It baffles me how little interrogation people do of their thinking when making big decisions.
Most people seem to fall into one of three camps.
The “don’t overthink it, trust your gut” crowd.
The pseudo-spiritual “manifest it and the universe will deliver”.
The self-proclaimed rationalists who believe they’re logical, objective machines.
They all miss the point.
Your thinking drives your behaviour. If you don’t interrogate it, you’re racing with blinkers on.
Again this week I had conversations where the stated problem wasn’t the real problem.
One guy asked me to help him assess a business opportunity and help him decide, “if this a winner?”
On investigation, his real driver was a story he was telling himself: I’m behind. Blokes 10 years younger than me have built and sold successful businesses me. Will it ever happen for me?"
Another wanted help launching an online course. They started talking about the technicalities of course construction and delivery. Their real worry? “People don’t trust or pay for online courses.”
A third said he needed help acquiring new clients. But in reality he felt insecure about not knowing 'enough' and was afraid to approach them.
In all these cases, the “practical” problem is downstream of a psychological one.
I’m not suggesting there aren’t practical hurdles in business. Of course there are.
But you’ll rarely take timely, effective action while your thinking is working against you.
That’s where I come in. Think of me as the pre-business coach, the guy you go to before tactics.
My job is to upgrade your thinking so you can perform at your best and take mission-aligned action.
