Overcoming Self-Handicapping: Embrace Your Potential and Think BIGGER

We've all been here.

You have a big ambitious goal that you are striving for but you start to feel a sense of doubt that starts to take over. You begin wondering if you can really accomplish it. You start second guessing if its possible which subtly shoot your odds of success.

You worry about failing so you start thinking and acting in ways that reinforce that. You don't do it on purpose, or even consciously most of the time.

You shrink away. You get "realistic" to avoid any hard fall.

This is called self-handicapping and is a protection strategy people use to insulate their self-esteem from the damage of potential failure.

When a person does this they start taking part in actions, behaviors, beliefs that undermine their goals or dreams.

Why would we do this? to provide a built in excuse if failure occurs.

"Oh, its ok that I failed my diet. I knew it wasn't realistic to eat like that forever."

Playing small because of the fear of failure to play big.

The remedy to this is thinking BIGGER.

You know the old saying, shoot for the stars and land on the moon?

You must spend time around people who think bigger, act bigger, want bigger, demand bigger. They elevate you to get over your own limiting beliefs and BS excuses.

People who encourage and support you even when the closest people in your life don't. ( it's not that they don't care but they don't know how to support you.)

Don't cower away from what you really want for your life, health, relationships.

You don't have to settle.

You don't have to listen to that voice in your head. That doubt that creeps in.

Self-handicapping prohibits you from the very thing you NEED to make real change and progress.

That is making mistakes.

Your planning and trying to not make mistakes is keeping you from making mistakes, which is mandatory to progress.

You learn best by trying, making mistakes, retrying based on learned lessons.

Its like lifting weights. Your muscles will be sore. They then rest and recover. They get bigger and stronger.

But they have to be sore first. You have to overcome the resistance of the heavy weight.

Same goes within the rest of your life.

There will be growing pains and mistakes. Don't' avoid them.

Make them. Get them out of the way. The more mistakes and trial and error you go through the quicker you'll get where you want to go.

This is where 99% of people fail in everything they do.

They stop. They get in their own way and give up.

You have decisions in your life right now that need to be made and you are avoiding them. You are avoiding it because you are afraid of failing. You are afraid of looking dumb to people whos opinions don't really matter.

You're strangling any chance of a great life away, in favor of a comfortable one.

You know what to do.

You always have.

Here is your reminder to do it.