How To Eliminate Your Disruptive Limiting Beliefs to Unlock New Growth and Profits in Your Contracting Business

June 29, 2018
Category: Be a Highly Effective Owner,Problem Solving,Techniques and Solutions

A couple of years ago I attended a contractor’s conference with a hypnotist for evening entertainment. Like most hypnotists, he hypnotized people up on stage and had them do silly things. This is something I always enjoy, except when he calls on me!

For his finale, the hypnotist reached into his prop bag, pulled out a typical brick-sized industrial sponge and placed it on the center of the stage. He then picked a big burly contractor who was already hypnotized and planted the belief in the contractor’s head that the sponge weighed 500 pounds.

The hypnotist then asked the contractor to pick the sponge up. The contractor strained and groaned, but he couldn’t lift that sponge! The hypnotist picked the sponge up, threw it in the air and placed it back on the stage. The contractor was amazed, but no matter how hard he tried, he still couldn’t lift that darn sponge.

Obviously, the 500-pound belief the hypnotist planted in the contractor’s head was somehow keeping the contractor from lifting that 3 oz. sponge.

Now I can almost hear you thinking, “Great, Bill, but what does this hypnotist story have to do with me and my business?”

The fact is that limiting beliefs, like the “500-pound sponge” belief, are not just planted by hypnotists to embarrass suggestible subjects. We all have limiting beliefs planted in our heads and they can have a powerful negative impact on our business results and on our lives. Here’s how they work:

Your beliefs → Influence your actions → Which influence your results.

Our beliefs have power over us because we treat them as though they’re true. If you want to unleash the full potential of your business, you must first find and fix some of the powerful limiting beliefs holding your business back.

New beliefs → More powerful actions → Better results.

So where are the 500-pound sponges in your business?

To help you find and change the limiting beliefs holding you back from having the business—and life you really want—I’m going to share a 3-step process with you. This is a process I use with my clients, and it’s very successful. I’m also going to give you a real-life client example to show you how the process works.

STEP 1: Tune in to your thoughts.

The first step in identifying important limiting beliefs is to tune in to your thoughts. Most of us aren’t aware of our limiting beliefs and that’s one of the reasons why they’re so damaging. Here are two ways you can tune in to the limiting beliefs holding you back. I suggest that you do both, because they give different insights.

1. Complete the following sentences:
   • “My business would be doing better if it weren’t for…”
   • “I’ll never create the business I really want because…”
2. Monitor your thoughts for a couple of days:
   • Carry an index card around with you for a few days with an easily accessible pen or pencil.
   • Observe all your thoughts carefully, particularly those about yourself, your business, your employees.
   • Every time you become aware of the negative thought of any kind—whether a fear thought, judging thought, depressing or sad thought, a rejected thought, a scarcity thought, and even a resentful thought—take out your card and write it down.

After you have done both exercises, you should have a long list of beliefs and thoughts. Thoughts like “I’m no good at_____,” “I don’t sell because selling is pushy,” “I’m the only one in my company that can do that,” “My clients only want to see me,” “Just getting by is the new normal” or even “Good people are hard to find.” Do you ever think thoughts like these?

Don’t judge the thoughts or beat yourself up for thinking them. Instead, just look for patterns and common themes. Usually a few of these thoughts will jump out at you as being the most important ones standing in the way of your success. Circle those thoughts. And after I give you a quick client example, I’ll tell you what to do with them.

Here’s an example from a client of mine, let’s call him Joe.

When Joe hired me, he said his goal was to double the size of his business from $1M to $2M. So we put a coaching plan together and started working towards his goal. And for a while, things were going great. But then…

Then Joe stopped doing his coaching work to improve his business. He even stopped doing marketing and sales work! He had his excuses, and said he’d get things done, but he kept procrastinating. Joe’s behavior was a good sign there were limiting beliefs getting in the way.

So, I had him do the exercises I described here and we uncovered Joe’s limiting belief: More growth means more problems and less free time. In Joe’s mind, he believed that if he grew to $2 million he would have more problems. He would have more fires to put out, less control, more risk to his good reputation; more headaches and stress, more payroll, more chasing money, more cash flow issues, more demands, and less free time for himself and his family.

Can you relate to that? Come on…be honest!

With a future like that looming in front of him who would want to grow!

So, what do you do about changing a limiting belief like that?

STEP 2: Examine how the limiting belief is impacting your life.

To change the belief, it’s important to see clearly how it is impacting your life. Here’s how:

1. First, take a hard look at how the belief is impacting your actions and results. An easy way to do this is to take a piece of paper and turn it sideways. Make three columns on the page:
   • in the left-hand column write your belief,
   • in the center column write how the belief impacts your actions
   • in the right-hand column, write all the ways that your belief and actions are impacting your business and life.

In Joe’s case…

1. • his left-hand column said, “growth means more problems and less free time”. “I see work opportunities as threats. Like I won’t be able to deliver.”
   • His center column said, “I procrastinate. It takes me a long time to get estimates out.”
   • His right column said, “I tend not to look for other opportunities. I feel overwhelmed. I feel I’m always at full capacity.”
2. Next, take a hard look at the truth of your limiting belief. Limiting beliefs always look true from your perspective but they rarely are.

So, I asked Joe, “Is it absolutely true that growing your business means you’ll have more problems and less time?”

Of course, the answer was no. Joe knew many other companies that had grown without experiencing the all of the negative problems he was expecting.

Usually, looking closely at your limiting belief is enough to reduce its power over you. That said, to be sure there is one final step:

STEP 3: Replace your limiting belief with a more empowering belief

I know this sounds like having a brain transplant, but it works. Try some different options and look at your belief from different perspectives until you find one which is true for you.

For example, if your limiting belief is “I don’t know how to do this,” you could change it to “I do know how to do it (but perhaps I’m a little afraid)” or “I can find people to show me how to do this” or “I could hire someone to do it for me.”

Joe’s more empowering belief was “I can grow my business and have a life if I do what other successful businesses have done.”

Is this thought as true as his limiting belief? Obviously, yes. But much more is possible when Joe attacks growing his business with this new thought in mind.

I asked Joe what would happen if he replaced his limiting belief with this more empowering thought and he said: “I’d be a different person. A person with a bigger antenna who sees opportunities as opportunities. A person who reaches his goals. A person in control”

Now—with this new empowering thought in mind—Joe is actively working to grow his business again. And his business is growing without the problems and increased time Joe feared!

Now it’s Your Turn

Imagine how great (and how much easier) your business could be if you would just ferret out a few limiting beliefs and replace them with more empowering ones. So, grab a piece of paper and work through the three steps I’ve laid out here and unleash the full potential of your business!

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