What’s stopping you from succeeding? If you’ve never sat back and thought about what is between you and the success you desire, then right now is a perfect opportunity to do so. I guarantee one of these monsters is standing in the path that leads from you to success. They’re ugly beasts, but I’m going to show you how to defeat them.
1. The Ogre of Procrastination
The first and largest enemy of success is procrastination. He doesn’t really bare his teeth at you or try to scare you off, he just says, “Yeah sure, that’s a great idea, let’s do it tomorrow.” If he can keep getting you to put off that task until tomorrow, just delaying it one more day, then he has won the battle and won the war. Procrastination is your biggest enemy. Don’t let his lies slip into your brain anymore. They are deadly arrows that will stop you in your tracks.
How do you slay the great Procrastinator?
Push past procrastination and do something to move forward. Anything is better than nothing. One call is better than zero. Three lines of code, or 100 words on your next book is better than zero. Don’t procrastinate any longer! Just do one single small step. A single action, a single step, done consistently will destroy the ogre of procrastination.
2. The Fear of Failure Behemoth
This grotesque behemoth is so large that he obstructs the path in a way that keeps you from seeing any light. If he’s successful, he convinces you that failure is the ultimate demise, the final death, the greatest of all social disgraces. If we are afraid to fail, then it paralyzes our decision making ability, it helps us procrastinate, and it makes us incredibly self conscious about our actions.
How do you slay Fear of Failure?
The first and most important step in slaying this little monster, is to realize that he is, in fact, very little. At first, when he looms over top of us, we think he’s the largest thing we’ve ever seen, but if you step back, and get up onto a larger boulder, you can see that failure is a commonplace monster on the path. He’s actually your friend once you see what size he really is.
Failure is a rapid feedback mechanism. As long as you can fail fast enough and frequently enough you can gain experience and knowledge that you won’t find otherwise. No one should set out with the goal of failing, but it’s just as important to embrace failure with enthusiasm. Stop worrying about failing, and start worrying about how you can learn effectively from your failures.
3. The Look-a-Like Personality Eater
All too often, I run into people who are worrying about being like some other business, some other product, or some other notable business person. When I see this, I know that the personality eater has swallowed them whole. What happens is this sly snake slithers up and convinces them that if they were just more like that person, or just more like that business, or closer to that product, they will be successful. All of a sudden they are trying to copy someone else and, before you know it, they’ve been swallowed up in living someone else’s dream.
All too quickly the monster steals their personality, their unique touch, and their personal brand. While I think that it is important to learn from our mentors, competitors, and industry influencers, it’s critically important that we stay authentic and true to our first passion and to our mission.
How to Stop the Personality Eater?
Take time every day to ask yourself, “Am I truly proud of the products and services that we offer?” Sit back and reflect and be sure that your company represents the authenticity that you truly desire. Speak your mind on your blog, in meetings, and at speaking engagements. Don’t let your passion for your business get shut out by the “proper” way of doing things. If you founded your business with passion and with a mission, then it’s important that you stick with it. Don’t let anyone or anything steal your unique personality and brand.
So what do you think? Have these monsters ever gotten to you?
Tell me how you beat them and tell me if I missed one in the comments below.
