We all make mistakes, and it’s okay.

But some mistakes hold us back from achieving our goals and dreams. They stop us from pursuing what we want. They bring us down and block our healthy thinking.

If we want to achieve great things in life, we need to make some adjustments. Creating a meaningful life is easy. But putting in the effort, changing our negative self-beliefs, and finding a new way of doing things is what’s difficult.

However, it’s not impossible.

Here are five major things that stop us from accomplishing the things we long for:

1. Not trusting ourselves. This is one of the major mistakes I have made in life. I’ve never been able to fully and unconditionally trust myself, and so I’ve missed out on many opportunities just because sometimes I think that I can’t do it. Trusting ourselves means we are confident enough for handling whatever comes our way. If we are not confident, we will feel out of control. What happens when we feel out of control? We eventually fail. So please work on loving and trusting yourself.

2. Waiting for the right moment. Can we stop waiting for the right moment? There is no better moment than the one happening right now. When we keep waiting for the perfect moment to start, we might never know what “perfect moment” even means. So we might miss out on many opportunities just because we had thought that the moment was not good enough. That being said, if you don’t feel ready, maybe you will never be. Take the leap anyway.

3. Believing what other people think of us. When we let other people dictate who we are, we lose our pride and self-worth. We also lose the motivation to get to where we need to go in our life. What people say about us is not necessarily true, so their opinions shouldn’t hold us back. Stop caring what others think of you and love yourself as you are.

4. Thinking it’s worthless. There were so many things that I wanted to do but never did because I had thought they weren’t worth it. I undermined my own goals and had actually believed they were silly. When we do this, we lose heart. Please know that your dreams and goals are not meaningless—even if they’re small.

5. Catastrophizing. Assuming the worst and leaving things up to life can never grant us success. We need to work with our emotions and remove any negative expectations that might hinder us. The truth is we can never know how something will turn out, so catastrophizing is useless; you’re literally standing in your own way.

Ask yourself, what behaviors, opinions, or thoughts are holding me back? What’s hindering my success? Whatever your answer may be, it’s perfectly normal. Get out of your own way and acknowledge all your amazing strengths.

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