What’s gonna hold you back?

Last week I wrote about having great expectations for the year. As I pondered what to write this week, I was reminded of a line from a song that says, ‘nothing’s gonna hold me back, my chains fell off, my life was changed’.

It got me thinking about what will make this our year of fulfilling great expectations. To answer that, we must understand the things that have held us back in the past and make sure history does not repeat itself.

Here are some thoughts on some of the things I have seen hold people back.

Fear of failure

Many people are afraid of failing. This is because we see failure as a bad thing and mistakes as unforgivable. Thinking about Thomas Edison on his journey as an inventor, he said, ‘I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.’

How about that for the right way to redefine failure? Failure isn’t a problem in itself, but not learning from it and moving forward to try again is true failure.

Fear of success

Now that might sound odd but there’s such a thing as fear of success. Many people often sabotage themselves or new relationships. Their underlying expectation of failure means they see any success as a fluke and a failure waiting to happen.

Rather than embrace the success, they run away from it, make deliberate mistake just so they can prove the success wasn’t real.

Fear of being embarrassed

Some of us are so intent on saving face at all cost that we refuse to take a risk. Many people have talents they’ve never explored and due to this fear, they would shy away from opportunities that could get them discovered. This fear needs to be overcome. So what if the audience boos your first performance at stand-up comedy?

I’m sure many successful comedians we see today have been booed before. We see them today because they didn’t let that stop them.

Limiting self-beliefs

As someone with a preference for introversion, I never saw myself speaking in a public setting.

I still remember the first time I was given a platform to speak. I tried to get out of the request but wasn’t given the option. I cringed my way through it but I got the job done.

I was given more opportunities and it got less painful over time. Eventually a time came when I began to enjoy it. We need to figure out any limiting self-beliefs and resolve not to let them hold us back.

Our own excuses

This is an interesting one. I come across many people who tell me about what they would love to do if they got the chance. The interesting thing is when they are given the opportunities, many still find a reason why they can’t take them.

The best way to know how serious you are about an expectation, dream or vision is to gauge your readiness and willingness to respond to an open door. If you are hesitant, then perhaps achieving that dream isn’t yet something you really want.

Our willingness to do the work or pay the price

There will always be circumstances that will present a challenge to the things we want to do. I have friends who while in full-time employment and raising young children, went back to school so they could afford to change their careers. I also have friends in the exact same scenarios who said they couldn’t make it happen.

Sometimes the only difference is our willingness to pay the price or to endure short-term pain for long-term gain.

You are the only one who knows whether you have a valid reason for not taking a chance or whether you are simply unwilling to pay the price.

‘Nothing’ is accomplished if we do nothing. Good intentions, positive thinking, prayers, decrees, desires or declarations will not of themselves make things happen until you are willing to take the necessary actions. That action can simply be taking a step of faith after praying.

So what’s gonna hold you back? The answer is whatever ‘You’ allow.

We have not been given the spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound mind. Get up and go make your great expectations happen.

Thanks for reading and sharing my post.  See you next week.