The article will begin below this paragraph
soupornuts is moving!!! In order to have more control over my blog (how it looks, plugins, etc.) I have decided to move soupornuts.wordpress.com to soupornuts.com. When you come to soupornuts.com, you will see my new postings along with updated and edited versions of most of my old articles. Don’t panic if the site looks different the first couple of times you visit. I am trying different themes to see which I prefer.
What is holding you back? Why haven’t you achieved your potential? Simple questions – not so simple answers. Here’s a short list of obstacles that prevent you from achieving greatness:
1. You are scapegoating through life.
All of your problems are caused by someone else or something else. Everything (at the very least, most things) are beyond your control.
Man, it depresses me just to write this stuff down. I can’t imagine how someone who truly believes this must feel. Napoleon said, “I create the circumstances that affect me.” This is true. Stuff happens to everybody – You are not special in that sense. The universe is not picking on you. Crap hits everybody. Make up your mind to deal with it and then deal with it.
Accept responsibility for your actions or more likely your inaction. Decide that you are not going to take it anymore. Then don’t take it anymore. The simple fact that you are reading this is evidence that you are searching for direction. Here it is: You have every right to be successful in life. Make it your quest to soar above your present situation. Once you make a decision, begin to search for answers and the help you need will be revealed.
Decide to be the master of your destiny or relegate yourself to being pushed around by circumstances beyond your control. It’s really up to you.
2. You are self-absorbed.
You know who you are. You get bored when someone else is getting the attention. You have the best stories (we’ve heard you one-up everybody). It’s always all about “you”.
Here is a wake up call: You are boring and dull. The only reason we listen to you is because either we are too nice to walk away or we realize that the politics of the organization we are a part of would be violated.
Your potential is diminished because you don’t understand that you cannot influence others when it’s obvious that you don’t care about them. Zig Ziglar said, “You can get anything you want, if you help enough other people get what they want.”
In order to help yourself, you must help others. There’s no better long-term strategy to achieving your success. As Dr. Phil would say, “It ain’t about YOU!”
3. You allow others to make your life decisions.
You know how it goes; someone (Mom, Dad, or whoever you deem as influential) says you should do “this or that” with your life. Why? How do they know what you want? Or how you feel?
The family needs you to become a lawyer, or doctor, or accountant, or football star or whatever. If you want me to pay for your college, then you’ll major in what I tell you to major in.
To some of us, this seems absurd, but it happens. Really. Here’s a secret, if you are not happy, then you will not be able to make anyone else happy. The only thing that is sure is that by compromising you desires for someone else you will be filled with resentment and hurt.
Eventually, those emotions will be revealed. Why not cut to the chase and deal with it now? You’ll be happier in the long run and probably save a heap of money in psychoanalyst fees.
4. You are filled with subconscious self-doubt.
You are filled with doubts and thoughts of inadequacy. You feel undeserving. If you don’t believe in yourself, then why should I? Or anyone else?
The short answer is that no one will believe in you. Therefore, by the simple act of thinking, you have defeated yourself, regardless of your abilities.
Everyday, average people just like you and me have fantastic, original, creative thoughts and ideas. But just as quickly, they are dismissed and discarded for the simple reason that they must be of no value if a simpleton like you thought of them.
People tend to overestimate the talent, ability and intelligence of others and then compound the problem by underestimating their own attributes.
Read “The Power of Positive Thinking” by Norman Vincent Peale. It is a classic and deserves to be. Learn some meaningful affirmations and use them. Become a true believer – in yourself.
5. Your are afraid.
I am not even going to attempt to list the wide variety of fears that hold people back.
You must think of fear as the fence that keeps the herd in the pasture of mediocrity. You were not built for mediocrity. You are unique and you have unique abilities – use them.
6. You have no clear goals.
At least you are not alone. Studies and statistics that have been repeated many times prove that only 3–5 percent of the population have a tangible, written set of goals. Remarkably, this is the same percentage of financial independent people in the U.S. and world.
Do you think there is a correlation? It’s a no-brainer. Write down your goals and go over them daily. It will change your life.
Tags: obstacles, success