What's Holding You Back? by Dave LaRue

But you keep coming up short when it comes to taking action? What’s stopping you? What more do you need to know to begin? Are you willing to make the sacrifices necessary to accomplish your goals?

Or do you just like to dream about it, talk about it, and lie to yourself about its reality, feeling like it’s already real when it’s still just a vision or a hope or a desire?

I want you to know that if this describes you, you’re not alone. So many of us, myself included, play this game with ourselves: we think we want it, we may even tell people we want it, we pay hard-earned money to learn more about it, we invest time and effort pursuing it, yet we continue to fall short of our dreams and desires. How come? Does it just sound good to us? What is stopping us? How can we break through? It truly is the million-dollar question. Let’s get to the answer for you.

It’s powerful to occasionally take inventory of the tools at your disposal, especially with an eye toward empowering yourself to focus on action. Working on yourself is crucial to creating the life you want, but the rhythm of the habit needs to be punctuated with moments like these, where we audit ourselves and ask: what’s holding you back? Do you have what you need? Is there any reason not to take action? Like breathing, or the beating of your heart, working on yourself requires regulation of the intake and the output. So let’s take a moment and get active with our thinking.

How have you invested in yourself? How much have you invested? Get out a pencil or open a note and take a moment to estimate. How much of your time and resources have you invested in:

Taking skills and certification courses?

Attending motivational seminars?

Reading motivational, inspirational, and how-to books?

Attending (and genuinely participating in) coaching programs?



Now you’re working with a sense of the magnitude of the investment you’ve made. So let’s stop and think about the general level and types of return that investment has brought into your life. Just make some estimates. There’s no way you’ll remember or reckon everything—much less put a number to it—but just reaching back to recall all this is part of the process. So dig in and think on these items to answer as best you can in the scope of a few minutes:

How much have you taken in? How much have you been exposed to?

How many insights have you had into your situation?

How many network connections have you made?

How many friends have you made?

How many new options have been revealed?

How many new perspectives have you encountered?



Now, when you think of all these, which examples really stand out? Make some notes as best you can, spending a minute or two on each. Your answers may overlap, and that’s perfectly fine:

Favorite or most valuable facts or resources for information?

Favorite or most valuable insight into a problem or situation?

Favorite or most valuable insight into your business, industry, or role?

Favorite or most valuable insight into wealth?

Favorite or most valuable insight into human nature?

Favorite or most valuable insight into your family?

Favorite or most valuable insight into yourself?

A paradigm shift you experienced?

Most valuable network connections?

Treasured friendships made?



Now sit back and just look out the window or at the wall for a couple minutes and let your mind work. You may already have all the answers you need to live an amazing life, to create wealth, to create unbelievable experiences, and create wonderful relationships. You are willing to put time, effort, and money into yourself. You’ve demonstrated that. To make your dreams happen, to realize your vision, are you now willing to pay the price of judging wisely, making decisions, planning, acting, and changing? These things can’t be paid for like books and courses and coaching can. These are different costs and prices paid for in different currencies. That currency includes the information, insights, connections, and support that you get from books and courses and coaching. And the knowledge of yourself: what you value what you want, who you are, what you need.

Think back to the inventory you’ve taken. You may already have everything you need. So, what’s holding you back?

I’m here to help.

Dave