As Mark Twain stated, “It’s not what you don’t know that holds you back, it’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”  As your virtual Growth Coach, please read that again.  Surprisingly, it’s your certainty around some of your long-held business beliefs that could be holding you back.  After all, when was the last time you really questioned and challenged some of your beliefs, practices and assumptions?  Probably seldom … if ever.

Therefore, in this business coaching blog, let’s take the time to become fully aware of and challenge some of our basic business beliefs.  As a business coach for nearly 20 years now, I can tell you that false assumptions and limiting beliefs almost always interfere with greater levels of success and happiness .  Very often, they are the main culprit. Entrepreneurs can quickly make up their minds about something and then become closed-minded to re-examining and re-adjusting such potentially limiting and disempowering beliefs.

So here is your choice … you can either dig in and fight to prove yourself “right” with every held belief or you can be open to challenging your beliefs so you can be “more effective and successful”.  As the great UCLA basketball coach John Wooden said, “It’s what you learn AFTER YOU KNOW IT ALL that really counts.”  I will assume you want MORE life, MORE success, and MORE fulfillment … so let’s proceed.  

As your Growth Coach, let me ask you some questions.

• What are some of your strongest business beliefs?
• Do you believe that business is supposed to be a struggle?
• That you must work 70 hours a week to be successful?
• That you are better off doing everything yourself?
• That you must maintain full control to reach full success?
• That nobody else can do most tasks as well as you?
• That you must have your hand in every transaction?
• That it’s OK to wear many hats and tackle many roles?
• That it’s nearly impossible to trust others?
• That it’s OK to have all the answers in your head instead of on paper?
• That fire drills are part of business?
• That all your problems are due to your employees or customers?
• That employees will always let you down?
• That if you work long enough and hard enough you will one day catch up?
• That you already learned everything you need to know?

If some or several of these (or others similar to these) are your core beliefs, be warned.  It will be nearly impossible to grow a business that is not totally dependent on you … you will be trapped and perpetually exhausted.  If you don’t question and challenge these and similar beliefs, they will surely challenge your business and future.  Odds are, you will remain overworked, overwhelmed and feeling like a prisoner to your business.  You will continue to own a job, not a business.  Is this what you truly want?  Are you ready for some tough-love business coaching?

As a veteran business coach, please trust me.  These types of self-limiting and self-sabotaging beliefs, more than anything else, will interfere with your goals for greater success, free time, flexibility, freedom, and fulfillment.  The only thing that can really hold you back is YOU … and your ineffective and damaging beliefs, assumptions, habits, and practices.  Unless you destroy them, they will destroy you.  You cannot run a business all alone.  You must be able to build systems and trust others to run the systems and do their jobs.  Otherwise, such fear-based beliefs will act like brakes on your business and your level of success and personal satisfaction.

As your Growth Coach, my advice is for you to confront, eliminate, diminish or at least neutralize such limiting or sabotaging beliefs if you are to release the brakes and the full potential of your business, yourself and your employees.  You must clear such beliefs from your mindset in order to allow more empowering and effective beliefs to take hold.  Or, be content with where you are, who you are, and blindly accept all your business beliefs as true.  Your call.

If you want to change, here are some simple questions to help you confront, examine, challenge, and modify any potentially damaging belief:

1. State your belief (e.g. “I am better off doing everything myself.”)
2. In your gut and heart, do you truly, honestly believe this?  If not, then let go of that belief right now.
3. If you do believe it, why?  Where did this belief come from?  Who or what influenced you?  Did you form it based on only a few experiences?
4. What facts back up this belief?  Would other successful owners challenge such a belief?
5. Is this belief helping you or hurting you?  Moving you toward or away from your goals?
6. If this belief is hurting you, holding you back, and challenged by facts and other successful owners, are you ready to let go of this self-limiting belief?
7. To help motivate you…if you eliminated this belief, what could be the substantial benefits to you and your business?
8. If fully committed to change, what steps will you take to modify this disempowering belief?  When?
9. Who can help hold you accountable for changing this self-sabotaging belief? Share your desire with them.

Any negative belief can be challenged and changed if you confront it with the truth. Again, it’s not what you don’t know that is holding you back, it’s what you know for sure (that you haven’t examined and challenged) that just ain’t so.  Keep questioning your business beliefs and assumptions so they are in alignment with where you want to go and who you want to be.

To help open your eyes to what is possible, please download our free e-book, Becoming a Strategic Business Owner.  Also, take our free, confidential on-line business assessment.