We all could name a few reasons why we shouldn't start doing something. But when those reasons continue to hold us back we should reconsider the purpose behind them. These hold backs can be known as pitfalls. Forty-five percent of us will be trying to start something new this fall. From new jobs, new schools, new classes, etc.  But out of that starting forty-five percent more than half of us will experience a pitfall or a rut that we can't easily get out of. Below are three common pitfalls that we can overcome.

3 Pitfalls

1. Fear – The fear of failure is a pitfall that can cause us to reconsider our reasons for starting. Fear of failure is mostly a mental turning of negative failing thoughts over and over in our heads. What if we could turn our mental energy of failure to mental energy of success. They both require believing in something that is in the future.

As you start school or a new job, avoid the failure pitfall by gaining all the information needed to succeed. This includes: a) Talking to the teacher or boss to clearly understand the objectives. b) Reflect on maximizing your strengths and position your weaknesses in the best place for assistance. c) Learn from others mistakes. Knowing what others have done can help alleviate fear. d) Keep your goals clear. They should remind you of your purpose to preserver. Mary Anne Radmacher said, "Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day that says, I'll try again tomorrow."

2. Friends – Negative friends can kill great starts. Our associations will bring about assimilations. We look and act like what we hang around the most.

Look for friends that have your best interest in mind. Ones that are willing to tell you what’s right at the cost of hurting your feelings. At school, connect with others that want to excel. At work, push to team up with those that are moving forward and being productive. Try to avoid the group that enjoys wasting time and being lazy.

3. Faith – Lack of faith in success is a great pitfall. This one is a little different from fear. It's not being afraid of something it's not believing that it can be done. Henry Ford said, "If you think you can or can't your right." We must believe in what we are doing or about to do. The passion must burn within to drive us day in and day out for success.

Confirm your goals and the steps required to get to it. Build your faith by keeping the end results in mind. Allow the images of the end to boost and encourage you to pursue the end. "Faith is like Wi-Fi, it's invisible but is able to connect you to what you need." Your faith, when connected to the right source can lead you to the end (success).


Overcome your pitfalls by pushing out fear, having good friends and stirring up your faith. Go live life full of purpose, passion, and power!

There was once a great builder who had a great task to do. He gathered the needed materials, gathered his tools, but forgot his plans to guide him towards his goal.  How many times do we go from day to day on just a whim? Does each day seem like a boring routine of going around in circles? An unclear plan can make life frustrating and chaotic.

A clear plan can be a sure road for success. Myles Monroe said that success is predictable and attainable for everyone if the laws that make success possible are applied. When applying a plan we should know some basic things.

1.    Know purpose – Our reason for doing what we do is critical to achieving long term success. If our reasons are centered around our comforts, the money, the fun, and the like our desires to be around them we might not reach the success we are looking for.

Don’t go through the day, week, or year with no plan in place to get to your goal. When your purpose is clear it gives you a reason to go to that class that you don’t like and still learn something. You can go to the job to fulfill your purpose instead of punching a clock and counting the hours. Your daily purpose, wherever you are, should be a part of your life plan to achieve your life goal.

2.    Know place – Where do we thrive and produce the most? Where do we have the most impact and can have the most affect with our skills or talents?.  

If in the class room look for the area that you enjoy and can learn the most. Try to direct the teacher in helping you reach your life goals by connecting with them and finding where you fit in the class's objectives. On the job find that area that you enjoy and can do well. Talk to the boss about letting you do more in that area where you are most productive. Know your niche, what you do well and strive to succeed at it daily.

3.    Know passion – What drives us daily to want to accomplish? When we are passionate about something we don’t have to think about it, it’s always on our minds. It doesn’t necessary have to pay us money, because we love to do it regardless of the compensation. (If you do it well, it will draw payers eventually.)

If your passion is in full effect you will work on it when everyone else is asleep or taking a break. Direct your inner drive (passion) to push you to accomplish your life plan and your life goal for success.

Muhammad Ali said in so many words that to be a winner you must have more than skill, you must be saturated with something within called "will".

What's in you? 

How do you react when you’re happy? Do you laugh, jump up and down, call all your friends, or smile from ear to ear?

What happens when you are frustrated? Do you close up and not talk, stay away from people, speak with firmness, or react with short snappy responses?

What do you do when you are angry? Do you use words to put others down, hit things to release the tension, avoid life by sleeping, or become engorged in something to divert your attention?

How you handle your "circumstances" reveals what you have absorbed into your mind. Circumstances have a way of pushing out what's within. Despite the common thought, you can control what drips off your lips and spreads from your reactions. Saturate your mind with positiveness. Surround yourself with people that know how to stay calm in the middle of adversity. Mentally upload things that will help fulfill your dreams and goals over the challenges you face. Edgar A. Guest said it this way, “It’s when you are hardest hit that you must not quit”. The only way to keep releasing good when you are hit is to be mentally saturated with a clear focus of "good will" to get back up to preserver to the end.