10 Tips to Stop Blocking Yourself From What You Want

Are you blocking yourself from achieving what you want? If so, you aren’t alone, and it’s more common than you might think.

Each year multitudes of people create a list of goals they want to accomplish. Yet most of them give up before the end of the first month! We tend to get in the way of starting (or finishing) these life-changing tasks.

Typically, people sabotage their potential to avoid pain. However, you can do things to stop holding yourself back from what you desire.

Try the following tips to stop blocking yourself from what you want:

1. Stop blocking yourself by realizing what you want

“Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.”

— Carl Jung

First, to stop blocking yourself and get out of your way, you need to find out precisely what you want to accomplish in your life. Or even what you want to achieve this year. Either way, your desired outcome should be crystal clear.

Stop blocking yourself with clarity on what you want:

• If you want to be wealthy, how much money would you need to make? Down to the cent, how much?
• Do you want to lose weight? Exactly how much weight?
• Do you want to free yourself from debt? Write down how much you need to pay.
• Do you want to write a book? How many pages will it be?
• What bothers you almost every day? Fixing these issues would be a great goal.                                                                                    

You can reach your vision, but you need to know when you’ve achieved it.

2. Why do you want to stop blocking yourself?

“It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”

— J.K. Rowling

People don’t do anything if there’s not a good reason they should. When you know why you’re working towards a goal, it becomes infinitely more valuable to you. Then, you won’t block yourself from achieving it.

So, always remember why you’re working towards this in the first place. That way, you’ll know why you can’t blow it off and forget about it.

The thought of you achieving your dream should excite and inspire you. What advantages will you gain from reaching this goal? If there isn’t a benefit, reconsider your plan.

3. Stop blocking yourself with distractions

People tend to surround themselves with distractions, thus making it near impossible to accomplish anything. These thoughts, items, or people drag your attention away from what you need to do to reach the next level in life. If you eliminated the commotion, you’d be much more productive and get where you want faster.

Keep out the following to stop blocking yourself:

• Stop talking to those who discourage you or make you feel bad.
• Don’t try to change people’s minds.
• Turn off notifications for social media.
• Stop comparing your progress to others.

When you remove all the shiny objects, you can clearly see what you need to do.

4. Create a system for success to stop blocking yourself

Another way to guarantee that you don’t get led astray is to create a system or routine. So, when a specific time rolls around, you know exactly what you need to do.

For instance, exercise, shower, get dressed, and work on a project in the morning. Complete each item before moving on with your day. Eventually, your system becomes a habit, and you won’t need to put in much effort to do it.

Challenge yourself to keep a month-long streak of doing your routine. Then commit to doing another month.

5. Revamp your mindset to stop blocking yourself from goals

Achieving your intentions has a lot to do with having the right mindset. For instance, if you have a fixed mindset, you don’t think it’s possible to improve yourself. Therefore, you waste away all your time on things that will never bring you closer to your dreams.

However, having a growth mindset means you realize that you can change and improve with practice. This mindset ensures that you give it your all every day, and you never try to talk yourself out of your dreams.

Believe that you can do this because you can!

6. Start focusing on priorities

What have you avoided that would launch you forward the most? These are the things you should focus on first every day. Even if they’re intimidating, do them.

For example, you might be wasting a ton of time on the logo for a business you want to start. But, will this task make or break your success? Probably not.

In fact, people spend tons of time on unimportant activities. They think they’re being productive, but in reality, they’re procrastinating. If you create a product that people love, your logo could be a paint splatter, and no one would care. Building a portfolio or creating something would be more constructive.

When you prioritize your schedule, work on one item at a time until it’s finished. Only then should you move on to the next on the list. You can handle that! Make yourself do at least 5 minutes of work on this task each day.

7. Stay motivated

Over time, your motivation may decrease. If this happens, think about your desired outcome. Imagine how amazing it’ll be! Keep thinking about that until you’ve recharged your motivation.

Also, don’t believe negative things about who you want to become. Such as thinking wealthy people are evil or attractive people are cruel. These thoughts will ensure you don’t make progress.

The less motivated you feel, the more you should encourage yourself. Celebrate every small success to keep energized!

8. To stop blocking yourself, you don’t need to be perfect

Another time-waster is perfectionism. It seems like it’d be a positive thing, but it holds you back from being productive. Furthermore, productivity is a necessity for success. It might even cause you to quit. It’s probably because no matter how long you obsess about something, it’ll never be flawless. Take the time to accept that.

Also, don’t wait for the “perfect” time to start doing anything. If the thought always holds you back, “I’ll do that when life calms down, and I have time.” Surprise! That time will never exist. There’ll always be something going on, and you must take the time to get what you want.

9. Know what to do when you’re faced with obstacles

There will be things and situations that arise when you’re trying to improve your life. You might argue with a loved one, stress yourself out, or worry about the future too much. These things will block you from completing anything. You will need to learn how to disconnect from the chaos and focus on your project.

Here are some ways you can stop blocking yourself:

• If you feel anxious, work out for a few minutes.
• When you’re overthinking everything, meditate.
• If you don’t think you can do it, listen to inspiring music and go for it anyway.
• When things aren’t working out, recreate your game plan.

It’s best to know how you’ll deal with an obstacle before it appears. That way, you respond in the way you planned instead of throwing your hands up and quitting.

10. Just start

You might have a million reasons why right now is the wrong time to start working towards your goal. But there will always be excuses not to start. So, you need to break through them and start anyway. Make yourself work on it for just 5 minutes and take a tiny step each day towards your goal. Eventually, you’ll be there.

Starting is the hardest part of any task, so if you can force yourself to get through that, it’ll be smooth sailing!

In short, you can step out of your way and stop blocking yourself. So, discover exactly what you want and how to accomplish it. Take action on a goal that you’ve been holding yourself back from today!

Clear out the distractions and start working on what matters. Make it a routine that you do every day, and you’ll no longer need to force yourself to do it. Even if you just take one daily micro-step closer, you’ll achieve the life you want!

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