Get out of your own way

Your goals are dead ahead, but you can’t see them. Why? What’s happening?

Chances are you’re getting in your own way, blocking your view and your way forward.

How do you get out of the way?

The answer is simple. By working on all the things we’ve covered in the last few posts.

We hinder ourselves in lots of ways. It’s the little things you worry about, like what people think or what they’re saying about you. It’s about how much weight you give those things in your mind and how much you let them influence decisions about your actions.

Another way we trip ourselves up is by focusing on only one aspect of our lives, and that’s usually our work. That’s where we place our value – on what we do and what we achieve at work.

In a recent interview, I said “I believe we are actually the sum of our strengths, our beliefs and our mindset. And although you can apply these in all areas of your life, your job is just one aspect of you. I think we need to detach from our job title altogether. Instead, design our role around those strengths and skills and qualities that are you at your best.”

In other words, we’re not flat 2D beings; we’re rounded and 3D. We have work lives, but we have family and social lives, too. There’s more to us than work.

How to get out of your own way

Getting out of your own way means clearing all the irrelevant thoughts out of your head and focusing on what’s important – your work, your goal, your why.

• Stop listening to the chatter of others and start listening to your instinct. It won’t steer you wrong.
• Share your energies with everyone in your life, not just your workmates. You’ll find different energies from the different sources and each will help to keep you balanced and motivated.
• Give yourself a break. Take time to celebrate your successes or take a day off to recharge your batteries. It’s OK to be pleased with yourself.
• Don’t fill up your days with ‘busyness’ because you feel you should be doing something. Days without ‘busyness’ give you time to breathe and think, and that’s where the new ideas come from.
• Don’t hold yourself back by trying to be ‘nice’ to others. It won’t be recognised or valued at work and might even come across as hesitant or afraid. Stand up for yourself. If you want something, ask for it. Everyone else does!

Next time you’re looking for the reason you haven’t progressed as well as you’d hoped to do, pay attention to the way you’ve behaved. You might discover the blockage is you.

Get out of your own way and go out and live!