Behaviors Blocking Your Success
By Daryl Daughtry, Publisher
This article includes nine practical tips and three actionable steps you can take right away to remove behavioral obstacles from your personal success.
Success means many different things to many different people. You ask ten people what their definition of success is, and you might get ten different answers. The common denominator is that most of us are striving to achieve it. No matter what the definition, success is something we all crave. Craving success is one thing, achieving it is another. The number one obstacle in our path to success is …us! If you exhibit any of the nine behaviors below, you might be blocking your path to success without even knowing it.
1. Making Excuses
Making excuses is one of many ways we can self-sabotage. If you are constantly making excuses about why you can’t do something, why you failed or blaming other people for your lack of success, it is time to take a long look inward.
2. Doing It All Yourself
Are you the type of person that needs to control every single detail? If so, you might be blocking your road to success. While self-reliance is typically a good thing, trying to do everything yourself is likely going to stall your success. Let go, delegate the small stuff and focus your efforts on high-impact actions.
3. Giving Up Too Easily
Life is essentially how we spend our time between obstacles. No matter who you are, you are going to have to deal with setbacks, failures and other obstacles. How you respond to these obstacles will define your success (or lack thereof). If you just give up in the face of difficulty, you will never achieve your goals.
4. Fear Dictates Your Decisions
Fear is an important evolutionary emotion that keep us safe. Don’t be ashamed to feel it. However, you can’t let it dictate all of your decisions. Success requires bold thinking and action. There will be times that you must ignore your fear and step out of your comfort zone.
5. Too Much Multitasking
Multitasking was all the rage about a decade ago. It sounds great, you get to accomplish more things all at once! The reality is, you aren’t accomplishing more, you are just spreading your focus and energy thin. Would you rather do 5 things poorly, or accomplish one thing perfectly? That is often the trade-off you make when multitasking.
6. People Pleasing
Being able to get along with other people is a wonderful trait that will get you far. However, there is a difference between being personable and being a pushover. You need to make sure that you balance your affability with a backbone. To start – practice saying “no” more often.
7. Hitting the Self-Destruct Button
Sometimes self-sabotage can do more than stall your success. Sometimes it can be downright dangerous. Leaning on self-destructive habits to get through your day is not healthy. If you are relying on drugs, alcohol or any other serious bad habit, you need to talk to a professional. It isn’t just your success at stake.
8. You Yo-Yo
Sometimes you care, and sometimes you don’t. Sometimes you try, and sometimes you don’t. You are excited about your goals this week, but won’t even think about them next. If any of that seems familiar, you might be “yo-yoing”. Success requires consistency. If you want to succeed, you can’t be all in one moment, then not care the next.
9. Beating Yourself Up
Did you read through this list and then berate yourself for any behaviors you exhibit? This needs to stop. Everyone has issues and everyone makes mistakes. You can’t beat yourself up for this. If you fail at something, try not get lost in thoughts of “I failed, I’m no good”. Instead, ask yourself what you learned from that failure and move on. Treat yourself as kindly as you’d treat your best friend.
FAST ACTION STEPS
Here are some actionable steps you can take to move forward on your path towards success.
1. Are you making any excuses? Of course you are, but think honestly about your life. Are you making any excuses for your lack of success?
2. How can you face them? Once you have identified some excuses you are making, create a plan so that you can address them.
3. Take micro or baby-step towards your goal. Now that you have a plan, take a simple step towards achieving it. This step should be something so simple you can do it right away.
Remember, nothing happens or changes until you take action.
