8 Obstacles to Success

1. Not Knowing What You Want: Your success is not my success, nor mine yours. The way you measure success needs to be based on what it is you want from your life. You cannot find success unless you know what it is you want. So, what do you want?
2. Not Having Goals: You can never hit a target you cannot see. Without goals, you will drift, allowing life to shift you this way and that. You need a list of goals for every area of your life that defines success for you. Write down your goals, and rewrite them daily.
3. Not Having Disciplines: Knowing what you want and establishing goals is essential, but it is the consistent action taken daily and without fail that delivers the things you want. What do you need to do consistently to have what you want?
4. Possessing a Bad Attitude: If you are negative, pessimistic, and cynical, you will also be disempowered. A bad attitude will prevent success as sure as any other factor on this list. You empower yourself when you are optimistic, believing you can succeed in spite of any obstacles.
5. Believing You Are a Victim: Believing that the world acts on you and that you lack agency, the ability to act on your own volition, will absolve you of responsibility, and it will also eliminate success. You have the power to change the course of your life, regardless of where you started or where you are now.
6. Not Skilling Up: You need skills. You need to be more before you can do more, and that means investing in yourself, the single greatest asset you will ever own, and the source of all your results.
7. Failing to Do the Work: Success is an auditor. It knows whether you have done the work and paid the price success demands of you. If you don’t do the work, success will avoid you. Head down. Work.
8. Failing to Persist Until You Succeed: You are going to have to persist. You are going to have to live on the plateau for longer than you believe should be necessary. You have to be determined and stay the course until you have what you want, never giving up or giving in. Persist longer than seems necessary.