A few weeks ago, we talked about the importance of identity. In that blog, we discussed the importance of knowing yourself. When you know who you are, you have the freedom and the ability to move forward and accomplish your goals in a way that only you can. Your leadership flows out of the core of who you are; when you can understand that, there is no limit to what you will be able to accomplish. You have the keys to growth and success within you; all you have to do is discover them. But just as the keys to your success lie within you, so do the greatest enemies of your growth. There is a temptation to blame hindrances and struggles in our journey to success on external circumstances. But the reality is this: you are responsible for you! [bctt tweet="You have the keys to growth and success within you; all you have to do is discover them." username="dukematlock"] Sun Tzu said, “Know your enemy and know yourself and you can fight a hundred battles without disaster.” To know your enemy in this context is to understand the things within you that may be holding you back. The enemies of your growth are not the people around you or the circumstances that are out of your control; the enemies of your growth are the things within you that so often go unchecked. I believe that there are five specific things that are enemies of your growth.

  1. Ego.

    Confidence as a leader is vital; no one will believe in your vision if you don’t. But there is a fine line between confidence as a leader and ego. Ego and pride go hand in hand; they both make it impossible for you to receive counsel, lead with humility, and maintain healthy relationships. A big ego will have you believing that you can operate and win all by yourself, which simply isn’t true. When ego goes unchecked, it leads to isolation.
[bctt tweet="Confidence as a leader is vital; no one will believe in your vision if you don’t." username="dukematlock"]
  1. Complacency.

    The greatest leaders I know always have another mountain to climb. Regardless of the success you are experiencing today, you must maintain the ability to cast vision for the future. What is next? How are you going to keep growing and succeeding? Complacency makes these questions unanswerable.
 
  1. Distractions.

    Although you cannot control the things in life that come up and pull your attention, you can control your responses to those things. Your ability to refocus and handle the unexpected will be incredibly important to your success. When you allow distractions to rule your emotions, you lose any ability to maintain control over your decisions.
 
  1. Past Success.

    I’ve heard it said that the greatest enemy to your future success is your past success. The things you have accomplished are important; you should be proud of what you have done. But you cannot allow those accomplishments eliminate your desire for change, development, and innovation. There is more to be done and more to accomplish. Be careful not to let what has happened in the past limit what could happen in the future.
[bctt tweet="Be careful not to let what has happened in the past limit what could happen in the future." username="dukematlock"]
  1. Laziness.

    No one wants to believe that they are guilty of being lazy. But the trap of laziness and stagnation is one that is very easy to fall into. You will never be able to find see growth in your life if you are unwilling to work hard and pursue it. Your growth journey should be active and moving.
  We spend a lot of time on this blog talking about ways to grow. Our goal here is to give you practical tools to invest in yourself and invest in success. So much of your potential success is waiting just on the other side of your decision to claim it. Commit to identifying the enemies of growth in your life and take the steps necessary to combat those things.  ]]>

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