In a line: Success is what we feed our minds.

Why is success a hard-to-get reality for many people out there?

Is it because of a lack of planning?

Lack of problem-solution framework?

Lack of a potential team?

Well, I believe the very basic resistance to success ascends within ourselves. Rather than any external factors, our mental aspects determine the ease of reach to success. Recently I came to listen to a short video by John Rohn, an entrepreneur, and motivational speaker which mentioned the most important 3 enemies of success and this was the same view I had in my mind all this time.

Those 3 enemies live within our minds!

Can you believe that?

Let me share the 3 enemies of success and my perspective on each of them.

1. The Comfort Zone

Some people love to remain in their comfort zone. Their own well-bounded and secure comfort zone out of which they never want to jump out. Even if they know that extending their territories outside this zone can bring them remarkable success and achievements, they will tend to stay behind.

As shared in the recent article ‘Overcoming obstacles and problem-solving, entrepreneurship is a ‘get out of your comfort zone and get messy’ thing. Every day is a new challenge. Every day is a new day. Every day is hard to crack. 

If you are not ready to get wet, don’t get in the pool.

Placing yourself in a space outside your comfort zone can bring a huge range of opportunities and success. An entrepreneur ought to get comfortable with being uncomfortable to resist competition, high demands, and pressure to drive the business. 

2. Learned helplessness

The internal belief that “I can’t do it”.

Even before attempting or placing any kind of effort to push an idea or innovation into reality, people ingrain in their minds that we cannot do it.

This phenomenon of “learned helplessness” can saturate the culture of an organization. Like a contagious illness, entrepreneurs pass on learned helplessness from group to group and level to level. Eventually, the standard riposte to any initiative is some variation of, “We’d love to do that, but we really can’t.”

This mentality or culture among the team can bring your company down in no time. Success is the explicit contrary of this. The unbearable urge to try out new ideas and innovations with a proper plan marks the foundation of entrepreneurship. You should never say ‘ i can’t ‘ because if you do, it becomes the reality.

3. Path of least resistance

A path that offers the least resistance to achieve a result. It does seem quite appealing to the ears, doesn’t it? Why would someone not take the easy path and opt for the difficult one?

Entrepreneurs take pride in the path less travelled. We often question the status quo and pride ourselves on recognizing opportunities where others do not.

Sometimes success or progress is within sweep but possibly we impede because it’s not exactly what we had in mind or it didn’t come exactly how we planned it. 

Everyone chooses the easy path. There is nothing extraordinary in the easy path. If you want to deliver something creative and innovative, go the hard way. Nothing worthwhile comes easy.

The idea of success depends on the shadows of our minds. The willingness to attempt new and the urge to accomplish the rare paths and what that path leads to is what our minds should feed on. You don’t want your greatest enemy to be yourself.

Change the mentality. Change the future!

Quick question: Are there any other enemies to success that you think I missed out on?