.jpg)
Last week Thursday,I sat
closely by my TV and watched with keen eyes as some outstanding youths were honored at the just ended National Youth Achievers’ Award. From excellence in Academic endeavour to excellence in ICT innovation (Grabbed
by our own DerryDean Dadzie of Dream Oval Ltd), enthusiastic youth walked up on
stage to receive what I describe as a
taste of greater things to happen in their lives. As I watched, one thing that
kept moving through my mind was this; “Why
do some people achieve their goals while others fail?” I believe it's because
successful people manage to overcome barriers that, in many cases, guarantee
failure. So I went digging for these barriers, and these are what I got:
1. Uninspiring Goals
When most people set
goals, they envision a "thing," such as a particular amount of money,
an object (like a new car), or a specific achievement (like writing a book).
Unfortunately, these "things I'm gonna get or do" goals don't appeal
to the core of what motivates them, they
therefore miss the point .To be successful
in life, emphasis should be placed more
on how you feel when you achieve the goal rather than envisioning a “thing” as
the goal. That way, you'll be inspired to do whatever it takes (within legal
and ethical bounds) to achieve that goal.
2. Fear of Failure
Nothing cripples a
man more than the thought of failure. If you're afraid of failing, you won't
take the necessary risks required to achieve your goal. For example, when I applied
for my current job, I was so much afraid of making the first call to follow up
on the application letter because I knew I may not have the required skill set
to work in such an environment. The fear of failure won’t let you quit your dead-end job,nor start your own business . To overcome this, just know
that failure is an inevitable ingredient for success and use it as a stepping
stone to greater heights.
3. Fear of Success
In many ways, this
fear is even more debilitating than the fear of failure. Suppose you achieved
something spectacular, like enormous wealth. What if it didn't make you happy?
What then? What if you ended up losing all of it? What then? Would your friends
start acting weird? Would your family be envious? Such thoughts (and they're
common) can cause even a highly motivated person to self-sabotage.My advice to
you is not to entertain such fears; we become
what we repeatedly think most of the time, if you are afraid of being
successful, you would never be.
4. An Unrealistic Timetable
Most people vastly
overestimate what they can do in a week and vastly underestimate what they can
do in a year. Because of this, most people try to cram too many action items
into the short term rather than spacing out activities over the long term. The
inability to get all the short-term steps accomplished creates discouragement
and the impression that the final goal is slipping away.To help you fix this,
try the 20/80 rule: schedule only the 20% of the activities that will produce
80% of your results
5. Worrying About "Dry Spots"
It's easy to get
discouraged when you reach a point at which nothing you do seems to advance you
toward your goal. For example, suppose you're trying to master a certain skill(hmm a stage i have reached myself);you make swift progress at first but then, after a while, it seems as if you're
not doing any better, or maybe a little worse. Some people use these
"plateaus" or "dry spots" as an excuse to give up and
therefore fail.
Whenever you reach a
plateau or dry spot, it's time to celebrate rather than give up. A plateau is
almost always a sign that you're on the brink of a major breakthrough, if you
just have the patience to stick with it and trust that you'll eventually
achieve your goal.
What Next?
Guess i have helped you overcome those common barriers preventing you from reaching the top? Let me hear your thoughts
Credit:Geoffrey James
