Turn Barriers into Building Blocks!
Do you find yourself often unable to complete the things you want to do in life or the things that you want to achieve? Do you continually find yourself falling just a bit short of where you need to be or what you need to do? You may have barriers that are preventing you from succeeding for one reason or another. This is a problem that’s faced by many people today, and it’s one that can sometimes be difficult to understand. This is because there isn’t just a single barrier that is causing these problems.
Whether it is in your personal life or your professional life, you mustn’t let these barriers continue to cause you to stall out.
Most Common Types of Barriers
Different people will have different barriers with which they are struggling, and sometimes, they might not even realize that these barriers exist. They might merely be floundering and wondering why they aren’t getting anywhere. Below, are a few of the most common types of barriers and how you can effectively manage them.
Lack of Time
Regardless of how busy your day-to-day schedule is, you always have a choice to make time for the things that matter most to you. Your own personal health and wellness need to be one of your top priorities. You only need a small amount of time each day and you will be surprised at how easy it is to make the time, if you try.
One strategy to overcome this common barrier is to track you daily activities for one week. Write down things like the time you woke up, your total commute time to work/school, total amount of screen time, and the time you went to bed. At the end of the week, choose at least three 30-minute time slots that you can devote to your health and wellness activities. If you are finding it difficult to identify 30-minute time slots, start small by trying to find two 15-minute time slots instead. Over time you can work on building these into longer sessions to create a new daily routine.
Failure
When people fear something, they will likely not attempt to try it because of the chance of not succeeding. And for that reason, fearing failure is a barrier that stops many people from taking a first step in achieving their goals. Truth be told, failure is a precious gift.
One of the best ways to recover from failure is to understand and accept that it’s quite alright to fail. Failure is an inevitable step on your way to success, and a step you need to take more than once. It’s the proof that you’re making progress in doing something to get what you want and not giving up. Experiencing failures are some of life’s best lessons that will allow you to gain experience, knowledge, build resilience, growth, and define your values.
Caring for Family
People often sacrifice time to take care of themselves in order to work hard and provide for their families. There is no doubt that family will always be a top priority, but in order to give them the best that you can, you need to first take care of yourself.
Although you already feel overwhelmed, try to create efficiencies where you can. For example, carve out some time during the weekend to meal prep dinners for the upcoming week. By doing this, you will free up some evening time for yourself each day. On the weekends, you could try to find ways to integrate health & wellness activities into your weekends with your family like walks, swims, games, or making a nutritious meal together.
Low Energy
When someone feels like they are lacking energy, there could be several reasons such as disrupted sleep, poor nutrition, stress and being overweight. However, there are also a number of medical conditions in which low energy is a symptom of a bigger barrier that you should discuss with your primary care physician.
If you feel that quality sleep is an issue, make it a goal to get at least 7 hours of sleep each night and avoid screen time two hours before going to bed. You could try reading, journaling, or meditating to improve the quality sleep too.
The type and quantity of food that you eat play an essential role in determining your energy levels throughout the day. Try to integrate foods such as bananas, fatty fish, brown rice, sweet potatoes, eggs, and apples that contain nutrients that can boost your energy levels and improve your focus and moods.
Procrastination
Procrastination is a barrier that stops us from taking action towards our goals. It is common for people to say things like, “I will wait until Monday to start” or “I am waiting for the weather to be nice.” However, the present moment is where you create your future and the only time you can be productive and work on what you believe in.
The best way to cure procrastination is to simply start doing something immediately, without thinking too much about it and giving your mind time to come up with excuses. You can start by doing a little something today that will help you move forward and get closer to your reaching your goals.
Low Motivation
It is likely that people will fail at achieving a personal goal due to lack of motivation. To be honest, it is not easy to stay motivated. In order to constantly stay motivated, you need to take ownership of your life and consciously make efforts in that direction.
Remaining present in the moment can help to focus on the now and this may help when experiencing a lack of motivation. Breaking your tasks into small manageable pieces can be helpful in staying focused on what you need to accomplish each day.
Getting Distracted
Whether it is social media, email, Netflix, house chores, or family/friends, distractions can become barriers to your goals. Take a moment to think about the distractions that are in your life that aren’t helping you to achieve your goals. While it is undoubtedly important to make sure that you have time for yourself where you can relax and release your stress, it is also important that you do not let distractions become a barrier.
To overcome this barrier, it is important to establish time for yourself that enables you to focus. This means making a commitment to silence your phone and doing your best to eliminate any possible distractions that could deter you away from making progress towards your goal.
Additional Tips for Overcoming Personal Barriers
Being able to understand and identify your personal barriers, how they manifest, and how they have the potential to negatively impact your life is the first step in overcoming them. Below are additional recommendations in overcoming barriers in your life to enable you to achieve your health & wellness goals.
Believe in Yourself
It is essential for you to believe in yourself and that your goal is possible. This happens when you shift your mindset to believe you can accomplish your goal and follow through with your action plan each day until you achieve it. As a result, this will then increase your self-belief and when you do achieve your goal, you will become more confident in your ability to tackle goals in the future. Remember, you have full responsibility for your life and outcomes and only you have the power and ability to make changes.
Face your Fears
By acting in spite of fear you take away its power and increase your own. This is by far the best method in overcoming any fear that has been holding you back, it may feel challenging at first but the confidence and self- belief you will gain from doing so will make it worth the effort.
Don’t focus on the outcome
Although you have set a goal that you desire to achieve, as paradoxical as it sounds, it is still always about your journey; this is where you learn about yourself, your purpose and where all the memories and rewards come. If you remain too fixated on the outcome, you may become frustrated and give up if you don’t see results quickly enough.
Work with a Health & Wellness Coach
Understanding the barriers that you have when you are trying to accomplish a goal in your life can be difficult when it seems as if you are trying to do it all alone. Often, people might not be willing to admit those barriers and problems to themselves. However, by working with a Health & Wellness Coach, it allows for a professional perspective on the situation.
They can point out the barriers that you might not have seen, as well as the barriers that you have ignored, and even those you know to already exist.
This can help to snap people out of their current state and propel them forward. Even better, the professionals will be able to help create a plan of action that can help to overcome the barrier or barriers you are facing. This will make understanding the barriers and overcoming them much easier.