The main reason most people don’t reach their goals is because they are working against themselves. Yes, a vast majority of the time we are the biggest barriers to our success. In this article, I’ll give you strategies to become aware of what’s going on and how to get past your self-imposed obstacles.

The quickest way to determine what is holding you back is to look at what’s going on internally. At Thrive, we have developed a concept called the Human Internal Operating System (H-IOS) which consists of your thoughts, emotions, beliefs, desires, behaviors, & Inner Truth. Your H-IOS components are dynamically interconnected, are built from a lifetime of experiences and influences (family, friends, education, work, etc.), and drive how you operate in life. Reaching your goals is much more challenging if your H-IOS components are out of alignment. It’s like trying to fill a cup with a big hole in it.

Becoming aware of what you are processing in each component and where they may be out of alignment with your desires will help you identify what you need to upgrade.

For example, if your desire is to receive a promotion but your thought is that you’ll never get promoted and your behaviors demonstrate that you’re unmotivated, how do you expect to get promoted? Internally you are in chaos and this confused energy is what will create your experiences.

In order to help you understand where you are out of alignment and then realign, I’ve included an example of the Thrive H-IOS Tool. You can use this tool to align your components so that they are not working against you. If they are aligned, you are aligned and can better reach your desired outcomes.

Think of something that you’d like to achieve. Then write down what you are experiencing with respect to each component. See example below.

In this example, you can easily see where you are working against yourself. The question then becomes what can you do to upgrade your thoughts, emotions, and beliefs to better align with your desires and Inner Truth. When these are upgraded, behaviors naturally follow suit. When trying to align, it is best to start with one item. For example, you may want to start with, “I’ll never be promoted.” Identify what you would rather be thinking (maybe “There are always opportunities for promotions.”). Then, when your brain goes back to the old pattern, “I’ll never be promoted,” replace it with the new thought. With practice, this new thought will become your new baseline.

Also, when using this tool, be easy on yourself. It’s not always possible to have everything in alignment all the time. But, it is possible to be aware of what is happening within your H-IOS, be able to identify where each component is in relation to where you want it to be, and make the necessary adjustments to get it there.

Once this is done, there are no limits.