What Are You Tolerating?

Many entrepreneurs go about their busy day, typically doing some of the exact same things that they were doing the day before- the week before – and even the year before. Most of us do not even operate on a conscious level.

At one of my master mind meetings last year, we were given an exercise to do – create a ‘Tolerations’ List for your life and for your business. This exercise was a real eye-opener and so very powerful that I, in turn, shared it with my own local master mind group. The discussions we had about this list were astounding, to say the least.

To bring your daily habits, thoughts, and beliefs to a conscious level is something to be done on a regular basis. That is the purpose of this particular article – to get you thinking. It is only when we bring things to the conscious level that we effect change of any kind.

As Dr. Phil says so well, “You cannot change what you don’t acknowledge.” That is the purpose of this exercise, pure and simple.

TOLERATIONS EXERCISE
Step #1: List all the things that you “tolerate” about your business (and in your life).

(A “toleration” is anything you are putting up with, from a messy desk or a client who is always late to unpaid invoices, a button missing on your suit jacket, a dirty car interior – or even your own bad habits – anything that bugs you, even if you think there is nothing you think you can do about it.)

Most people, when they start to write them down, come up with 60 to100 items – that’s pretty much average. If you can only think of 3, or you can think of 300, that’s perfect. Write them down…and get started by acknowledging your current reality/habits/mindset/beliefs.

Step #2: Write your ‘Breakthrough #1’ – and be brutally honest with yourself.

Step #3: Choose ONE glaring issue from your list of tolerations from above and write it here.

What has this issue cost you or how has it impacted you? Your business? Your life? Others? (Be specific and quantify it if possible with numbers, dollars, hours, etc.)

If this issue did not exist or was instantly resolved, what would you be able to accomplish? How would your life and business change?

What is ONE step you can take to move forward on this issue now? By when will you take it?

Conclusion:

Many entrepreneurs are acting, on a daily basis, out of habit – routine. When you make the decision to put things on a conscious level, even for a day, and assess what exactly is going on – in your activities, your thoughts, your habits……….you can make a change for the better. Most of the things we tolerate are easily resolved.

It takes confidence and courage to acknowledge that something is not working in your favor – to make the decision to effect change – and to act on that decision.

So, get conscious – get real – and take action.

“Striving for excellence motivates you, while striving for perfection is demoralizing.” – Harriet Braiker