One

of the most debilitating hindrances to success are those things that we are unaware of. They work in the background curtailing our endeavours to make it in life. These are the blockades that I have been talking about in the recent past. A blockade is like software: although you do not see it, it is pretty much responsible for the outcomes that you see on the surface.

Beware of the Unseen

This could easily explain why many people that are hard working are disillusioned by not seeing the fruits of their labour. The analogy of the iceberg is absolutely instructive. We see just a fraction of the iceberg on the surface. What we do not see is actually the larger percentage of the iceberg. Things unseen have an uncanny way to dictate the things that we see. Things such as our thoughts, attitudes and dispositions cannot be seen unless we are in action…and yet when we start acting, we are pretty much dictated by the unseen. This is why it is important to consider any kind of hint of a blockade in our lives.

The Signs

I have to explain that it is not easy to see or to notice a blockade in your life. However, I believe that if a friend of yours would point out any of the seven signs that we shall discuss today, you need to stop the traffic and consider. Chances are that you might be having a blockade in your ‘system’ in operation. We should also note that the fact that you have a sign or two in your life does not necessarily mean that a blockade is in operation in your life. We need to be careful as we do the consideration. At the end of the day though, I think you have nothing to lose if you misdiagnosed your condition. Let’s look at the signs one at a time.

1. Stickler of Culture

If you always are adamant by saying, “This is how we have always done it”, then chances are that you might be under a spell of a blockade in your life. Peter Drucker said that culture eats strategy for breakfast. That is exactly what I am saying. If you have a blockade in your life, it makes no difference how great your strategy is–you will still resort back to your default settings however detrimental it might be. We ought to learn to be comfortable changing the way we have always done things. In my village church, they still sing the same songs that we sang over thirty years ago. That’s a sign of a blockade. Think of what possibilities await you when you ditch your culture!

2. No Goals in Your Life

If you want to see someone whose life is operating as a car driven with breaks on, that would be a person with no goals. Make no mistake about it, we all have ambition. We all have dreams and wishes. However, goals are all those with due dates on them. A person that does not have written down goals with an accompanying strategic plan to accomplish those goals probably has a massive blockade in their lives in operation. You will never know what you are capable of if you do not have a comprehensive catalogue of your personal and professional goals. Your potential is being curtailed by this blockade.

3. No Purpose

If you have not figured out the reason for your existence, or live your life with some sort of meaning, chances are that there could be a blockade in your life. Think about it: if you were created to serve a specific mission on earth and you do not know what that mission is, neither have you intentionally set out to clarify what it is, don’t you think you are living way below your privileges? Lack of purpose in life is perhaps the greatest sign there is that you have a blockade in operation in your life.

4. Chronic Complaining

I do not know of any human who enjoys the company of a chronic complainer or a critic. In fact, someone said that there are no statues erected for any critic. It is true. I used to be such a person, probably because of the environment in which I was raised. Always finding fault with things and people at every turn is a sign that there is some sort of personal blockade in operation in life. If you were to improve on anything, you first of all have to have an element of appreciation of effort. For the most part, critics and complainers never do anything to alter a situation because they would be robbed of their favourite pastime routine!

5. Apathy

This is the sorriest thing you will see in a human being. If generally, you lack interest, you lack passion and you lack enthusiasm for anything in this life, there is a very serious blockade operating in your life. Generally, the nature of a human is to be engaged, committed and dedicated to a particular cause. Your existence on the earth is not just for survival, neither is it for success alone. Your existence on earth is primarily for the sake of significance. Therefore, if there is any sign of apathy in your life for an extended season of time, that is a high danger. Seek help.

6. Risk Averse

If you are afraid and scared of change or taking into consideration something that you have no control over its outcome, you might be having a blockade in operation in your life. I am aware that we have different personality profiles that have some people more inclined to take risks than others. However, there are those who are simply scared or trying something new. Probably they have been brought up that way or life has given them some knocks that caused them to shrink back. That is how a blockade was installed probably. Watch out if you are risk-averse.

7.  Love Comfort

Of course, we all do love a comfortable life. However, if our love of comfort exceeds the need to reach out and grow, we might be operating under some sort of blockade. Signs of an exceeding love for comfort include laziness and procrastination. It also includes paralysis analysis where we keep talking and researching about what we ought to do but we never pull up our sleeves to get our hands dirty. We are afraid that our comfort will be interfered with or lost altogether.

Take a look at your life. Examine yourself. Find out what is hindering you from succeeding. It could be a blockade that is in operation that you need to get rid of. We shall discuss how that can be done in the succeeding articles.