I have spent years helping people transform dreams into real life. I always ask people, "If you were living a life you loved, what would that look like?" I often find that while people have an idea of what they want their life to be, they fail to take the steps to achieve that life due to some basic fears that continue to hold them back.
I have found that there are generally three myths that affect almost everyone from time to time in the quest for their version of "success." These myths are simple but powerful and have held many people back from living the lives they truly want to live.
Are these myths affecting your success? Are you allowing these lies to invade your mind and steal your joy? If so, it is very important that we release them so that we can move toward a life we love living.
The First Myth: The "Downside" Of Success
Have you ever heard of the term, "The hidden downside of success"? What downside would that be? Upon investigating, most people say that it has to do with other's perceptions of their success.
Will my parents approve? Will my friends treat me the same way? Will my family accept my choices for career or partner? The fears that bind us to this "first myth" are extremely powerful because they are tied up in what the people we care about think of us.
However, we get to remember that being successful and living the lives we love living are the best gifts we can give our loved ones. When we are successful and live our dreams, we become much happier people and are able to share that joy with those around us.
The same question asked from a different perspective might be: How does it benefit my relationships with my friends and loved ones if I live with resentment because I'm not able to live the life I want?
How often do we "put up" with our circumstances because we believe that the change is more upsetting to our loved ones than a current situation? How does living an unsatisfied life serve our friends and family?
The Second Myth: I Am Not Ready
This myth goes by the acronym INR for "I'm Not Ready." When we live in a perfectionist paradigm, it is easy to say "I'm Not Ready" and to procrastinate simply because we believe the timing isn't "just right."
It has to be said: The timing will never be perfect, only "right." Until we begin to move toward our dreams, and we witness things falling into place, nothing will change. We could wait forever to have enough money, enough time or enough confidence to pursue our dreams.
The insidious problem with procrastination is that it keeps us stuck in the same place, doing the same things, over and over again. We never move forward or backwards but continue in the same rut.
Eventually, that rut becomes comfortable and we often end up fighting to preserve the status quo. We believe that if we can at least maintain where we are, we can improve from here, even if the rut, also known as a "paradigm", we are in is miserable. Many of us live unhappy lives without realizing that the problem is not our circumstance but rather our own fear of moving forward.
The Third Myth: Too Good To Last
One of the most damaging beliefs we can hold is the TGTL or "Too Good To Last" myth. When we begin to experience success, this secret fear can creep in and destroy our peace of mind. Furthermore, it can even cause us to be afraid to continue to pursue success and the life we love living because we are afraid of losing it all.
What we get to remember when this fear creeps in is that success is always just around the corner. Of course there will be setbacks, but the next success is ours for the taking. Our real goal is to never let these three myths steal our love for success.
Remember, living the life we love living is the reward for conquering our fears and moving away from the shadows of these myths!