Achievement requires the risk of failure.  Therein lies the problem for many people.  Most people would rather do nothing than take the chance of falling flat on their face.  But that’s exactly the kind of thinking that keeps people feeling stuck, unsatisfied and like they haven’t accomplished anything of much significance in their lives.

So what do people do instead of reaching for their full potential?  They busy themselves with lots of “stuff” that on a physical level helps them feel as if they are accomplishing things, but subconsciously, their actions are keeping them in their “safe zone.”

The question then, is how do we move forward, get out of our comfort zone and really live to our fullest potential?  Well, for the most part, I find that there are three main ways that people generally keep themselves stuck.  By addressing these three problems directly, we can start to gain some forward momentum in our happiness and create a more satisfying life journey.

Problem #1 - Dipping Your Toe in to “Test the Waters”

Example:  you want to start your own business but you feel that there’s just no way you can accomplish such a huge undertaking.  So you do what you love to do as a hobby and constantly talk about how it would be nice to actually earn money doing it.  All of your friends and family tell you how talented you are and how much they enjoy the gifts that you routinely give away for free.  But you never make the move from hobby to actually running a business.

Solution:  you’ve heard it before; jump in with both feet, NO more toe-dipping!  Regardless of whether you feel ready or sure of yourself, sometimes you just need to take the leap first in order for the road to appear before you.  As the saying goes “if you’re waiting to feel comfortable, you could be waiting for a very long time.”  Even if you make a mistake, you can learn and move on to the next attempt; the point is to keep putting one foot in front of the other until you reach your goals.

Problem #2 – Filling Your Plate to Overflow

Example:  you decide you want to cultivate more friendships in your life.  You sign up for lots of social groups, make a list of all your friends that you’ve neglected lately and make lunch, dinner and movie dates until your event calendar is filled up for the next month.  But then life intrudes and you realize that a) you overbooked yourself, b) you never get to make it to any of the group meetings for the clubs you signed up for and, c) there are a couple of people on your “date” list that you don’t really want to hang out with right now anyway.

Solution:  take it one step at a time.  Relationships require time, care and nurturing.  Friendship is not a numbers game; it’s better to have two friends whose company you really enjoy and who you know you can count on in a pinch to be supportive and helpful, than to have twenty friends that you barely ever get to see or talk to.

Problem #3:  Over Planning

Example:   you’re a list maker…and you love it.  You feel that you’re being productive as long as you have a plan.  The only problem is that you have your list, but nothing else.  No action, just intention.  Some list-makers spend YEARS planning out their course of action and never really get to the execution.  Because things have to be perfect.  And the plan is always being tweaked.  And the dog ate their homework.

Solution:  Allow imperfection; make improvements or adjustments as you go along, but the operative word here is GO.