Don’t Hold Yourself Back

We are all navigating this thing we call life. Life includes in progression, setbacks, happiness, sadness, trials, and triumphs. Some of those dynamics are beyond our control. In this blog I won’t touch on scenarios outside of our control. What I will speak to is tendencies we all have that are within our control that have the power to hold us back. This blog will delve into ways you can protect you from you and minimize the risk of not optimizing your life.

One way to protect yourself from self-imposed limitations is to focus less on talking about what you want to accomplish and more on taking key actions to actually get going. It is great to talk things through, strategize, and socialize your thought process with others. But if you never get beyond talking then your ideas are just unrealized dreams. And unrealized dreams are not useful. Hard work and dedication help manifest dreams. Waiting on the right time or the right situation is not always ideal. Your focus here should be on learning, executing, and adjusting. 

Another consideration is to not overly concern yourself with what others think. Too many people spend their entire life wondering what others are thinking about them. Every thing they do is based on how they feel others will react to it as opposed to focusing on what is best for them and what they need. People wear certain clothes and have certain occupations based on acceptance and adoration from others. Some individuals will adjust their physical appearance as a result of caring too much of what others may think. I dare you and challenge you to be true to your character and purpose. Wake up each day and seek to do what you find meaningful. Also, consider that perhaps some destinies we have are meant to be accomplished alone and it may not require total understanding or acceptance from others. Don’t forego your life’s callings by suppressing your desires just to fit in. It’s OK to be a “Fruit Loop” in a bowl of “Cheerios”.

This brings me to my next point. How you expend your energy and what you devote your time to can hold you back. Be diligent about what you might being doing where you confuse being busy with being productive. I recommend focusing on a few key actions each day. As you get these activities accomplished you can then pivot to lesser important tasks. Too often people want to brag about a lot of stuff that they touched and did in a day when the reality is none of that busyness actually advanced their goals and were really distractions. I recommend keeping a daily list of “must do’s” and a supplemental list of “would be nice to do’s”. Priority is key and time management is the goal here! 

Speaking of time and time management, I’ll briefly touch on short and term long thinking. There are “just do it” things we can knock right away but, for major accomplishments in life, those take time. If you have big goals don’t be in a rush to try and get a quick win. Avoid wanting your dreams and goals to be accomplished over night. Most over night successes take 7 – 10 years of hustling before the big break happens. That is an unpopular message but it is factual. Always keep a working list of 3, 5, 7, and/or 10 year goals that you are deliberate about completing. Reassess and recalibrate the list as needed but never quit. Never give up. Always remember slow progress is still progress!

Lastly, fear of failure is something that can hold you back. For that matter fear of being successful can have the same effect! In the age of readily available information that is free, there really is no need to be afraid to fail. Failing is a natural part of the success value chain. We learn the most from struggles that go on to mode us into better humans, professionals, businesspeople, family members, etc. None of us are flawless or know it all so there is no need to avoid failure (as failing from time to time is a given) or pretend we have it all figured out. 

It is my hope the content above is useful to you in some way. As I always say: “In all that you do, seek to be BeUpwright”.

– LW