Limitations

In life, you can probably think of people who tend to have a positive outlook on life, and others who tend to have a negative outlook. When it comes to accomplishing things, those with a positive perspective will focus on possibilities rather than limitations. Those with a negative perspective tend to focus on the limitations and see all the reasons why something can’t be done. I think there is some merit to both points of view, but both points of view can also lead to error when taken to extremes.

Limitations: Real or Imaginary?

Limitations can be real, but they can also be imagined to the point where they become self-imposed limitations. It is important to be able to see when real limitations are present, but it is also important not to mistake a difficult challenge for a limitation or impossibility. If this happens, then challenges become limitations instead of something that can be overcome.

Failure to Recognize Real Limitations

Given a choice between being with a positive person and a negative person, I’ll generally be much happier associating with a positive person. Even if their perspective is so positive that it’s not realistic, at least they enjoy themselves, even if things don’t work out. If they are ridiculously positive, they won’t even notice when things don’t work out because just about any outcome seems positive to them. This is the extreme of a positive perspective that becomes dysfunctional. It occurs when people don’t see a problem for what it is and it never gets dealt with or resolved.

The person who is so positive that they don’t see a problem may also be blind to real limitations. I know that some people don’t like to discuss limitations, but they do exist. It’s nice to think that we can all do anything if we put our mind to it, but it’s just not true in the literal sense. Real limitations do exist, and if you plunge ahead without recognizing them, you waste your effort by starting something that can’t be finished successfully. We all have ability, but we don’t have unlimited ability.

Even those who are the best at what they do have limitations. There are fast runners in this world, but the world record holder in the mile hasn’t come close to running it under three minutes. If he were allowed to enter the Kentucky Derby, he wouldn’t look very fast and he certainly wouldn’t win. There are also people with photographic memories who can memorize a paragraph or more within a few seconds, and there are people who can solve complex math problems at a glance, but these people still have limitations. As great as Michael Phelps, Michael Jordan and Mike Trout are at sports, they are still limited, and they must function within their limits. Without recognizing real limits, people attempt to do things that they’ll never be able to accomplish.

Self-Imposed Limitations

Even though we have real limitations, the bigger problem usually comes in the form of self-imposed limitations. These are unnecessary limitations that we put on ourselves. There are several forms of self-imposed limitations. These usually come in the form of refusing a challenge that can be overcome, or not believing a challenge can be overcome when it could be overcome when factors such as time, determination, persistence, knowledge, hard work, and team work enter into the equation.

 

Fear of Failure and Rejection

What are some of the self-imposed limitations that we put upon ourselves? Fear in any form can be a huge limitation. Perhaps the biggest self-imposed fears are fear of failure and fear of rejection. We often want to know that we will be highly successful before we are willing to try something. If we fail, we fear the pain of low self-worth and lack of value that occur if people reject us for our failures. The only certain way to overcome this is to know that you always have acceptance, value, and worth, whether you fail or not. God offers this acceptance to everyone, but we so often minimize it when we don’t value God enough to let his acceptance have more importance to us than the acceptance of others.

When the way God thinks about us matters more than the way someone else thinks about us, fear of failure and rejection start to subside. It is then that we feel the freedom to pursue things that we were afraid to pursue before. This helps us break through the self-imposed limitation of being afraid to do things that we could do, if we would just be willing to try and stick with it without caring what others think about it.

Confusing Development with Talent

Another massive limitation comes in the form of mistaking talent for development. I think it is quite common for people make an initial effort to try something, and when they see how far behind they are in relationship to top performers, they come to the conclusion that they just don’t have the ability to succeed. These same people often times don’t realize what they could accomplish if they understood how time, effort, and effective practice could enhance their ability. This misunderstanding can be a huge limiting factor that could be removed if people could look into the future and see what they could accomplish under the right conditions of personal development. Of course finding the right practice conditions isn’t always easy, and it can become a limiting factor if you don’t understand what those conditions are and how to navigate your way towards them. This is addressed in Learning Environment subsection under the Personal Growth and Performance heading on the top menu

While it’s possible that you truly do lack the ability to accomplish a goal that you would like to pursue, it’s also possible that you can accomplish far more than you believe you can. The only way you’ll ever know is if you learn the factors that lead to growth and development and put them into effect. If you go to a website called The Talent Code, you’ll find examples of people who accomplish extraordinary things with the right kind of practice. This is further explained in the book  The Talent Code.

The right kind of practice is often responsible for what we believe to be exceptional talent when observing a top performer in a given field. You may find that lack of practice is a huge limiting factor that doesn’t have to limit you if you simply make up your mind to take the time and effort to develop yourself.

If you want to accomplish a goal, challenge yourself to identify real limitations and self-imposed limitations that could be overcome if you change your mindset, or become more willing to take the necessary steps to develop yourself. If you see real limitations, acknowledge them and don’t pretend like they aren’t there. If you see self-imposed limitations, take steps toward eliminating them so that you can reach the full measure of your God intended potential and destiny.