What’s Really Holding You Back?

“To live, to TRULY live, we must be willing to RISK. To be nothing in order to find everything. To leap before we look”

— Mandy Hale, The Single Woman: Life, Love, and a Dash of Sass


“The most successful people will tell you they’ve had more failures than successes, but that’s how they became so successful.(Women For Hire )” What is holding you back from success? This could be the time for you to break through the fear of failure and grasp the opportunities in front of you.

Is a lack of confidence holding you back?

Talking to yourself in a positive manner can have drastic effects on your confidence. “When you’re consumed with negative thoughts about your performance, your positive attitude will diminish and be replaced by self-doubt.(Women For Hire)” We tend toward more positive comments than negative when we refer to ourselves by name rather than “I”. 

Daily affirmations as well as practicing speaking your future into existence can be helpful. Medium has a great article on a firsthand account of the law of attraction and speaking things into existence if you are curious. You can also heck out Psych Central for more tips to improve your self-talk.

Can’t Find Your Passion?

Nashville is a very entrepreneurial city. I sometimes have the feeling when meeting new people that they have it all figured out. But many of them spent a lot of time to find a pursuit that interested them and then a lot of hours to bring it to fruition. “It can take years for people to discover their true passion, and if you have yet to figure out what makes you happy, don’t fret. Chances are you know what you want to do; you’re just not ready to face it.(My Domaine)”

If you were to really think about when you enjoy your time, it may become clear what you should be doing with your career. “There’s some topic or activity or idea that dominates a significant amount of your free time, your conversations, your web browsing, and it dominates them without you consciously pursuing it or looking for it.(Mark Manson)” Narrowing in on whatever that is and finding a way to overlap it with an economic need and what you can get paid for will be the ultimate task.

Cultivating Your Personal Board of Directors

“Remember that as you consider the next steps in your career, it is important to surround yourself with those who can advise and encourage your progress. Do you have a cheerleading section? (Tech Savvy Women)” Finding people to encourage and teach you along the way may be one of the most important steps. The great thing about technology today is the ability to connect with people from across the globe at any time. 

Whether you are looking to grow at your company, change companies, or start your own business, complacency could be your greatest enemy.  In one of our podcast episodes Courtney Jones  said “My worst fear is that when people think it’s okay enough, and they just kind of stay. So, thankfully I kind of had that fire to get out.”  

Taking the leap for your next success can be intimidating. But spending time to find what makes you happy, surrounding yourself with people that support you and finding the confidence to make a move may be the best decision of your life.


Nonprofit Spotlight

Trickle Up is a non-profit that focuses on lifting people out of poverty to advance their economic well-being. “Since 1979, Trickle Up has helped women gain the skills and confidence to achieve greater economic self-sufficiency. When women succeed, so can their children and families.”

 To Donate or learn more about them, you can check out their site here.


Tell us about your personal breakthroughs, or goals to overcome and achieve this year. Share on social media and be sure to tag us #HSS or @HerStoryofSuccess