How many times have you had a goal in life, but were halted in your progress towards attaining it by the little voice in your head telling you that you were not good enough, strong enough, smart enough, or fast enough? Those little gremlins living within you are your own personal demons, guarding the road to success by turning you away. In order to reach your goals and realize your dreams, you need to learn how to kill those demons dead in their tracks.

Those gremlins are the voice of your insecurities, and many of them are very deeply rooted. Some are instilled in you during childhood, when parents teach you the difference between acceptable and unacceptable behavior. Unfortunately as times change, what may have been deemed unacceptable as a child may now be absolutely necessary to succeed. Even so, the voice will remain as a reminder that the behavior is improper.

There are many other sources for such discouraging voices, and another big one is school. We are very impressionable during our earlier school years, and the voices of teachers and school kids go a long ways towards us forming our own image of ourselves. Much of what we believe about ourselves can be traced back to these early, formative years. Beliefs we acquire during that period tend to remain with us throughout our lives.

You may find yourself having to overcome many little voices inside your head in order to succeed – in business, in sports, or in relationships. With a little effort, though, you can muzzle those little demons, rendering them quiet once and for all.

How?
1. Challenge Yourself

One of the best ways to build confidence and quiet your gremlins is to open yourself up to new challenges. Learn to play a sport, or a musical instrument, or learn a foreign language. Do something that pushes you outside of your comfort zone, and give it your full attention. Begin with small challenges that are fairly easily attainable, and gradually work your way up to bigger ones. Before you know it, you will feel ready to tackle the world, and those voices inside your head will tend to agree.

2. Go Back to School

It is never too late to continue your education, and many times adults get far more out of school than we might have as a teenager. When we enter college straight out of high school, many of us have no ideas about where we want to go in life or what we really want to do.

With age and experience, though, we have a chance to get out and really see the world. We learn what the working world is really like, and all of the implications that come with various types of jobs. What we thought we wanted to do in high school may be the farthest thing from our desires later in life.

Take the wisdom of years and go back to school, and take courses that enable you to progress to where you really want to be. If you decide you want to be a doctor, or a lawyer, it is never too late to do so. Many adults go into such professions as a second career. On the other hand, you may be ready to ditch your high-stress corporate job to become a professional cake decorator. More power to you! Go out and learn how to do it.

3. Travel

Get out and see the world. Not just resorts, but push yourself to see the poorer, more remote parts of the world. Nothing puts your life into perspective quite like visiting a foreign country where the monthly income averages around $100, yet the people living there are happy and fulfilled.

Getting out and seeing how other cultures live adds a layer of depth to your character that cannot be achieved any other way. Putting yourself out there into a land with which you are unfamiliar, where people speak a language you may not know, not only allows you to build that character but it adds a layer of self confidence as well. You realize how capable you are when thrust into unfamiliar territory, without any of the usual security blankets to fall back on.

The main thing to remember as you continue your journey towards a title=”personal growth” href=”http://www.thechangeblog.com/” target=”_blank”>personal growth is that you can achieve anything you wish, as long as you are willing to put in the effort to get there. The road may not be easy, and it may be paved with personal demons you need to push past in order to reach your goal, but by doing so the achievement will be all the sweeter. Any path towards achieving personal growth is a long and arduous one if it is to be meaningful and worthwhile. Just keep in mind you have the power within yourself to travel it.

Many thanks to the Spiral Visions Blog for including this post in the Carnival of Healing.