What Prevents You from Taking Action?
If you have been reading my articles for the last few months you have read articles and tip lists on the first 4 steps of my Value Program. The program is designed to get you to see your vision, your strengths, behavioral style and talents, your support system and your uniqueness. In other words your VALUE. Now is the time to take action setting some goals to learn more about yourself and move toward your vision. It’s time to execute those goals.
Executing those goals seems as though it would be a piece of cake. You just do it! Well yes but sometimes as much as you would like to do it you get stuck. Has that ever happened to you? It has happened to me and it is very frustrating.
An unemployed client once told me he would like to contact a few of the people in his network that he hadn’t spoken to in a while. We talked about seeing if they could connect him with people at companies that he wanted to work at. A week went by and he told me he just couldn’t pick up the phone.
Why was he stuck? In discussing the dilemma with him he revealed that he thought that in order to be successful in his career he needed to do it alone. To him asking others for help and introductions was “cheating”. Can you see how that belief might get in his way?
Another client, Brenda (not her real name) was unhappy because she had been passed over for several promotions. Even though she knew she needed to learn the reason why she had not got a promotion and others had, she refused to go to her boss.
Finally Brenda decided she would write a letter of resignation even though she had no job to go to. In her letter she thanked the organization for the opportunity to work there and explained that she was appreciative of what she had learned while she was in her job. I suggested she add a line about what she was looking for in her next job. She wrote that she was now ready to take on a leadership role.
Much to her surprise her boss told her no one thought she was interested in a promotion and that was why she had been passed over. The organization offered Brenda a manager’s position and she accepted it.
What kept her stuck was the fear that her boss thought she wasn’t good enough or ready for the promotion. Even though she wanted to know why they had not chosen her each time someone was promoted she was afraid to ask. Fear kept her stuck.
I’ve also had times when I have been stuck. Perfectionism is something that does me in. It seems like it would be a good trait but in the extreme perfectionism holds me back because I want everything perfect. It prevents me from taking action because it is never perfect enough.
Awareness of the cause is the first step in getting unstuck. Once you are aware of the problem you can work out what you want to do about it. Working with a coach is a great way to uncover what is preventing you from taking action so that you can remove the barriers that block your way and move forward toward your goal.
