5 Lies We Tell Ourselves That Poison Our Productivity

Have you been working harder, or pusher harder to achieve your goals? And is that taking a toll on your energy, relationships, and maybe even your health?

Do you think that the only way to get it all done is to put in more hours, or work after the kids go to bed? Or, if only that project manager would meet his proposal deadlines, your work would be better?

I talk to marketers nearly every day and what I hear is that their biggest struggles are too many proposal deadlines, not enough resources, and the technical staff is too busy to get their proposal materials to them.

And, while these things are actually happening, the way you process and talk to yourself about these things are really poisoning your productivity. Dear I say they are excuses? And, they are the same excuses I have been hearing for 15+ years, even before COVID. And they are based in five areas or five basic excuses.

I refer to them as limiting beliefs because they are the worst kind of lies that you can tell yourself.

They are the worst kind because they have just enough truth to make them really real in our lives. They poison our productivity. They convince you that you’re a victim to your circumstances or that you’re not to blame for your results. Then you most likely quit trying, switch firms, or leave the industry. But guess what? Many of the same excuses follow you there.

But there is a happy ending to this. It’s your brain! It’s the best piece of technology out there because it can be re-wired to take extreme ownership of your circumstances, to face challenges that will arise, and crush those same challenges that stop everyone else.

But, if your brain is hardwired to these limiting beliefs you’ve got negative stories just running rampant in your head, and we all have those, it’s not going to stop no matter how productive you are. You’ll be stopped at small obstacles, and you will genuinely start to believe you can’t go further. And, that’s just not true.

From today forward, be very vigilant about recognizing and looking for these lies or limiting beliefs to make sure they don’t take over your entire thought process.

Lie #1 –“ I don’t have enough hours in the day.”

Lie #2 – “I can’t stay focused. There must be something wrong with me.”

Lie #3 – “I’m getting more done because I’m multi-tasking.” OR “Because I am multi-tasking, I am making the most efficient use of my time.”

Lie #4 – “I don’t control my own time, priorities, deadlines, etc.”

Lie #5 – “This imperfect ______ is keeping me from getting results!”