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Posts Tagged ‘Behind’

Do you find yourself not fully engaging in life due to a lack of motivation? Do you sometimes feel you're a just spectator and wish you could participate in the world around you more fully?

It is quite common for people to have desires or aspirations that go unfulfilled due to little or no self motivation. As this cycle continues it often erodes your own self confidence leaving you with a low self esteem. This is a dangerous cycle and a bad place to be in. The longer this continues the more it ends up stunting your own personal growth and this downward spiral just seems to continue on.

What we're going to address here today is how to identify the underlying culprits behind this lack of self motivation keeping you from living your life more fully. You can't correct what you can't identify therefore the first step will be recognizing what it is that holds you back.

As we identify 3 common areas that inhibit many people from achieving goals or finding personal happiness you may be surprise how easy it is to overcome these barriers.

Fear of Failure

Make no mistake about it having a desire does not mean you also have the confidence to pursue it. Sadly it is all too common for many to desire something but then convince themselves they can't fulfill it BEFORE they even try to. One big reason this occurs is the natural inclination to have a fear of failure.

All our lives we've been taught and it is continually being reinforced that failing at anything is NOT GOOD. As a result of this learned behavior we naturally avoid any new challenges that may result in an outcome that is less then successful.

This fear of failure is wrong since one of the best ways to learn ANYTHING is thru trial and ERROR, that's right ERROR! Without experiencing mistakes and learning from them we limit not only our personal experiences but also our personal growth.

Fear of Commitment

Another common factor that holds people back from pursuing certain desires or goals is making the commitment to undertake this pursuit. This fear of commitment once broken down is quite easy to understand.

Any new endeavor we might consider pursuing is naturally something we're unfamiliar with since it is 'new' to us. Well if we're 'unfamiliar' with something that means we may not be 'comfortable' with it.

Being uncomfortable with something is usually not a desirable or fun experience therefore it is avoided.

If your anticipation of any endeavor is fun and excitement you're likely to pursue it enthusiastically. If you're unfamiliar and therefore uncomfortable your anticipation may be one of dread. As a result this may hold you back from engaging in it.

Familiarity is only gained thru 'experience' and often times the FIRST STEP towards partaking in that 'experience' is the hardest.

Lack the Proper Skill Sets

Although unfamiliarity is again a factor here, the reasons for it are more tangible then the 'inner fears' we have just discussed. The lack of certain skill sets can be more easily identified and addressed thru training or coaching. As a result these types of limitations can be more easily overcome but still remains a factor that could hold people back.

As we've discovered your lack of motivation often stems from little or no self confidence in your knowledge and/or experience. This can be overcome by learning a little bit more about what it is you want to pursue. Nobody starts out an expert, it is a learned experience! Quite naturally we fear what we don't know but once we gain familiarity with the unknown our fears subside and our confidence and comfort level grows. This allows us to more fully engage in the world around us breaking through the barriers that often hold us back.

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Entrepreneurship is a business trend which for the last 30 years has gone mostly undetected. It is advancing more today than ever before in American history and is not likely to diminish as the country retools for the new economy. It might be helpful to understand something about entrepreneurs if you want to join their ranks.

The <i>New Oxford Dictionary</i> defines <b>entrepreneur</b> as “a person who sets up a business or businesses, taking on greater than normal financial risks in order to do so.” Most business schools are still geared to the BIG corporations, so the typical MBA can’t make a small business work. Fortune Magazine now publishes a small business edition; banks are creating special departments for small business, etc. It might surprise you to learn that women are the fastest-growing segment among entrepreneurs, and Hispanic women are the fastest-growing of all.

When Did This Trend Really Start? One answer might go like this. When the pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, they didn’t come ashore looking for jobs. They were America’s first entrepreneurs. They went into the business of raising crops, building houses, hunting and trading with the friendly Indians. They created a new kind of life, which became a new kind of country that has changed our world.

Our Founding Fathers were entrepreneurs who financed the American Revolution to back up their principles expressed in the Declaration of Independence, and the freedoms of the Constitution and Bill of Rights. They never considered Americans would ever be composed of anything but independent business people.

In the early days, there was no assembly line and no automation. Notwithstanding that our forefathers engaged in slavery and a few bigger businesses took root in major cities, the majority of Americans were in business for themselves and our country was dominated by entrepreneurs who tamed the West.

When Did Things Reverse?

Beginning with the Industrial Revolution around the time of the Civil War, we slowly started moving toward being a country of employees. As this trend continued, people moved into large cities to be near the big factories and the companies that serviced these workers. Our school systems started to focus on training people to be employees and our schools began to resemble factories, starting and ending the children’s “shift” with the ringing bell.

However, this trend unexpectedly reversed during our lifetime – a change that has confused economists for decades. Perhaps the major business trend in the US since 1975 has been the steady move of Americans going into business for themselves. Americans have been going into business for themselves at an unprecedented rate since 1975. There was a time in American life when the major corporations ruled. No more – today they employ less than 20% of the work force. By the early 90’s the majority of US exports were produced by firms with fewer than 16 employees! Interesting that the corporate workforce is the most vulnerable in the new economy.

Generally, people become entrepreneurs to pursue a passion in life and to control their own destiny, but a lot of entrepreneurs have joined the movement simply to be free of the confines of being an employee.

Unfortunately, people start a business of their own, often without a workable business plan. Worse, they fail to clarify their purposes. They don’t set adequate clear policy, which kills them as they try to expand. The errors and mistakes cascade from there.

The end result is that new entrepreneurs start out running their business and end up with their business running them. Their lives go out of balance.

There is a common reason for this. Most people who take the leap and go into business for themselves are skilled at only a few of the things a business owner has to know. There is a lot to know to make a business work; skills in leadership, personnel, sales and marketing, finance, quality control and PR are all required in addition to expertise in the company’s products or services. This could also be the primary reason that a high percentage of new businesses go under each year – not “under-financing” as frequently gets the blame. But it is true, when the economy gets tough, as it has recently, the things one doesn’t know really become a threat and funds to make a go of it can become very scarce without careful management of the business.

There are systems that can be learned to deal successfully with the problem areas, and if you use them, you can make entrepreneurship a very rewarding activity. Perhaps the happiest and most successful businesspeople around are those who manage to master each of the skills needed to run a successful business. Accomplishing that, they are free to concentrate on what they like to do most. Sound enticing? For some, I will wager nothing could be better. It is up to you.

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