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Don’t buy into other’s limitations for you
Posted under Personal Brand Definition by Linda Griffin
I’ve been enjoying the Australian Open tennis competition. Any of the Grand Slam tournaments carry an element of surprising upsets, annoying injuries and tough competition. A continuing source of annoyance for me are the player interviews after each match. At best, no new information surfaces and at worst, we have to watch the players try not to give away their strategies if they’ve won or mask their disappointment if they’ve lost.
Post play interviews hit a new low for me after the quarterfinal match won by Venus Williams. In her post game interview, one of the announcers was commenting on the fact that she is now one of the oldest players on the circuit and wondering how much longer she intended to play and what she might do after her tennis career was over. Before Ms. Willliams could answer, the other announcer chimed in and said “well whatever you do, you will never equal the success you’ve had on the tennis court. After all, you’ve been number 1 in the world here”. Venus went on to answer the original question, but for me, it was one of those times that I wanted interactive TV so that I could tell Venus ” Don’t let other people place their limitations on your success”.
As Entrepreneurs, we frequently have well meaning friends and family question our choice to be our own boss. We’re told to get something more stable, that comes with regular hours and benefits. We constantly have to remind others that even though we work in a home office, we are really working. It’s tempting to get discouraged especially if you haven’t yet achieved monetary success or lots of customers. But resist you must, because you are limited only by what YOU believe to be true and the amount of effort you’re willing to expend to achieve your dream.
I’m reading the revised edition of the classic book Think and Grow Rich by Napolean Hill and it contains one of the best examples of not buying into others limitations, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Arnie came to the U.S. as a young body builder and achieved the top accolades in that field. I can hear his friends and family telling him to stick with a sure thing but Arnie had other ideas. He used his knowledge about physical fitness to create a mail order exercise business and a company that produced body building events.
Then he imagined a bigger goal for himself – to become as big in the movie world as he was in body building. He could see himself as a movie star and he turned down minor roles until he got his big break in Conan the Barbarian. He became one of the highest paid actors in Hollywood. He continued to set even bigger goals and became an entrepreneur in real estate, restaurants and other enterprises, becoming a multi-millionaire along the way. As we know, he then entered politics and is now the Governor of California. I can bet that when he came to America as a teenager, no one could have predicted the success he would achieve.
Despite the critics and the naysayers, we have the ability to achieve the success of our dreams by focusing on our strengths and adapting them for use in new ventures. There are many examples of people who didn’t accept other’s limitations for them. I want to be one of them and I hope you do, too.