“Most people think resources or the lack thereof hold them back. In fact it is not lack of resources but rather lack of resourcefulness that truly prevents people from achieving their dreams” -Anthony Robbins

Usually when we do not reach our goals there are several key factors that we name to explain our “failures”: lack of money, lack of experience, lack of time, lack of necessary technology, and lack of support. This is true. Many of us may lack all these things, BUT! There is a “but”…

We can acquire anything we want, given a little bit of creativity and determination.

If you think about it, there is plenty of money to go around. Ask Bill Gates if you have doubts about it. He will tell you.
There is also no such thing as lack of time. We have all been given the same number of hours a day. And it is up to us to decide how to use these 24 hours. Take Barak Obama, for example. He is a very busy person. There is no doubt about it. And, yet, he finds the time to exercise regularly. After this it becomes almost embarrassing to use lack of time as an excuse to postpone our health goals. Because let’s face it, neither of us can claim that we are busier or have more important tasks on our to-do list than the president of the United States.

We may believe that we lack resources, but I tend to agree with Antony Robbins -lack of resources is not a defining factor to whether or not we will accomplish anything in life. The defining factor is our resourcefulness. If you are creative, determined and resourceful enough, you will find a way to achieve your goals no matter what.

However, there are several obstacles that can stop us from being resourceful:

1. Fear.

Fear’s main function is to protect us from harm and help to escape dangerous situations. However, this protection mechanism that helped our ancestors to survive in the past has become one of the main blocks to resourcefulness for most of us.

• Every time we have doubts about starting our own business or learning a new skill, because it may prove not to be a worthy investment, we act out of fear.
• Every time we turn down a new opportunity, because there is some risk involved, we act out of fear.
• Every time we do not ask for help, because we are afraid to look “weak”, “foolish” or “inadequate”, we act out of fear.

I wish I could tell you that there is a hidden “fear switch” that you can turn on and off whenever you wish.

Unfortunately, there is only one effective method to overcome our fears – do more of what we fear.

You might have started something in the past and it did not work out the way you initially planned. This happens to the best of us. Every person has their own personal baggage of failures, mistakes and set-backs. But it is not a good enough reason to stop trying!

2. Social conditioning.

It is hard to be resourceful and believe that everything is possible, when we are constantly told what we can or cannot do, when we are politely pointed out our shortcomings and past failures, or when we are taught that success is for the very few, who have been born under a lucky star, or more specifically into a wealthy family. All this negative social conditioning creates our inner blocks that hold us back, even when we could have been moving forward.

Do not accept blindly everything that you are told. There is a huge difference between constructive feedback and negative conditioning. The first one motivates you into improving something about yourself or your life. The second one makes you feel unworthy, helpless and inadequate.

3. Lack of self-confidence.

There are plenty of resources up there. The problem is that many people do not believe that they deserve them. They dream about what they love to do, but when it comes to planning or going after those dreams, they do not even bother. A little voice inside of them says “There is no way YOU can do it”. You might be telling yourself that you do not deserve success, because you lack talent, self-confidence, education or will power.

But the truth is that success is not some kind of reward given for being a “perfect son/daughter”, an “A” student or “employee of the month”. Success is a result of aligning your passion, energy and your goals together. It starts with finding out what you want to do and gathering courage to go after your dreams.

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“Realistic is the most commonly travelled road to mediocrity” – Will Smith

When a little boy says “I want to be an astronaut” – we smile at him and say, “Sure, honey, you can be anything you want to be!” When a twenty five year old man makes the same statement, we say, “Hey, be realistic!” Which basically means, “settle for something that brings you no satisfaction, just because you know you can get it”.

What happened in the 15 years that made a perfectly capable human-being turn into perfectly incapable grown-up, whose only choice in life is to get a degree in a highly- demanding field, find a regular job, work 30 + years and hopefully save enough money for retirement? It is as if in the course of our adulthood years instead of perfecting our skills, tripling our IQ, gaining valuable experience we are somehow getting dumber and less talented.

Common sense would suggest that if we could have accomplished everything we wanted at the age of 5, we are even more capable of doing it at the age of 25 or 50.

And since you and I are sensible people, let’s forget about the most depressing, demotivating, dream-killing cliché’s of our time to “be realistic” and go for something that we actually want and can accomplish!

Here are 9 ways to start achieving unrealistically realistic success:

1. Readjust your goals. When I first voiced my idea about quitting a regular job and starting my own website I got “worried” looks, ironic remarks and I was warned at least 700 times that it is a “crazy idea that is not going to work”. Now when I explain to people what I do I am told how lucky I am.

I honestly do not believe that success starts or is based on luck, intelligence, determination or some extraordinary talents. It starts with a big vision that is worth working for.

Take a look at your goal.

• Is it motivating?
• Is it inspiring?
• Is it the greatest goal ever?

If not, than perhaps you have made it too realistic. Psychological research shows that challenging goals lead to increased motivation and improved performance. It makes sense – the bigger the goal is, the more strongly we want to achieve it.

2. Think differently. If you do whatever everyone else is doing you will get the same results as everyone else is getting. Which is fine if this is what you want, but if you feel that you could do more/ be more/ achieve more, why settling for less?

All of the greatest discoveries, multi-billion dollar companies and break through- accomplishments were done by people, who thought differently from the rest of the world and were not afraid to put their vision into action.

3. Ignore the “realistic dudes”. They say that you should not go to a doctor whose office plants have died. Just as you should not ask a person who has achieved very little, advice on success. Before listening to “kind-hearted” advice to give up on your goals or think smaller, consider this – most people who claim to “be realistic” spend 95% of their time worrying about things that will never happen.

There is a huge difference between having your feet firmly on the ground and making Murphy’s Law “Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong” your life credo. Do not let the “realistic dudes” dampen your self-confidence and prevent you from going after your goals. Listen to yourself! You already know all the right answers!

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