BARRIER BUSTING 101: INTRODUCTION

I remember when my children were very small.

My son was fearless. His sister, who was 2ish would go into his room in the early morning when mom and dad were still sleeping. She’d play by herself for a while and then, being the social animal she is, she’d wake him. With promises of play as the lure she’d convince him to crawl up and over the bars of his crib. He would crawl over and drop into her arms. Trusting that she’d catch him. And, laughing when she didn’t… and he landed cushioned by the blankies she’d piled on the floor.

No fear. No barriers.

Wouldn’t it be great for us if it were that way now?

Imagine: What could you do? What could you accomplish? What would you be? If there were no barriers? If you had no fear?

Wouldn’t that be amazing!

So, why do you fear? Why are there barriers?

Let’s address the last question first?

There’s an old joke: There are two kinds of people. Those who divide everything into twos. And, those who don’t.

But, in fact, there are two kinds of barriers: Real and Perceived.

Real barriers actually exist. You can touch them, smell them. For example, the actual cost of education or training you need to achieve your dreams is real.

Perceived barriers are barriers you create in your mind. For example, and this is how they are often worded, "I can’t afford school."

Yes, when you set out to live your dreams you will bump into real problems, real barriers.

The real problem (pardon the pun) is that many barriers are percieved (that is, imagined, anticipated) but seem real!

The first step to Busting Barriers is learning what’s real and what’s not!

EXERCISE:

1. Make a list of all the barriers between you and your career dream.

2. Go through the list and mark an R against those that are Real 9Remember: they actually exist. )

3. Mark a P (Perceived) or I (Imagined) against those barriers that exist only in your mind

Next post, I’ll talk about what you do now.