31 Jan 2017 · 5 min
Brent Kelly argues you can't outperform your self-image. He traces his own stalled business growth to self-doubt and cites Nathaniel Branden on how self-judgment shapes what you're willing to do. External changes won't help if you don't believe in yourself first.
There's one thing that no matter how hard you try, you cannot outperform. I'll talk about that in today's daily Biz Growl podcast. Hello there again. This is Brent Kelly of bizgris with another daily Biz Growl podcast. The Great Zig Ziglar says this. He says it's impossible to consistently behave and in a manner inconsistent with how we see ourselves. You know, I work hard every day to help other people reach their true potential. And as much as I can challenge and encourage someone to be the best versions of themselves, there is one thing that they are 100% responsible for and that's their self esteem. And now, even though I'm generally a very confident and optimistic person, hopefully that comes through on these podcasts I do myself. I struggle every day with aspects of my own self esteem and my own self confidence. Just last week I was stagnant in an area of my business. I couldn't figure out why I was having such a difficult time gaining momentum in this particular area. Now, after doing a bit of soul searching, reflection and having a real honest conversation with my own business coach, I realized the problem wasn't strategy related, it was me related. See, although the content I was delivering for this program was effective and the feedback I was getting was very positive, I still had doubts about my abilities to my own abilities to deliver at a high level. So no matter how many tweaks I made to the program and my delivery and my marketing message and how I'm getting that out there, until I me fully bought in to my full ability to perform, I would forever struggle on this. Now I know I'm not alone. Every single person, regardless of past experiences, good or bad, their successes, achievements, we all have some level of doubt. Here's the bottom line of my message as I opened on the tease of this podcast is this. You can never outperform your own self image. Let me say it again, so maybe it really sinks in. You can never outperform your own self image. So on a scale of 1 to 10, on a scale of 1 to 10, even if on the outside you're like I'm a 9 or I'm a 10, if you really down to the core of yourself, believe that you are a five, right? In a certain area of business or life, or you know, some, some skill or trait that you have, you will never perform at a 6 or higher, right? If you truly believe you're a 5, you'll never perform at a 6 or higher. It just doesn't work that way. Psychiatrist Nathaniel Brandon states this. He says no factor is more important in people's psychological development and motivation than the value judgments they make about themselves. Every aspect of their lives is impacted by the way they see themselves. Now, when I work with insurance professionals who are struggling with performance, leadership or growth, they often feel they need a new plan of action, a new resource, a new piece of technology. And now while all of that, you know, all those things could, could certainly help them improve performance, there's no doubt about that. I have found that oftentimes the cause of underachieving is the basic lack of belief and confidence in themselves. Now, that may seem for many of you, very simple and obvious, and it is. But yet, far too often, your lack of performance, your lack of leadership, your lack of growth is caused by the most reckless saboteur of all. And that's the self saboteur. It's too easy to only look at the outside, but about what others think about you, right? Trying to gather feedback from what others are saying. And outside feedback is fine, but you really need to be more concerned about what you think of yourself. Here's something to think about and ponder and I'm gonna wrap up with this. If you don't fully believe in you, why should anyone else? Thanks for listening to today's daily Biz Growl podcast and my name is Brent Kelly and if you like this podcast, if you like the audio version, I also have a written version on my blog@brentmkelly.com but either way, if you like what you're hearing here, please go to itunes or Sitcher Radio and leave me a positive review. I would kindly appreciate it. And until next time, as always, I challenge and encourage you to go face your grizzly.
