“What are the current factors limiting your growth and success? Is someone standing in your way at work or school? Are you underappreciated and overlooked for opportunities? What are the long odds you’re up against right now? Are you standing in your own way?”
Excerpt from “Can't Hurt Me,” by David Goggins
Most of us can rattle off a list of things holding us back. Sadly, it’s often too easy. What David Goggins forces you to do is add one more line: “And where am I in my own way?” That part is harder.
Am I actually doing the work my goals require, or just circling them in conversation? Am I taking real swings, or staying in the safe lane and calling it “being realistic?”
None of this ignores the real barriers or the people who’ve overlooked you. It just says your greatest leverage point is usually closer to home than you’d like to admit - your habits, your preparation, your focus, your tolerance for discomfort.
Read his book (subtitle “Master your mind and defy the odds), and you’ll find out just how much the human body can take - Goggins doesn’t play around!
So today, try this: make two short lists.
1) What’s legitimately in your way?
2) The ways you’re in your own way.
Then, pull out the old school highlighter, and highlight the second list. That’s where you still have room to move.