mindset

Whether you realize it or not, you’ve likely set your own governor and throttled your ability to live to the upper-limit of your potential. It’s time to release your governor, overcome your limitations, and explode to be your very best!

I was recently interviewing a candidate for hire in one of my businesses. To get to know him better and and to dig into his “why,” I asked him questions about who he wanted to be and what impact he wanted to make. I really want to know what motivates people and how big they are willing to dream. It’s not uncommon to hear some pretty big visions here and few limitations.

When I asked this same candidate about his financial goals, he asked me what would be “reasonable” to expect. What he didn’t see was the twinge in my neck upon hearing the “R” word. When asked about ethereal and in-concrete goals, it is easy to throw out big things, as we often don’t even believe nor see the possibility in achieving them. It’s when asked for quantifiable performance measures that we all of a sudden throw extreme limits in the mix.

We all want to win

Who can blame us for wanting to set goals we know we can achieve. If the target is well within our current capabilities, we are almost guaranteed to accomplish it. The trouble is that we will not challenge ourselves to grow if we don’t stretch our abilities.

If you earned $50k in your business last year and set this year’s goal to be $50k, you’re likely to accomplish it. You will quickly become an expert at earning $50k. It’s human nature that we don’t want to fail and that we do not want to miss our goals. When we don’t challenge ourselves to grow, we impose limitations and set the governor.

The 40% Rule

In his book Can’t Hurt Me (buy this book!), retired Navy SEAL and hardest man alive, David Goggins, argues that most humans are only accomplishing 40% of their potential. He characterizes the limitations we impose as the governor on a car. The car is capable of going 130 mph yet it is governed to 92 mph. You can tell the car is capable of doing more, but the governor won’t allow it. Where does this governor come from? Goggins says it best:

“Most of us are extremely motivated to do anything to pursue our dreams until those around us remind us of the danger, the downside, our own limitations, and all the people before us that didn’t make it. Sometimes the advice comes from a well-intentioned place. They really believe they are doing it for our own good but if you let them, these same people will talk you out of your dreams, and your governor will help them do it.”

As you get to know David Goggins, as you read his book, you realize he is a most uncommon person. What he is not is genetically advantaged and he was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Goggins came from an abusive childhood and poverty, overcome tremendous adversity, and developed a mindset which detests mediocrity.

We are all capable of greatness. You are capable of greatness! It starts with the mind. How do you talk to yourself? Do you respect yourself?

How do you overcome your limitations?

When was the last time you set a goal for yourself, didn’t share it with anyone, and didn’t accomplish it? We’ve all had them. I’ll be the first to tell you that I have had years of “I’ll go to the gym tomorrow” and “I will get up earlier.” The trouble starts the next morning when we wake up late and don’t go to the gym. The damage comes when we accept defeat. Our self-respect slips and the limitation bar lowers.

Missing our goals hurts and causes depression. Our minds, eager for a dopamine hit, will go looking for a win. They’ll accomplish this by setting the bar lower and imposing greater limitations. Your goal of becoming a triathlete has now resolved itself to putting the gym off to tomorrow. Where else does this show up in your life?

Get real with yourself!

David Goggins is very raw and each time he’s faced his own limitations, he turns to his “accountability mirror” to overcome them. The accountability mirror is where you own your truths, you don’t sugarcoat anything, and you call out the realities of your situation. Quit making excuses!

If you didn’t lead generate today, take a look at yourself in that mirror. You can list off all of the reasons you didn’t pick up the phone and the person staring back knows the truth. If you’re scared to make a call, call it out. Look yourself in the eye and say “you’re scared.” If you opted to binge on Netflix instead, since your home office is in the same room as the TV, then COVID didn’t cause your business to dry up. You were weak and lazy!

Get uncomfortable!

Each time we get uncomfortable we grow our abilities. I’ve never been a consistent runner and I’ve found each time I re-commit to the sport, it proves challenging. Anytime it’s been a long while since my last run, one mile feels unbearable. My knees hurt, I get side-stitches, and my brain tells me to quit. A funny things happens as I continue running regularly. One mile gets a lot easier and two miles causes pain and side-stitches. Then, the pain comes at three miles and the first two are a breeze. Before you know it, it takes double-digits to activate the pain. Glad I didn’t tell myself one mile was the limit!

Where are you setting your governor? Maybe it’s running. Perhaps it’s lead generating. If you get uncomfortable making calls, you need to make more calls! If you can’t hold yourself accountable, call it out for what it is. You’re not incapable of doing the work. Someone else out there with an ear, a mouth, and opposable thumbs is crushing it on sales calls right now. Enlist support if your limitations are too great to overcome on your own. Be real with those you bring in and be careful who you bring in. If the thought of telling them you didn’t do what you said you’d do doesn’t make you want to run and hide or be invisible, you’ve picked the right person!

Take Action!

• Write down your top goal. If you aren’t clear on yours, follow my intentional goal setting series for help on making yours SMART
• Identify the things you are good at and the strengths you bring to the challenge ahead.
• Identify the challenges ahead, the skills/habits you must develop, and the limitations you must overcome.
• Enlist support with a trusted accountability partner or hire a coach. I am interviewing new clients now and promise to hold your feet to the fire.
• Check in regularly. Build a habit around evaluating your wins and your goal progress.