Chris & Craig -
I appreciate this dialogue.
Chris - to be clear I agree that it is a fallacy to expect a successful outcome (indeed any outcome at all) without action. I am not proposing that.
I am however saying that true success, from the perspective of the reward a person actually experiences from it is not measured in terms of financial results. In my 38 year career building and managing the successful exits of many companies including 6 different tech startups, I earned millions of dollars....but truthfully I did not experience that portion of my career as success. While I had lots of results, what I accomplished was not well aligned with the purpose I am truly committed to accomplishing…with who I am..with my purpose - creating to make others lives better.
I was instead following the circa 1950`s approach to life....sacrifice or defer pursuit your passions now and make `enough` money so you can enjoy them later....problem with this thinking is `later` never happens.
So, in terms of finding the perfect business, what I am advocating is that a person first get focused on the accomplishment of a (life) purpose, then clear the subconscious limiting beliefs that sabotage the achievement of that purpose...and once clear, ACT from inspiration. This, as opposed to following a B-school formula for evaluating market trends and writing (useless) business plans.
So I am all for action and lots of it. I have just come to believe that the action you take should come from inspiration.
Do you see this differently?
Sooo.... on to Craig`s question.
"What would be some specific examples of beliefs that energize someone to find new ideas, then call a halt to the implementation of those ideas?"
How about this one (an excerpt from my forthcoming book)
"From a very young age, I had always wanted to be a well read and recoignized author. I recall when I was in high-school, I was given an assignment to write a fictional short story. I really took to the assignment and wrote a story I was quite proud of. My teacher was so taken by my work he circulated throughout his network of literary experts. One summer day, he called my house and asked my parents if I could join him and a special guest at a luncheon near the school to discuss my story.
When I arrived I was stunned to find myself face to face, right across diner-sized table from my boyhood literary idol Kurt Vonnegut Jr. I was of course, initially speechless. My high school English teacher came to the rescue and got the conversation started by explaining that he was a personal friend of Mr. Vonnegut’s and had shared my story with him while visiting one evening. Vonnegut was so taken by my work he had asked to meet me.
Vonnegut himself told me I was very talented and had a bright future as an author.
What am amazing story, right? Certainly encouraging to a high school kid.
You would think that I would have gone on to become a great fictional author as famous as JRR Tolkein, CS Lewis, or dare I say, Kurt Vonnegut himself. But that is not what happened.
To the contrary, following that lunch meeting I never completed another fictional story. I started a few, but I never finished one. Can you guess why?
Here is why:
Somewhere along the way, in relaying this amazing story to others whose opinion I held in high regard, I `subconsciously` overheard someone say that most writers struggle in poverty for years and years and many never make any substantial sums of money at all.
It was not even a conversation I was in. I do not recall having a single conversation about the financial aspects of being a writer, and yet, my subconscious mind recorded the limiting belief that writers struggle in poverty and do not make any money.
As a result, from that moment on, despite the fact that I began building businesses at age 13 and had started and sold 2 by the time I graduated, whenever I endeavored to find the perfect business for myself, despite the fact that I passionately loved to write, ‘Famous Author’ never emerged as a viable possibility.
Whenever anyone told me I should write, the notion was instantly discarded.
It was literally discounted; blocked by the subconscious limiting belief that I would not make enough money as a writer. Mind you, nobody ever said that to me directly. The notion was a creation of my subconscious mind.
There is no telling where these subconscious limiting beliefs come from. What is important for you to know is that they are not ‘truths’. They are just beliefs. As such, you can change your beliefs and alter your experience.
Maybe you have already experienced this with previous efforts to start a business. Perhaps you have already tried starting your own business and you have not experienced the success you desire.
Maybe you are working long hard hours, doing all the right things, and it seems to no avail.
Maybe you have tried every imaginable goal setting, marketing method plan, and sales plan available to you and the outcome does not change.
The place to look is within your-self. The next exercise will reveal some of the subconscious limiting beliefs you hold to be true by illuminating them through inquiry of the things you have in your life that you do NOT want."
Thank you gents
Steve
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Steve Little: Business Success Coach, Miraculous Retirement Coach, Professional Fitness Coach,
Champion Bodybuilder, Author, Musician, Artist, Master Craftsman, and Entrepreneurial Multimillionaire
www.championsuccess.com
www.secretforentrepreneurs.com
http://blog.championsuccess.com
Phone: 408-847-7052