I’ve come to see that the only problem anyone ever has is believing things that aren’t true. ~ Steve Chandler

As I talked to this agency owner about growth, she was getting fired up!¹

“How much do you think I can grow in the next 12 months? Could I double my fees? Could I triple them?”

As she continued dreaming about growth, her voice started to drift.

”To triple, I’d need a lot of sales calls. I don’t mind the sales calls, but I can’t stand writing proposals…”

“What if you stopped writing proposals?” I suggested. “Or we could get you some help with proposals.”

She continued, ”Yeah, I could do that. How many people would I need to hire if I doubled fees? I’m terrible at hiring…”

Trying to be helpful, I added, “Well, if you were able to sell higher-value services, you might be able to grow your dollars per employee, and you wouldn’t need to hire as many people.”

“My twins go to college next fall. Between graduation and moving them to college, that will take a lot of my focus.” And with that, she changed the subject.

What happened?

Do you see what happened in that conversation?

She saw a powerful vision of where she wanted to go. Something that excited her in her bones, and then her thoughts interfered with that vision, and she talked herself out of it.

It’s possible that those thoughts were show-stoppers! Maybe substantial growth isn’t a good idea for her right now. It’s not right for every firm, and hyper-growth in mature firms is rare.

But I don’t think any of those things are why she isn’t pursuing her dream; they are all ways that she scared herself out of that desire that was starting to take hold.

How are you scaring yourself? What stories are you telling yourself that keep you from pursuing the big, risky goals that could change your life?

Are those stories true? (Are the monsters under the bed real?)

1. This is an amalgam of several conversations I had over the last few weeks. All my client conversations are confidential, and I’d never disclose one in an email. If it were an actual client story, I’d have asked her the questions I’m asking you in this email! ↩︎