Do you give yourself reasons why you can’t do something? “I don’t have time.” “I’m not good enough.” “I should give the opportunity to other people.”
By doing that, you’re arguing for your limitations. If you keep doing that, you prevent yourself from going beyond those limitations and doing something new or different that could benefit you and others.
I learned this quote “Argue for your limitations and, sure enough, they’re yours” many years ago in a book by Richard Bach. I’ve always remembered it.
I found myself arguing for my limitations recently. I’d thought about doing a Facebook Live to promote the Sasuga You! Self-Discovery Weekend, but I’d caught a cold. I told myself that was a reason not to do it.
Then I realized what I was doing. I could still talk, so having a cold was no reason to stop me from doing a Facebook Live.
Next I thought, “Oh, but I’m much too busy today. I have too many meetings and coaching sessions. I don’t have time.” Again, arguing for my limitations.
So I ended up stepping out of my comfort zone by doing a Facebook Live in Japanese in the street in the middle of Otemachi – central Tokyo – during lunchtime with lots of people walking past!
And I survived! And I felt great that I’d done it. I stepped out of my comfort zone and, as a result, my comfort zone has now grown.
What’s even better is that one Japanese lady told me that because she watched that Facebook Live video she signed up for the Sasuga You! Self-Discovery Weekend (learn more about this special event for working women at this link)!
So, next time you tell yourself you can’t do something, ask yourself, “Really?”
Is it that you”can’t” or that you “won’t”? Are you just arguing for limitations that aren’t really there?
As Henry Ford said, “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.”
Which do you want it to be?