The majority of people, probably including you, set countless goals in their life, but only achieve a small fraction of them. While some people set themselves grossly unrealistic targets, or simply don’t pursue them out of laziness, there are a number of common barriers that hold people back from realizing their dreams. Here are some of the most common barriers that could be holding you back from start-up success.

Considerations and Doubts

As soon as you come up with a goal you want to achieve, there’s going to be countless thoughts that pop into your head and make you hesitate in pursuing that goal. Many of these are completely logical, and should be chewed over thoroughly. However, sometimes you need to take a step back, weigh things up logically, and decide whether or not certain sacrifices are worth the potential for reward. In the case of starting a business, you’re going to think about the fact that you’ll have to work twice as hard, when you’re already straining yourself as it is. You’re going to have a hard time balancing your commitments to your business, and being there for your family. There may be a number of competitors with a firm hold on the market as well. You need to be going out of your way to pick these considerations apart, and ridding your mind of any that are groundless.

External Roadblocks

Though mental obstacles can be a major barrier between where you are now and where you’d like to be, there are also various external challenges that may be holding you back from start-up success. You may have come across countless businesses offering same day small business loans, yet not feel 100% on any of the offers you’ll qualify for. You might have been courting a prospective investor for months, only to find out that they’ve been snapped up by a competitor. Even irritating acts of god like your flight to an important networking event being canceled, or a shipment to your factory being delayed by customs, can punch a massive hole in your prospects for future success. There’s no simple way around it: external roadblocks exist, and they’re going to come up in the course of your business sooner or later. Whether they spring up all at once, or build over time, the best thing to do is to be aware of them, try to predict them, and help yourself as much as possible when they do affect your business.

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Fears

When you start working towards your goal, there are going to be all kinds of fears springing up and holding you back from the next big step in your business plans. Again, some of these are going to be logical, but others will have shaky foundations, and you’ll just have to let go of them. To succeed in business, you’re going to need to take risks, conquer fears, and get out of your comfort zone sooner or later. If you want to learn how to swim, you have to jump in the water at some point!