All too often, I always hear from self-help gurus and business coaches and the like that the answers that you’re looking for are right in front of you. You just have to look in the mirror. They have the best of intentions, and what they’re really saying is that all the answers to the problems that you’re seeking, all the solutions you’re looking for are within you. All you have to do is look in the mirror and dig deep within your soul. The answers are right in front of you. Well, I don’t find this to be true at all. See, if the answers were right in front of you, you would have the solutions.
The problem is that the answers are within your blind spots. They’re within areas that you just can’t see yourself, and this is where a good friend an, accountability partner, a coach, a mentor or someone of the like can really help you out, and what they’re going to do is point out patterns. They’re going to point out those little nuances that you just can’t see yourself. You see, the answers aren’t right in front of you. They’re not you looking yourself in the mirror. Often time, the answers are hidden in one of your blind spots and possibly in the dark recesses of your subconscious, and these are things that we hide, these are habitual actions that we just don’t even realize that we’re doing. It’s like mental fidgeting, so to speak. You don’t even realize you’re fidgeting when you’re fidgeting most of the time, but it’s the same thing with hiding from yourself.
You see, we create these blind spots for a variety of reasons, but it’s usually to protect ourselves, to make sure that we don’t get hurt. This is an innate program that probably happened when we were children or at least adolescents that’s been carried on through this programming through adulthood, and we’ve been with it for so long that we just don’t realize it’s there. It’s like having extra weight on your body. You start to add on extra pounds, and you don’t realize it as you’re … till one day, you’re walking up the stairs and you’re like, “Gees, my legs hurt. I’m tired. I’m out of breath,” and then, all of a sudden, you lose the weight and then you go, “Gees, how did I ever survive with that extra 10, 20, 30 pounds?”
The same thing happens with these corners that we can’t see. You see, the answers are not in the mirror. They’re not in front of you. The answers that you’re looking for, the answers to the big problems, the solutions that will really move the needle for you are hidden within your blind spots. That’s why some of these daily growth hacks, when I ask you to do the work, I ask you to do it in a very specific way, and the reason is is sometimes you can actually uncover your own blind spots through journaling, through exercises. It just comes out in front of you. This is the power of writing.
I also recommend getting a friend, a coach, a mentor, whatever’s best for you, somebody that can look at your blind spots and give you honest feedback, honest feedback on what they think is going on for you. Of course, nobody knows completely what’s going on for you, and that’s where a great coach or mentor can really just pull it outside of you. They actually serve as the mirror, but they’re a mirror that can actually move, twist, and show you your blind spots, and that’s a skill that’s learned over time.
What I want you to do is grab your journal. Grab your journal and start writing. Write down those areas that you want to work on and write down those things that you see as your blind spots. Make sure you understand this is not an exercise to uncover blind spots, but what I want you to do is see what you think are your blind spots. Here’s a hint. Those aren’t your blind spots because you can see them, but that is a key indicator to the road that you need to travel on to actually uncover them. That is a key to actually opening up conversations with other people. Again, coaches and mentors should be pulling this without outside of you. You need to ask them to do this. You need to ask for permission to be coached, but also friends. Ask friends and see if they can give you information. It’s not quite as good in my experience because they don’t have the training to do so, but at the same time, whatever resources you have, utilize, and utilize your resourcefulness.
That’s all for me today. As always, go to authorofyourownstory.com. Make sure you’re on the newsletter so you’re getting tips like this and deeper dives. I’m also going to be scheduling all of the Facebook Lives that we’re doing where I’m doing deep dives and conversations with people who are living the Author of Your Own Story lifestyle. If you’re interested in that deep higher level conversation, make sure you’re on our newsletter because that’s the only way you’re going to get this exclusive content. Remember, go out and be the Author of Your Own Story.
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