We Cannot Do Our Best Alone

I see examples of this most important principle every day, self-determined limitations. I see it in myself, I see it in my clients. We all listen to our own mental chatter, setting personal achievement limits, boundaries, personal expectations, goals and objectives when we are solving problems or simply implementing our strategies, in anything we do. We all work up to our own self-perceived limits and expectations. These may be very high but still, our objectives are all supported by our own vision of what is possible.

If we are fortunate enough to have someone else involved with us in any of these situations, a person who has a more objective view and thus a different opinion unhindered by the limitations we set upon ourselves, he or she will be able to push us, excite us, and get us to elevate the bar on just about anything we may be involved in merely by having this less hindered view. The result is that we can always do more than we think we can. We can always reach higher and achieve more than we would if allowed to be our own manager.

This is not because we are all lazy, inept slackers, always looking for an easy way out. Actually, quite the opposite is true. We business owners are, for the most part, huge overachievers. But there is something magical about someone else saying, ” You can achieve more here.” Therefore, we do. It’s not just about pushing higher for no particular reason beyond just pushing higher, it’s about the ability of an outside person to see more clearly than you do. We all have our own barriers to establishing a higher vision. It’s simply a natural condition. Outsiders can challenge our own self-implemented limitations.

It also has to do with trust. If we trust the person we are being inspected by and thus believe in their ability to see, then we will accept their vision and replace our own. With the trust extended we do our best to accomplish the higher hurdle. It’s like a breakthrough. If we only believe in our own goals, we are limited to them. If someone else sees a different result, all of a sudden it becomes possible and we can expand our vision to encompass the new goal.

It’s not a matter of “I can do better than you” competitiveness, although this comes from a similar place, a challenge. We have all seen this occur, when we step it up a notch to beat someone else who we are competing with and magically we accomplish more than if we were competing only with ourselves. This is not about a competitive urge to win. It’s about improving or expanding the vision to goals we did not believe we could achieve, yet others do believe we can. We can always adopt a greater standard and thus elevate our own bar with this support. If someone else believes we can accomplish more, the possibility exists that we can.

In essence, we are always limited by our own personal sense of what we can accomplish. However, others are not limited by our thinking. A person outside of our own self can evaluate any given situation with an objective mind and thus raise the bar, bring us along to achieve greater results.

We cannot do our best on our own. We can achieve more and do our best only with the help of others. Get help. Call us.