Breaking Through the Glass Ceiling of "Almost" (Part 1 of 2)

Almost famous. Almost successful. Almost an author. Almost married. Many of us, including myself, have found ourselves in a seemingly never-ending cycle of working to attain a goal, seeing progress, and then, right before we reach our goal -- things come to a halt. For one reason or another, through circumstances either within or outside of our control, our mission is aborted. Our dreams are then placed back on the shelf of things to do "someday."

So the question is, why does this keep happening? Why do we keep falling short of achieving our goals? The answers may vary, but listed below are just four of the reasons and what you can do to overcome them.

• Fear/Uncertainty: When making progress towards a goal, you may enter areas or deal with issues that you are unfamiliar with. As a result, you may have many questions about what to do next, as well as some fear of the things that you may not yet know. This fear coupled with the many unanswered questions you have regarding your next steps will leave you in a state of stagnancy.

Solution: First of all, know that fear is not real. It is derived from our own minds of coming up with all of the worst case scenarios, mostly unrealistic, and feeling strongly that those things will happen. Instead of focusing on the negative, focus on the outcomes of success and what you need to do to get to that point. Secondly, don't wait to get answers to your questions. I heard someone say a great quote this weekend: "When you sit on your ask, nothing gets done." This is exactly what happens. Not having the answers of how to move forward will leave you stuck. Don't be afraid to ask questions. Find others who are have experience or who or knowledgeable about your area of focus and seek their input. Find organizations that focus on your area of interest and hear what other people are experiencing. Often times you may realize that you are not the only one with questions.

• Self-sabotage: Have you ever missed a deadline, written a horrible proposal, or failed to follow-up with a client or partner, and had a seemingly convincing reason (that could have been avoided) as to why? Well this, my friend, is self-sabotage. Self-sabotage is also brought about by fear. However, most of the time it is the fear of succeeding. We see we're making strides and we know that if we keep moving forward clientele may begin to pickup exponentially, and a full-fledged business will be born. That will bring on more responsibility, and a deeper commitment. Consequently, we fear that and intentionally do things, be it consciously or subconscously, that are a detriment to our progress.

Solution: Keep moving forward. Stay consistent in your actions, and take pride in the fact that what you doing is getting noticed. Don't worry about business picking up. Begin identifying areas that can be delegated to someone else, and then find the resources to help you. Sites like internships.com will help you to tap into resources for little to no pay. Finally be comfortable with growth. It is part of the process -- if you're doing things right. Grab success by the horns, and enjoy the ride!

Stay tuned for my next post as I tackle the next two reasons: self-doubt and external oppositions, and how to overcome them.