Find Out the Number One Thing Standing in the Way of Your Success

Backstory

I’ve been going at this blog thing for about 3 years. And after 3 years, I have very little to show for it.

Nothing to show for it really.

I’ve gained a lot of knowledge but what is knowledge if it’s not put to use?

After almost 3 years of trying to figure this out – and it getting in the way of my personal life – I decided to take a hiatus, which is a pause in the process.  I intended to ignore all things blogging related for a month.

What was the purpose of a hiatus?

I set out to clear my mind of all the stress I was putting myself through.  With trying to meet – and failing to meet – unrealistic deadlines; with the pressure of wanting to be successful; and the habit I formed of soaking in information without implementing any of it... It just became too much. 

I needed to regain focus on my relationship with my fiancé and I wanted to be a little bit happier.

What did the hiatus entail?

When I did it, I shut down everything.  I – stupidly – cancelled my squarespace subscription for the site, I cancelled all subscriptions with third party programs – like BoardBooster, and I logged out of all business related social accounts.  Not logging into Pinterest put me through serious withdrawals though.

Pinterest is my drug of choice.

Anyway, If it was blog related, I wouldn’t allow myself to touch it - at all.

While on hiatus, I started thinking about a lot of things.  My my once scattered brained was slowly developing strategies for the long term, which I never really considered before.

I evaluated how I moved and operated and took notice to what the main thing standing in my way of success was.

It was me.

That’s right.  I was my biggest set back.  I was a constant set back.  Unintentionally, but still.

How was I the cause of myself not being successful?

1. I was trying to fit into someone else’s idea of success.

Like I explained on my about me page, I’ve been scouring the Internet for years trying to get the hang of this blogging thing.  A lot of these “how to blog” bloggers tell you to do funnels, build lists, host webinars, make ebooks and yada yada yada to make your six figs because that’s how they made theirs.  I got stuck on this.

Yay they gave away – sold – their strategy and all I had to do was buy into it to get those six figs.  The question that arose was what do I consider to be successful in the first place?

I was looking at other people who “made it” and trying to mirror their success without knowing what success was to me.  I was a deer blinded by the six figure headlights.

Solution: I sat for a while and determined what my idea of success was and it wasn't what was being sold to me.  Or it least it wasn't how it was being sold to me.

While I would love to monetize this blog, it isn't my end all be all.  I am building a career as a fashion designer and illustrator; this is my priority.  My gauge of success is when I can financially support my responsibilities as an illustrator and designer and live comfortably off that income.  Everything else is a bonus.

Once I figured out what my success is, I developed a rough plan on how to get there.  I calculated what I would have to make to manage my responsibilities and developed a few ideas to network and put myself and skills out there a bit more.

2. Got caught up in the hype.

Again, same deer caught in those headlights. 

The same “How to Blog” bloggers spew the get rich quick strategies without being honest about how much work fully goes into this blogging thing.  Either they aren’t honest or they can’t truly relay what the actual struggle is through sales pages. 

They make it seem like you can just pick up an idea, write about it by lunchtime, monetize it tomorrow and collect your money by the weekend.

Solution:  I continuously realize just how much work this thing actually is.  It is not a get rich quick scheme.  To be a successful blogger, you have to play the long-term game.  Sometimes my spoiled and impatient nature gets the better of me, but I'm a work in progress.

3. Self doubt and insecurities got me.

Kind of a personal deal but I’m insecure about a number of things and my side hustle is no exception.  I question everything and doubt moves because I don’t know what the end result will be and it scares me.  I either chicken out of doing something or second-guess myself for so long that it delays or disables any good happenings.

Solution: Like I said, I'm a work in progress.  I've become more cognizant when my self doubt is triggered and do my best to keep the feelings at bay.  Thinking negatively ain't gonna get you anywhere either.

4. Fear of success

Is that ironic?

I fear the unknown – xenophobia – of situations, not of people. 

When I reach my success, I feel I won’t know what to do next. 

How will I continue to move forward?  Will it be easy?  Will it be harder?  Will I be the same person?  Will success change me?  How I do I grow this?  Do I want to grow this?

All these questions come up but I have no answer for them.  It's a little bit intimidating.

Solution: Don't pay attention to something so far off when there's a ton of things you need to do right now to get to that level.  I'll never be able to tell the future but I do have more control over what happens today.

5. Procrastination is a b****

I mean pretty explanatory.  Procrastination has been a talent of mine for years and after years of practice, I must say that I’m quite good at.

I put off doing just about everything.  I tell myself I can do it later, already realizing that when I do that I’m just pushing something else back. Things get pushed back and back until I miss all the deadlines of the week.  Then it’s a #kanyeshrug and I try to get it done right in the next week.  FYI, Doesn’t really happen because I’m thrown off completely with the double workload.

Solution:  Yea... I'm a work in progress...

6. Inconsistency at its finest

This goes hand and hand with procrastination.

I have these bouts where I’m crazy motivated and ready to get the job done but a week or two later, I feel like why bother.  It’s a cycle that I'm working on because it’s a cycle that ruins productivity.

I’ll do everything as planned and I'll post on time for a week but the following week – weeks - I’ll post nothing. 

I’m not getting anywhere like this.

Solution:  As much as I hate to admit it, my inconsistency is partially because of my over extended workload.  I already do a lot and all I want to do is add more.  To solve this, I'm weaning out the unnecessary to make time for the necessary and combat this consistent inconsistent behavior.

7. No purpose, intention or strategy

For a while, I didn't have a set purpose for any of this.  I didn’t know what I wanted the outcome of my site to be so I had no plans and goals set to work towards.  I mean, I only recently learned the value of having purpose.  This was a mini game changer for me.

Solution: Sit down and determine why you're blogging.  Figure out why you're starting this business.  Once you know your why, you'll use that as your guide for everything else.  For how you set up your site, for how you decide to market, for what you choose to provide as a product or service...  Find your purpose and you'll find the foundation of your business.

Any of these sound like you?  Do all of them sound like you?  Be honest.

Well after I realized the 7 ways I was holding myself back and keeping myself from being successful, I had to change a few things around and get my life all the way together.

I only lasted about 3 weeks with the hiatus.  I started to get the entrepreneurial itch and needed to do something with my time.  I honestly got really lazy – but it was nice.

What Can you do to fix you From holding yourself back?

Honestly, I’m still a work in progress.  While I've figured out that I'm the reason I'm not on my direct road to success, I know that I will have to keep working through these issues but I'm okay with that.  Without acknowledging what I've been doing wrong, I wouldn’t have known to switch up the game plan.  Without the hiatus, I wouldn’t have realized that there were any issues to begin with.

Take Away:

Pause.  Take time to evaluate yourself, your productivity and your relationships.  Observe your habitual actions and determine whether they are problematic or not.  Pin point if there’s anything you’re doing that’s causing you to get in your own way.

The first step to fixing a problem is realizing that you have one.

Can you relate to anything above?  Have you already recognized something you’re doing that’s getting in the way of your success?  Leave a comment below and let me know.