Five Costly Mistakes That Are Holding You Back

I have written many times about how, in order to be successful, you must first define what success means to you. I think it is safe to say that most of us are looking for success in many areas of our lives, such as our careers, relationships, finances, health, etc.  It’s probably also safe to say that everyone is striving for success in at least one area of their lives…would you agree?

If everyone is looking for success, why do you think so many people don’t find it? I believe that there are many reasons, but for today’s purpose we are going to focus on the five costly mistakes that I hear most often. These five costly mistakes, hold back so many people from living the life they dream of living. Some people may have all five, but more than likely you just need to really dive in and work on only a few areas.

  1. Lack of control over thoughts

Did you know that there is a direct connection between what is going on in your life and what is going on in your mind? Did you know that you can take control of your thoughts? It took me almost 40 years to figure this one out, but once I did, life changed! Over the next 24-hours, do an inventory of your thinking. Are your thoughts primarily positive or negative? When you catch yourself thinking negatively, do you correct your thinking or do you allow yourself to stay with the negative thought? So, if you want to improve your chances for success, start by improving your thoughts. Now, I am not going to say this is an easy thing to do, because it isn’t. I’ve been working on this mind-game for the last 10 years, and I can still go off the deep end, but the good news is that I catch myself quicker, change my thoughts, and I am creating an awesome, successful life. In summary, change your thoughts and change your life.

  1. Fear of failure

This area can once again play into this whole negative thinking thing again. You may be struggling with fear of failure if you believe everything needs to be perfect before you push the go button. The best you can do here is to remember that mistakes produce lessons and lessons learned can help you reach success. Doing nothing but reworking your work or rethinking your thinking, ever gets you closer to success.

  1. Fear of success

Yes, it is true that lots of people out there struggle with the fear of success. I personally can identify with this one and guess what; this too can be traced back to our thinking! This may be a struggle for you if you worry about how success will change you. Will you lose friends? Will you be held to higher standards that you are afraid that you can’t maintain? Do you fear moving out of your comfort zone?

  1. Lack of support

Not everyone will always agree with your big dreams and not everyone will be excited to help you find success. In fact, there are a lot of people out there who may tell you that your big dream is not doable, silly, beyond you means, or other negative stuff. Unfortunately, all too often the people that tell you these lies are people who love you and they might believe that they are trying to protect you. Not everyone knows how to dream big and just because they have turned their big dreamer button off, doesn’t mean that you have to. Surround yourself with people who lift you up and who believe in your big dreams. Find a mentor, hire a coach, and find someone who believes in you.

  1. Lack of vison and plan

Remember what I said in the very first paragraph about defining success? Lots of people say they want success, but very few define it. The key word is DEFINE it for you and what it means to you. So you say that you want a successful career, what does successful look like? What does successful feel like? Success isn’t just money, but if money is part of it, what amount would you define as success? What position or title do you need? What are you doing to get there?

Are you looking for a successful marriage? What does that mean? Are you looking for successful health, what does that mean? Are you looking for successful finances, what does that mean? You must first have your big picture vision before you can create your plan. All too often we want to set our goals, without a clear picture of what we really want, but if you create the vision, the goals will be easier to win.

How do you overcome these five costly mistakes? Before you can change anything, you must first understand the areas that are holding you back. Be honest with yourself and find someone who can help you on this journey. Work with a mentor, coach, peer, or someone who cares enough about you to be honest and real. Only then can you overcome your fears so that you can create a plan for real change.

Which area are you willing to commit to working on today?

– See more at: http://loveyourlife2.com/blog/2016/05/15/five-costly-mistakes-that-are-holding-you-back#sthash.VCPck098.dpuf