Amelia Earhart was quoted to have said “The most difficult thing is the decision to act; the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do.”
The paper tigers she refers to means “something or someone that claims or appears to be powerful or threatening but is actually ineffectual and unable to withstand challenge.”
I often talk about perceived obstacles, barriers or fear with clients, in that they may feel very real but they’re actually not, however, we must try and act on fact and evidence rather than feelings believing them to be reality.
When we are working towards our vision or aiming to obtain our goals, setbacks and bumps in the road are inevitable and unavoidable. To enable us to get past these roadblocks we need tenacity, determination and perseverance to see us through.
This can be hard when we are at a low point or struggling and feeling the road ahead is too hard and not achievable, or that we don’t believe we are able to do it, or don’t have the skills or experience to achieve.
Our self-belief gets hugely affected to the point of sometimes paralysing us. Our minds are so powerful they take over and prevent us as if they were a real barrier or obstacle.
To achieve or be able to persevere, we must believe in ourselves, believe that we can do anything we set out to do in life. Isn’t that what we tell our children? We need to believe are goals are achievable and that we can do it!
Before we start working on our vision or our goals, we need to start with what matters most, working on our own self-belief and dig out that self-motivation.
We need to prioritise what we do, make space in our days to do the things that matter the most.
It’s so easy to fill our day up with other more mundane or easy tasks to avoid the most important ones that are going to achieve our goals. But how are we to achieve if we don’t make space in our day to do them.
There’s a great book called Eat That Frog by Brian Tracy who provides some great tips to do those most important tasks first, avoid procrastination, providing tips on how to prioritise.
Remember, having goals is the place to start, with our big goals making the biggest difference in our lives. Seeing these as a challenge and an opportunity rather than a chore or obstacle.
Try not to be tempted with distractions of lesser important tasks, instead, working on what matters the most to give us clarity, focus and direction.
Determine your goals, write them down, look at them regularly and incorporate actions to achieve these in your calendar every day so it becomes habit – you will amaze yourself on what you will and can achieve!
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