Get Out of Your Own Way!

on May 6, 2009
in All Posts

Mmmm…. oatmeal!

CIMG4810

The breakfast of champions!  I had:

 

  • 1/2 cup of oatmeal
  • 1/2 cup of skim milk
  • 1/2 cup of water
  • 1 sliced banana
  • Toppings: brown sugar, flax seed, raw Brazil Nuts, and blackberries

CIMG4809

What Would You Do If You Could Not Fail?

 

I was laying in bed last night, trying to sleep and thinking about all the things I want to get done in my life.  Not exactly the calmest way to lull myself to sleep! :)  But, I do think it’s always to nice to consider what I would do if I knew I could not fail. 

 

The fear of failure gets in the way of reaching my goals.  Which is SO silly because living my life in reaction to fear is the fastest way to get nothing productive accomplished. 

 

My all time favorite quote (and I say it all the time!) is, "Get out of your own way!"

 

I think it’s important to know what aspects of your personality gets in the way of your own goals.  As I said, my biggest obstacle is FEAR.   I get scared of change, and I focus too much of the HUGE MOUNTAIN I have to climb to change myself.

 

Another quote I love is, "Obstacles are the things we see when we take our eyes off our goals."  To deal with my fear, I try to tackle my goals bit by bit, checking off accomplishments as I go instead of focusing too hard on the BIG goal.

 

What holds you back from your goals? How do you manage it?

{ 37 comments }

 

  • Jen May 6, 2009, 3:52 am

    I guess it’s sort of fear for me too. It’s so hard for me to just believe in myself sometimes, and that leads to fear of failure!

    I like the way you handle it though, little by little. 🙂 I’ll try believing that I can do little things, and all of the little things will eventually accumulate towards a bigger goal!

    That’s a pretty uplifting thought to start the day, I think. 😉

  • Amelia (AC/DC: Highways to Health) May 6, 2009, 4:03 am

    Fear of failure also holds me back. I also allow my self to rationalize that I don’t reeeeally want something – that way it’s ok if I let the chance pass me by. I think it’s a matter of underestimating myself. I am fully capable of doing certain things, but I convince myself that I can’t so then I never have to try and, possibly, fail.

  • Balance, Joy and Delicias! May 6, 2009, 4:48 am

    very inspiring post Caitlin! You’re right, everyone has some obstacle that prevent us to reach our goals. Mine is fear to uncertainty, to change. How do I manage it? Be positive and see it as challenge instead of something bad. 😉

  • Lauren May 6, 2009, 4:51 am

    Great quote – it’s so true that we sometimes stand in the way of our own goals. It’s good to have a mantra to motivate you to face your fears!

  • Tami May 6, 2009, 4:54 am

    i am not sure what pushed me past what i wanted to do but i finally signed up for a marathon, i am obsessing about what marathon training plan to use

    i’ll have to think about this.

  • Matt May 6, 2009, 4:56 am

    Nice post. Sometimes I seriously doubt myself, and that holds me back. From now on, I’m going to make a point to at least try everything I want to accomplish.

  • Jenny May 6, 2009, 4:58 am

    Great post Caitlin! Fear of failure is definitely something I strggle with too, and something that I believe plays into my “all-or-nothing” thinking. Do you ever read Kristin Armstrong’s blog on Runnersworld.com? It’s awesome in general and I loved this quote from her latest post: “I am attracted and repelled by my comfort zones, often in equal measure.”

  • Amanda's Eats May 6, 2009, 4:59 am

    I am always getting in my own way, just like you said the fear of failure is key. I’m so afraid that I won’t be able to do it, that usually I don’t even bother.

    Its something I struggle with on a daily basis, and it actually quite stressful when you think about it. The only thing that has really worked to help me through it is listing off things I have done and remembering the things that I thought at the time were holding me back. This puts it into perspective that I CAN do whatever it is I want 😛

  • itsawrapteacher May 6, 2009, 5:09 am

    What an idea: no fear of failure. I have always wanted to open my own coffee shop but money, the economy, and competetion holds me back. I do no want my business to fail!

  • CeciLiA May 6, 2009, 5:12 am

    Dear Caitlin – Love the review that you gave for the book, Skinny Bitch! I agree with you that their aim for a perfect diet is not healthy – I doubt that they are 100% perfect themselves.

    As for a good vegan nutrition/transition book – I HIGHLY HIGHLY reccommend DIET FOR A NEW AMERICA – it beats S.B. a million times … there’s a lot of research done for that book – it’s amazing, period!!

  • Brandi May 6, 2009, 5:55 am

    Great message – I get held back by fear, but it’s so strange what things I hold back on what things I don’t. So inconsistent sometimes.

    BTW – you won my contest for naming my dinner!

  • HangryPants May 6, 2009, 6:18 am

    Interesting question. I guess it’s similar, but my biggest problem when accomplishing a goal is deciding that I cannot do it – not necessarily fear that I cannot do it, but lack of confidence.

  • Dayna May 6, 2009, 6:23 am

    Thank you for that….you made me think about myself and how I deal with change and obstacles. I am supposed to graduate next month with my associated and then transfer on to work on my bachelors in nutrition science, and three weeks before graduation, I get letter in the mail saying that (even though all of my advisers gave me the “ok”), I am 5 credits short of graduation! Shit! So, I freaked out, got really upset and kinda just felt really discouraged. I had a lot planned for my summer, like building my business, and I kinda thought this was the end of the world yesterday. Well, instead of making it a bigger deal than it is…which I am known to do, I am just going to find the best solution to my problem and attack it like a champ, because what other choice do I have. Summer school here I come.
    Have a beautiful day!
    Dayna

  • Weight and Meditate May 6, 2009, 6:28 am

    I think fear gets in the way for all of us! Probably masked as other things, sometimes.

  • musicmaven10 May 6, 2009, 6:45 am

    Thanks for a sweet post to start off the day!

  • Jess May 6, 2009, 6:52 am

    Hi Caitlin! This is a question for you or anyone. My boyfriend and I just started a blog and bought out own domain. I would LOVE to customize the front to add little tabs at the top like: about me, exercise, pictures, yadda yadda…. Does anyone know how to do that??? I see them on others but I’m so confused!!

    Thanks everyone!

  • Jess May 6, 2009, 6:53 am

    I made the link wrong! Im just getting used to this!! 🙂

  • Caitlin at Healthy Tipping Point May 6, 2009, 6:59 am

    jess – Blogger kind of sucks because it doesnt allow you to create separate “pages” the way Wordpress does. I created the About, etc pages by actually creating multiple blogs. You see the web address for my about page is http://www.healthytippingpoint-about.blogspot.com. I published my “about” section as a post to that blog and then linked the “about blog” on my homepage. i just formatted the about blog to make it appear to be part of my blog. does that make sense? wordpress is much better for these things, you might want to consider using that. you can transfer any posts you’ve alredy done over to wordpress.

  • Michelle May 6, 2009, 7:21 am

    what a great post. I think for me it’s my own history. I’ve lost about 100lbs and I don’t think that I can do certain things, meet certain people, find myself attractive, date, etc. It’s me overcoming what I thought I couldn’t do 100lbs ago.

  • Melissa (fitnessnyc) May 6, 2009, 7:25 am

    that is definitely my problem, professionally! thanks for reminding me!

  • Melissa @ For the Love of Health May 6, 2009, 7:27 am

    Great post!

    I completely understand the fear of failure! I too also struggle with the idea of change. I am going through some major life changes myself (I got into law school for this coming fall and I will be leaving the comfortable well-paying job I have had for over 4 years!) I have so much to do because I have to move, get a car AND get used to studying again! I am definitely scared and see a huge mountain ahead but at the same time I am excited!
    I try to think of all the positives (and there are many) and I keep reminding myself that I am intelligent and hardworking and can do anything!
    “Nothing worth having comes easy”

  • *Andrea* May 6, 2009, 7:32 am

    LOVE this quote! for me, fear of rejection definitely gets in the way

  • janetha May 6, 2009, 7:33 am

    your post reminded me of a quote i love: “you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take”. i love that because you never know if you will succeed if you do not try. thanks for this encouraging post, very refreshing 🙂 oats look good too!

  • Run Sarah May 6, 2009, 7:37 am

    Great post…I fear of failing too and sometimes set my goals lower because of it. It can be tough to believe in myself fully.

  • Peanuts & Crackerjacks May 6, 2009, 7:43 am

    Thanks Caitlin! That was extremely helpful! Yeah I definitely feel our hands are a little tied with blogger! Thats a great suggestion!!

    Keep up the great work! Your blog is definitely one of the best!! A pleasure to read!! 🙂

  • Peanuts & Crackerjacks May 6, 2009, 7:53 am

    One last question: how do you PHYSICALLY set up a new web page like your .about with blogger??

    I promise I’m not an idiot! I’m actually a molecular biologist….me+computers=not friends!!

  • Rose May 6, 2009, 7:56 am

    Money is always holding me back. A little bit of fear too. But the money part is a big one since I need to keep paying rent, buying food, etc. I can’t just drastically change anything, though I wish I could.

  • Christina May 6, 2009, 7:57 am

    Love this post. Fear of failure definitely holds me back too. I’m just not a risk taker! My boyfriend and I just graduated from college and he really wants to start up a business instead of doing the whole corporate thing but I just can’t get on board. It’s too big of a risk! I love the idea of the business (organic food/garden store) but what if it never takes off?

  • Caitlin at Healthy Tipping Point May 6, 2009, 7:57 am

    peanuts – same way you set up your first. go to the blogger dashboard and you’ll see an option to start a new blog.

  • Jennifer May 6, 2009, 8:00 am

    Definitely fear of failure and lack of money since I am still in school. Lately I have been trying to tell my self I can do anything I want, I just have to work for it!

  • elliebelle May 6, 2009, 8:25 am

    My logical-ness keeps me from dreaming. Does that make sense? I always think, “Well, that won’t happen because of such and such…”
    If only I would allow myself to dream and REALLY believe, then maybe I could make my dream a reality!

  • Help Meghan Run May 6, 2009, 8:26 am

    That’s definitely a normal obstacle to achieving goals. I think that sometimes, too, but it’s important to remember that everything worth doing can be difficult. Starting is the hard part, but the risk of staying in the same place can be worse.

    Two of my favorite quotes that relate to this:
    “Any fact facing us is not as important as our attitude toward it, for that determines our success or failure. The way you think about a fact may defeat you before you ever do anything about it. You are overcome by the fact because you think you are.”
    “If you don’t go after what you want, you’ll never have it. If you don’t ask, the answer is always no. If you don’t step forward, you’re always in the same place.”

  • Anonymous May 6, 2009, 8:49 am

    I think Fear holds me back … I fear failure, and not being good enough, even though I have never failed at anything in life before. I always doubt myself. I really need to get out of my own way.

    Jolene

  • Thinspired May 6, 2009, 8:55 am

    It’s so powerful to ask ourselves that, but also a bit scary! I’m really not sure what I would do…I’d have to put some thought into it. I might write a book or audition for a big Hollywood movie 😉

  • runningwithin May 6, 2009, 10:16 am

    I have to conquer the fear of failure all the time. I get afraid that just because I have to wait to do something (like studying to get my personal training certification until I finish this semester) that for some reason it won’t happen or I won’t be able to accomplish it. I try to remind myself that I can do anything by thinking of all that I have accomplished. I am a student, with her own apartment and almost 100% self supportive, I feel at 21 with a rocky family background that’s pretty impressive. My family went through a lot when I was in high school too and I’m proud of how far I’ve come from that (Mom had multiple surgeries, etc.)

    And I ran a marathon! When I look for the positive I realize I can do anything : )

  • teacherwoman May 6, 2009, 4:22 pm

    I would have to agree with you, fear, would be what holds me back from my goals. And it’s not just about fear of the change, but fear of losing stability. Does that make sense?

  • Bridget May 7, 2009, 7:05 am

    A couple of quotes that are pretty good:

    “Forget regret or life is yours to miss.”

    and

    “Nobody can make your dreams come true but you.”

    Those were both on posters in our locker room in high school. It helped get us pumped for volleyball!

    I think my biggest obstacle to my goals is money. I save as much as I can when I can. Fear is also an obstacle. I just try to have confidence in what I do. That’s not always easy….

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