There is this interesting question showing itself up each time you are about to reach higher or strive for success. And it is not a question on whether or not a particular circumstance matches your goal, nor a question on whether or not a certain goal can be achieved.
No. It is rather a question on whether or not you are up to the task; whether you can actually deliver; whether you can rise with the occasion and materialize your goal.
And when you try to analyze deeper, it turns out that this question alone has been the headache for nearly all your concerns and moreover doubts when it comes to moving forward and climbing that one more step.
It is easier than you thought it was
I rarely ever touched the topic of self-doubt, but it turns out it is an inseparable part of who we are. Given the occasion, it can multiply or stay dormant. This is what I realized – the more you decide to up the ante, the louder this voice that is inside your head, and is telling you that you will probably fail, becomes.
But the thing is that you never see it that way. And that’s the flipside, you see.
What you are saying yourself is not necessarily tightly related with self-doubt. No. It doesn’t show any symptoms of having one either. What you do, or at least what your subconscious does, is trying to convince yourself that the goal itself is flawed when it comes to materializing.
It will never be- “I’m not good enough” or “I will never have the determination and discipline needed as to succeed”.
But it adds camouflage and a layer of self-deluding, by making you believe that:
A – The goal is not real as to start with
B – Certain circumstances are out of sync with your goal
The thing is that you unquestionably believe these things and, over time, abandon the process of trying to materialize that certain goal under the excuse that it is not possible to achieve. The truth is – it is easier than you thought it was.
As you progress the doubts fade off
There is this rule of thumb when it comes to progress, and it states that the more you progress, the easier your goals seems to be.
This alone makes the statements such as “it is not possible” to rest on a flawed logic.
The basic premise is, you see, that with each step forward you realize that the fear you had prior to making that step was grounded upon misconception. And as this repeats itself, you come to notice that what you once thought hard was in fact fairly easy.
What you not realize though is that it was always that easy. The thing that made it seem hard at the first place was your self-doubt, which suppressed, turned out into excuses of various kinds.
Why not start with something?
Here is the hard part. Every leap, every new project, new business, new journey… they all seem hard. The truth is they are not. What is hard though is convincing yourself that you are up to the task.
Once you do that, every step of the way seems not only possible, but easier as well.
I’m currently having this dilemma myself, whereas I label my goal as hard to accomplish, but on a somewhat narrower scope I realize that it is me who must rise to the occasion. If I’m certain that I can deliver, no goal seems hard any more.
Ask this question yourself – What are the real requirements I’m about to try fulfilling when facing my goal? Are they real? How hard are they?
Now ask yourself if you can rise up to the task? How much can you honestly push yourself? Try resolving this and you will see how easier your project now seems, how more real your start-up idea gets, how those abs are slowly starting to become easier to imagine…
Let me leave you with a quote from one of the best fitness trainers, available on Beachbody on Demand, whom I personally respect a great deal.
“You can do anything you put your mind to. Trust and believe.” ~ Shaun T
It’s up to you to decide.
Image credit: By Crazy Cox