Don’t Let These Roadblocks Stop You

3 Vision Limiting Barriers to Living Your Dreams

… and how to defeat them

Even as a young child you had a vision of your future. You had dreams of your future life, your job, your family, and more.

When you were 5 years old, what did you want to be when you grew up? Was it a fireman or a fairy princess? Perhaps it was a famous athlete or the neighbor down the street who held a special place in your heart.

It seems as though when we grow to adulthood those dreams are replaced by reality. However, there are two realities. One says you can’t. The other says you can. Henry Ford said,

“Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t — you’re right.”

Barrier #1 Vision Limiting Barrier to Living Your Dream … Mindfulness

Today’s dream of a perfect “me” is probably very different from the perfect “future me” you envisioned when you were 5. At age 5 you probably had not yet been contaminated with a life time of you can’t.

Hence, hearing you can’t over and over again has diminished your confidence. You are hearing voices from your past telling you that you can’t. Even more distressing you are hearing your own voice saying you can’t.

How to Defeat this Barrier

Use it!

Use mindfulness to lock those feelings in a closet, throw them in the trash; or do whatever it takes to purge them from your mind (if only for a few minutes). Then you can feel free to dream. What would your perfect life look like?

Creating Your Unique Vision of Your Life

• What about family and relationships?
• Where would you live?
• What kind of work would you do?
• What would you do for pleasure?
• What would you do to serve humanity?
• How would you feel physically?
• What would you be doing spiritually?
• Would you be financially self-reliant and what does that mean to you?

Mindfully, add other questions to your list to make it uniquely your own. As a result of contemplating these questions you are ready to create your own unique vision of the life you want.

There is a difference between being realistic in a positive sense (without limitations) and being ridiculous. Achieving a life that is in harmonious balance which requires you to stretch for audacious goals is realistic.

However being a 55-year-old man who is 5'6" and wants to be the starting center on a NBA championship team is ridiculous. See the difference?

Barrier #2 Vision Limiting Barrier to Living Your Dream … Feelings

Have tough life lessons resulted in your feeling dreams are for other people … but not for you?

As you created your unique vision for your life did it feel like a pipe dream — simply an exercise in futility?

Do you sometimes feel as you don’t deserve the success in life you crave?

How to Defeat this Barrier

Make it Real & Feel How Life Could Be

As you begin to write about what your perfect life would look like, pay great attention to how it feels.

It is especially relevant to note that how the world defines perfection, or great, or successful and wonderful may have nothing to do with your definition.

If you find yourself writing platitudes based on some hypothetical image of a perfect life that the media has implanted in your brain, you won’t feel an emotional attachment to it.

Root it out. It is fool’s gold.

As you write about the different elements of your perfect life, when you are being real with yourself, they will resonate with you emotionally. You will feel as though this is who you were meant to be.

Those mocking voices saying “you can’t, who are you kidding” will do their best to slip in and disrupt the process. Rather than listen to them, even a little bit, shove them back in the closet or do whatever is required to silence them. (Watch for an upcoming article on how to silence the voices for good)

Barrier #3 Vision Limiting Barrier to Living Your Dream … Clarity

Even as you ponder and write about your vision and your feelings you probably will find that many of the words you use are general and lack specificity … words like good, kind, want, etc. Your words lacking in specificity will vary depending on exactly what you are writing about.

Here is the thing, when we don’t have absolute clarity we use general words because they are safe when our concept is still a bit fuzzy.

Have you created goals like

I will write my book.

I will create a FB group.

I will make prospecting calls.

Do you see the lack of clarity in these goals?

If these were your goals would you feel that they were absolutely clear and you were committed to achieving them?

How to Defeat this Barrier

It is Your Vision — Own It … Feel It … Embrace It

This starts with continuing to drill down for clarity. For example.

I will write my book.

Sounds great. What will it be about?

Sounds great. Do you have a title?

Sounds great. Do you have a format and chapter headings?

Sounds great. Who is your book for?

Sounds great. What do you want them to take away from your book?

Sounds great. When will you have completed the manuscript?

And continue until you have fleshed out every element and the only thing left is to write the book. In many ways, in the process of doing this you will find that your book practically writes itself. What’s more it will actually get written because of the clarity you have achieved.

Barriers Are Only Barriers When We Give Them Power

Ponder every element of your life. Make sure that what you envision is such, that as all the elements flow together into a whole that it feels good. It feels right.

Once you have done that plant it in your brain and in your heart. You can do this. You can have this. You can be this.

Most of all, know that with clarity and commitment you can create momentum that will get you there faster than you would have ever believed was possible.

It will take work. It will take commitment. But oh how it is worth it.

Bonus Tip

When you learn to be accountable to yourself for your choices on a daily basis your world changes and the barriers begin to disappear.

I’m here with you every step of the way providing tools, ideas and motivation to assist you on your journey as you convert vision into reality, step by step and day by day. You can connect with me or access some of these tools here.

Get started now. Be accountable tonight.