It's not always easy to overcome barriers to growth in your life. You may have experienced one or more of these four common hurdles that can prevent you from achieving success and acceptance.
The first and most obvious roadblock is fear: a fear of failure, a fear of the unknown, and a fear that comes from our daily struggles with ourselves. Fear often causes us to fall back on familiarity without exploring new opportunities for growth-seeking travel, for example. In order to move forward in your life, you must face discomfort head-on.
Second is hesitation: the feeling we sometimes get when it feels better not to act at all than risk an uncertain outcome. Positive change requires bold strides, and sometimes the leap of faith we make to get there can seem quite enormous.
Third is indecision: the fear of making a mistake or the fear that choosing one path means giving up on another one. As humans we are all deeply complex creatures with many personalities, talents, skills – and dreams. What we must realize is that often times these dreams align and support each other; they don't exist in competition with one another.
And last but not least, are excuses: all-too-common reasons for avoiding action that may at first seem completely logical but upon closer inspection may hold no real merit whatsoever. Excuses are often part of an unacknowledged pattern of self-sabotage, usually caused by our perception of the world looking at us with disapproval or disapproval from the object of our affection for actions we know to be in line with their expectations, but which we personally think may not be in line with theirs.
To break through these four common roadblocks that can stop your growth, you must first identify them. To do so you can follow this exercise:
First, list under each "barrier" one to three positive benefits that come with overcoming it. Second, use a positive self-talk to keep your head up and suppress the negative feelings that block your natural desire for growth.
For example, if you are hesitating because your fear of the unknown keeps holding you back from pursuing an opportunity, ask yourself why you think it will not work out. Usually there is a likelihood that the other person's expectations are not high, and that they will pass your skill set and values over to someone else. Alternatively, maybe you are waiting for a better offer or for someone with more experience to throw their hat in the ring.
If your second obstacle is hesitation, keep in mind that every action taken can lead to a new result. Just because something did not work out in the past does not mean it cannot be successful in the future. Also, take into consideration the fact that you can improve your decision making by learning from previous mistakes.
If your third obstacle is indecision, remind yourself that many of our dreams can and should overlap: they state what you want differently because they play to different traits we have within ourselves and that are unique to us as individuals. The key is to try and identify those skills, talents, and opportunities within ourselves which we truly enjoy doing, or notice another person's skills that complement our own. Then, give yourself permission to pursue those paths that do not align with other people's expectations. Remember to remain true to yourself and your values and to pursue only those paths that fit your identity.
And lastly, if you find yourself making choices based around excuses, decide right then that you too will not waste any more time doing so. You can abandon the habit of making decisions based on nothing more than excuses by simply being honest with yourself and acknowledging why you are avoiding the path; if it is because it requires action or commitment you might be better off ignoring the excuse until you are ready to take it.
This exercise is a great way to start observing how many barriers are holding back your growth in life.