5 Ways To Speed Up Your Growth And Your Business’

When you realize there is another level of performance you didn’t know about, your world opens up.

What does this mean?

Recently, friends who normally ski in Bulgaria came to do it in Austria. Everybody told them, it’s going to be different. 

But what does different mean? They didn’t know what to expect, after all, is all the same, snow and mountains. 

And then, they went.

What they experienced here was a whole new way of skiing, something they didn’t know it was possible.

And that’s the point I want to focus on.

They couldn’t imagine it because they were never exposed to it. They only knew one environment.

In life and in business, is the same.

We all go through life doing exactly the same things as everybody else. It’s the execution that makes us and our businesses different from one another.

Without knowing it, my friend’s world was limited by their environment. By shifting their environment, they unlocked a whole new world they didn’t know existed.

That’s how our limiting beliefs hold us back.

They didn’t know a new world existed because they never experienced it. They believed it would be the same as what they had experienced before because they didn’t know how things could be different.

By making the effort to try something new, they grew. They grew in a way never possible unless they are exposed to this new world.

And they grew fast too.

This is not always so obvious so let’s try something out. 

Just go with it.

If I ask you to touch the ceiling, you would probably raise your hand and say you can’t reach it.

Now, if I ask you to try again, you might stand up. If I ask you once again, you might jump. It’s what you do next as I ask you again that makes all the difference. Because now, we reach a level where few people are willing to go.

A level where those who are willing to go (out of their comfort zone) start to stand out.

If I ask you again to touch the ceiling, you may get on somebody’s back, pull up a chair, bounce off the wall, etc. Now you start to get creative.

And after trying everything, you figure the best way is to build a tower of steps so you stand closer to the ceiling.

And then it happens, you see somebody touching the ceiling with a broom. It never crossed your mind before. It’s until that point, that you could have easily gone through life thinking you need to touch the ceiling with your hand…

In business is the same, you may think you work super hard to grow your business. You don’t know what else to do, in your mind, you’ve tried it all. You are operating at level 10. 

But then somebody else comes along and they are going at level 15. That’s when you realize there is a whole other level waiting for you. 

Suddenly, you see how all this time you were actually operating at level 6, you just didn’t know what level 10 looks like.

They are touching the ceiling with the broom while you were trying to bounce off the wall.

Our environment and past experiences limit our actions and thoughts, holding us back. Luckily, breaking free can be fast and easy. The hard part is realizing you have to actively get out of your comfort zone and look for it.

If you are within your comfort zone, if you are the smartest one in the group, the fastest, then you have a problem. 

Whatever your priority is, figure out who is ahead and where to find them, and then try to hang out with them.

They know something you don’t.

So how can you know what you don’t know? 

How can you identify limiting beliefs?

Well, start by always assuming there is always another level.

Unless you are #1 in the world at what you do, there is always a faster, better, cheaper, and more efficient, way.

And the faster you can figure out what it looks like, the faster and further you’ll grow.

Here are 5 strategies I use to identify and break my fake beliefs

1. When I travel, I network. I like to go to meet-ups, work from coworking places, connect with other local entrepreneurs, and so on. This helps me discover how other cultures tackle similar situations.
2. Listen empathetically. This one is the hardest one. Not listening to what people say, but to their emotions and then pulling on those threads further. This allows you to understand the context and crucial elements of why people do things. Read habit #5 of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey
3. Teach. Either through workshops, webinars, articles like this one, or hosting my own meetup. The reflection process you need to go through to organize your thoughts is priceless. Allowing you to internalize your learning and adapt it to your new situation.
4. Look at how other businesses in other industries solve similar problems. See how they do it and find a way to adapt the solution to your business. From Toyota Lean Manufacturing to Services doing Air Conditioning and Heating Systems to running Gyms. All over the place, there are incredible businesses doing amazing things you can easily bring into yours. And these ones have helped me improve our virtual production company.
5. Read books you can learn from. Authors have sort of become mentors as they share their learnings through a book. Figure out how to sort out between the ones teaching out of a desire to help and those out of a desire to profit. They will both profit, but the first one will teach you everything you need without having to spend a cent. When you find a relevant book like that, then study it over and over.

Ask yourself, am I growing? Am I experimenting and learning with my business? Am I getting challenged to grow by the people I hang out with?

It’s when you ask questions that you get to find answers that move you forward…

Best,

Juan

PS: Know a fellow service provider who may benefit from reading this article? Feel free to share it with them.

PS2: one thing I’ve always struggled with has been surrounding myself with fellow service providers that share a similar vision of business like me. 

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