The 7 Things You Must Leave Behind to Get Ahead

To move forward, you have to leave some things behind.

Beliefs That No Longer Serve You: If you want to move forward, you have to be willing to shed the old beliefs that you hold but that no longer serve you. It’s difficult to abandon some of your longest-held beliefs. But your beliefs are why you are who you are–and what you are–right now. What part of your life do you wish to be different? Examine your beliefs around this area, and you will find the beliefs you need to abandon and replace with beliefs that serve you.

And remember, to say you believe something without acting in accordance with that belief is the same as not believing it.  Don’t get ahead of yourself by clinging to outdated beliefs; instead, leave things behind that no longer serve your growth.

Your Willingness To Rationalize: It’s easy to find something external on which to place the blame for the areas where your results aren’t what you want them to be. There are countless excuses available to you. You don’t have enough time. You don’t have the right resources. Rationalizing away your failures may make you feel better, but they don’t absolve you of your responsibility.

You are the only one with the power to change your life. This is your story, and you have to write it yourself. Don’t get ahead of yourself by making excuses; instead, focus on what you need to leave behind to move forward.

Your Willingness to Procrastinate: You are not a procrastinator. So many people say this about themselves that you would think “procrastinator” was a race or a religion. Procrastination is easily defeated by strong reasons. If you had a burning reason “why,” nothing could stop you from taking action now.

There is no someday. There is no tomorrow (certainly not one that is guaranteed). You are running out of time. Act now.

Making Small Choices: Most television is a small choice. Spending time arguing about politics is a small choice. Mindlessly browsing the web for some new distraction is a small choice. The work that you do that produces no results yet makes you appear to be busy is a small choice. If you are going to get ahead, you have to make bigger choices.

Is what you are doing right now the biggest choice you can make?

Your Desire for Comfort: If you are reading this, you are probably pretty comfortable. You have heat, light, shelter, food, water, and love. That’s all you really need to survive. Once you reach this point, you’re comfortable. And comfort is a dangerous state. You were born hungry. You are going to have to leave comfort for discomfort. You are going to have to leave satiated for hungry.

It’s okay to be pleased and proud. But you can never be fully satisfied.

Your Fears: This is a big one. The one thing most likely to keep you from success is fear. You might be afraid of what other people will think. You might be afraid of failure. You might be afraid you aren’t ready, and you might be afraid that you aren’t good enough. These are fears, and they aren’t real. Danger is real; fear is a state of mind, and one that will keep you locked solid right where you are.

You must step into your fears. You must step through your fears to become more. Fear is a cruel and ruthless governor. It will limit you as much as it can, unless you burn it down.

People Who Don’t Support You: There are some people that can’t be happy for your success. Some of them love you and fear losing you. Some of them have too small visions and their vision limits yours. Some of them are petty, small-minded folks who only feel good about themselves by trying to make others feel smaller.

I have no idea whether or not you become a composite of your five closest friends or not, but I do know that people who don’t support you do in fact hold you back.

If you want to transform yourself, you are going to need to leave part of your old self behind. That’s the price you pay for transformation, and the price you pay for becoming the person you were born to be.