“Whether you think you can or whether you think you can’t, you’re right.” Henry Ford
Have you ever driven down a country road and gone over a cattle guard? A cattle guard keeps cattle that may have gotten out of the ranch from taking a stroll down the road. They are built into the road as a row of uneven metal slots so that cattle can not walk over them. Installing a cattle guard is not cheap or easy but ranchers have found more frugal alternative. They simply paint the lines on the road to mimic the lines of a real cattle guard. For some reason, I’m sure there is a scientific answer, this keeps the cattle back.
In business we often stop when we see an obstacle or a ‘barrier to entry’ only what if the obstacle we are seeing is not real but a painted on impostor? Any business has risks and real barriers. The danger is in self imposing extra barriers and then allowing them to stop us. I have a book called “this business has legs”
about the man that started with nothing and created the $100 Million Thighmaster craze in two years. He didn’t start with a ton of cash or an amazing mentor. He saw an idea and he pushed through the barriers.
There is a big difference between ceasing to imagine barriers and not seeing real ones. Some businesses don’t deserve your energy or have a level of risk that is greater than the potential reward. But, all to often, we stop working on a project or a business idea because we make up an obstacle. Some examples of imaginary barriers are:
- “Somebody else already does that.” So what?! Can you do it better? Could you do it cheaper?
- “I don’t know how to do that.” So what?! Somebody does. Find them.
- “It costs too much to get started.” Really?! The Global market has made a lot of things cheaper.
- “I don’t have time.” – Serious?! What’s the Bachelors name again? You’re just being efficient or prioritizing.
What other imaginary barriers can you think of?
“Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.” Henry Ford
31 DoBA stands for The 31 Days of Blog Awesomness and is a project I am currently running on my blog. View all The 31 DoBA here.
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