Deciding to See What Others See

My husband has played a huge role in the way my business has taken shape and in the ways it continues to grow and evolve. It isn’t just about encouragement it is about pointing the things out to me that I often can’t or won’t see myself. He drives me to be everything that I can possibly be. He pushes me to move outside of my comfort zone to push beyond what I thought possible. He seems to just know what is possible. So, whether he is holding my hand or dragging me kicking and often screaming we step off that cliff together and figure it out on the way down.

Sometimes it takes me a while to get there. Hence the kicking and screaming. And I’m sure if you ask him he would tell you that sometimes it takes a long time. And sometimes it takes hearing it from someone else. Well recently someone else spoke to me and I heard loud and clear what he has been telling me for months. And yet again I know it will result in another breakthrough for my business and what is coming next. Okay, let me pause here and say I get that I should just listen more when he says stuff but hey I’m a work in progress like everyone else.

So, I thought I would go through some tips for all of us to follow to help us get to those transformations faster by making the decision to see what others see in us.

• Listen. Okay that sounds really simple right, but how many of us don’t really do it? How many of us listen and nod but we don’t really hear was being said to us? Especially if someone is saying something nice. How many of us hear that voice in our head that says, “Oh they’re just being nice.” the second someone starts to pay as a compliment? Then it gives us the laundry list of reasons why what they said isn’t right or good at all. Well it is time to stop that. We must take the time to listen and really hear and receive what is be told to us.
• Take time to digest what you’ve heard. Really step back and think about what this person has said. Where does it fit into your beliefs about yourself? Chances are you have been already thinking some version of what they said. Or you have heard it from others before. It might just have been something you wouldn’t allow yourself to believe. Set those thoughts aside and allow yourself to digest what is being said. Remember this is how others see you.
• Does it fit. Does what you are hearing resonate with you? Does it fit the course you’ve chartered for your company and for your life? Can you make tweaks to make it fit? Once you know it isn’t a distraction then you are ready to go. And you won’t know if it is a distraction if you don’t take the time to really analyze it and see if it’s going to work for you?

Okay here is the biggest one of all for us all to remember.

• Believe it. Make a conscious decision that you are going to believe what others see in you. What you have probably seen for yourself but didn’t trust. Now is the time to believe it.

So, I think it is not only time that all of us step back and listen to what those around us are saying but believe them. To believe in ourselves enough to receive the compliments given. To believe in ourselves enough to know more is possible. It is time to make the decision to see what others see.