The 3 Enemies of Becoming Your Best Self

 

What do distractions, discouragement, and entitlement have in common? They are all enemies of becoming your best self. They will do all that they can to keep you from reaching your goals and reaching your fullest potential. They want you to fall. They want you to be miserable. Do not fall victim to their traps and snares.

DISTRACTIONS

Becoming your best self requires work. It requires sacrifice, goal setting, and prioritizing. Distractions come in all shapes and sizes at any and all times. It can come in the form of a great series on Netflix, or procrastination disguised as a cheat day or a break. It can come in the form of holidays, birthdays, "family emergencies", and pretty much any other excuse we can imagine up for ourselves.

There will never come a time that everything is so perfectly in order that there is nothing there to distract us.[Tweet this]

Balance is important when working towards anything, but don't allow your need for balance to outweigh your need to work, stay focused, make decisions, and set priorities. Be diligent in the small and simple things, that if done daily will naturally get you where you want to go. As Joseph Fielding Smith taught, "Habits are easily formed. It is just as easy to form good habits as it is to form evil ones."

DISCOURAGEMENT

Discouragement says things like "You're not good enough" or "You can't do that." However, feelings of discouragement do not mean or make you incapable or unqualified. It causes us to second guess ourselves and start worrying about problems and situations we will most likely never face. If feelings of discouragement start to sneak up on you have the courage to keep moving forward just one step and one day at a time. As you take a step forward in faith, you'll find your footing on new hope. That hope can be enough motivation to once again take another step forward in faith until the very things that once discouraged you become the very things that motivate you instead.

ENTITLEMENT

Feelings of entitlement cause us to think we can get something without working for it. It inflates our egos and justifies our laziness. We should never feel entitled to anything we haven't sweat and struggled for. We cannot reap before we sow. Any farmer who adopted that belief would starve once winter came along. Maynard Webb said, "With sports, there's no entitlement on the field. It's about numbers. It's about results. It's about outcomes."

Everything worth having and worth keeping requires work and effort. [Tweet this]

When we allow ourselves to feel entitled, we don't only miss out on the end result, we also miss out on the person and experiences that will grow us along the way. A willingness to work and a grateful heart is necessary to combat the enemy of entitlement.

Be armed to combat distractions, discouragement, and entitlement by developing good habits, having the courage to move forward one step at a time, and maintaining an attitude of gratitude as you put forth the effort to become your best self. What is your line of defense against these enemies?