Articles - Org Development

Have you read John Maxwell’s book Thinking For A Change?

In it, Maxwell asks a provocative question: “Do you know what most people’s number one challenge is when it comes to making positive personal changes?”

Several answers came to mind:

1. A positive support system is missing.
2. Limited finances.
3. Lack of knowledge.

Here is Maxwell’s answer: “It’s their feelings. They want to change, but don’t know how to get past their emotions.”

Feelings? Really?

I thought about this from the perspective of small business owners. In the clients I coach, 1-3 come up regularly.

1. “My family doesn’t believe in me.”
2. “We’re broke.”
3. “I’m good at _____, but I don’t know how to run a business.”

Yet there are entrepreneurs who have all those things in place and are still not reaching their goals. Why aren’t they? Why aren’t you?

Maxwell proposes that the only way to make positive change is to change the way we think. He suggests that our actions/decisions come from our feelings and our feelings come from our thoughts. He believes that if we control our thoughts, we will control our feelings which will in turn, cause us to make good decisions.

Thoughts → Feelings→ Actions.

Our Beliefs Determine Our Success

I agree with Maxwell and I’d like to take this idea a bit further. It is my humble opinion that every action we take, every decision we make stems from not just what we think, but what we believe about ourselves (internal beliefs) and what we believe about the world around us (external beliefs). This is an important distinction because at times, our core beliefs are different from what we logically know. And often, we are led more by our core beliefs than by the objective data we hold in our minds. Our core beliefs are at the root of our behaviors.

Haven’t you seen this in yourself or others:

• I’m not as smart as _______. = Declining invitations to work on projects.
• If an employee believes nothing he/she does will impact the company, this person becomes complacent.
• I’m not good at sales. = A low closing percentage.
• God doesn’t want me to be successful = Consciously or subconsciously, this person sabotages their own success.
• I must be perfect = Not taking risks.

Conversely,

• If you believe each “failure” brings you one step closer to success, you will keep trying.
• If you believe in the greater purpose of what you do, you will have a well-spring of energy and enthusiasm.
• If you believe you are fully able to overcome challenges, no mountain will ever be too big to climb.

Beliefs→Thoughts →Feelings→Actions→Success.

Our beliefs drive our thinking. Our thoughts impact our feelings. How we feel determines our actions. Our actions determine our success.

The First Step To Correcting Your Course

Assuming our success comes from our beliefs, it becomes even more important to evaluate our core beliefs – particularly those that are false and limiting. This is the first step to change our actions and increase our success.
If I may, that is my challenge for you this week: Identify the core beliefs that are holding you back.You may be able to name them immediately or you may need to dig a little bit. In either case, knowing what they are will bring you closer to changing them (which I’ll address in upcoming posts.)
What do you think? Or perhaps the better question is what do you believe?
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Biography

Alicia Arenas is the Founder and CEO of Sanera, The People Development Company. After 15 years of Fortune 500 HR leadership experience, Alicia left the corporate world to assist small business owners as a coach and consultant. She is master speaker and facilitator, earned her certification as a Senior Professional in Human Resources in 2002 and has built a reputation around her highly creative and transformative training programs. She specializes in business development, branding, leadership, communication, social media and sales. In 2010 she launched Sanera Camp (www.saneracamp.com), a six week business building “boot camp” for small business owners and sales teams. Alicia has been featured in and has written for the San Antonio Business Journal, her blog www.sanerapdc.com was listed in the Top 10 San Antonio blogs by WOAI and the San Antonio Business Media Public Relationships association named her the best Business Social Media Practitioner in San Antonio. In 2009, Alicia was one of five bloggers selected from around the country to audit the Disney Institute leadership courses and provide feedback to the Institute's executive team.
Contact for Alicia - Phone: 1-888-954-4999; Email: alicia@sanerapdc.com; Blog: http://www.sanerapdc.com; Twitter: @AliciaSanera