You might be someone who’s struggling in your professional life, but you can’t put your finger on why you’re not being successful. When you look around, it seems like everyone else is achieving milestones and getting what they want - everyone but you.

This can leave you feeling frustrated and maybe even feeling like a failure. It could be that you’re struggling with issues you’ve yet to identify and these are what’s really holding you back.

Or it could be that you know you have struggles, but you don’t know how these are hindering your success. Once you take time to analyze what’s not working well in your business, instead of forging ahead blindly, you’ll be able to succeed faster than if you just decide to fly by the seat of your pants.

Lack of Confidence and a Fear of Failure

Many people hesitate to get started. They don’t set goals, and they don’t break out of their comfort zone. Instead, they remain where they are - the same projects, the same career, and the same day to day tasks.

They make up excuses as to why everything stays the same and success is seemingly beyond their reach. These excuses may range from not having the time to go after goals, to needing more skills or knowledge.

But the reality is that these excuses stem from fear. They’re afraid of trying things that could end in professional success because they’re afraid of trying and failing. The root cause is that they have a lack of confidence.

This lack of confidence and fear of failure are usually linked to a specific cause. One of the main causes is playing the comparison game. They compare themselves to other people and usually to those that are hugely successful.....

What’s Holding You Back From Success at Work?

So, you feel like you’re at a dead-end at your current workplace. What do you do in this case? Is the problem you or is it someone else you work with? There could be a number of reasons why you feel stuck and unsuccessful at work and they may or may not be your fault. As harsh as that may sound, sometimes it’s what we need to hear in order to kick ourselves into gear and be better.

Let’s explore some of the most common reasons why people feel held back at work.

1. An Inability to Speak Up

Having social anxiety or not feeling like you have good ideas is a major issue with many people. It can be tough to speak your mind or share ideas if you don’t feel like your voice will be heard or if you’re scared of disproval. Regardless of how speaking up makes you feel, the only way you can move forward in your career is by speaking up for what you believe in and voicing your needs.

There are a few things many therapists recommend if social anxiety seems to be your issue:

?Practice mindfulness and meditation. Doing this will physically calm your body and quiet your mind. Meditating at work can be as simple as closing your eyes and focusing on your breathing for 5-10 minutes at a time.
?Focus on what you need to do. Instead of getting lost in your feelings, focus more on what needs to be done. If you’re presenting something at work, make eye contact and use a small fidgeter if you need to.
?Be realistic with yourself. Even if you feel like you’re going to completely mess up what you need to do, think about each success you’ve had and let that fuel you.
?Go to therapy. The stigma around therapy is rapidly deteriorating and seeing a therapist is becoming more acceptable in society. Utilizing therapy can give you more tools for dealing with anxiety in your workplace.

2. Hitting a Promotional Wall

You may also feel stuck in your job if you aren’t given any room for growth. Working somewhere without the possibility of raises or promotions can be demoralizing for someone who is looking to grow their career.

3. Blaming Others Instead of Working on Yourself

Lastly, you may need to do some self reflection. If you find yourself blaming others for your inability to grow in your workplace, it’s time to take a deeper look inside yourself and see if it’s really you holding yourself back.

I'm Not Lucky Enough to Get Rich

Have you ever found yourself consumed by envy when it comes to looking at the success of other online entrepreneurs? Even before you begin your own journey, it’s hard to avoid wishing you were in their shoes.

This is a normal, human emotion that you can either allow to sabotage your success or light a fire inside of you to succeed. It’s one thing to admire someone for the effort they have put into building a business and wish you were as far along as they were in your own journey.

It’s another to assume they simply got lucky and hit the lottery in terms of striking it rich with their entrepreneurial career. Focusing on the bad luck you have online, or the good luck someone else has, is a great way to sabotage your own efforts.

Yes, there are times when someone gets a break that you didn’t. There will also be times when you get a break someone else wishes they had. But the fate of your destiny as an online entrepreneur does not rest in luck alone.

In fact, most of it is a direct reflection of your ability to focus on your goals, take action that benefits your business, and strategically grow it from the ground floor up. Not only is it defeating for you to believe luck is in control of your impending success or failure, but it’s also a slap in the face to those you are envying.

To label them as merely lucky individuals negates all of the hard work they have put into building their own business. Imagine if you had spent weeks, months, and years absorbing information, recovering from setbacks, and powering through obstacles to succeed, only to have someone tell you it was all due to sheer luck.

You wouldn’t appreciate someone belittling your journey like that. Instead of whining about someone else’s lucky break, look at what they did to achieve the results you desire and see how that can work in your own business.

For example, maybe they happened to get lucky in your eyes because a successful guru took notice of their product and blasted their list about it. You would love to have that same lucky break.

But if you don’t get it, you need to think of ways that you can get the same results. For example, you’ll start by developing an innovative idea for an info product. Then, work hard to create one of the best products the industry has ever seen.

You might use a variety of media formats, such as text combined with video. Then, find a similar marketer who has a hefty list of subscribers who would be the perfect target audience for your product.

Begin networking with this individual and eventually present your idea to them in a way that appeals to them. Just because you had to work for the results doesn’t mean it’s any less impressive. In fact, people will respect your hustle more if you strategically pursued an arrangement like this than if someone happened to stumble on it and got the break they needed on accident.

Top Four Ways of Making Successful Habits

Your habits, both good and bad, shape your entire being. Your physical health, personality, and emotional intelligence all rely on specific habits in order to function. Because of this, the formation of healthy habits is critical to your overall health. But what can you do to ensure you’re forming healthy habits? This guide will help you.

[H2] 1. Start Your Day Early

We aren’t saying you need to start your day at six a.m. every day. We are, however, saying that starting your day an hour earlier than you usually do can help you feel more motivated. Waking up earlier and tackling the most important tasks before anything else is enough to make you feel motivated for the rest of the day.

With this in mind, it’s important to get at least seven hours of quality sleep each night. Regardless of what habit you’re trying to form, getting enough sleep is crucial for motivation.

2. Read Inspirational Content

Nothing is more motivating than reading about other people’s habit-forming success stories. There is an onslaught of self-help/motivational books and online content to give you the push you need to keep moving forward.

3. Surround Yourself With Positive Influences

Have you ever heard of the terms “elevator or basement people”? In order to be successful, it’s crucial to surround yourself with people who lift you up rather than bring you down. Hence, this is where the analogy comes from.

4. Have Patience

Forming new habits takes time. In fact, it can take anywhere from 18-254 days to successfully develop a habit. While the actual amount of time it takes varies from person to person, it takes 66 days on average for a person to form a healthy habit.

It may feel difficult in the first few days or weeks of forming a new habit, but you’re essentially retraining your brain. Once you stop having to think about a certain behavior, it finally becomes a true habit.

Key Takeaways

Good habits play an important role in living a healthier lifestyle. Whether you’re trying to get more sleep at night, wake up earlier, or exercise regularly, training your body to automatically perform these tasks benefits all aspects of your health.

The most important thing you need to remember when trying to form a healthy habit is to have patience. You aren’t going to rewire your brain overnight. Forming new habits takes a lot of time and work to successfully complete and it isn’t a process you can rush. As challenging as it may be, you can’t go wrong with living a healthier lifestyle.

I'm Not Good at Creating Content

When you stop and think about all of the content that has to be created in order to launch and run an online business, it can be very overwhelming. You may have embraced a limiting belief that your content is not up to par, and will therefore sabotage your chance for success.

The truth is, you are probably your own worst critic. Stop and think about why you don't think your content is good. Did someone tell you that along the way? Do you dislike your style?

Did you maybe receive comments and criticism during your years in school about your writing, so now you believe everything you do is unable to live up to the standard of others?

Sometimes, your message may be good, but your delivery simply needs some work. Instead of just stating that you aren't good at writing or content creation, take time to understand why you feel that way and whether or not anything can be done about it.

For example, regardless of your current age, you can always improve your grammar, punctuation, and spelling. This is a skill that can be polished over time. You can also set aside funds for an editor of your work.

An editor can quickly and easily scan your content to see where it needs improvement. Simple edits like this are generally inexpensive. Usually, editing that requires more in depth analysis and reworking of concepts is where the price adds up.

If it's not as easy as cleaning up grammatical errors, you can still learn how to improve your content by taking courses that teach you how to engage your audience with your message.

There are courses that teach people how to write nonfiction articles and eBooks. There are people who teach you how to make engaging videos and podcasts. You have to learn what makes people enjoy content in your niche and then deliver it to them.

Stop and think about what makes you enjoy the content that you devour. You can emulate someone you admire without being a copycat who steals ideas. For example, maybe you enjoy over the shoulder instruction videos instead of text based eBooks.

If you create content based on the same times of information and styles that you enjoy, your enthusiasm may shine through easier and help you engage your own audience. Don't forget, you can also consider outlining your ideas only and then outsourcing them to a freelancer who can flesh them out in full.

How to Successfully Use Your Free Time

Everyone likes the prospect of being productive, but what’s a person to do when they actually have free time? It isn’t healthy to work yourself into the ground, so it’s not like you can bury yourself in your work. However, there are plenty of effective ways to successfully use your free time.

In this article, we’ll go over three of the best ways to be productive without spending unnecessary time on work.

Find a Creative Outlet

Physical activity is great and all, but exercising the creative part of your brain is equally as beneficial to you. Many people enjoy spending their free time practicing some sort of art form. Whether it’s writing, drawing, painting, or dancing, you don’t need to be perfect. As long as you feel that creative itch being scratched, you’re in the clear.

Here are some helpful ways to encourage and foster creativity in your life:

?Let your mind wander while expressing your art. Don’t spend the entire time acting rigid and negatively judging your work. Let the ideas flow out of you and worry about the rest later.
?Read a book. Regardless of the genre, find a book that interests you and dive in. There’s no such thing as reading too many books and a book can hardly be considered a waste of time.
?Practice yoga or mindfulness. Yoga and mindfulness practices train the mind and body to be calm and truly listen to your thoughts. Pairing yoga and other mindfulness practices can be combined with another creative outlet to really jumpstart your imagination.

Use Free Time For Self-Improvement Opportunities

You can never go wrong with trying to improve yourself in all aspects of life. Using free time to read inspirational books or attend lectures or seminars is a great way to utilize your time. There may even be accountability groups for these classes and other opportunities where you can meet other likeminded individuals.

Get Outside or Exercise Somewhere

There is a slew of benefits that come from getting outside, regardless of if you’re exercising or not. For starters, the sun is a natural Vitamin D source, which is something many humans have a deficiency in. A simple barefoot walk in a meadow or stream has just as many benefits as a run at the park or in the gym. Spending more time outside gives your overall health a well-rounded boost too.

I’m Not Qualified to Be a Leader

One of the worst parts of working as an entrepreneur is the fact that you will be harder on yourself than anyone else could ever possibly be. If you were working in the corporate world and applying for a job, the human resources department would look over your education, assess your experience, and make a decision about your qualifications and where you would be a good fit within the company.

But as your own boss, you will be relentless in beating yourself up about all of your shortcomings - whether real or perceived. One of the worst determinations that will ultimately cross through your mind is that you don't have what it takes to lead your niche.

You might question your lack of education, a deficiency in experience, and your inability to connect with your audience. The self-doubt that is plaguing you is more harmful to you than any flaws or inadequacies you can list.

If you are going to embark on a career as an online entrepreneur, you must possess the confidence it takes to feel qualified to help others. In order to do that, you need to know what it is your followers expect from you.

First and foremost, regardless of what niche you are in, people want to know that you are willing to help them. They come to you with pain points they need help with. If you can present the solutions to them in the form of courses, tips, and advice, they will be grateful to you regardless of what you have on your resume.

Anyone can lead others. But in order to do that well, you have to be willing to listen. Many entrepreneurs don't understand that all important task. They don't take time to research and understand the needs of their audience.

A well-qualified leader will not only conduct the necessary inquiries to find what's lacking in the marketplace, but they will take time to improve on what's already out there. They will also do it in their own style as opposed to copying others.

If you ever have doubts about yourself as a leader, stop and analyze why you feel less capable in comparison to others. It could be a simple issue to fix, such as gaining a better understanding of your niche.

If it's a confidence issue, then you can remedy the situation by participating in self-esteem boosting activities. These might include positive affirmations, journaling, or even helping others for free until you feel qualified to get paid for your leadership.

Leaders must be fearless, or at least willing to put themselves out there, even when they feel unsure of themselves. There are many times in your career that you will be tempted to compare yourself to others. As long as you give yourself credit for all that you have done, and everything you're striving for, you can present yourself as one of the go-to advisors in your niche.

How to Organize and Plan for Your Successes

Most people wake up in the morning and hope for a successful day, however, a day is only as successful as you make it. You can’t wish and hope for a day to work out exactly as you planned, but you can plan it out to give you the best possible shot at being successful. But how can you achieve this? Read on to find out.

Plan Everything Ahead of Time

Before you lay down to go to bed, tell yourself you’re going to wake up and have a good day. This may seem ridiculous, but if you go to sleep convinced that tomorrow will be a good one then you’re more likely to believe it in the morning. It may also be helpful to plan out your next day if it’s supposed to be a busy one. This way, you’ve got a plan in your head and you can tweak it if necessary.

With this being said, plans don’t always go up to snuff and it wouldn’t be feasible to only expect perfection. Go into your day with an open mind and a laid-back spirit or else you’ll stress yourself out.

Tackle the Big Stuff First

Taking care of larger, more urgent tasks will help you feel more satisfied with your day. This is even more true if you manage to complete them before the afternoon. If you finish the hard stuff before your work day is done, you won’t leave the office feeling stressed out and worried about missing deadlines. I’d definitely call that a successful day.

Keep Track of Time

We aren’t saying to stare at the clock every 10 minutes while you’re working, but it’s helpful to check the time after each task is completed. Doing this will help you get a better idea of whether you’re on schedule, ahead, or behind.

Don’t Put Too Much Pressure on Yourself

You aren’t a superhero and you shouldn’t expect to finish everything on your to-do list every day. As long as you prioritise and take care of time-sensitive tasks, you should feel proud about your daily accomplishments. This is where good time management and planning skills comes into play.

Keeping a meticulous schedule and master to-do list on hand can be helpful for those who don’t like to feel out of control. It may be helpful to only pick 1-3 big items to check off of your to-do list and maybe 3-5 menial tasks to complete after that each day.

I Don't Want to Rely on Others for Help

While there are some people who rely heavily on everyone else to guide them to success, there are also those who feel as if they can't accept help from anyone. More prevalent in this industry are the people who feel entitled to personal assistance from every guru who has ever sold a product.

The ones who have the opposite mindset, often insisting they should be able to do everything on their own, are quieter about their beliefs. This is sometimes to their own detriment.

The fact is, Internet marketing or any online entrepreneurial career is one that often requires you to lean on others for support, information, and strategic advice. If you insist on isolating yourself, you will miss out on many opportunities and cause yourself harm in terms of delaying your success.

Networking online is one of the most important aspects of being a niche leader. Not only does it help increase your earnings when you associate with other marketers who have a list of subscribers, but it also helps you progress in a better mental state.

There's a difference between relying on someone else to carry the entire burden of your business and relying on others to nudge you along the way. Even the top owners have had to seek the assistance of someone else to get the answers they need to move forward.

So how can you embrace the idea of relying on others without allowing it to become a crutch that you look at with shame and humiliation? First, it's important that you learn to absorb information on your own.

That doesn't mean just going through a course, but knowing how to shop smart and conduct research on your own to find the answers that you need. Only after you have exhausted your solo efforts should you then seek out help from another marketer who is busy running their own business.

You don't want to be a nuisance to anyone else because you are constantly flooding their inbox with simple questions that can easily be answered by using Google or YouTube.

Don't forget, you can also use things like forums and social media to put questions out there that you need answers to. This allows people to step up and help as they see fit and as they have time, without feeling like you are burdening them in any way.

How to Build Productive Habits

Building productive habits is an important part of career success. When you form a productive habit, you teach your body to be productive on its own. The more often you practice these behaviors, the more second nature they’ll become. There are several ways a person can build productive habits, but in this article, we’re going to cover the top four.

Don’t Overdo Your To-Do List

When making a daily to-do list, it’s easy to want to write down every little thing you need to accomplish for the day. As tempting as this may be, you’ll be more productive if you cut your list in half and only include the most time-sensitive or biggest tasks. Getting more urgent tasks done before smaller and less important ones will leave you feeling much more accomplished than you would the other way around.

Follow The 80/20 Rule

The 80/20 rule is a general rule which claims that only 20% of what you accomplish will dictate 80% of your results. If you omit less important work tasks during the workday and focus only on the bigger things, you’ll be much more productive. For example, if you’re currently working on a work project, make a list of everything you need to complete for it. Then, single out the most important steps and complete those first.

Use The Mornings For Self-Reflection

Many productive and successful people swear by morning self-reflection. Waking up before everyone else in your house and reading or journaling is common in the business world. As ridiculous as it may sound, doing this type of self-reflection in the morning is actually proven to be beneficial.

Self-reflection doesn’t have to be formal meditation or journaling, either. You can purchase a guided journal or draw if you prefer to do that. The main thing to remember here is to do something that brings you joy to get you amped for the day.

Get The “Hard Stuff” Done Before Lunch

If you have a day with some pretty hefty tasks ahead of you, try your best to complete them before lunch. This way, you can enjoy the second half of your day and complete more menial tasks. Plus, if you don’t have smaller tasks to complete and you’ve already finished the more urgent stuff, you can take an early day off.

As soul-crushing as some of the hard stuff may be, it’s more rewarding to get it done and out of the way as soon as you can than it is to leave it waiting for you.