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The Key To Personal Growth - Expanding Your Paradigm

By Dan Jeremiah

Each of us nurtures in our mind a 'picture' or 'box' of who we are and what we are capable of achieving. We will only attempt those actions that fall within this box of what is possible. We reject as impossible anything that falls outside the box.

Clearly, by expanding this box or paradtionships, financial security, intellectual growth, physical health, a positive attitude or anything else we dearly want. It actually controls every area of our life.

Our paradigm has to be dynamic - constantly expanding to adapt to changing situations and circumstances. If we remain bound to a restrictive paradigm, we became static. There will be no improvement to our circumstances, and no growth. We become victims of circumstances instead of victors.

Expanding the paradigm needs resourcefulness and conviction. We need to develop the habit of thinking outside the box and looking beyond the obvious. We are fully free to decide where to place our limits. Since we can't know all the possibilities that lie outside our paradigm, our limitations are very much what we decide them to be.

Expanding the mindset

I said earlier that expanding our paradigm [or what we consider possible] needs resourcefulness. Resourcefulness needs belief and a willingness to consider alternatives. We will, however, consider alternatives only when we really believe that desirable results are possible. So, how do we develop belief?

Nothing worthwhile can be achieved without effort, so this expansion process is not going to happen overnight. It will result from faithfully following a few basic steps:

* Increase your knowledge. Libraries, the Internet and experienced people are excellent sources of knowledge. Arm yourself with specific information. The more you know about a subject, the more confident you are. Confidence leads to belief, which leads to conviction. Certainly, we can't know everything, but by increasing our store of knowledge in specific areas we choose, we believe we can achieve what we set out to do. If you think about starting an Internet business, but only know how to send and receive emails, you won't believe that you can do it. It's impossible because it's outside your paradigm. But if you do research, understand the basics about websites and payment gateways, search engine optimization and the whole continuum of requisites, then it becomes increasingly possible. Always make the necessary effort to acquire additional information.

* Gather all the facts you can, governing whatever it is you believe you can do. Facts provide a beacon and help keep you on the right track.

* Apply wisdom. Wisdom is basically common sense, strengthened by applying an intellectual process to appraise the facts. These facts are carefully balanced with emotions. There's an emotional element in everything we think and do, but depending solely on emotions to make a decision can lead to very unwelcome outcomes. Remember, never cut down a dead tree in winter.

* Brainstorm. Don't reject any idea initially, regardless of how impractical, ridiculous or absurd it appears. In many instances, an idea of great value has resulted from this type of mental exercise. It is also an excellent route to alternative or lateral thinking.

* Finally, take action. The most fantastic ideas and plans are of no measurable value until they are acted upon. Taking action is probably the most difficult step. Think about how many great ideas you have had that faded into oblivion because you stopped just before the 'take action' part.

The obstacles to taking action

Any kind of result, whether business related or personal, is simply not possible without action. The best-laid plans are worthless until they are acted on. But while there undeniably are impediments to taking action, they are not insurmountable.

Here are some of the more common obstacles to taking action, and suggestions on how these may be overcome.

1. Lack of self-confidence or self-esteem. Not being convinced that we have what it takes to make something possible. Carefully identify what it is you need to have that you do not now own, then list out defined objectives that will lead you to acquire them. Take small steps and make the objectives achievable. Success feeds on itself. As you accomplish each objective, it encourages you to move on to more ambitious ones.

2. Lack of direction. Confusion, apathy or plain laziness. Review your goals again. Make them clear and follow the S.A.D. dictum --- specific, achievable and desirable. They must be specific or you will get distracted. They have to be achievable or you will get discouraged, and they must most certainly be desirable, or you will loose interest midstream.

3. Lack of knowledge, belief, or conviction. (This has already been discussed at the beginning of this article.)

4. Resistance to change. People dislike change, and prefer the known to the untried because it gives them a false sense of security. They cling on to the status quo, and eventually becoming accepting of situations that are unpleasant or that have ceased to be useful or productive. How many battered wives remain in the marriage because they are afraid to strike out on their own. Being free lies outside their paradigm, and is therefore not possible.

5. No alternative thinking. Search for alternatives. Expand the paradigm. Many times we latch onto one idea, and fail to exercise the liberation of alternative thinking. If we lack the tools to translate this one idea into action, we abandon the whole thing. Yet, there are many times when an alternative option would work just as well, or better.

6. Falling in love with a wait-and-see mode. This is usually the result of fear, brought on by not following the steps described earlier. We decide to wait till everything is perfect, and conditions are just right. But conditions don't right themselves. You right them. Waiting for miraculously right conditions is like waiting to strike a lottery. They are both very long shots.

Remember:

* Conditions can never be perfect, and they don't have to be. Perfect them as you go along. Improvements come in small doses most times.

* You can't control actions that are dependent on others. Waiting for someone else to create the perfect conditions for you is being unrealistically optimistic.

* It is impossible to anticipate every possibility, eventuality or outcome. You deal with them as they arise.

* Perfect conditions seldom arrive without your help.

7. Previous failures. Remember that no one has achieved anything of value without a series of failures. Carefully analyze why you failed. Is it because of something you should have done, but didn't? Perhaps it was something you shouldn't have done, but did. What were the circumstances then that contributed to the failure? Have they changed? If not, can you change them now to increase your chances of success?

Take action. Ask yourself, 'What's the downside? What do I lose by taking action as opposed to doing nothing?"

Theodore Roosevelt had a simple dictum...

"When I have decided that something needs to be done - I act." Now that's a winning mental attitude.

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Copyright by Dan Jeremiah

Hi I'm Dan. I have been involved in lecturing, corporate management, pioneer off-shore multinationals, and in-house skills training. My jottings are gleaned from personal experience in internet businesses and sober reality. Viable businesses and tools are featured at http://www.vmsbonline.com

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