In addition to knowing your purpose and aligning that with your values, it’s also important that you understand the internal obstacles that are holding you back from living your best life.
Sometimes, there are external factors at play. However, the overwhelming majority of what tends to keep us stuck is ourselves.
Our own fears and beliefs are what prevent us from taking risks, trying new things, and moving forward. Before you can hope to live your best life, you need to understand what’s holding you back.
The following questions will help you get to the root of what’s keeping you in place so that you can start taking action.
What Are You Afraid Of?
More often than not, as we’ve already seen, it’s fear and insecurity that keeps us from taking the actions we need in order to be happy.
Now is the time to get brutally honest with yourself and to identify what it is that you’re specifically afraid of. Fear can control our decision making and limit our potential, as we’ve seen.
You take away their power when you recognize, acknowledge, and name your fears. And then you can work to overcome them.
What Are Your Expectations?
Next, you need to take a look at your expectations and determine whether they are realistic. You should also consider whether they’re even your own expectations of yourself or if you have taken them on due to outside influences.
Sometimes, we have expectations that are simply too high for anyone or ones that just aren’t right for us. Consider what you expect your life should be like right now and whether it’s truly what you would like to attain. Are the expectations and goals you name yours, or are they influenced by society or by someone from your past?
What do you want in your life, just for you? When you are able to set realistic and authentic expectations for yourself, you can begin to live them.
Are You Taking Action?
For a lot of reasons, it’s common for people to stay in place simply because they’re unable or unwilling to take action. It may be due to perfectionism, fear, outside pressures, unrealistic expectations, or any number of other reasons.
No matter what the cause, you will never move forward if you don’t take at least some action toward your goals. That’s why I so often stress baby steps or doing just one thing each day. As long as you are making some movement in the right direction, progress is happening.
Ask yourself these questions the next time you feel like you’re stuck or that you may be holding yourself back from the life you want. The answers can provide good insight into the steps you should take to get out of your slump.
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