Why Growth-Minded Leaders Reject Opportunities

On a scale of 1-10, how well are you doing? Here’s my rule of thumb on the answers:

• If you say 1-2…. You hate yourself.

• If you say 3-4…. You have lots of room to grow.

• If you say 5-6… You’re average.

• If you say 7-8… You’re pretty good.

• If you say 9-10… You’re the best there is.

If you want to grow, you need to self-assess yourself at a 3-4.

You need to:

• see the vast opportunity ahead of you

• have plenty of room to grow

• feel the distance enough that you’re motivated to fix it

• not have a gap so big that you hate yourself

And if you can’t honestly self-assess yourself at a 3-4, you need:

• a bigger vision

• a better mentor

• & a bigger challenge

Some people call it being hard on yourself.
Some people call it being self-disciplined.
Some people call it a growth mindset.
Some people even call it perfectionism.

I don’t care what you call it. It’s a tool for growth.

However, there’s an achilles heel.

If you only use this scoring model, you’ll talk yourself out of opportunities.

If you’re a skilled person who actually deeply cares about the people around you, you’re likely to talk yourself out of opportunities you should realistically take. “I’m just a 3 out of 10. I’m sure they’re average, like a 6 out of 10. I’ll pass.”

Nope!

You need to step out of your modest / aggressive scoring system. You need to objectively compare yourself to the world around you.

If you’ve spent any considerable amount of time in the trenches, always learning and trying to grow, chances are that you’d rank yourself a 3-4 but you’re a 9-10 in the real world.

By the way, the rest of the world is (by definition) average. It’s mediocre. But if you never stop leaning in, never stop learning, never stop building, , then one day you’ll wake up, look around, and realize just how far you’ve come!