Here is What is Really Keeping You From Reaching a Goal

What goal or dream do you have that you have not accomplished? 

While some goals could be things like making more money, traveling, growing your business, there are others like working less hours, working smarter and spending more time with family.  Are there any goals or dreams that you have that are so meaningful to you and just seem out of reach? A stretch?  Impossible? I talk with people every day who have a desire to achieve something and yet are held back from doing so.  They feel stuck.  

Here are some questions to start the process of understanding what is specifically inside you that might be unconsciously keeping you from achieving those goals.  

Ask the magic word - Why.  Picture the scene of the annoying younger sibling continuously poking and asking the question “why”.  But “why” has magic in it because it helps you to completely understand why a desire is important to you.  You do this by asking “why” over and over again.  Want more money?  Why?  Answer.  And why is that important to you? Answer.  What about that is meaningful?  Answer.  Why?  You get the picture.  Allow yourself to be transparent and dig deeply into the reasons.

Investigate your anchors.  Anchors are old habits or beliefs from our past that “anchor” us to the spot we are now and keep us from moving into a new place.  They show up as stories we tell ourselves or behaviors that served us to get us where we are now but aren’t needed anymore. They can be conscious or unconscious and are something we learned and absorbed earlier in our life.  Recently I was coaching someone taking her business so seriously and wasn’t having fun.  After exploring that, she learned that since she had gone through a difficult time years ago and had to be serious to get through it, that she was still in that mode even though circumstances were vastly different now. 

Name your blocks.  Blocks keep us from understanding where we want to go and how to get there.  They are parts of ourselves or our path that we may not see.  These generally are repeating patterns that block us from making new movement in a different direction.  Oftentimes it takes a coach or other professional to point out blocks that might be occurring and reroute this behavior or thinking to a new one that shifts us into big change. For instance, in a conversation in which a business owner was struggling for employees to take ownership of their work, she discovered that because of her background she was acting as a mother figure to them keeping them in child-like role. 

Imagine the breathtaking scenery.  Imagining breathtaking scenery is when we allow ourselves to be in the future when the goal or dream is realized and describe it in as much detail as you can.  What will it look like when you are living your dream? How can that scenery be expanded even more? What will it feel like when you have discovered more about your potential then you ever thought possible? Remind yourself of this scene regularly. 

There is tremendous waste in this world, but none greater than a desire of the soul left unfulfilled.   Not only do you have the opportunity to pursue that dream, but to grow beyond what you can imagine.  What will you do differently today?