Everybody faces limitations in their work and personal life. But too many people view limitations as "the end" instead of opportunities to innovate, said Phil Hansen in PTDA Summit Inspires, Motivates, Leads. And the first step is distinguishing between real limitations and self-limiting beliefs.

Hansen, a keynote speaker at the 2015 PTDA Industry Summit last month, is an artist who began his career in pointillism but had to change directions when he developed nerve damage in his hands.

Limitations, Hansen said, are obstacles placed in the way from an external source; self-limiting beliefs are “things we put in our own way.”

For example, if a project wasn’t funded at 100 percent, saying the project can’t be done would be a self-limiting belief. Assessing how the project could be done with the available resources – asking the right questions, Hansen says – recognizes the limitation but doesn’t allow it to become a roadblock.

“There are many ways of getting to where we want to go if we’re willing to let go of the limiting beliefs that prevent us from imagining the possibilities,” he says.

Read more about how to turn roadblocks into innovative thinking and insights from other innovative thinkers in PTDA Summit Inspires, Motivate, Leads.