Owning your thinking and reducing negative self-talk will be a life-long journey for you (It is for all of us).
The key thing to remember is that when you are not where you want to be—for example, when your inner voice tells you “my business isn’t growing fast enough,” or “I don’t know how to fire my # 2”—do not focus first on simply changing the outcomes you’ve been dealt.
Instead, examine the thinking that led you to those outcomes. Maybe you are not growing fast enough because you are afraid to take bigger risks than you already have, or you have not fired your # 2 because you do not believe you have the leadership skills to run your company on your own or even find a suitable replacement.
For every outcome challenge, you need to identify what thinking has led to it. This approach is reinforced in Jack Canfield’s best-selling book, The Success Principles.
In fact, Principle 1 is, “Take 100 percent ownership for your life.” Jack points out that too often in life we do not take ownership for exactly where we are at any given time and instead find someone or something else to blame.