YOU are What’s Holding You Back

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I need to speak some hard truth to myself. I need to be my own worst critic and give myself a swift kick in the tail… figuratively of course, although that would look pretty funny. I know myself, and if I don’t provide the occasional reality check, I, like many, am very susceptible to accept the lies that want to steal my dreams away. These lies are easy to believe, and they all start with, “Justin, you can’t do that because… (fill in the blank).”

Did you know the majority of New Year’s resolutions never make it into the second week of the year? And 95% of those personal goals are given up before they reach the month of February? Seriously, January sees the highest rate of new gym membership enrollments across the country, but February follows it with the highest cancellation rate. We all tend to start off the year with the fiery ambition of, “New year, new ME!” But when the price of improvement starts to cost us in sweat, time, money, and comfort we scrap it all and settle back into our rut of wishing things could change.

We wish things would change, but the more important question is, do we honestly believe they can?

How familiar does this sound to you? I’d like to lose weight, but I don’t have the time to exercise, healthy food is so expensive and inconvenient, diets don’t work for me, and I’m on the go too much to stay out of the McDonald’s drive-through.  

I’d like to make more money this year, but the competition is selling too low, I can’t hire enough qualified employees, and my lead flow is inconsistent.

I’d like to spend more time at home with my family, but I’m always needed here, I can’t afford more help, and there’s always some emergency that keeps me here until 7 PM.

I’m not picking on anyone in particular. Lose weight, make more money, and spend more time with my family are three of the top 10 most popular New Year’s resolutions nationwide. But how many people do you think actually get to December and go, “Yes! I finally figured it out!”? For most, January starts with, “Let’s do this!” and it quickly becomes, “I’d like to, but…” and ends with “I can’t do that BECAUSE…”.

Now, are you ready for a painful, yet necessary truth? Swallow hard, because here it comes and it’s not pleasant… There is one common denominator in every goal you set in this life. One main factor that has the largest influence on whether you hit a personal goal or not, and it’s not the economy, or lead flow, or diet plans. It’s YOU. You and your attitude, your decision to adapt and persevere or fold and give up; your resolve to keep fighting or lay down is where the battle is won or lost.

I placed a sticky note on the monitor of my computer at work so I’m forced to look at it every single day, facing it’s blunt reality. It simply says, “YOU are holding YOU back.” I have goals set for myself, for my company, and for my family that I would love to see achieved this year. I’m also 100% confident that I won’t see any of them become reality if I allow myself to jump on the excuse wagon.

I’m a chubby guy and I earn a comfortable living, however I’m not ashamed to say I want more than that for myself and my family. I’d like to lose 40 pounds and increase my income this year. But guess what? So do a lot of other people! What separates those who get there from those who sit around grumbling about why they can’t, secretly hating the ones who are out living their dream? Taco Bell will always be more appealing than kale, competition will always be fierce, and no matter how good your product or service is, people are not just going to line up at your door begging to give you money. Work will be involved. Determination and perseverance will be involved. Flexibility and creativity will be involved. But good intentions and wishing will leave you still sitting in the same well-intended spot in 2022.

Excuses will always be there, and they’ll always sound convincing as to why our goals will forever stay out of our reach. I might even be able to make everyone nod and understand at the staff meetings when I tell them, “Well, we didn’t hit X number of new clients because X happened…” but does that make me feel better? No, what would make me feel better is to knock it out of the park. I could blame, and explain, and dodge responsibility as to why I haven’t made that happen yet, but do you know what I’ve come to realize? At the end of the day, if it didn’t happen I didn’t care enough, work hard enough, or find the smartest way to make it happen. It’s on me, period.

Sure, there will always be major factors completely out of our control, and maybe it’s not fair to put that much personal responsibility in my own lap. But I’d much rather err to that side than fall into the skirting of responsibility so prevalent in our culture today. Let’s do what we can and if we fall short so be it, but don’t give up without a fight. If my goal is to lose 40 pounds and I only lose 25, I’ll take it and go after that other 15 next year. There’s a big difference in that and quitting in February, blaming Taco Bell for being too delicious.       

Motivational speaker Daniel Decker said this, “If it’s important to you, you’ll find a way. If it’s not, you’ll find an excuse.” So, how important is growing your business, spending more time at home with family, making more money, etc., to you this year? Are your goals actually GOALS you’re shooting for and taking steps toward? Are you ready to take responsibility and stick to a solution to change things for yourself, your staff, family, and those depending on you?

The only thing truly holding you back is you.

If you’d like some advice, strategy, and simple accountability to help you overcome excuses and obstacles on the way to your growth goals, I’d love to help. Click here to schedule a quick, introductory phone call or email [email protected] to arrange a time. Let’s knock those goals out of the park together.