{"id":236246,"date":"2024-03-06T14:43:34","date_gmt":"2024-03-06T19:43:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/?p=236246"},"modified":"2024-04-22T15:27:48","modified_gmt":"2024-04-22T19:27:48","slug":"6-habits-that-trap-entrepreneurs-in-mediocrity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/6-habits-that-trap-entrepreneurs-in-mediocrity\/","title":{"rendered":"6 Habits That Trap Entrepreneurs In Mediocrity (And What To Do About Them)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"bsf_rt_marker\"><\/div>\n<p>Most of us have a good handle on <em>most<\/em> aspects of our businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But we can\u2019t be on top of <em>everything, all the time<\/em>\u2014and the <em>one<\/em> thing we don\u2019t stay on top of typically becomes the <em>one<\/em> thing that keeps us from success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are just too many things to stay on top of\u2014to remember to do, regardless of how much delegation, outsourcing, and systems-building we do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>So it\u2019s easy to slip into bad habits that trap us in mediocrity without even realizing it.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Anytime I hit a plateau and can feel I\u2019m slipping into a cycle of mediocrity\u2014of spinning my wheels and getting nowhere no matter how hard I try\u2014I look up at a post-it note I keep on my desk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s got a handful of reminders of critical lessons I\u2019ve learned over the years that I\u2019m mostly likely to forget\u2014especially when the stresses of entrepreneurship start to build up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Whatever I\u2019m struggling with\u2014a plateau, frustration, confusion, or lack of results\u2014typically traces back to forgetting one of these lessons, which is why I\u2019m engaging in a bad habit trapping me in mediocrity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You might struggle with the same ones\u2014most entrepreneurs do\u2014so here are six habits that trap entrepreneurs in mediocrity and what to do about them\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1. Overcomplicating Everything<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>I get it\u2014you\u2019re a deep thinker. You\u2019re super smart. Maybe you\u2019ve got ADHD (self-diagnosed or formally diagnosed). Maybe you identify as neurodivergent. Or maybe you\u2019ve found countless other ways to justify the fact that you just overcomplicate the shit out of everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You\u2019ve heard that simplicity scales, while complexity causes catastrophe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Yet\u2026you continue to complicate the shit out of everything:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Fancy email automations.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Tons of complicated funnels.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Trying to repurpose every post to every social media platform.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A bloated tech stack you can\u2019t fully keep track of.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Too many products to pitch.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>And so much more.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>I recently ran into this issue\u2014I decided to revamp my value prop and change my lead magnet for my newsletter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Changing a few words describing what I do and swapping out one lead magnet for another sounds simple, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I had overcomplicated the shit out of everything. My automations were a mess. So when I pulled on a single thread, everything unraveled. A week later, I finally tied everything back up. But as I went through everything, I realized just how complicated I\u2019d unknowingly made it on myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, it\u2019s much simpler (and will be easier to update in the future).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s easy to overcomplicate things\u2014it\u2019s our natural state to overthink. Our brains are designed to see all the problems and possibilities in front of us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But it\u2019s our <em>responsibility <\/em>to reign those natural impulses in by deliberately practicing ways to simplify our processes to avoid getting (and staying) constantly overwhelmed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Otherwise, you\u2019ll stay trapped in mediocrity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>A simple reflection prompt:<\/strong> \u201cHow am I overcomplicating this?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2. Thinking Too Small<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>One of my grad school supervisors had horrible posture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He was a 6\u20195\u201d 300 lbs powerlifter who did therapy with kids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI slouch so I don\u2019t look as big to them. I can be intimidating,\u201d he\u2019d always say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So he spent 30+ years of his career shrinking himself\u2014his physical stature and his personality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many of us literally and figuratively shrink who we are to placate other people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>We think too small. We act too small. We <em>exist<\/em> too small.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, self-acceptance is its own skillset that\u2019s beyond the scope of this piece (let me know if you want a deep dive on it, though).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But there are a few questions that have helped me break out of staying too small, and ones I regularly go back to anytime I feel myself starting to shrink:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><em>What would the $10M version of my business look like<\/em> (or $100M, $1B, etc.)<em>?<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>What would I do if I knew I couldn\u2019t fail?<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>If I had unlimited resources, what\u2019s the one thing I\u2019d dedicate the next 10 years of my life to?<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>If I fully accepted myself and what I truly want to do with my life, what single sentence could I write, right now, that would encapsulate my truth about who I am and what I want?<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>But this goes beyond impact and income\u2014it\u2019s also about letting yourself fully be yourself.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The more I accept myself and give myself permission to think bigger, act bigger, and exist bigger, the more successful I become (and the more authentic I feel).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Don\u2019t be afraid to be yourself, give yourself permission to think about your true potential, and dare to be great.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Otherwise, you\u2019ll stay trapped in mediocrity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>A simple reflection prompt:<\/strong> \u201cHow am I thinking too small?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3. Expecting It to Be Easy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Entrepreneurship is fucking hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Anyone who tells you different:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol>\n<li>Has a product\/service they\u2019re trying to sell you<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Has never actually built anything and has no idea wtf they\u2019re talking about<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Has an inheritance, nest egg, or wealthy spouse they\u2019re not telling you about<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Doesn\u2019t matter if you have a business degree or not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Doesn\u2019t matter if you have a large following or not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Doesn\u2019t matter if you have a great product\/service or not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Entrepreneurship is fucking hard.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most people go into something with the na\u00efve expectation it\u2019ll be easy\u2014that they know some secret that\u2019ll catapult them to success\u2014then when reality doesn\u2019t meet their unrealistic expectations, they quit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When I started my business, I thought I\u2019d instantly succeed. A psychologist entering the personal development space\u2014sharing evidence-based psychological strategies and offering executive coaching services? Who wouldn\u2019t want that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Growing my audience and my business would be <em>easy<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Spoiler Alert: It wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Early on, I legitimately debated how large of a business mailbox I should get. <em>\u201cThe small one might not be able to fit all my fan mail and swag gifts from companies,<\/em>\u201d I thought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019ve never gotten \u201cfan mail\u201d to my physical mailbox. Plenty of email, sure. But nothing compared to my grandiose idea of becoming an instant-celebrity and successful entrepreneur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I quickly learned no one gave a shit about me, my credentials, or what I wanted to share.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was my job to build a reputation from scratch, since I was new to creating content and running a business\u2014and didn\u2019t know anyone in the online\/entrepreneur space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I had to learn how to build a business\u2014copywriting, offer creation, marketing, networking, value ladders, content ecosystems, and so much more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s never been easy. And every time I\u2019ve expected it to be easy, I\u2019ve gone into a project unprepared for the time, energy, and effort required to succeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>But I look at entrepreneurship like a do martial arts, or any worthwhile endeavor\u2014the fact that it\u2019s hard is one of the things that makes it beautiful and worth doing.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So don\u2019t expect worthwhile endeavors to be easy. Expect them to be hard and optimize your decisions and workflows accordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Otherwise, you\u2019ll stay trapped in mediocrity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>A simple reflection prompt: <\/strong>How realistic are my expectations of the time, energy, and effort required to make this succeed?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">4. Staying the the Lab<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The lab is safe\u2014you spend all day thinking, planning, and theorycrafting all the things you might-maybe-could-do-one-day-to-at-some-point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Side Note: I go deeper into the concept of theorycrafting and how it holds us back in this article: <a href=\"https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/why-theorycrafting-is-holding-you-back\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Tired of Living at the Intersection of FOMO and Shiny Object Syndrome? Here\u2019s Why Theorycrafting is Holding You Back\u2026<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The issue, is when we stay in the lab and never <a href=\"https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/be-the-creator-living-in-the-arena\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">enter the arena<\/a>\u2014we never put ourselves and our ideas out into the world to test their mettle, get feedback, and improve based on that feedback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s an example\u2014I love creating landing pages. It\u2019s a weird interest, but copywriting and offer creation are just\u2026fun for me. So it\u2019s easy for me to get caught up planning out future verticals for my business and spend weeks pre-optimizing and building something without ever checking to see if people actually want it and are willing to pay for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>I did this way too much early in my business. I spent tons of time, energy, and money building offers no one wanted.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now? I create surveys to gauge interest, spin up a landing page, pre-sell, build an MVP, then iterate from there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What I <em>don\u2019t<\/em> do anymore is spend days or weeks brainstorming all the things and creating elaborate plans and landing pages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Planning quickly becomes justified procrastination in disguise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You\u2019ll learn more by doing than thinking about doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Otherwise, you\u2019ll stay trapped in mediocrity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>A simple reflection prompt:<\/strong> How can I spend more time living in the arena instead of theorycrafting in the lab?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">5. Overlooking the Obvious<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the most clich\u00e9 pieces of advice everyone\u2019s heard but virtually no one applies: Don\u2019t miss the forest for the trees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>But the opposite is equally true:<\/strong> <em>Don\u2019t miss the trees for the forest.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s what I mean\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most of us get so caught up in looking ahead to our 5-year vision or how awesome our business could be in the future that we completely overlook what\u2019s right in front of us today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>We rarely take the time to stop and consider questions like:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><em>What\u2019s too obvious to see right now?<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>What solutions are too obvious to see?<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>What problems are too obvious to see?<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>What paths forward are too obvious to see?<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, I hate launches and the unpredictability of revenue from one-off purchases. When I ran multiple cohorts of a live coaching program, people consistently wanted it to last longer. With my self-paced programs, people consistently give great feedback and ask, \u201cWhen is there going to be a live element to this? I\u2019d love to meet other people who\u2019ve taken the program.\u201d Plus, my personal time doesn\u2019t scale, so I limit how much 1:1 coaching I do, but I want to help entrepreneurs on a larger scale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>I\u2019ve been struggling with all these dilemmas for months.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So what\u2019s the obvious solution that addresses all these issues?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was too obvious for me to see until I came across <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/bnZWHCqU1-Q?si=elYqYVw_GjamV9Ln\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a video<\/a> where Nathan Barry coaches Tiago Forte on how to scale his company to $10M a year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One thing Nathan said that stuck with me was that with a one-off or launch model, when January 1st rolls around, you start back at $0 in revenue. But if you have a recurring revenue model\u2014like a subscription\u2014every January you start with money coming in. And as long as you nail your offer, people keep joining and sticking around, which compounds your recurring revenue over time. This makes it easier to reinvest in your business to make it even better for customers, make growth projections, and set your budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With a launch model, you\u2019re putting all your eggs in one basket. If the launch doesn\u2019t go well, you\u2019re screwed. If the launch does go well, you\u2019re still looking at flatlined revenue until the next launch\u2014which you better nail\u2014over and over constantly starting back at zero.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I realized creating my own membership community would be a win-win: Entrepreneurs who join get exactly what they&#8217;ve been asking for\u2014tons of peer support, resources, and coaching from me\u2014and I get to help people transform their lives and businesses and get recurring revenue to reinvest into making the membership even more valuable to members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But I had been so focused on thinking about the <em>next<\/em> thing to build, I was overlooking the <em>right<\/em> thing to build.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So I built Your Fellow Coaches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.yourfellowcoaches.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\" src=\"https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/yfc-logo-rectangle.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-236495\" srcset=\"https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/yfc-logo-rectangle.png 1280w, https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/yfc-logo-rectangle-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/yfc-logo-rectangle-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/yfc-logo-rectangle-768x432.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yourfellowcoaches.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">free website<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.creatoralchemy.com\/yfc-community-enroll\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">paid membership community<\/a> for life and executive coaches who want to scale their income and impact together. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s called Your Fellow Coaches, and it&#8217;s what I wish I would&#8217;ve had when I started my own coaching journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The philosophy is simple:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If I share what I know with you, and you share what you know with me, then we both walk away knowing twice as much. Multiply this by 50, 100, 1000 coaches and imagine the possibilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Within a couple of weeks of launch, we&#8217;ve already had dozens of incredible coaches join the community and share their experiences and form friendships from all over the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s so easy to overlook what\u2019s been right in front of us\u2014too close and too obvious to see\u2014this whole time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Which is why we have to take time to consider how we\u2019re missing the trees for the forest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Otherwise, you&#8217;ll stay trapped in mediocrity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>A simple reflection prompt: <\/strong>In what ways am I overlooking the obvious right now?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">6. Worrying About Your Percentage<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Wayne Gretzky is considered one of the greatest hockey players in history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He attempted 5,088 shots in his career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>82.4% failed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You\u2019d think some of the most popular music artists\u2014with tons of hits\u2014must just be great at coming up with bangers. But, as Noah Kagan points out here, their <em>percentage<\/em> of coming up with hits is actually low:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/noahkagan\/status\/1763554425153466437\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/noah-kagan-shots-on-goal.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-236251\" srcset=\"https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/noah-kagan-shots-on-goal.png 1600w, https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/noah-kagan-shots-on-goal-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/noah-kagan-shots-on-goal-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/noah-kagan-shots-on-goal-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/noah-kagan-shots-on-goal-1536x864.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Too many entrepreneurs are so afraid of failure, they avoid attempting something that <em>might <\/em>fail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But think of every entrepreneur you respect\u2014they&#8217;ve &#8220;failed&#8221; more times than most people have even tried. Their constant attempts, despite failure, is what makes them endearing and inspirational. Because when they do win, we know it wasn&#8217;t a fluke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Success is predicated on the shots you take.<\/strong> Because you can\u2019t make the shot you never take. If you take a shot, you have a chance of succeeding. If you never take the shot, you guarantee failure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Repeat after me: The name of the game is shots on goal.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>VC is a shots on goal game<\/strong>\u2014invest in 100 companies hoping just one succeeds, because that one success makes up for the 99 failures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Content creation is a shots on goal game<\/strong>\u2014for every 100 articles or videos you put out, 2-3 might hit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Entrepreneurship overall is a shots on goal game<\/strong>\u2014most of the things you try (campaigns, features, offers, etc.) will fail. But if you keep going, keeping shooting your shot, eventually some of those things will land and\u2014pardon the belabored sports analogy\u2014you\u2019ll see hockey stick growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But when you\u2019re facing down a series of consecutive misses\u2014<em>failures<\/em>\u2014it\u2019s easy to forget the name of the game is shots on goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Recently, after publishing weekly articles for months and months, it seems like nothing I published was hitting\u2014resonating\u2014with my readers. I started to get disheartened\u2014<em>Does my content suck? Am I not creating something valuable? Are people just not interested anymore?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But I kept publishing. Then, I published <a href=\"https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/how-to-make-success-inevitable\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">How to Make Success Inevitable (7 Skills Anyone Can Learn)<\/a>, and within 48 hours it became my 2nd most-read article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When it comes to shooting your shot\u2014yes you should aim, yes you should maximize your chances of succeeding, but you can\u2019t be too precious and too afraid to <em>miss<\/em> the shot that you never <em>take<\/em> the shot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Every shot you take is an opportunity to succeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The sooner you can embrace this \u201cshots on goal\u201d mentality, the sooner you can get start to conquer your self-doubt and start increasing your likelihood of success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Otherwise, you\u2019ll stay trapped in mediocrity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>A simple reflection prompt: <\/strong>How can I take more shots on goal this week?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Final Thoughts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>When I <a href=\"https:\/\/www.creatoralchemy.com\/coachingpage\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">coach entrepreneurs<\/a>, the number one obstacle standing in their way from achieving what they want is\u2026themselves:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Overcomplicating things.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Thinking too small.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Expecting it to be easy.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Staying in the lab.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Overlooking the obvious.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Worrying about the percentage.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Each of these habits traps entrepreneurs in mediocrity. But the solution to overcoming these habits is simple\u2014<em>do the opposite<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Simplify things.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Think bigger.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Expect it to be hard.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Live in the arena.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Identify the obvious.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ignore your percentage.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>These six reminders never fail to help me realize how I\u2019m getting trapped in a cycle of mediocrity and what I need to do to escape it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I hope they\u2019ll help you, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s the post-it note I keep on my desk:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/post-it-2.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-236249\" srcset=\"https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/post-it-2.png 1600w, https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/post-it-2-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/post-it-2-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/post-it-2-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/post-it-2-1536x864.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">P.S.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019re interested in learning other strategies on building better habits, check out this article: <a href=\"https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/habits-made-simple-how-to-break-bad-habits-and-make-good-ones-explained-by-an-actual-psychologist\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Habits Made Simple: How to Break Bad Habits and Make Good Ones (Explained By An Actual Psychologist)<\/a><strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-background has-black-background-color has-black-color is-style-wide\"\/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>#5: Overlooking the 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Overlooking the obvious...","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236246"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=236246"}],"version-history":[{"count":54,"href":"https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236246\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":236496,"href":"https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236246\/revisions\/236496"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/236247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=236246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=236246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=236246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}