There are many factors that keep us from making the most of our talents. Fear of the unknown, fear of failure, lack of confidence, and anxiety over being judged are common roadblocks.

Facing the unknown is scary, but you shouldn’t allow your fear to limit you. Sometimes, you just have to take a deep breath, and do the thing that scares you. If you fail, you can always try again or make adjustments. To put things in perspective, Thomas Edison never would have invented the electric light if he feared uncertainty or failure. People laughed at some of his ideas, but he didn’t let that stop him from venturing into uncharted waters. And how many times did he “fail” before he made his enormous breakthrough?

As for confidence, we all lack that in the beginning, until we gain enough experience to achieve competence. Keep in mind that learning something new will always be a process. As highly sensitive people, we have a passion for learning, but if we focus too much on the end result, we won’t be able to appreciate the journey. We may also get discouraged and give up before we succeed.

Nobody likes to judged or criticized, but whenever you put yourself out there, you’ll have to face feedback, good or bad, from others. If you’re criticized, you should first look at where the criticism is coming from. What are the motives behind the criticism? Is it possible that the criticism could be true? Are many people are saying the same or similar things? If so, then you should pay more attention to it. Criticism can be hard to hear, but it can also help you improve. The key is to not take it personally, and instead, see what you can learn from it.

Every now and then, it’s important for us to take stock of our goals and to see where we may be falling short. The next step is to figure out what’s holding us back and to come up with strategies for facing these challenges.

What holds you back? What do you do to get past your roadblocks? I’m interested in any thoughts or comments that you have.

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