Was I turning into a wimp? In Chicago, I had braved wind chills of minus 87 degrees. In New York, I had stood on subway platforms that rivaled the blast furnaces of the Pittsburgh of yore. Now I was cancelling meetings and hunkering down as tornado warnings and severe storms raced across Central Florida. Ignoring pleas from TV meteorologists to stay in, I finally got in the car and drove about 10 minutes to the grocery store. Not exactly a profile in courage, but I did get out of the house.
Seth Godin, marketing guru, wrote about the false limits we often place on ourselves in a recent blog post. His insights and advice apply to marketing a product or service or marketing yourself in your career. Are you waiting to be asked to apply for that promotion? Are you in a comfortable but dead end job? Seth asks why aren't you putting in the time, putting in the effort, and overcoming the fear? Are the limits real or artificial barriers you have placed around your comfort zone?
A coach can help you break down those false limits. But the coach can't want change more than you do. Don't let false limits hold you back.