You may be doing pretty well in your career. If you did well in college, you may have a good job. Or you may be establishing a business of your own. But there may also be something that is stopping you from reaching your peak. You may not be quite where you really want to be. Maybe your career trajectory feels like it got stalled a little along the way. Or maybe you feel you have plateaued.
Have a good look at yourself, and what you are doing, and see if you are being held back by one or more of these four big things that commonly stop people from reaching their career or business peak.
1. Procrastination
We all do it. Putting off those mundane or difficult tasks is all too human. But the longer we delay making that phone call or having that tricky conversation, the worse it is going to get. We all know -- YOU know -- deep down that you should just do it.
The other big area of procrastination is failing to act. How many good ideas have you had, but you have not acted on? Is it because you were not ready, or you did not have the right skills or enough money yet?
There will never be the perfect time, or even the right time, to start a business, launch a project, or pitch a new idea. The right time to act is now. And do not forget; acting on an idea does not mean you need to leap into the final product straightaway. Acting also means doing your research, allocating a budget, and testing the market.
If you stop procrastinating and start planning, you will find yourself on the right path on your journey of success!
2. Fear of failure
Fear of failure stops you from taking risks and seizing opportunities. It can be paralyzing, but only if you let it be. To free yourself from the fear of failure you need to re-frame what failure means for you. Failure does not mean disaster. It means you have not found out what works yet. Edison famously failed to invent a working light bulb more than a thousand times before he hit on the right formula. He did not give up and, as a result, his success is well known today.
A good friend and mentor once told me FEAR is False Evidence Appearing Real. What he meant was the vast majority of the things we fear or worry about turn out OK. And most of the rest were not real or serious anyway. You should not waste time, and your success, on fear of failure.
The converse of failure is persistence. And persistence will out-perform innate talent every time.
3. Distraction
Staying focused is the key to achieving success. It is easy to be distracted by side issues, and the demands of your email or phone, but staying productive requires attention and focus. Make it easier to produce high-quality, consistent work by keeping focused on the current priorities and sticking to your plan.
That same mentor I mentioned earlier told me that FOCUS means Follow One Course Until Successful. Staying on course – on the right path on your journey of success – sometimes takes a little help; a guide. Just remember, the time to hire a guide is before you are lost in the woods!
4. Self-doubt
Self-doubt can be a deadly enemy to success. It can undermine all your efforts if you let it. The best thing you can do to build your confidence is to stop comparing yourself to others. Your success story is totally up to you.
Look back, see all the stepping stones that brought you to where you are now. You have the skills, and you have the know-how to turn stumbling blocks into stepping stones in order to get to where you want to go.
The Answer Is All About Solutions
It will not always be easy. Sometimes it takes concentration and hard work. You will need to make choices, develop plans, and apply consistent effort but your journey of success is worth it. I know. I have been there; fighting though self-doubt, distraction, fear of failure, and procrastination. The results speak for themselves.
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