PERSPECTIVES Bridging the gap between knowing and doing Most of us spend some, if not most of our day on autopilot. Wake, morning routine, work, evening routine, sleep, and repeat. Habits and routines are beneficial but it’s very important to maintain awareness throughout our day. The first step in building a bridge between knowing what you need to do and actually doing it is awareness. Begin by focusing on the thoughts that run through your mind during the day. I challenge you to pause and check-in with your thoughts for five minutes, 2-3 times a day over the next few days. Ask yourself, “What are my thoughts?” and “What are my fears?” If you’re like me, you might be surprised at these revelations. When you pause and notice these subconscious thoughts, you gain an awareness that empowers you to start changing your internal narrative, and therefore, you begin to bridge the gap between knowing and doing. Driving your internal narrative is the base for your bridge between knowing and doing and can start you on the path to more purposeful actions and thoughts. As you begin, you may notice thoughts lurking beneath the surface: “Can I do this? … “Am I good enough?” … “What if I fail?” If you find these or similar thoughts popping up, you are not alone. Statista* reports that 35.1% of entrepreneurs in the United States report a fear of failing. Our thoughts hold immense power. Everything we see in our physical world began with a thought. If we are subconsciously entertaining negative beliefs about ourselves, our success, and/or our business, these thoughts influence our actions and impede us from realizing our highest potential. The second step to bridging the gap between knowing and doing is reprograming your subconscious paradigms. Most of our internal thoughts and motivations, these subconscious ideas, come from our paradigms, our systems of belief. We develop these as we have experiences in our societies, religions, and the influential people around us during our childhoods. These paradigms don’t always carry throughout our adulthood to align with our goals and aspirations; thus, a reprogramming is often necessary. What do you want to accomplish? What are your goals? Take time to visualize yourself accomplishing your goals and what it looks like when you do. This is a key tool to reprogramming. When fiercely focused on goals, our thoughts bring power that seeks and breeds exponential success. Don’t believe me? Experiment with the challenge above and notice what comes up. * https://www.statista.com/statistics/268788/fear-of-failurestart-ups-in-leading-economic-nations/
SMALL BUSINESS TOOL KIT By Shannon Dominguez Executive Summary: Check in with yourself once in a while.
Shannon Dominguez is the Director of Operations for Building Beloved Communities. Shannon@buildingbeloved communties.com. Connect with her onLinkedIn
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