What do you think is the
primary inhibitor of your career success? Your firm? Your supervisor? Your
intelligence? Your personality? Actually, none of the above. So what is the main
reason you’re not progressing faster? It’s you. Well, not you, per se. but your perspective. It goes like this.

The perspective you have of yourself will either
accelerate or inhibit your progress. How you think about yourself as a
professional determines how you perform as a professional. This isn’t my idea.
It’s what the research shows.

So, how do you control your perspective? There are
numerous ways to influence your how you see yourself, but the simplest way is
to talk to yourself. What you say about yourself drives how you think about
yourself.

For instance, if you’re faced with an unfamiliar or
uncomfortable situation, you find yourself saying, “Oh, I couldn’t do that.
It’s not me.” You may not verbalize it, but it echoes in your head. As soon as
you say that to yourself, your brain immediately begins preparing for you to
not do it. You find excuses, distractions, and other reasons to avoid it.

Here’s the problem. To be more of a professional than you
already are, you have to step into the domain where you haven’t been before. That’s
the very domain of “I couldn’t do that.” As long as you couldn’t do that, you
will remain where you are and others will pass you by, so you actually fall
backward.

So what do you tell yourself? Are you keeping yourself
where you are now or are you allowing yourself to move forward? It’s all up to
you.

This week, catch yourself thinking “I can’t,” then change
your talk to “I can and I will.” It’s about the only way.