As your virtual business coach, let me ask you a simple question: "As a business owner, who or what is holding you back from greater success, wealth, and happiness? Please be brutally honest and courageous enough to write down at least 5 things, people or conditions that could be holding you back from greater professional and personal success.
Got your top 5 reasons? Good. Now, look carefully at your answers. What's really holding you and your business back? Any revelations? Were most of your answers external related? Related to politics, the government, the economy, the marketplace, credit availability, your competition, customers, employees, partners, vendors, suppliers, products/services, your spouse, parents or upbringing, etc.? Did any of your top 5 reasons include YOU...internal related? If so, hold that wisdom until later.
Look at your answers again. Are most of the externally related reasons real or just imagined hurdles and barriers? Aren’t most, if not all of them, merely convenient or comforting excuses? Are you blaming your lack of results on certain external conditions, things, institutions, or other people? If so, you are giving your power away and telling yourself comforting "excuses", "lies" and “stories”.
Are you assigning blame to others and to circumstances? If so, this brief Growth Coach blog is dedicated to the dangerous and self-limiting game most business owners, entrepreneurs and professionals play every now and then....THE BLAME GAME.
If the vast majority of your answers regarding the top 5 things holding you back DID NOT revolve around YOU (mindsets, habits, fears, limiting beliefs, decisions, thinking, actions, denial, etc.), then you are playing the blame game to some level. Be forewarned.
Sadly, human beings are experts at developing reasonable sounding excuses and comforting stories they tell themselves. It's far easier to blame others or certain conditions than to take fully responsibility. Don’t fall prey to that! Stop justifying why things are not working out the way you envisioned. Don’t settle for less and stop feeding yourself stories and excuses that make you feel better only on a very temporary basis about your current situation. Without question, believing in your excuses, stories, and the blame game WILL DEFINITELY HOLD YOU BACK.
Let this Growth Coach blog serve as your "blame game" wake-up call. If you are not happy with the results you are getting in your professional and personal life, blame no one but yourself and stop wasting time on fabricating excuses and telling yourself comforting stories. Accept the truth that YOU are the CAUSE of nearly every result, outcome, and circumstance in your life and business. For those entrepreneurs who accept total responsibility...great results always happen in time. Why? They are in control, making necessary changes, and not giving their power away to others.
Again, because of your thinking and actions to date, you have attracted nearly every result, circumstance and person into your business and life. For no-limit success, take 100% responsibility for your results to date. Own the good, bad and the ugly outcomes. Accept the truth and then decide to improve upon those circumstances going forward. If you accept reality and take responsibility, you can always change for the better.
You see, you can either make excuses or make money...you can’t do both. You can either put energy into making excuses or making a better business and life. Drop the word “excuse” from your vocabulary and exchange it with “challenge”. Any challenge can be overcome but all excuses are tragically tolerated.
Nothing is holding you back from a better business and life except your excuses and limiting beliefs. Stop playing the Blame Game.
Daniel M. Murphy
President, Founder & Business Coach
The Growth Coach
Business Coaching Franchise System
Certified Business Coaches throughout North America