Today I want to talk to you about some strategies on how to stop holding yourself back. When I wrote my bestselling book on Dreams Without Goals or Nightmares, as you know, there are four questions you have to ask yourself whenever you’re thinking about a goal. My formula for success that has helped me and many of my other clients reach goals is W to the fourth power. (W^4) You have to first ask yourself, what is your goal?
This is going to help you know why you want to achieve it. And when you really get focused on why you want to achieve it, the how will come.
The second question is, when is your timeframe? When do you want to accomplish this goal? And then what is holding you back?
Another question to think about is what is your strategy?
But today we’re going talk about the last question, what is holding you back?
The answer to that question indicates the work you need to do. What I’ve learned from research is that the brain wants to do what you tell it to do. However, the brain cannot understand a negative thing. If you tell the brain, ‘Don’t think of a car, don’t think of a car, don’t think of a car,’ what are you thinking of right now? You are thinking about a car.
One of the things I want people to understand is that you have to be able to promote yourself to succeed. A lot of people think that is bragging which is considered a negative thing.
I don’t want you to think of bragging as negative. I want you to think about it as effective bragging, which can help you reach your goals by showing people your value.
Are you being held back because you never say good things about yourself?
Research shows that a lot of people feel very uncomfortable saying good things about themselves, especially women. That’s why I created The Bragg Factor®.
One of the elements of The Bragg Factor® is learning how to create a 30-second brag. Some people call it your elevator pitch, but this is when you can say something good about yourself in 30 seconds or less. You tell people what is your special sauce and what makes you unique.
As we move into the new year, I want you to write down three statements that define you and what is unique about you. If you are in a business, what problem do you solve?
Don’t think about bragging as bad, but know that effective bragging can help you to move from point A to point B. Tell yourself that not bragging holds you back, but effective bragging can help you move forward.
Again, the brain cannot comprehend a negative thing that you’re saying. If you are a skier and you are learning to ski, there are a lot of trees around. If you tell yourself, ‘Don’t hit the tree, don’t hit the tree’ then you’re more likely to hit a tree. That’s why when they teach you to ski, you’re taught to follow the snow so that you stay on track. That’s what we want to think about.
Don’t say bragging is bad, say effective bragging done the right way can help you show your value.
I hope that this information helps you to stop holding yourself back!