What's the real impact your destructive inner thoughts are having on you and your business?

Have you ever heard the phrase ‘what you think, you feel’?

This statement speaks volumes. If your inner thoughts are destructive rather than positive, they can have a massive impact on you, your business, and your personal life.

Thoughts become things

Focusing on something internally (your thoughts), eventually manifests into feelings and, lastly, actions. What you focus on is what you create whether negative or positive, progressive or otherwise.

I have talked previously about your inner bully (see here), an internal dialogue that is often not helpful. This inner bully is your ego, the unconscious you, and it can take over your life if you allow it to. While it may want to keep you safe from harm (because of previous experience or uncertainty about the future), it also stops you from reaching your full potential.

Let that last part sink in. It is stopping you from reaching your full potential. Those destructive inner thoughts are building humungous brick walls in front of you, and it can often take serious bulldozing to break through or scale them!

Are you using your full potential?

Behavioural science studies estimate that we only use 10 per cent of our true potential. Imagine what it would be like to tap into a further 10 per cent, let alone a further 90 per cent? You would be incredible! You would have zero doubts and achieve whatever you set your mind to.

You’re a business owner and have already achieved a level of success, so you’re already above the majority. But your internal thoughts may still be holding you back and causing challenges around:

• Delegation
• Pricing
• Work/life balance
• Processes and structure
• Team culture

You are not alone in experiencing these challenges, so why do some people appear more assertive, more successful, more confident?

Your internal thoughts are different

When two people face the same situation, experience the same events unfolding or have the same training, why could one person be successful while one could fail?

It comes down to individual thoughts and internal comprehension. Who are you ‘being’ at that moment?

Would you see implementing new systems, taking on new staff or streamlining/diversifying products and services as a hassle and unnecessary expense? Or would you see it as a challenge that will improve everyone’s lives and be worth the effort and investment?

Do you relate to the victim (first scenario) or the champion (second scenario)?

Thinking and feeling differently to the same situation or experience happens because of your beliefs, values and conditioning. Based on your upbringing and life to date, you filter experiences in different ways resulting in the outcome – whether positive or negative.

If you are successful, then you think and act at the point of ‘cause’. You are at the starting point of an event or thing and in control of what happens. You make conscious decisions and are the cause of what is to come. If you are not successful, then you are at the point of ‘effect’. In this instance, you simply react to an event or thing that has had the wheels set in motion elsewhere. Typically, you will not be in full control of your actions at the point of effect. 

Are you trying to control the outside but have no control over the inside?

You cannot always control an external event, but you can control how you perceive an event in your thoughts. Consequently, it is your choice as to how you feel about the event and how you react.

If you find situations challenging and feel frustrated, agitated, overwhelmed and anxious (to name but a few), you may need to unpack why. Thinking about what is happening and why it is triggering you to feel and react in specific ways will help you to work on underlying thoughts and emotions that have formed your values and beliefs.

The real impact that destructive inner thoughts have on your business can be limited growth, loss or stagnant profits, poor staff retention and unhappy customers.

As for you, how many of the thoughts below can you relate to?

• I’m not good enough
• I can’t do this
• I can’t charge that
• I don’t want to stand out
• I’m useless
• I’m a fraud
• I’m unsuccessful
• I’m clueless
• Nobody likes me
• What will people think?

If they don’t already, these thoughts will, at some point, affect your bottom line. The result of listening to negative thoughts is zero or low visibility in your market (and potentially with staff and your personal life), zero or low sales and, potentially, no business!

How to tackle negative thoughts to prosper

A great place to start is to have a chat with someone you trust who has an open mind. Ideally, you will want to find someone willing to ask hard questions and challenge you to look deeply into your situation and how your thoughts affect the actions (or non-action) you take.

We often reach a point in life where we need to cleanse and offload. Business owners significantly benefit from this process because of a tendency to take on the world – alone!

Contact me for a discovery call today.