There comes a time in just about everyone’s life when it feels that it’s being put on hold. You’re stalled due to lack of money, job, or support. Then, there are those times when you don’t really have a good excuse for not succeeding. Everything is going well, but you just can’t get to that next level. Those are the times when you need to take a good look inside and see if you are self-sabotaging your success.
It may sound strange, but it happens quiet often. You can be afraid of succeeding, so you hold yourself back because, subconsciously, you are afraid of what comes next. And this is true. In some cases, when you reach the top, you find that there isn’t really a top; it’s just another milestone in the success that you are trying to achieve. Maybe you’re not an attention seeker. You want to succeed, but you don’t want the limelight that comes with the achievement. Then you have those who don’t feel that they deserve success for whatever wrong you feel you did in your past. Stop that!
Regardless of what your reason is, it is human nature to want to do well. It is in your genetic make-up to succeed. If you don’t want to succeed for yourself, then, look at it this way. There are people who look up to you. Family, friends, your kids, Sparky, your dog. All of them are on their own journeys to succeed. And when you reach your goals, you tell them, without saying a word, that it’s okay to let their own light shine.
So, in an effort to help your little light shine, we thought we’d give you a few things you could do to give yourself a boost!
Be Positive. Yes, every self-help guru in the world will tell you that you need to think happy thoughts. But negative thoughts keep your from moving forward. When you think positively, you are giving yourself permission to realize your potential. Positive thoughts will give you that extra push of courage you didn’t even know you needed to achieve greatness!
Achiever Tip: Take time to write down all of the things you have to be grateful for!
It’s All About the Big Picture. You are a cog in a very large wheel called Life. When you do something great, it pings the rest of world with a signal that tells others they can be great too. You don’t have to go out and feed 20 of the nation’s hungry or teach impoverished children in Tibet how to read. You can do something as simple as lending an ear to the people around you. Your positive vibe gives others reasons to be positive which will come back to you.
Achiever Tip: Volunteer for a day, or spend quality time with your loved ones just talking about your day.
Finding Yourself. With all of the things that you have taking up your day that you are trying to keep up with, it’s very easy to lose yourself in the problems of others and the daily grind of your responsibilities. But take time for yourself to find your voice. You can’t have a dream if you don’t remember what it is you are striving for. All of the things you do are supposed to be working to get you to a specific result. Take time to see where you are on that plan. If you’ve veered off, adjust and keep going.
Achiever Tip: Write down something that you would like to get done in the next 3 years. They don’t have to be important or even practical. Just write them down and see what steps you can take to get yourself there.
Create A Success Space. Everyone needs inspiration. Maybe, it’s a board with some of your favorite quotes on them. Maybe it’s a file filled with magazines with creative art, or a bookshelf with knick-knacks and reference material for your next goal. When you feel as if you’ve lost your way, go to your area and go through the things that you wanted to do. Look at the lists of things that you’re grateful for and the list of things that you want to do, and adjust, where needed.
Achiever Tip: Set up a corkboard you can take things to or a file on your computer where you can paste pictures. Find things that inspire you to get to where you want to go.
Learn. Practice makes perfect, and what better way to achieve your goal then to find someone or something who will teach you the best route to reach that goal? Take a class; pick up a book at the library and self-study. Whatever it takes, keep learning. It keeps your mind sharp and focused on your goals.
Achiever Tip: Find your local library and take a free class, pick up a free book, or talk to someone who is interested in the same things you are!
Balance is Key. It’s awesome that you are fast tracking your way to your goal. It’s great that you can see the finish line. But pump your breaks and check to see if those around you are at the finish line with you. Often times, while trying to reach a goal, we forget the reasons we are reaching that goal. Is it a better life for your family? That’s great, but if you don’t see your family, they aren’t going to appreciate your goal as much, which will hinder your progress because you’ll feel guilty. Are you neglecting other areas of your life trying to reach the intended goal? There is nothing wrong with being ambitious, but there does come a time when you can throw your life off balance.
Achiever Tip: Make a list of reasons that make this achievement worth it, and see if the reasons encompass all parts of your life, not just a few.
Believing You Deserve It. You worked hard to reach that goal. You put in the blood, sweat, and tears to make it. Don’t ever think that you don’t deserve to be where you are. Ignore naysayers who say you only got there because you were lucky. You made your own luck. You may have had help; we all do, but you got there through a lot of your own work as well. Maybe by achieving that goal, you can make whatever is keeping you from succeeding right. Maybe you need to forgive yourself before you move on. Whatever it is, all thoughts of your deserving success are not even a question and should never plague your thoughts.
Achiever Tip: Look at the list of what you want to accomplish and write down all of the positive things that you do that makes you worthy of achieving that goal.
The most important thing when achieving a goal is to make sure that it’s the goal that you want to achieve at the time. You may want to do something and find that you have outgrown that dream. Sometimes, a dream isn’t always plausible until later. No one is saying that your goal can’t be done; it just may need to take a back seat for a while. Whatever the case, just keep working on reaching your goals and never be afraid to succeed! △
