do in the future, but until you actually take action, it doesn’t become reality. Focus on what’s in front of you rather than the hypothetical scenarios of the future.
Focusing on the present and the task at hand will keep you moving forward rather than being paralyzed by what may or may not happen. Take action! Remember, analysis paralysis is your worst enemy.
