Do you sometimes feel that you could be more, do more? If so, you may be thinking that you’re not reaching your potential. You want to achieve more but time is limited, and your will to act is non-existent. These roadblocks can come up while in pursuit of your potential or best self.
Living a life we are capable of is important, but not easy. We’ll need to recognize and overcome these common blocks to our success below.
1. Lack of Commitment
Working incredibly hard is necessary to achieve success, which is the essence of leadership and sales expert Grant Cardone’s book, The 10X Rule: The Only Difference Between Success and Failure. He writes, “What if the only thing standing in the way of your greatness was that you just had to go after everything obsessively, persistently, and as though your life depended on it?”
Cardone believes that to achieve extraordinary personal success means taking “massive action”. This committed action is on a level at which you become unrecognizable to yourself. You are highly productive and seeing steady progress towards your goals. You are passing on your favorite TV shows, getting up earlier and going out less with friends and family. This is not always easy though. Life is pulling you in many directions, demanding your precious time. Even so, you must place what you want as a priority in life. Otherwise, feel deep regret.
To help you stay committed to your goals, you can access your compelling vision. A compelling vision is a clear and specific mental picture of the desired outcome that energizes and inspires you enough to go after your dreams, no matter what. Create your compelling vision (you can read this article to learn how) and let it light your way on the path to success.
2. Procrastination
Why do we procrastinate? Perhaps it’s fear of failure or success, perfectionism or lack focus. We know what we need to do to reach our goal, but we don’t take action. To make matters worse, we beat ourselves up over our lack of motivation, creating guilt and anxiety. This creates a cycle of negativity that keeps us stuck.
We are stuck because we are running away from our negative emotions. We want to avoid pain and go after pleasure. This is the nature of human beings. However, to feel these emotions and act anyway is an act of willpower that will serve us well. So managing our emotions is key to success.
The next time you are about to take on a goal and don’t feel like doing it, ask yourself: “What is the end result I want?” Is it to lose 20 lbs. and be healthier? Run a 5K race this year? Expand a hobby into a business? Whatever your goal, Stephen Covey recommends that we “Begin with the end in mind” which is the second habit from his book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. He says to start each day with a clear vision (your compelling vision) of your desired direction and destination, aligned with being proactive, which will help make things happen.
3. Self-doubt
Self-doubt can hold us back from taking the steps towards accomplishing what we want. Here are three ways to help conquer self-doubt:
- Affirmations – Affirmations help reverse negative thoughts that are simply not true to ones that are more positive. Your behavior will start to change when you recognize these negative, self-sabotaging thoughts and replace them with new, empowering thoughts.
- Step out of your comfort zone – Whenever you fear something and act in spite of this fear, you build your confidence. Cardone writes, “All the excuses in the world won’t change one simple fact: that fear is a sign to do whatever it is you fear—and do it quickly.” Consistent action on what we fear is a great way to conquer self-doubt. You can start each week by thinking about what you fear, and pledge to conquer this fear in the upcoming week or month. Keep track of these successes and watch your confidence muscle build.
- Practice self-compassion – We all doubt ourselves at times in our lives. When it plagues us regularly, though, it becomes a problem. To combat self-doubt, act as a friend to yourself, love yourself. Be your own cheerleader. Think about your talents and skills. Believe in yourself. Forgive yourself. You’ll soon see a shift of mindset needed to pull you out of the self-critical rabbit hole.
With a focus on reaching your potential as an obligation for success, regularly accessing your compelling vision and using other tools mentioned here, you’ll be well on your way to living the life you want.
Which block above do you struggle with the most? Tell us how you plan to overcome it to achieve your fullest potential. We’d love to hear from you!
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