To gain certain things, you need to give up some others.
Think about it, if you want to be a successful entrepreneur, you’re likely going to have to give up your after-work drinks with friends. If you want to build a successful business, you need to give up your fear of criticism. There are certain types of traits that, while seemingly harmless, will hinder your efforts for success.
To help you figure it out, here are 5 things you need to give up if you want to be successful.
1. Playing the victim
We’ve all had our fair share of problems to deal with throughout our lives, some more than others. But this is no excuse to pull the victim card out on yourself every time you find yourself in a difficult situation. Your backstory does not define what the rest of your life will be like. And neither do any current circumstance you might be under. What does define your life is how you choose to act now and how you respond to the bad things that come your way. Don’t fall because of your struggles. Choose to succeed in spite of it.
2. Shortcuts
If the path to success seems cruel and painstaking, don’t hope for an easy way out. A successful business will not form overnight, so stop hoping it will. Yes, the road ahead seems daunting, but understand that hard work and determination will take you down it eventually. Focus on how you can get a little bit ahead every day. Before long, you’ll find yourself exactly where you want to be.
3. Excuses
Sometimes, we tend to sabotage our own path to success. We get lazy and procrastinate and forget why we want what we want. And when our failings catch up to us, we make up excuses. We try to convince both ourselves and everyone around us why what we want didn’t happen. But justifying your failures will not make any progress. In fact, it’s not a far cry from giving up altogether. Don’t waste your time and effort making excuse. Accept your past mistakes and push forward.
4. Distractions
Anything that hinders you from success is a distraction. Whether this is something you use to procrastinate or that you feel is leaving you unmotivated to carry out your tasks for the day, it is about time you get rid of it. It could be as simple as giving up a small project to focus your attention on a big one. Or even decluttering your office desk to make you more motivated to work on a clean workspace. Get rid of things that you feel aren’t contributing to your progress.
5. Your fear of change
The ability to embrace change is an important part of life. A lot of your bad habits that you feel are currently holding you back tend to function as seemingly harmless coping mechanisms that are not good for your career and life progression. Don’t build your life around trying to achieve as much comfort as you can. Change isn’t supposed to be easy and neither is success. So don’t let your fear of being uncomfortable hold you back from achieving your goals.
