Most of us are working toward some big career and money goals. We want to do more with our professional lives as we build more wealth, and though our actions may look different across the board the end goal is pretty similar: we’re looking to secure more personal freedom.

We want to create systems and lifestyles that allow us to do what we want with our time, rather than being tied in — and tied down — to cubicles and 40 hour work weeks, or debt repayments and material possessions to maintain.

But we have to do more than want it. Achieving career success and building wealth take serious commitment and effort. There’s a lot of hard work to be done before we reach our goals of freedom. Thankfully, it’s not impossible. But you have to take action to make it happen.

So why are so many of us failing to make progress? Why can’t we seem to gain traction and get ourselves any closer to our goals of saving enough to become financially independent in X amount of years? Why haven’t we established our own side hustles or side businesses to explore our talents and skills (and ability to make more money)?

What holds you back? What bad stuff are you letting weigh you down?

Bad Excuses

Many people fail to make any progress towards their most important goals because of their excuses. It’s different for everyone, but we all have them — and have tried to use them to get out of the hard work it takes to achieve success.

Maybe you claim you don’t have the time, resources, skills, or knowledge. You already have too many responsibilities, or too many expenses. You can’t save any more and you can’t earn any more. You’re too tired to do anything with your free time outside of work. You don’t know where to start.

Any of that sound familiar?

We allow these bad excuses to creep up and hinder our progress towards the goals that are most important to us all the time. But why?

Probably because it is easier to give these excuses than to examine things and find solutions to whatever challenges are facing us. Probably because we really do have the time, resources, energy, abilities, and so on… but we don’t have all those things for everything.

In other words, we do have a few hours each and every day that we could dedicate towards a side gig to increase our income. But we’re currently spending those hours mindlessly watching TV, which feels good and is so much easier than developing a creative outlet or running a little hustle on the side.

You do have what you need to accomplish anything. What you may not have is the tools to accomplish everything. Achieving big goals sometimes means making sacrifices you’d rather not deal with.

Are you doing to do what is necessary or continue to be held back by your excuses?

Bad Attitudes

The lies we tell ourselves about what we can’t do also do a good job of holding us back from what we could achieve if we only tried. How many times have you put yourself down, or told yourself you couldn’t do something… so you didn’t even try?

You need to start believing in yourself and what you can try. Sure, you may not figure something out, or do something right, or be the best at something the first time you try it. But one failure is not the end-all, be-all.

Failures and mistakes are opportunities to learn something new and to find exactly what you need to work on to improve. That’s valuable! If you never fail or never struggle to achieve something big, you won’t have any idea how you succeeded or how to replicate your success.

You can always learn something, try something, do something new. That doesn’t mean it will be easy to do any of these things, but with a good, willing, and positive attitude you can work hard to create or build the business and life you’re dreaming of.

Don’t let a bad attitude about yourself, your circumstances, or anything else slow you down and hold you back. Believe in yourself, have confidence in your ability to fall down and get back up, and just get out there and do it.

Bad Fears

Fear is one of the biggest things that holds us back. We refuse to even take a baby step, or stick a toe in the water, because our fears overwhelm us.

But why? We do we let fear hold us back?

If you’re willing to do the hard work and have quit making bad excuses for not making progress on big goals — but still can’t seem to accomplish much because you’re scared, it’s time to close your eyes and just make the leap. Stop letting fear talk you out of it every time.

The next time you feel too afraid to take a chance or take action, try these two things:

1. Make a list of pros and cons. What are some positive outcomes that are possible if you take action towards your goals? What are the negatives? Listing things out this way usually makes it pretty clear that the benefits far outweigh the bad stuff.
2. Be honest and think of the worst-case scenario. What is the worst that could happen if you took action to achieve your goal? Once you’ve identified that, start brainstorming solutions to the problem. When you see that nearly every situation can come with Plans B-Z, taking a chance seems a lot less scary. It’s never the end of the world and you almost always have a way to bounce back if things don’t go according to your (first) plan.

Don’t let bad excuses, bad attitudes, or bad fears stop you from building the career and the wealth you want in order to achieve your personal freedom. Remember, you need to do more than just wish and want for that ultimate goal. You need to take action and work for it, each and every day.

How do you overcome what holds you back?

Track All Your Accounts With Personal Capital

Personal Capital lets you see all of your accounts in one convenient place.  Sign up now for free.

The following two tabs change content below.

• Bio
• Latest Posts

Mr. 4HWD

I'm Mr. 4HWD, I started this site because I think everyone should be able to work at a job they enjoy and still have time to do all the fun stuff. I don't want to retire early, I want to work four hours a day on the things I love for the rest of my life.

Latest posts by Mr. 4HWD (see all)

• How to Host a Frugal Graduation Party - April 28, 2015
• Side Hustling in Direct Sales - April 21, 2015
• 5 Cheap Vacation Ideas - April 14, 2015