Life can often be overwhelming, and in those moments where you may be feeling lost, anxious, or simply finding it difficult to communicate or assert yourself, it’s always recommended that you seek some guidance on how to overcome your personal challenges. Some of the most common questions people ask is “how? Where do I look? Who do I speak to?” and find taking the first step the hardest one.
As a life coach, I pride myself on my ability to help people build a happier, more meaningful life. I arm them with an array of life skills and knowledge that is needed in order to eliminate long-held fears and anxieties, to improve communication skills, relationships with friends and family and better work/life balance.
What exactly is life-coaching?
Life-coaching is a wellness profession that helps people progress in their lives to achieve greater accomplishments and attain personal life goals. These goals may include anything from increasing self-confidence, career development, weight loss, better relationships and day-to-day lives. I help people understand where they are, where they want to be and I provide guidance and support needed to help achieve long-lasting changes. This helps to improve overall mental health and life quality.
How life-coaching works:
The profession of life-coaching aids in identifying one’s passion, simplifying goals, pinpointing the challenges holding you back and developing strategies to overcome these obstacles, forming a bridge between your current circumstances and the life you want to live.
5 Key Factors that are Holding you Back from Achieving your Goals
1. Lack of Knowledge
Firstly, one of the major factors is lack of knowledge. Lack of knowledge makes people lethargic about accomplishing anything. They complain about not knowing enough to start their business and not having enough resources to start taking steps towards their success. In the end, they settle for second-rate accomplishments and a lot of unfulfilled ambitions.
2. Fear of Failure
Fear of failure is a devastating emotion that can fuel a lot of other adverse emotions such as fear of being mortified, shamed, ridiculed, or judged. The feeling of constant fear and anxiety hinders anyone from taking their first step towards achieving their dreams.
3. Self-Doubt
I believe that self-doubt is another deterring factor when it comes to unlocking your potential. It is a devastating emotion which stimulates fear. When it starts to creep in, you will begin a long phase of procrastination that will prevent you from achieving your goals. Eventually, you may be stressed about every decision you make and will keep focusing on how things might go wrong.
4. Low Self-Esteem
Another obstacle is low self-esteem. It is often connected to a challenging past. You may have experienced unresolved anguish as a child or suffered an immense failure. As a result, you end up neglecting your worth as a person. Having low self-esteem and feelings of irrelevance are mental hurdles that hinder you from realizing your dreams. To overcome this, you need to have a concrete conviction that you can complete the duties at hand.
5. Procrastination
Procrastination is often fueled by self-doubt and fear. If you overcome the two, you would have no reason to delay your tasks at hand. However, if you repetitively procrastinate, it is because you are terrified to fail. Failure promotes procrastination and reduces your sense of autonomy, making you feel incapable of accomplishing things. Therefore, the key to reaching your success is in how you control your way of thinking.
A Duty to Empower
I support my female clients to believe in their potential, that nothing is impossible, and that anything is achievable. I help to inspire them to accomplish their dreams and celebrate themselves. However, the most important thing that I help them learn to do is love themselves and accept their flaws, which is a significant struggle for many women who were raised in a society that taught them that loving and taking care of themselves is considered selfish.
Overcoming One’s Own Challenges
Learning how to deal with a challenge takes enormous time, energy, practice, and persistency and most importantly, a positive attitude and mindset. All these factors combined helps enable us to overcome challenges.
For me, there are few steps that I implement; first, I always keep in mind that I am not alone in this, whatever I am going through, there are others who have experienced the same situation. It is critically essential to note that every situation in life is temporary and that ‘this too shall pass.’ Accepting the situation will help reduce the stress and anxiety.
I try to recognize my fears in the moment, then set a plan to mitigate them. I never give up because if I do, I will neither learn from it nor overcome the challenge, so I try to imagine it as a big exam and set a plan to work through it. Learning how to overcome challenges will help you stay focused and remain calm under pressure.
Montaha Hijazi
5 Ways I Stay Productive on a Daily Basis:
- I plan my day a night before, hour by hour, starting with the hardest tasks first.
- I meditate for 20 minutes to achieve mental clarity, increase my focus and attention, and ensure I have got the necessary fuel for a productive day.
- I practice gratitude daily by reflecting on three things I am grateful for (family, health, job, etc) and it helps me recall positive feelings of appreciation and switches my positive mindset on.
- I exercise daily for 45 minutes as it is one of the best ways to mentally disconnect from job-related issues and increase endorphin hormones, triggering positive feelings.
- Lastly, I read every day for 20 minutes, as it paves way for more knowledge, empathy, and better mindset.
By Montaha Hijazi (Edited by AboutHer’s Amrita Singh)
