Three little lies that are limiting your potential
If you have ever been to circus or fair that had an elephant act, then you were probable awed by the strength and power of these incredible animals. What you may not have realized is that these powerful creatures are often restrained by a small piece of rope that attaches their leg to a small stake that is driven into the ground.
You’ve got to wonder, “why don’t these behomeths rip the stake out of the ground?” “Why don’t the just tear the rope apart and take off?”
Mental restraint
The reason that they don’t use their power to free themselves is because they can’t. As a baby elephant, they were chained to a long metal rod, which was driven deeply into the ground. No matter how hard they pulled, they could not free themselves. As time went on, they pulled less and less. Eventually, the elephants understood that they could not free themselves.
The rope is unbreakable
After this point, it becomes only a matter of attaching something to their foot and fastening the other end to something in the ground. These fragile elements have become enough to subdue even the strongest elephant.
It is no longer the strength of the bindings that restrain the elephant, but it is the strength of the belief that the bindings restrain them that keeps them from roaming as they desire.
Our beliefs limit us
Our beliefs, like those of the elephants are very powerful. Sometimes they are the “little lies” (that we tell ourselves) that restrain us and keep us from reaching our potential.
1. The “I’m not educated enough” lie
This one is a classic that simply will not hold up under examination. Many great men and women in every area from science to politics to industry, have had limited or no formal education. People like:
- Thomas Edison
- Henry Ford
- Andrew Carnegie
- Dave Thomas
It is not really how much intelligence that you have that is important, but how you use what you’ve got that makes the difference. We make two basic erroneous assumptions with respect to education and intelligence:
- we typically overestimate the intelligence of other people
- we usually underestimate our own level of intelligence
Case in point: after I got married, my wife needed to finish graduate school. She was pursuing a master’s degree while I had visions of attaining a Ph.D. It became a simple matter of economics:
- she would finish school and get her masters degree
- I would get a job to pay the tuition and bills
- I would return to school later
Anyway, I learned that a local manufacturing facility was in need of help in their maintenance department. Since I had experience as both a auto mechanic and shop owner, I applied for the job and found out that the hiring process involved a thorough examination of both your mental aptitude and mechanical skills.
Anyway, I passed the tests and was given a job. I only found out later that several hundred people had been tested and rejected for a handful of jobs. My point: I had no idea that my skills were in demand because I had never really tried to market them. I had underestimated my abilities as so many people do. I thought that everyone knew the same things that I knew.
This view that “I’m not educated enough” is a wicked little lie that we use to justify our standing in the herd of mediocrity. The truth is that most people never tap into their mental powers because they are satisfied to be members of the great, vast, middle class. And that’s okay! Just be honest with yourself and admit that you have mentally tied yourself by this “little lie.”
2. The “I’m too old / you can’t teach an old dog new tricks” lie
If you believe this then you have obviously not watched the “Dog Whisperer”. Cesar Millan literally has those old, untrainable dogs eating out of his hand as well as doing a number of other previously “un-doable” things.
If you lost your present job tomorrow, would you limit yourself to searching only for jobs that are exactly like your present one? If that is the case, then you probably won’t find a new job because no two jobs are exactly alike and you’ve already stated that you are too old to learn a new skill.
You can see how ludicrous this philosophy really is. We can learn and we actively engage in increasing our knowledge base in those areas that:
- we enjoy – our hobbies and pastimes
- are mandatory – required for our present job
The sad truth is that what you know today will be obsolete tomorrow. There will be fewer and fewer factory and manual labor jobs as our economy transforms itself from an industrial / manufacturing powerhouse to an information and technology driven giant.
I am not here to debate the rightness or wrongness of the situation, I only want you to understand that in order to survive in tomorrow’s marketplace, you must embrace change and the associated need to learn new skills.
Unless you’ve got a firm date with St. Peter or that other guy, my advice is to shuck the “I’m too old lie” and get busy increasing you brain power and knowledge base. Challenge yourself to see what you can accomplish.
3. The “I’m waiting for: a) my ship to come in or b) to hit the lottery” lie
I am never really sure what ship these people are talking about. It’s always some vague idea or plan that is going to miraculously materialize some time in the future.
What do you think your chances of being killed in an airplane crash are? I’m not talking about an airplane crash in which you are a passenger. I’m talking about an airplane falling out of the sky and crashing into you while you are reeling in a world record largemouth bass as you are sitting in your brand new bass boat. Pretty slim, huh? Truth be known, the odds of the thing with boat happening are better than the odds that you will hit the lottery.
In fact you have a better chance of being struck by lightning multiple times than hitting the lottery. The insidious part is that even if you hit the lottery, you stand an 80 % of being bankrupt within five years. 80%!
This is a horrible “little lie” that beats you down, even if you win.
These three “little lies” are like the little rope that restricts the massive elephant. We can break free if we try – but our beliefs have convinced us that there is no use in resisting.
What’s really holding you back – the lie or the belief in the lie?
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This article is the total truth. All of us conform to the “lies” we tell ourselves. It must be human instinct or may the way we are raised, but most people always underestimate our capabilities.
If you do not believe in yourself, who will?
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