5 Things We Do Everyday That Kills Our Success (And How To Overcome Them!)

Would you kill your own success?
 

Not purposely, of course. You definitely wouldn’t do something like show up late or FFK, being rude to clients or just not doing your work at all.

But if you observe yourself, you might discover that you have picked up a few negative daily habits that kill your chances at success and moving forward. If you want to be the boss of your own life and make your own success, you must first take 100% responsibility for yourself RIGHT NOW, in the present! Don’t kill your own success. Here are five things to stop doing now -- and what you should be doing instead.

You Listen To Your Inner Demons

You're not the only one with voices in your head, telling you you're not good enough or smart enough, these are your inner demons.

Demons lock you in your comfort zone to keep you safe from the risk of failure. This means they also hold you back from discovering your full potential.

What You Should Do Instead

 Demons aren’t bad or evil, they're scared. Thank them for looking out for you, but tell them their fears are not welcome. Then shut them out. 

Instead, focus on a different internal voice -- the one that says, "Go for it! You can do it! This will be amazing!”

You Focus On Your Failures And Setbacks

Things won't always work out the way you'd hoped or planned. That’s disappointing.

 But focusing on the things that don’t work blinds you to seeing things that might be worth pursuing. Much like those demons, fear of failure will keep you stuck in a negative frame of mind. 

What You Should Do Instead

Confront your feelings so you can move past them. It could be as simple as talking it through with a trusted friend or mentor. 

If you're still struggling internally, consider writing your feelings by hand and then burning them. Release these negative emotions as you watch them literally go up in smoke.

 The symbolic gesture actually can be a powerful practice that frees up energy to welcome positive thoughts and feelings. Once you do so, you'll gain the perspective to see the failure or setback as a gift. 

Take what you can -- a hidden lesson, an experience to be shared -- and then move on.

You Don’t Celebrate Success

How can you be excited about your path if you don't acknowledge the steps you've taken along the way? 

Motivation can be the most difficult part of any journey. Recognizing your successes, however small, helps keep you fired up about what's ahead.

What You Should Do Instead

  Celebrate and record your achievements. Did you finish that huge project a day before deadline? Celebrate! 

Did you assemble that Ikea desk for your new home office on your own with no leftover bits? Celebrate! 

After celebrating, record that success. At the very least, use a distinct color to mark the accomplishment in your planner or calendar so you can look back and see at a glance how incredible you are. 

You See Difficulty Instead Of Opportunity

No matter what you're trying to achieve, challenges are inevitable. 

If you choose to see only the struggle, you're in for a tough road.

What You Should Do Instead

Accept that certainty as being out of your control and work to better yourself by changing how you perceive these challenges. 

What you view first as an obstacle could reveal a chance to increase your knowledge base, develop a technical skill or make new contacts. 

You might even boost your resume in the process: The next time an interviewer asks you for an example of a time you overcame adversity, you'll be ready.  

You Focus On Small Matters Instead Of The Big Picture

Life gets busy. You'll never run out of tasks that need doing. But are those duties helping you advance toward attaining what you truly want? 

If you aren’t consciously taking daily steps toward your big-picture vision, you’ll end up lost in a sea of to-do lists.

What You Should Do Instead

Make decisions from where you want to be, not where you are.

 Visualize yourself in the moment after you've achieved your goal by aligning with your core values. 

What do you need to do today to become ideal-future you? 

Make a list of the responsibilities that demand a "yes" and also define which tasks should be a "no." 

Maybe it’s “yes” to that weekend workshop or working on your side business but "no" to social media or an extra shift at the job you don't want to be doing five years from now.