Mindset. Beliefs. Psyche. Whatever you call it, it’s what makes you tick. Beliefs propel us forward. Beliefs hold us back. Great business leaders continually question their belief systems searching for those that no longer serve them, need to be tweaked or outright abandoned.

You’re human, right? The toughest obstacle you’ll face on your way to achieving your goals is YOU. You’ll need to battle your own mind (cue the scary music). Our mind has several tricks up it’s sleeve to convince us of things that are not really true. You believe your mind is your friend. And as our friend, it has our best interest at heart, right? Nope! Remember, your mind also tricks you into creating bad habits, takes you down the road to temptation and can’t resist brain crack distractions like social media! You might be wondering, “How’s my mind out to get me?” Here’s how:

• Your mind lies to you every day (we call these beliefs).
• You act on those lies as if they were truths (action).
• And when you pile up all the actions, you are now living with the results or consequences.

Some of the beliefs carry truth and some are completely distorted thoughts. The best way to battle our thought distortions is to understand them so we can better prepare to respond to them. Here’s a look at the top 3 thought distortions we commonly see in small business owners:

1. All or nothing thinking (black or white) –You classify things into falling into only one of two categories. For example, you might think your team member is wonderful until they do one little thing that doesn’t meet your standards. You now think you should fire them. Everyone messes up every now and then (yes, even you).
2. Mind reading – You predict what others will think. For example, my team will think I’m rich if I take a vacation. You can think about what you perceiveothers will think / feel, but always best to check out your perceptions.
3. Have to be right –You convince yourself that you are right. Your decision is right. Your way is right. Your opinion is right. You’re the onlyone who really knows. For example, you hire experts to provide you with marketing plans yet continue to invest in activities that you believe are right, regardless of their results.

Now that you’re familiar with a few ways your sneaky little mind can fool you, think back to yesterday. Did your thought distortions get in the way of making progress towards your goals?