By: Kenneth F. Petersen, CPCU – CEO Encharter Insurance
In Business, as in life, nothing happens until a person believes. Call it faith, belief, trust, intuition – for something to happen you must believe it to be possible / believe it to be true. In my last post –“What’s holding your organization back? Head Trash! – I talked about the self-limiting beliefs we all have, that keep us from achieving our full potential.
However, belief alone is not enough. It is only one part of the results formula. What is required is ACTION. In the face of uncertainty and being a little uncomfortable, each of us will make a choice.
- To go with what feels comfortable (let’s face it the status quo feels comfortable)
- Or to try something new and take ACTION upon that belief.
For instance, assume I have a goal to run a marathon – which I now do by the way. As an older, somewhat out of shape, typical American, running a marathon seems impossible. And yet I know of others, in my similar position, who have gotten themselves in shape and successfully completed a marathon. So running a marathon, for me, is not impossible. To say so is “Head Trash” – a self limiting belief I hold on to, so I do not feel a failure for not trying. Once I identify the” Head Trash” for what it is and push it aside, I am free to try for my goal.
However, unless I take ACTION upon my belief and turn the belief into action (training, implementing a new diet, signing up for the marathon, showing up on race day, etc.) my belief is simply a wish. At Encharter Insurance, if our goal is to achieve double digit organic growth and I know of others in my industry that have achieved this goal, then any excuse I give for not achieving my goal is “Head Trash”. Yet, my goal requires ACTION. I need to take my goal and break it into small achievable parts and start taking ACTION upon my belief and plan.
So what choice will you make today? Who will you be…..will you retreat or will you face your goals head on. Will you be a person who is willing to face uncertainty and the possibility of failure to achieve RESULTS? For those who are willing to TRY, go the spoils. For after all, I would rather be known as a person who “spent himself in a worthy cause; who at best knew in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory or defeat” – Citizens In A Republic by T. Roosevelt.
Tags: Business Growth, Business Success, Insurance Management, Leadership, Success
