Smashing barriers



This week I have had numerous discussions with colleagues and family around barriers that people put up that stop them from progressing further and reaching goals that they have set. It was obviously on top for me. At the end of my gym training this morning I reflected on the barriers and hurdles that I had faced throughout the week, both personally and professionally and how I had dealt with these. It was timely.

Barriers come in all shapes and sizes and often we don't even see the barrier. What we think of as  unmotivated, uninspired or feeling like we are flounding around in the dark,  is really just a barrier disguised. Barriers disguise themselves in many shapes and forms and it is not until it is pointed out to us that we begin to see them for what they are. It is when the barrier becomes so great that it stops us moving forward and achieving our unleashed potential  that the barriers beat us or wear us down. Often it is the wearing down of the barrier that means we give up - whether it be that goal we are striving for, the lifestyle we want to create or a change in our practice (in my instance a change of teaching pedagogy or leadership pedagogy). The clever thing about barriers is that they change their form constantly and just when we think we have a handle on it - boom. There is another one - different disguise but same underneath. Another hurdle. Another barrier. 

So what? Barriers are supposed to be there. They are supposed to make us challenge ourselves and to stretch our minds. They are there to challenge the way we think, to help change our mindset and to then fulfil our absolute potential. We can often see a barrier as a tool to make us fail - but we need to fail in order to grow our minds and to develop the right mindset. Imagine if we never failed - how would we learn to get back up?  There is lots of information out there on growth mindsets and fixed mindsets that you can go and read : Dr Carol Dweck book "Mindset - changing the way you think to fulfil your potential' is an absolute must read. 

Coaching can support you to find those barriers and can teach you how to take control of them. 
Once you aware of barriers that you regularly put up whether through fear, uncertainty or a fixed mindset they become easier to smash through. Don't get me wrong - remember there is always another one lurking behind the first one - but identification of these are the key. Once the barrier is identified you take control - you decide what you are going to do to smash that wall. The barrier no longer controls you. It makes you feel more in control, makes you feel more confident and reassured and most of all accomplished. 

So where to start?
  • Read Mindset by Carol Dweck!
  • Find a coach if you can 
  • Know your personality (more to come on this one) 
  • Set goals that are achievable, inspiration and short term.
  • Identify the barriers that may get in your way. 
  • Identify where you need support to help you get through that barrier or what you will do when you reach it. 
  • Keep reflecting and asking about what this is teaching you and what you can learn. 
  • Have someone that you are accountable to - someone who will ask that tricky question - what barriers are there for you? How will you address those? 

I hope this helps. I will be posting a lot more around this as we go on the journey. 
Until next time




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