“The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person who is doing it.” – Chinese proverb

Being a leader is hard.  We all have ideas about what we want to do and what we want the organizations we lead to look like.  That’s the easy part.  Making those ideas a reality is what gets difficult.

Sometimes the barriers to our ideal reality are external.  They could be something to do with customers or competitors.  There are also those impactful things we have no control over – global economics, politics, the weather, and on and on.  Those external things can be big and in our face, or they could be small and hidden. 

Sometimes the barriers are inside our organization.  Maybe we don’t have the expertise to make our ideas happen, or the technology, or the relationships, or any number of other things.  Quite often those internal barriers are things we can impact, although it may take time.

Sometimes, though, the barrier is us.  When I see leaders struggle to make their organization into what they want it to be, the biggest problem is often visible when they look in a mirror.  And it can’t be fixed by purchasing some new equipment or attending an industry conference.

That biggest problem is our mindset.  Most leaders don’t really believe they can make their vision a reality.  Most leaders don’t really believe they can lead whatever change needs to happen to be their idea of “successful”.  At their core, they really don’t think things can be much better. 

The result of that mindset is that the leaders either don’t really try to make the changes they want to make – why bother if it won’t work anyway? – or they quit as soon as those changes get difficult.  And the result is that vision, which is so engaging and energizing for them, doesn’t become a reality.  Which, of course, is what they expected to happen in the first place.  Hello, self-fulfilling prophecy of failure.

Be aware of the voice in your head.  What is it telling you?  Is it pushing you forward towards creating the business you want to lead?  Or is it trying to convince you that the way it is now is all it could ever be? 

You can’t stop negative, energy-killing thoughts from occasionally popping into your head.  You can, however, prevent them from taking hold and driving your behavior.  Don’t get stuck in a negative loop of failure.  Take your positive mindset and change your future.