Day 327: On the Biggest Person Standing in Your Way

You might occasionally feel that some people are standing in the way and slowing your progress, but in reality the biggest person standing in your way is you. Others can stop you temporarily — you are the only one who can do it permanently.

—Zig Ziglar 328

When others sabotage your efforts to implement a positive change in your life, it’s tempting to blame them for your lack of results. However, while they can affect your endeavors temporarily, in the end it’s only you who can torpedo your dreams.

For one, ultimately it’s you who makes a judgment of what the action of another person means to you and your goals. You can approach somebody’s effort to sabotage your dreams as an excuse to give up, or you can treat it as an obstacle that is an inherent part of the process. A “friend” who taunts you about your lack of results when dieting might discourage you, or they might boost your resolve to show them what you’re capable of.

Second, when other people try to limit your dreams, question your abilities, or tell you to stop having your head in the clouds, ultimately it’s not their belief that counts; it’s what you yourself think about the feasibility of your goals. Will you be bothered by people who doubt that you’ll ever build a successful business? Of course you will. Will they make you doubt that you’ll succeed? That would happen only if you let them, by valuing their words more than your own belief in your abilities.

Finally, when others are required to make your dreams come true and it seems as if they’re actively against you (say, a gatekeeper who won’t let you get through to the CEO of the company you’d like to sell your services to), yet again they are not the ones who can destroy your goal. It’s still up to you; you can come up with a different way to reach the CEO or develop a completely different approach to sell your service and grow your business.

Others can slow your progress, but it doesn’t mean that you’re powerless. When somebody stands in your way, jump over them, crawl underneath them, go around them, or punch them in the face (just kidding with the last one).