“If you are not excited about it, it’s not the right path.” -Abraham Hicks
The road to success is not something we get ready on our place so that we can grab it, chew it and rejoice. It is a constant fight, endeavour, and challenge to become the best version of yourself. It is when we decide to become better, and write down our action plan that suddenly, we stumble upon some enemies that try to tear away our one way ticket to achievement.
Here are the five enemies of self-growth that you may easily recognize as every now and then, they pop up before us and spill the mess on the floor for us to clean it. But the question is… Do you clean it and get up to fight back?
PROCRASTINATION
It is just a matter of one step and as easy as it may seem, we often faint on our weak knees. Our first enemy on our road to self-growth definitely has to be procrastination. It is an act of delaying or avoiding tasks. It silently plays a lethal role against your intentions to win.
Beware of your inner demon asking you to sleep for 5 more minutes, or those little urges to postpone that article for another hour, to sit and watch TV. These small actions are like slow poison that turn out to be a beast in the disguise of your future regrets and tons of assignments to be done in one night.
Beware and say a big NO to delays. Learn that procrastination only adds burden to the tasks in the future. Next time whenever, that little demon inside you tries to make its way to the couch, turn the switch down, right at that moment and just head to your success with proper time management.
FEAR
What if I failed? What if I got left behind? What if I got rejected? What if I am not made for this?
Sounds familiar? Fear is a genuine part of growth. We know what we want but we don’t know if we will succeed or what it may cost us to get there. Our veins often get trembled on the thought of failing to accomplish something. But the worst part of fear is that it pulls us away from furthering our motive to get along with our next action.
Do not be trapped. Do not be fooled by the justifications stated by your scared brain. You do not have to strangle your fears in one night and become a hero. Fear is natural. It will keep appearing in your journey and will try to distract you but remember, giving in is where it wins. Do not invite your destruction by turning your head for it or to try to fight it. Always focus on forwarding yourself to your strengths and all of the fears will vanquish gradually to clear your path to self-growth.
COMFORT ZONE
The big one. It is obvious to doubt and be scared while moving ahead to achieve your goals. Personal growth, above all, demands change and discomfort. We act according to the set behavioural patterns and get ourselves comforted in that room.
Our habits and our perspectives that we have always walked by make it challenging for us to go out in the sunshine and melt down to be moulded into something better and more alive. We rather feel as if we are burning and rush back to the room where we trust that our wounds can be healed.
The Comfort zone can never do any favour in terms of success. Self-growth comes from stretching, bending and falling. It has different meanings for all of us, given our circumstances, habits and perspectives. Sitting on a couch and listening to the same song on repeat should be unfollowed and you should choose to starve and strive. It will make your run, ache but you will learn, see different views on your path and finally be able to understand what makes your hunger go.
THE HABIT OF COMPLAINING
In life, not everything goes as planned and not every action drops down as a big fat success. Mistakes and failures are mysterious spices that make you relish your growth in the end.
Complaining is an act of self-pity. Blaming ourselves, the situations or sobbing over the damage that has already been done only fetch us nothing. For worse, it drains our vigour and blinds our vision against the problem solving methods.
Whenever you score a zero, instead of whining about it, stiffen your brain and channel it in the direction of search. What went wrong? Why? What can you do about it now? Get your answers. Refrain from wasting your time on complaints and pity.
IMPATIENCE
Impatience too, somehow, drives its wheels in the path of self-growth. It is more of a habit to expect results as soon as possible. Remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day.
We act like we have to get to the conclusion in a day and have it all figured out. The thought of moving and waiting makes us want to give up already.
No. You do not have to get there today. Growth is a process. It comes from experiences, breathing at different spots, discovering what works for you and what doesn’t and most all, growth comes from within. Do not force that. Trust the process and always believe that what is meant for you will eventually find you.