Roadblocks To Your Success

I'm wondering, is your life going in the direction you want?  Would you like to have more money, better friends, lots of respect, love and appreciation, a better job, and many other things that just don’t seem to be happening for you? If so, there might be a reason things are not happening the way you want them to.  You might have unconsciously put up roadblocks that are interfering with your progress towards your perfect life. I like to think of the journey to success as if I were taking a road trip.  Success is the destination, and in order to reach it I need to map out a plan, with detailed directions and strategies.  It’s important that I really want to go on the trip, have a mode of transportation, and map or GPS to guide us. When I’m thinking of taking a trip, I look at things that might be getting in the way of it actually happening.  Some of these are: 1. No clear vision.  Without a vision you don’t know which way to go? How do you know which direction to go if anywhere will do?  What does success mean to you?  What does it look like?  Is it monetary, emotional, physical, or psychological?  Your vision defines where you want to go, which will help you define the steps you need to take, and will lead you to success.  Be specific and create a clear vision. 2. Fear – All kinds of fears: Fear of failure, success, rejection, making a mistake, being in the spotlight, being laughed at, etc.  What are your fears? 3. Negative thinking – We all have the little voice in our head that sometimes tells us we will fail, people will reject us or our product, and we might as well give up.  Most of the time the negative messages were learned when we were children, and were delivered by adults who were not supportive of us. What we forget is that the little voice is WRONG! 4. Lack of determination – You may like the idea of success, but shy away from parts of running a business that you find uncomfortable. To succeed you must be determined enough to push through the discomfort. 5. No action plan.  You can’t go anywhere if you don’t know what steps to take.  Once you have your ultimate vision and long-term goals, “chunk it down” and create shorter-term goals.   Then decide what steps you will take, every day, to move ahead?  Once you have the steps, write them down in order to be done, so you have a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly plan. 6. Resistance to change – by definition, if you are not successful now and you want to be successful, things will change 7. Lack of focus/Procrastination – it’s easy to become distracted, especially if you work alone 8. Become easily discouraged – Lack of perseverance.  No matter what, keep on going!  Summon the energy and motivation and keep moving ahead. 9. Become too comfortable.  Sometimes people reach a certain level, become comfortable with it and stay there instead of continuing to move ahead.  This may be fine, but if you want even more success, your comfort zone will not bring it to you. You may want to look at how many of these roadblocks are holding you back from achieving your success.  Once you become aware of the ways they are doing this, there are many things you can do to change the situation. To look at these, you can ask yourself some questions about each of the roadblocks: Lack of Clear Vision What does “success” mean to me? If it’s monetary, how much, specifically, do I want to make each week, month, and year? What is my monetary goal for next year? If it’s emotional and/or physical, how will it feel? What do I want my business to look like tomorrow, a month from now, a year from now, 5 years from now? (This includes physical environment, types of clients/customers, how many and how often, number of employees, who my vendors are, etc.) Fear What fears are holding me back from success? How realistic are they? Will I survive if they come true? What will happen if I don’t confront them and move ahead? What will happen if I do confront and move through them?            Negative Thinking What negative messages do I give myself?             Where did they come from?             How valid are they?             What’s the truth? What positive messages can I replace them with? Lack of Determination/Motivation How motivated am I? How much do I really want to succeed? What am I willing to do to get there? What things am I avoiding that, when done, will move me toward success? If I avoid unpleasant things, how will it impact my success? If I tackle unpleasant things, how will it impact my success? No Action Plan  (write down each step and then prioritize them) What do I need to do today to move towards my goals? What are my goals for the week, and what do I need to do to reach them? What are my goals for the month, and what steps do I need to take to accomplish them? What are my goals for the year and what do I need to do to this year to reach them? Where/how will I document my action plans? How will I know when I’ve succeeded? Resistance to Change What am I doing, or not doing, that is holding me back? What needs to change? What am I willing to do differently to make that happen? When will I start? Lack of Focus/Procrastination What distracts me? What do I avoid doing? Are there some tasks that I’m more easily distracted from than others? What can I do to make them more fun, interesting, or less stressful and frightening, so I will tackle them and stay focused? Become Easily Discouraged What discourages me and makes me stop moving forward? What am I losing by giving power to this? What will I do to take back my power and persevere? Become Too Comfortable Have I reached a level that feels comfortable? Do I want to move to the next level, or stay in my comfort zone? What steps can I take today to begin moving ahead? Once you’ve identified your roadblocks, YOU have the power to eliminate them!  You have the power to create strategies that will move you quickly ahead on your road to success. So, I challenge you to take charge of your life and make it the one you want.  I bet if you tackle one roadblock a week, you will be amazed to find that you’re speeding down the road, moving closer to your goals every day. If you’d like someone to walk this road with you, Sandy is offering you a FREE Coaching Call. Just email her at Sandy@insidejobscoach.com and put FREE CALL in the Subject line.  She will always get back to you within 24 hours, so if you don't hear from her be sure to check your SPAM filter. Once you connect you will schedule a time for your coaching call, so you can jump-start creating the life of your dreams. Sandra Abell is a best selling author, speaker, Licensed Counselor, and life and business coach. She is the author of the best selling books, FeelingGood About You and Moving Up To Management, and is the creator of the amazing Feeling Good About You Breakthrough program. You can visit Sandy on her website at www.insidejobscoach.com.