Identifying The Invisible Obstacles To Success By: R.E. Darby
Getting In Our Own Way
A normal success strategy may well include the possibility of a failure or two as well as temporary setbacks. But these are not viewed as complete disasters that lead to defeat. Instead they are perceived as challenges that must be met and overcome by learning the lessons they hold so that we will be better prepared for our next attempt. But many of us somehow miss this step because we fear what we might learn about ourselves if we examine our mistakes too closely which is an indication that there are some invisible obstacles interfering with our successful achievements.
For some, success comes naturally, but for many others it is not that easy and there can be a variety of reasons for this situation that this article can't go into because it entails digging around in our early developmental years which is a subject of a book. While it might be helpful to go on an archeological journey into our past to look at the sources of our difficulties, it is not necessary in order for us to deal with them. They are after all pretty basic and ordinary conditions like impatience, negative thinking, pessimism, doubt and unrealistic expectations. These are the thought processes that we use to get in our own way and sabotage our possibilities for success.
The Invisible Obstacles
I call these invisible obstacles because they are invisible to us while they are in action during our efforts to achieve something. Impatience is one of the most destructive and least visible of them all. We grow up in a civilization obsessed with the instant gratification of our every whim and desire, which results in our leaving the concept of time out of any plans we might make for successfully achieving some objective, which is a critical mistake. How many dreams have been sacrificed on the altar of impatience, sometimes just moments before success was about to arrive? We set out and begin to work hard at our goal and when it begins to take too long to bear fruit our mind kicks in with negative thoughts and pessimistic expectations and doubt, and suddenly we are spiraling down to defeat.
If we also have some basic failure programming involved in our core belief system, then that will also kick in and begin playing conscience games with us like doing almost everything to succeed, almost achieving necessary individual goals etc. Every high end goal is comprised of many small individual goals and if we get in our way with achieving these small goals then the high end or ultimate goal is just not going to be realized. The idea that our own mind is working against us is a little scary but it isn't anything we can't overcome with a little awareness and effort.
Making Real Decisions
There are token decisions and there are real decisions and they are determined by whether we have a genuine desire to achieve the goals we set ourselves or we are just putting together another half assed effort designed to convince ourselves that we are really trying to succeed at something, when really there was never any chance of that at all. Which one we are pursuing is revealed by whether we bring the necessary success characteristics to the table. Confidence, determination, commitment, hard work, perseverance, positive thinking, optimism, faith and of course patience are keys to successful accomplishments and are evidence of our strength, courage and firm intention.
If you truly desire to achieve your goals and you are experiencing difficulties in doing so, I encourage you to develop a level of awareness that allows you to monitor and catch any negative thought patterns that interfere with your accomplishments and replace them with more positive and constructive thoughts and feelings not only about your goals, but about yourself as well. Think positive, be positive and be confident in your abilities.
Identifying the invisible obstacles that limit and interfere with the successful achievement of our goals is the critical step in being able to deal effectively with those obstacles and open the door to the unlimited possibilities that are there for us to explore and take advantage of. This isn't rocket science and you don't need to fear what you might encounter along the way. Yes you may have to look at some truth about yourself that may not be all that attractive, but these are opportunities to implement positive changes in our lives and without change we are just an outdated version of what we have always been.
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