There is a constant struggle within me of trying to discover my blind spots. After running a business for over 30 years, there are certain things that I keep discovering, learning about, and understanding in deeper ways that push me further ahead in my journey.
“If I had known this sooner” would be a constant refrain. “How could I be so dumb” might be another. I often wonder if I am alone or whether we all have our blind spots.
Things that we thought we knew well, but when given a shift in perspective, shows we know less than we think. Our days are so filled and so short. It becomes very hard to have the time to find our own blind spots.
Evidence of a blind spot might include actions we decide to take because we are so certain will work that address a narrow slice of a situation weakening or damaging so many other things around us. Our certainty feels good. It’s such a high to feel that we have the courage to be bold and proceed with such certainty.
Most times when things don’t work, we simply shrug our shoulders. We blame events outside of our control. We know we are working so hard and that our efforts are sincere and genuine. We keep moving on never stopping to reflect on what is keeping us from “doing better”.
Finding our blind spots means bringing us to the center of responsibility for our outcomes. Not in terms of effort — our effort was good. Not in terms of what we tried to do — it always makes sense as to what we chose to do.
It’s what we don’t know that keeps us, many times, from breaking through. These gaps in knowledge are the blind spots that weigh us down like anchors. The difficulty is that we rarely find our blind spots by ourselves.
The only way (I have found helpful) in discovering my blind spots is to seek out help from people different than I am and more successful. Discussing what obstacles I face and listening about different ways they would suggest to work through them (you never “solve” them).
Being strong enough to accept the criticism that they will often give stating that my thinking was either wrong or faulty because of all of the things I missed. (Yes, your ego will feel hurt when hearing these things.)
Then changing my choices, from ones I felt comfortable making, to ones that reduce my certainty and faith in them (initially) to push me forward into more effective directions.