Feeling Terrible About Who We Aren't

As a business owner, it’s easy to get caught up in the number of things about our organizations that are imperfect. The gap between the vision we see in our heads and reality is never-ending, and we see dozens of opportunities for improvement every day. That’s our gift and our curse.

We see opportunity. But there's a blurry line between opportunities and problems.

We take action. But there’s a blurry line between action and reaction.

How we frame these imperfections not only affects what we choose to work on but how we feel.

I can’t help but notice how defeated I feel when I see our organization only as a collection of problems that need to be fixed.

It’s not too different from the way I feel about myself in those low moments when all I can think about are the things I haven’t accomplished. That’s another blurry line–the blurry line between seeing yourself as having potential and seeing yourself as someone who never quite gets it right.

While it’s important to recognize and honor our potential, walking around all day feeling terrible about who we aren’t or what we haven’t created isn’t incredibly useful.

Professionally there will always be a gap between our vision and reality, just as personally there will always be a gap between our potential and our ability.

We can’t close the gap, but we can control how we view the gap and take action on it.