How to Stop Your Struggles From Holding You Back

We all experience struggles in some way, shape, or form as we navigate life and work. They can get in the way of progress and hold you back from achieving what matters most to you.

To avoid that, it is important to have a process that helps you to liberate yourself from the things you struggle with. But overcoming them can feel hard, overwhelming, and daunting. It is important that you don’t let that deter you from tackling them. Here’s why: 

The permanent pain of staying stuck is far worse than the temporary pain of creating change.

Say, for example, there is something you want to achieve in your life or work, or something you want to change but you feel gripped by personal struggles like fear, self-doubt, lack of confidence, imposter syndrome, feeling overwhelmed, procrastination, etc. Or maybe it is logistical struggles like finances, lack of support, being over-busy and feeling like you don’t have enough time, etc.

Those struggles can keep you stuck in a status quo you don’t want and risk you not achieving what matters most to you. On the other hand, the challenge of sorting them passes once you come out the other side.

And that is what to stay focused on – the benefits and what you will gain by dealing with your struggles. Often, what you most want to achieve is on the other side of what you are struggling with. When you keep your eye on the prize it makes tackling your struggles head-on much easier.   

If you would like to stop your struggles from holding you back, here are some steps to help you get started:

Step 1 - Accept your struggles

You can’t change what you won’t accept. Nor can you deal with it effectively.  Accept what you are struggling with without judging yourself or beating yourself up about it.  Acceptance opens up the door to find solutions.  

Step 2 – Create awareness

Awareness is the first step in creating change. Get clear on what impact what you are struggling with is having on you, your life and work, and what matters most to you. What are they costing you? How do they make you feel?

Step 3 – Visualise the benefits   

Visualise what your life and work would be like if the things you struggle with were no longer there. What would be possible for you if you were able to stop your struggles from holding you back? What opportunities would it open up?  How would you benefit? How might your results and outcomes be different? Identify what the specific outcome is you would like to achieve by tackling the things you struggle with head-on. Use your vision of your ideal outcome and possibilities to drive you forward into finding solutions and taking action. Use it to fuel your motivation and determination to solve your struggles.

Step 4 – Get into solution mode  

If you are spending more time focusing on the problem than finding a solution you will stay stuck. Shift from being problem focused to being solution focused. Identify what the source is of your struggles and what is driving it. Use that clarity to start identifying potential solutions.    

Step 5 – Get into action

Create a plan to start implementing the solutions you identified in step 4 and to get into action. You don’t have to have the whole plan mapped out or know how you will do it all to just get started. Just work out your next few steps and take them.   

Step 6 - Identify what you need to learn

Our struggles can sometimes be linked to the need to learn something new. Maybe it is a new skill, habit, behaviour, or mindset. Identify what you need to learn to help you overcome the struggles that hold you back. When you open yourself up to learn you open yourself up to possibility, opportunity, and permanent solutions.

Step 7 - Don’t be a lone ranger

It can be much easier to overcome your struggles with support and accountability than it is doing it alone. Identify what support you need to set yourself up to succeed. Surrounding yourself with the right support will make navigating the path of change much easier.

Step 8 – Be persistent  

The path to overcoming the things you struggle with is never linear. It can feel hard and overwhelming. But don’t let those things deter you. Keep focused on all the benefits you will reap by tackling your challenges.  Foster the habit of persistence and you will defeat your struggles.

The bottom line:

We all experience struggles at some point in our life and work. But what matters most is how we choose to respond to them. That is what will be a significant influencing factor in the results you end up achieving.