Break the Success Barriers

Unfortunately not everything about the climb to success is fun. That may not come as a surprise, but what might interest you is just how few individuals can discipline themselves to do what makes them uncomfortable and even a little scared. Taking risks and viewing challenges as opportunities are not common traits in the human consciousness. We like to feel safe, needed or secure, comfortable, and powerful. Strangely enough, the path to success often requires that you give up your feeling of power, comfort, security, and safety.

Success doesn’t come easy. Typically it requires hard work, dedication, and perseverance. John Maxwell has said “there’s lots of room at the top” – mainly because not everyone has the discipline required to get through those things that we don’t necessarily want to do. Those things become our success barriers.

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For many years, I to struggled (and still do) with bringing myself to do what is necessary to become successful; to take the risk of being uncomfortable and doing the ‘un-fun’ parts necessary to achieve my goals. I could chalk it up to being a bit spoiled or maybe it’s because I’m human and I don’t like being outside of my comfort zone. This past week I was given a wonderful tip by the best leadership coach in the world, four years in a row: John Maxwell.

John said (and I paraphrase) “An accountability partner will help you get through the things you don’t want to do. I’ll ask someone to check on me to make sure I’m ok and that I’m on target to do what I said I would do.”

Even the top leadership coach in the world (one of the most successful leaders ever known!) has an accountability partner – someone that will check in with him to see how he is doing. The question I immediately asked myself is: “Why don’t I have one too?” And the next thought was: “Who can I ask to help me?” Simon Sinek has discussed in several of his talks that we, as social creatures, are rarely self-accountable. We are only accountable to other people. Why? Because that is a part of our DNA, our make-up as social animals that create bonds with others to form communities in order to survive and succeed.

For example: it can be easy to talk ourselves out of an early morning solo run before work. Even though we know we ‘should’ run for our health, fitness, and so on: we can make up an endless list of excuses why we don’t need to run that morning and can do it another time. If you have a running buddy or a coach then you become accountable to someone else and the chances of you dragging yourself out of bed to run are significantly higher! Most don’t want to let their running buddy / coach down!

This is why coaches are so popular and so necessary, not only in sports, but in professional development as well. If you want to truly succeed you must be uncomfortable at times and an accountability buddy or coach will help. Success isn’t convenient and is not magically bestowed upon worthy individuals. You don’t wake up one day realizing that you are mysteriously at the top! Only those that can persevere through the necessary, but perhaps mundane, boring, uncomfortable, or unfamiliar will achieve their goals because everything worthwhile in your life is uphill[1].

[1] “Intentional Living” by John Maxwell