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Ideas are plentiful.  Approaches are many.  Actions are few.  How do we connect the dots?  How do we move from wise, critical thinking to action?

Have you ever heard of “Deficit Thinking” or witnessed what it does in your life?  Slow Leadership has a 3 part posting called, “What’s Stopping you?”  Later in my post here, I quote a little bit of part 3.  I recommend reading the whole thing from Slow Leadership.  (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3)

I’ve written before about how significant it is to realize “Deficit Thinking” and to move in a different direction for myself.  At the time, I didn’t realize it had this name that so aptly describes it.  I sure feel impacted and uplifted by making changes similar to the recommendations given.  The biggest change for me was in dealing with my own thinking: adjusting it, reversing it, stopping it, starting it, WHATEVER IT TAKES!

In life, after I apply an integrity filter, and then a simplicity filter – it’s time to “Do it.”

How about you?  What does it take for you to get motivated to make changes and to do what it takes to move to the next thing?  I hope you don’t let “Deficit Thinking” ruin your life.

Deficit Thinking Ruins Lives

QUICK SUMMARY
Whatever else you do, drop the habit of deficit thinking: concentrating on what’s wrong, what’s missing, and what’s not working, rather than what is. It’s a very poor way of looking at the world, and a major source of all kinds of limiting and negative beliefs.This is the third and final posting in this series. You can find Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

The principal source of negative beliefs is an ingrained habit of deficit thinking. This means focusing on gaps and weaknesses (the deficit) instead of what’s working (and can be made to work still better). It’s focusing on what you can’t do, not what you can. Instead of your dreams and ambitions propelling you forward, you let the gap between your current state and your desires become a source of frustration and depression.

[...]

A good way to start clearing up the problems in your life is by throwing away all your old, wrongheaded beliefs and assumptions. Many of them will be plain wrong; others will be long past their “sell by” date. Most people carry around a heavy load of such mistaken beliefs about the world, themselves, and others: beliefs that stir up negative emotions and behaviors; assumptions that cause deficit thinking; and a host of other habitual ways of seeing the world virtually guaranteed to limit their achievements and cause them unnecessary suffering.

Take them out and question them mercilessly. If they’re still true and sound, you have nothing to lose. They’ll come out of the process unscathed. If they aren’t useful any more—and many, many won’t be—drop them immediately. Then make sure you repeat the process often. Today’s knowledge quickly gets stale. Yesterday’s beliefs soon become moldy. Don’t let them fill your mind with outdated ideas and cripple you with deficit thinking.

Source: Slow Leadership: What’s Stopping You? (Part 3)

Again, I recommend reading the whole thing from Slow Leadership.  (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3)