We’re all trying to level up.

Whether it’s our client list, podcast download numbers, page views, revenue, quality of work or all of the above and more, we each have some goal hovering just beyond our reach.

The question we most often reach for first when determining how to reach our next elusive milestone is, “What do I need to do to bring about the result I want?”

This seems like fairly straightforward reasoning, input x to get y. And for some goals, it works.

“What do I need to do,” is about tools, tactics, and strategies that if you had the blueprint for, you could plug into your work and your problem would be solved

But for big goals, the kind of goals that cause people to raise their eyebrows when you say them out loud, tools, tactics, and strategies aren’t going to cut it. You may have even tried them already to middling (or less) success.

The problem isn’t that the tools are faulty. The problem is that for big, hairy, audacious goals, before asking yourself what you need to do, you must ask yourself another question first.

“Who do I need to become to bring about the result I want?”

Your existing mindset, beliefs, and biases may have got you this far, maybe even brought you to great heights of success, but at some point, you’ll reach the limits of their effectiveness.

At this point, your only hope of continuing onward toward your goals is to do the hard work of admitting that in your current iteration, no, you are not enough.

For whatever reason, so many of us humans find this idea of not being enough as we currently are anathema, ignoring the fact that we, as we are is not the limit of who we can become.

It might be painful, it might take significant effort, it might require us to leave behind the beliefs, mindsets, and even people that no longer serve us, but each of us is capable of becoming more than we currently are, and achieving more than we currently have.

If you’re sick of banging your head against the wall, sick of tools, tactics and strategies that fail to work as promised, sick of asking what you need to do next, it might be time to ask a new question.

Want to hear more about building an audience around work that matters? I think you might enjoy these reads!

https://medium.com/@jeremyenns/whats-slowing-your-progress-49268d0627c0https://medium.com/@jeremyenns/whats-slowing-your-progress-49268d0627c0