I’m a decent swimmer, but I don’t want my seat cushion used as a flotation device. But, this is a real possibility if my plane drifts off course. Being only a single degree off diverts a plane 1 mile for every 60 miles traveled; meaning New York bound planes from Los Angeles would end up 40 miles away. Only 1 single degree… it seems like an inconsequential amount but the reality can be life changing.
Brace for landing: success detours
In airplanes, missing your destination can result in outcomes ranging from minor inconvenience to catastrophe. The same principle holds in our lives and goals. If you are not committed to staying on course, you can easily find yourself drifting. The longer you travel “off course”, the further you will be from your desired destination (results).
Along your success journey you will need to readjust or reorient yourself, get back on the route. No one can walk the path to success directly without making adjustments. The key to arriving at your destination is to recognize when you are off course and make the adjustment quickly, bringing yourself back in line with your desired outcomes. One way that we can do this is to recognize the obstacles that will challenge us.
[shareable cite=”Henry Ford”]Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal[/shareable]
Here are the 8 ways we get sidetracked along the route to success:
- No end in mind– related to clarity, no end in mind, is not understanding what you really want out of life. Here’s a secret, the result will be missing success. How can you hit a target you do not have? You must have goals to hit and dreams to aspire to.
- Solution– Remember this Lewis Carrol quote- “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.” (meaning nowhere)
- Fear of failure– The possibility of failure exists. If it doesn’t, you haven’t set your goals high enough. Don’t be petrified by the possibility of failure and miss the opportunity for success.
- Solution– Remember this Michael Jordan quote- “I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.” The real failure is in not trying.
- Over extending– accepting too many assignments or attempting to many projects. Your desire to please everybody can set you up for failure. Often we take on more than we can accomplish effectively and accurately. The result is postponement of our personal goals as we try to meet the needs of others.
- Solution– Remember this Paolo Coelho quote – “When You Say Yes To Others, Make Sure You’re Not Saying No To Yourself.” Choose yourself, your goals and dreams first before agreeing to give time to others.
- Imposter syndrome– not believing yourself capable of your goals. Everybody experiences a little self-doubt, feelings you are not “good enough” or “worthy enough” to have success. Even those you look up to as mentors and leaders experience self-doubt.
- Solution– Remember this quote by SNL’s Stuart Smalley – “I’m Good Enough, I’m Smart Enough, and Doggone It, People Like Me!” Recognize that you have talents and abilities that others don’t have. To be truly successful you must learn to overcome self-limitation and rise above doubt.
- Shiny object syndrome (squirrel)– chasing every new technology, strategy or process can distract you from what you need to accomplish. Rather than seeing objectives through to completion, you abandon goals already started and chase after something new that has caught your interest.
- Solution– Remember this Gabby Douglas quote- “It’s very tough for me to focus. I’m like: ‘Look, something shiny! No, focus. Oh, there goes a butterfly!’”. Focusing on your objective without distraction is vital to staying on course. “No, focus!”
- Failure to launch– ready aim aim aim…. Many “would be” successful goal-setters miss their objective because they never get out of the planning and preparing stage. They find paralysis by analysis more comforting that progress.
- Solution– Remember this Francis of Assisi quote- “Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible”. Just start and as you move down the path you will overcome all obstacles.
- Lack of clarity– As Zig Ziglar inquired “are you a meaningful specific or a wandering generality”? If you do not know your destination or the steps necessary to reach it, you will not take the shortest, most direct, route to success. You will wander aimlessly hoping to stumble upon it; always busy but never productive.
- Solution– Remember this Brendon Burchard quote- “People are remarkably bad at remembering long lists of goals….the longer their lists of to-dos and goals, the more overwhelmed and off-track they got. Clarity comes with simplicity”. Having a road map and a simple direction will keep you on course.
- Listening to critics and naysayers– The world is filled with people willing to tear you down and trample your dreams. If you listen to the critics, the nonbelievers, you will be distracted and begin to drift off course. The more you surround yourself with negativity, the more you become a part of that negativity. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy.
- Solution– Remember this Paolo Coelho quote- “[C]ritics don’t hurt me, because it is me. If it was not me, if I was pretending to be someone else, then this could unbalance my world, but I know who I am”. Knowing who you are, that your dream has value, and igniting your passion for it will silence even the most obnoxious critic.
Secret: wanting something is not enough
Guess what? There will always be obstacles. (sorry) The more something is worth to you, the more you may have to fight for it. You cannot allow anything stand in the way of your success. As you get closer to achieving your goals, as your success destination gets closer, the above 8 detours to success will be more present. Commit now to reaching your potential. Avoid success detours.
[shareable cite=”Les Brown”]Wanting something is not enough. You must hunger for it. Your motivation must be absolutely compelling in order to overcome the obstacles that will invariably come your way[/shareable]
