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Think You’re Not Good Enough?

Written by: Stefan Doering

Article Overview: Your success in anything, including business, is directly correlated with your desire and conviction. It is all in your thinking. Ever have the doubt you were good enough at something and then have that stop you from even trying? In business, especially in this economy, doubting your senses and skills might be a familiar theme for many. Yet in order for you to deal with that handicap you must play harder to compensate.

Think You’re Not Good Enough?

Tiffara Steward is 20 years old, 4’ 6”, 90 pounds, blind in her right eye which has no cornea, partly deaf, and was born three months prematurely at 2 pounds 15 ounces. She has scoliosis with one leg shorter than the other and some of her vertebrae didn’t develop properly, forcing her to have six operations before she was 3 years old.

Yet that has not stopped her from being a star college basketball player, most probably the shortest, for the Farmingdale State Rams on Long Island. As a junior and co-captain of this Division III team, she helped bring them to both the Skyline Conference Championship and to the Eastern College Athletic Conference’s Division III tournaments.

Recently she got a standing ovation while playing one of the top seeded Division I teams, Rutgers University, after nailing a three point shot. It didn’t seem to matter that they lost 85-25.

Her coach remembers wanting Tiffara to come to play for Farmingdale after seeing her play in a high school tournament and thinking she was the best player on the court as he watched her racing up and down the court, nonstop. Her speed was remarkable.

Her specialty is defense, where she routinely takes the best player from the other team out of the game by overwhelming her into making turnovers.

And that is not the only sport she is a standout in. Add soccer, volleyball and softball to the mix.

This year, her junior year, she has been become a local star, giving out autographs to people on her campus.

How did she get so good while having so many things going against her?

“We never thought of her as disabled; we never said there was something she couldn’t do. And once she started to play sports, we’ve never thought she was any different than anyone else,” says her mother to The New York Times.

Your success in anything, including business, is directly correlated with your desire and conviction. It is all in your thinking.

Ever have the doubt you were good enough at something and then have that stop you from even trying? In business, especially in this economy, doubting your senses and skills might be a familiar theme for many.

Yet in order for you to deal with that handicap you must play harder to compensate.

And this requires a different way of thinking. Here is a maxim I live by:
Thoughts become words,
Words become actions,
Actions become habit, and
Habit becomes destiny.

Here are five tips on how to shift your way of thinking:

1. Ask powerful questions—many people subconsciously ask questions that do not support them, “Why am I fat?”, “Why can’t I get my sales up?”, “When am I going to get my break in life?” and so on. Your mind will go to work answering those questions. Instead, ask yourself, “What is the best and fasted way for me to improve my weight?”, “What strategy is perfect for me to improve my sales?”, “What else must I master to get my life moving in the direction I want?” and so on. Let your mind work on those instead.
2. Remove judgment—let go of opinions that are not serving you. Discern between fact and opinion. “Man, we’re heading towards bankruptcy!” vs “We are short of making payroll this month.” From the facts you can build your solutions much clearer than from opinion.
3. Keep your ego in check—that little voice in your head saying to stay inside where it is safe, cozy and warm often has you justify why you should not take risks and go after something you really want. For example, “I don’t have the time or money to hire a business coach” when your intuition tells you it would be a good investment. When your ego acts up, just thank it for sharing and move ahead anyways.
4. Keep your force field button close by—there are people in your life that think in ways that do not ultimately support your desires. Usually with the best of intentions, it is their ego speaking and keeping you “small”. Just put your field up when you see it coming and know it is their opinion, and little to do with facts.
5. Ease up on the drama—society is obsessed with drama, from violent movies to negative news. Keep it in check as it drains your energy and ability to think positively and clearly.

And the next time you think you are not good enough, just remember little Tiffara Steward making a 3 pointer against one of the best basketball teams in college to a standing ovation.


Action Steps for the Week

Take a “thought” inventory. What is your dominant way of thinking lately? Are they thoughts that are supporting you or keeping you from really going for it?

How you can determine this is based on how you have been feeling. Feeling energized, excited, motivated, inspired, or drain, depressed, sad, and lonely?

After acknowledging where you are in this moment, get clear on what it is you want. Then figure out the best way for you to achieve it by asking yourself powerful questions.

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Article Tags: autographs, best player, co captain, college basketball player, conviction, cornea, division iii, eastern college athletic conference, long island, many things, new york times, rams, rutgers university, scoliosis, skyline conference, standing ovation, standout, steward, turnovers, vertebrae



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