Are You Sabotaging Your Success?

Are You Sabotaging Your Success?

Many people know what they want to achieve in life but they feel there are more stumbling blocks than steppingstones on their way.  They find themselves not doing the things that must be done to get them ahead. Many people, in most cases, sabotage their own dreams with what they are doing or not doing-they can be self-made victims.

To know where you are and what you can do about it, check:

1. Your attitude about life and your mission...is it positive, negative or somewhat in-between?

1. Your sense of purpose. What's your mission in this world? Your uniqueness has never been with anyone else nor is it with anyone else and no one will ever have it.  You are the only one who can enrich your life and your world in your unique ways-by accomplishing your purpose in life. What do you want to be remembered for? What contribution do you want to make in the lives of the people you live with and work with? How can your uniqueness be useful in your school, church, workplace and community? What we do for ourselves can get us by; what we do for others is what gets us ahead, whether in our professional, spiritual pursuits or in our relationships.

1. Your focus: Is your Focus on past failing experiences, or, what you assume is wrong and not working or, not right about your current situation? To overcome this kind of stumbling block, make a list of what is good about your current situation, be it a project or relationship. What, to the best of your unbiased judgment, is working. When you focus on what is good and what is working, what's wrong and what's not working get out of focus-you can't see them.

1. How you devaluate yourself:  Self-devaluation starts that moment you focus on what you don't have or think you don't have instead of what you do have. You wish you were younger, had more education or had more finances. Are you not the one who accomplished what you accomplished in the past? Where did the pride you had in your yesteryears go? You must learn to begin the journey of being who you want to be using what you have now-YOU.  Self appreciation is the engine that gets you moving to your future and welcomes people who can make your dreams come true into your life

1. Fear of the unknown: Worrying about what the future may bring takes away creativity and energy that you can use NOW to create the future you want to have. Excessive fear can curtail you from doing anything with what you have. Focus on what you are doing now. The future depends on the sacrifice, the investment, and the effort we devote on what we are doing at the present time.

1. Your circle of associates. Do you gain anything from your relationships in the  way of what you learn or contribute into the welfare of the association. Do you let others have input into your life without fear of being criticized? Check out the kind of relationships you have, how connected you are with each relationship and what benefits you derive from the relationship.  Know that good people are attracted to good people.  Your personality is the door that either opens to let people in to your life or closes them out.  The richness of your life might be directly proportional to the kind of relationships you have.  

1. How you compare yourself with others: Comparing yourself with others kills your motivation in being the best you can. You lose the focus of what you can achieve while focusing on what others may have.   Make a list of your strengths. How can you describe yourself? How will you want to describe yourself five or ten years from now? Begin working on how you would like to describe yourself in the future now.

1. How you are progressing:  A Chinese proverb says, "Be not afraid of going slowly; be only afraid of standing still." It is on very rare occasions that giant steps land people in the places of their dreams.  It is the small steps, day in, and day out, a sweat here and a sweat there, a loss here and gain there that will bring joy into your journey.