4 Mental Roadblocks That Stop You From Succeeding

Since we were kids, the importance of being successful has been instilled in us. May it be ranking first in the class or winning a running race. Every kid wanted to succeed to feel the pride that came with the elder’s appreciation or to escape the nagging about the need for success.

As we grow up, our tests and races change, but the need to succeed is constant. The meaning of success can be different for everyone. People have become obsessed with achievements and the pursuit of wealth. After we get our degrees and find jobs, it pretty much turns into a constant race to see how much we can achieve in how less of a time.

Everyone we meet wants to know how much money we make, and if it isn’t a lot, then future plans are asked. Don’t even get me started about being an entrepreneur. The constant questions of if your business is successful yet come pouring in even from people you don’t know well enough.

There are a lot of things that affect our success. External roadblocks are much easier to pinpoint than the ones we create in our minds. This is exactly when an individual or entrepreneur with some kind of mental blockage needs to go for a Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), which can show effects like Therapy Interfering Behavior (TIB) that is addressed by the therapist or practitioner. This is how mental roadblocks are solved.  As an entrepreneur starting the journey, you might be familiar with how low self-esteem, self-doubt, bad habits can all keep us from achieving the success we want.

1. You don’t have a clear vision

How you see the world has a huge hand in what steps you take to get where you desire to be. Believing in your potential, believing that this was what you were meant to do, believing in the purpose of your actions are all the things that allow you to keep moving forward. When even one of these beliefs becomes clouded in your mind, you will find it difficult to keep traveling the difficult part towards a successful life.

“When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.”

-Audre Lorde

How you look at everything also determines how you go about achieving your goals. Do you see failures as full stops or just commas? This determines how much you are willing to push. Do you believe in doing whatever it takes to achieve something? This determines how far you are willing to go. Would you trade your dream for a comfortable and secure life? This shows what hold priority in your life.

When your perception of life or perceptive of how you view things is flawed, you hit a mental roadblock. Because no matter what comes your way, you will find something in it to fit it into your flawed narration. Most of the times, problems seem bigger or smaller depending on how much we let them affect us. When you keep your vision clear, it becomes easier to follow the tunnel-vision towards success.

“One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation.”

-Arthur Ashe

2. You are confused about traveling the unknown path

Now, that we have knowing-what-you-want cleared, we still have the how-you-want-to-get-there to focus on to. When the path you want to travel isn’t clear, you can easily feel lost. The lost feeling is one of the difficult mental blocks to get out of. You feel like you have nowhere to go from here. You can’t seem to find a way to reach your destination. You feel everything is pointless. These feelings can haunt the living light out of your productivity.

“Unless you walk out into the unknown, the odds of making a profound difference in your life are pretty low.”  

-Tom Peters

Figuring out what you want in life is very important when all you see is a void ahead. If you feel like you have no clue where you are going with any of what you are doing, then take some time off to just focus on that. Because once you know what path you want to travel or what destination you want to reach, it becomes easier to focus on getting there. You just need to know your destination, you will find the way. Better yet, you will pave your own way.

3. You are mentally unprepared to put in the work

This happens to the best of us, especially when starting out. We let our emotions dictate our work ethic, and to say the least, that can be disastrous. Procrastination and laziness are examples of how we ruin our chances of getting what we want. Entrepreneurship is already hard, demanding,  and needs you to put in work every day.

“The really happy people are those who have broken the chains of procrastination, those who find satisfaction in doing the job at hand. They’re full of eagerness, zest, productivity. You can be, too.”

– Norman Vincent Peale

Some days you might not feel like working when you should be. Maybe you want to binge-watch the new show you have started or want to go out with your friends or watch a movie. There can be a lot number of things you would want to do instead of working, and that is exactly what you need to fight.

If you let your feelings get into the way of achieving daily goals and targets, you will get that much farther from your end goals. While everyone has lazy days, too many can kill your productivity altogether. Knowing what you want isn’t enough to succeed if you are not ready to put in the work needed.

4. You are undisciplined

Jobs give you the discipline of working every day, achieving daily targets, working consistently. When you work for yourself, you don’t have that privilege. You need to have a routine and make yourself follow it. When you work a job, you have someone to answer to. The sense of accountability makes you get the work done, no matter if you want to do or not. You don’t get to procrastinate.

You will get reprimanded for not doing your work. You will feel humiliation if told your work isn’t good enough. You will even feel a sense of dread about losing your job if your sloppiness goes on. These feelings aren’t present when working on your business, not to the extent of a job.

“No discipline seems pleasant at the time, But painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”

-Hebrews 12:11

When you work for yourself, you for the most part only have yourself to answer to. This makes it easier for your mind to use any reason to justify your procrastination. You have to hold on to that sense of accountability even when you are technically not answerable to anyone.

Most of our struggles are internal. Once we learn to point out where our problem lies within, it becomes easier to pin it down and bury it. Getting rid of your mental roadblock prepares you to face any obstacle heads on. You get to give your 100 percent, to put your best foot forward, to achieve what you want. Think about what’s holding you back and fight it. A sound mind is an important asset; use it!

“Don’t wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles, and less than perfect conditions. So what? Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident, and more and more successful.”

– Mark Victor Hansen