Facing Off With Some Common Internal Hurdles to Achieving Our Goals
When you wake up in the morning and start to walk through your day, your short-term and long-term goals may quickly come to mind. They will also likely linger as you face yourself in the mirror come day’s end, leading you to contemplate your life’s journey and deeper meaning. All too often, you may find hurdles keeping you from achieving your goals.
Many hurdles are external, yet others are internal. What are some internal hurdles that are keeping you from achieving your goals, whether they be health, professional, personal, spiritual, or core life? Perhaps more often than not, a little self-prodding can help. Self-prodding can lead to recalibration, and recalibration can lead to overcoming those hurdles.
Perhaps others’ comments or criticisms are keeping you from achieving your goals.
If this is the case, remember these comments or criticism are coming from those other people’s piecemeal point of view. Hopefully most of these comments are meant to be constructive, and you can consider where they are coming from and take their points with a grain of salt. Other times, you can can balance out those voices with others offering support, motivation, and faith. The criticisms and positive reinforcements can both then be a strong foundation for you to start moving towards your goals.
A related hurdle may be because it seems your dreams and goals have been crushed by another person’s offense.
Contrary to comments or criticisms are the outright negative, hurtful, and toxic words or actions that may leave lasting wounds. You don’t work your hardest in college classes because some teacher or other adult cruelly told you that you’d never succeed. You drop the ball at your job because people tried to convince you that your skills or efforts are abysmal. You hide from living life in a general manner because people will never let you hear the end of your past mistakes or transgressions.
Really, what are you waiting for? The journey to healing from any offense like these can include making steps towards your goals. As it has been said, “the greatest revenge is success.” Is this not one application of Jesus’s challenge in Matthew 5:39 to “turn the other cheek.” If someone offends you in a crushing way, then why not show a stronger side of yourself that can rise above the negative and strive for amazing, positive things?
You may struggle to achieve your goals because you fear it will somehow be offensive to others.
You want to pursue post-graduate studies, yet fear it will be off-putting to those who have received doctorate level knowledge and wisdom through other life journies besides higher education. You are hesistant to accept a big promotion at work out of fear your coworkers may consider it a betrayal. When out with friends or family, you may even throw personal goals to the back burner to go along with the established “social norms” of eating more junk foods, having a few more drinks, or spending more than budgeted extra cash.
But what if striving to reach our goals and being the best versions of ourselves was more of a positive influence than negative? Do the famous stars of any age(in our current age these include social media and internet celebrities) shaming their millions of fans? Perhaps more than a few people might somehow be flustered by their success, but just as often is it not because these stars inspire others to shine to greater heights as well. Don’t hold back from tapping your inner music and bringing it to greater light for the world to see. As Marrianne Williamson so elouqently wrote:
“there is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
Perhaps you are scared that reaching goals is counterproductive to keeping a sense of awe, wonder, and reverence towards the Cosmos’ infinite richness and vastness.
As children, we are naturally in awe and wonder at the unboundedly rich worlds all around us — whether in backyards, playgrounds, meadows, or imagined pretend worlds. But soon, we are yanked away from our childhood as we must “grow up” and become “adults.” In many ways, our an perspective realizes the infinite richness of the Cosmos even more than childrens’. For instance, we can more fully grasp that our planet is hardly even a “pale blue dot” (as Carl Sagan brilliantly coined) even in our solar system, itself but a small speck of space.
But we often fear that if we are too driven on achieving our goals or completing numerous types of marathons, we may somehow lose that sense of wonder and awe. Such an attitude may be similar to the approach of “saving some for later” when we are savoring food sweets or treats.
However, the truth of the Cosmo’s unlimited riches should propel us to strive and grow, learn, and savor as much as possible rather than hold back. Of course, this is all in proper balance. There is such a thing as being “too driven” that we forget about what is most important or lose sight of the deeper meaning behind our goals. But recognizing that the journey is just as wondrous as the destination and taking the time to savor even but a small part of the unlimited riches unfolding each step of the way helps propel us to the finish line. Also, once we get to the finish line we recognize that there are countless other goals to begin striving for.
Perhaps you are simply feeling a general lack of motivation or faith towards achieving your goals.
This is entirely understandable. If an automobile’s engine starts grind out its oil after awhile, imagine how much more our infinitely wondrous minds, hearts, and spirits need a tune-up every now and then. If you are feeling a general road block about growing, improving, or aspiring, give yourself a chance for reenergizing and renewal. Take time for self-care, seek connection with loved ones, and practice your own method of spiritual reflection and prayer. In many ways, the journey to fulfilling our goals or dreams is like a long climb up a mountain’s face. Moments of exhaustion may lead you to want to stop altogether. But a quiet rest with nourishment and recalibration gets you ready to continue your mount.
Also, reaching out to others is a key way to find renewed motivation and purpose. Often we can reach out to trusted family, friends, or confidantes. There is also the option to find communities of others who are reaching for similar goals as well as the opportunity to find guidance from a professional doctor or coach who specializes in the goal’s domain. We never have to face our troubles alone as resources and people are always going to be there to help us on our journey. Greater motivation can come from helping others in return.
So, these are just a few of many different hurdles we may face on the journey to completing our goals. Whatever hurdles we may encounter along the way, even overcoming the hurdles can make the journey even more valuable. After all, each challenge helps us build extra strength and agility so that future hurdles themselves become easier to overcome.
