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Embarking on a journey towards your goals is exhilarating, but it’s crucial to recognize the potential roadblocks that could hinder your success. In this guide, we unveil 11 signs that might be holding you back from achieving your dreams. Identifying these success blockers is the first step toward overcoming them and forging a path toward your aspirations.
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1. You don’t truly desire your goals
Many people set goals halfheartedly. They want to stop smoking or start working out because that’s what you’re supposed to do, right? Too many people set goals that they think would be ‘nice to have’ and not ‘F#CK YES! I want that!’.
If you are already undecided if you really want to achieve this goal then it is no wonder if you’ll give up on it somewhere along the way.
You should only set goals that you truly want. Sometimes it’s not the end result that you desire but you want to avoid the penalty that comes from not accomplishing a goal. Nobody likes to hold presentations in class, but they hate a failing grade even more.
Until you have found a big enough WHY for your goals, you will have a hard time pushing through the boring and uncomfortable times.
2. You spend hours upon hours planning
Plans are important. You won’t arrive at a destination if you don’t know in which direction you need to go. Or you will arrive but far later and more strenuous than necessary.
So yes, you should definitely have a plan on how to accomplish your goals. However, there is such a thing as too much planning. You can plan on how you’ll build a business as much as you want, if you don’t put in the actual work you won’t succeed at it.
In fact, you most likely need far less planning than you think. All that’s really needed is to figure out the first small step necessary in achieving your goal. After you’ve taken that step you can think about what to do next. But act first!
Successful people are not the ones with the most intricate plans for success. They stand out by being the people who take the most action no matter how messy it might be.
3. You wait for the perfect time
Spoiler alert: There is no perfect time. Sure, it can be justified to postpone a new project until you are done with finals week or other stressful times in your life. However, with every day you keep waiting for the perfect time, it becomes less likely you will get started at all.
That initial motivation and inspiration will slowly fade away bit by bit. And if you actually do get started on that perfect day, you will soon realize that things are still not as perfect as you hoped for them to be.
Call it perfectionism or procrastination, either way waiting for the perfect time is a sure sign that you won’t achieve your goals.
4. You talk more about your goals than you spend working on them
You can’t talk your goals into existence. Talking about them might make you feel all inspired and good about your future but it won’t actually get you any closer to making it a reality.
All that time you spend talking about your goal is time you could have been working on it. And the more time you waste between setting a goal and working on it, the less likely it will be that you accomplish it.
5. Your first step towards achieving the goal is too big
Most people get this huge motivational boost when they set new goals. Let’s say the goal is getting ripped. Full of motivation they go to the gym on the first day and do a one-hour workout. Unsurprisingly, they are far less motivated on the second day, after a week or after a month. Because let’s be real, going from nothing to working out for one hour a day is a huge step. Why don’t you make your first step something easy and fun? Your first step should be something you can stick with for a long time without much effort.
The bigger the tasks you set yourself, the less likely you are to accomplish them.
6. You spend more time imagining things going wrong than turning out great
Mindset matters. Many successful people claim that mindset is 80% of success and strategy only 20% of it. The exact percentages are not important. What is important is that your mindset can either boost or hinder your success. If you spend more time imagining things going wrong than turning out right, then guess what results you will get.
7. You have no plan at all for what it takes to achieve this goal
We have already mentioned that overplanning is bad. Well, no planning is equally as bad. You need at least a rough idea of what is needed to accomplish a goal. Otherwise, you will waste your time working on ineffective things and without any results of your hard work your motivation will dwindle away.
8. You often think: If only there were more hours in a day.
If you are bad at managing your time with your current commitments, how do you expect you’ll do with an additional goal on top of that? Most people waste much time during the day on useless activities. All that time could go into working towards your goal.
9. You spend a lot of time thinking about your ‘Plan B’
While the ‘burning all your bridges’ method works, it is a tad extreme. Having a plan B isn’t detrimental to your success, as long as it is nothing more than a fleeting thought in the back of your mind. As soon as you find yourself thinking about your Plan B on a daily basis, you should get worried that your Plan A will fail.
Now that we’ve shed light on these common success blockers, remember that awareness is your greatest ally. Use these insights to navigate the road ahead, adapting and evolving as needed. Don’t let these signs be roadblocks; instead, let them be stepping stones towards a more resilient and successful you.
