Obstacles are a part of life. They trap you, preventing you from getting what you want. Obstacles force you to make changes to accommodate for them, especially if they are extrinsic and physical. However, not all obstacles are easy to get around, and not all obstacles are easily identified.
Personality can be an obstacle as well, and it can decide whether you move forward or remain behind. Here are five personality traits that hold women back from getting what they deserve.
Procrastination
Sometimes it’s good to ease into doing an important task and diving into it when you’re ready. However, if you procrastinate and don’t do things until they’re almost due, then you’re inhibiting yourself.
According to Susan Krauss Whitbourne, Ph.D, Professor Emerita of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, “Procrastinators are now seen as lacking such qualities as self-regulation, time management, and learning strategies that would allow them to bridge the gap between intention and action.”
Pessimism
Pessimism warps your perception of a task, making you focus more on the bad than the good. Pessimists don’t strive to achieve what they want, because their jaded view of reality holds them back. According to Steven Pinker, Harvard psychology professor, “People hang on to bad news and minimize the good…Partly it’s because there are so many more ways that things can go wrong than they can go right.” Once someone begins to think of the bad more than the good, she won’t expel any effort, and what she truly wants will continue to evade her.
Laziness
Laziness is not the same as procrastination. In fact, procrastinators can complete tasks and do things, just not immediately. Lazy people, on the other hand, prefer to be idle, letting the day pass without much action. Of course, being lazy leads to lost opportunities, lost motivation, and a slower paced life. According to Neel Burton, M.D., “Many lazy people are not intrinsically lazy but are lazy because they have not found what they want to do, or because, for one reason or another, they are not doing it.”
Fear
Here’s another personality trait that isn’t a surprise. Fear is a powerful emotion that drives people to protect themselves by fighting or fleeing from the threat. Fears are not easily dismantled, and many of them are debilitating. According to Clifford N. Lazarus, Ph.D., licensed psychologist and Director of The Lazarus Institute, “Regardless of whether they’re real dangers or imagined threats, for a great number of people fears and anxiety significantly impact their lives and, in some cases, dramatically limit them.”
Distraction
Distractions are prevalent in our technology-rich culture. Social media alerts, texts, emails, and more vie for our attention, distracting us from our tasks. However, when you’re too distracted to focus on what’s important, you’re prevented from getting things done or getting what you want.
According to Adam Gazzaley, MD, PhD., a cognitive neuroscientist and a professor of Neurology, Physiology, and Psychiatry at University of California, San Francisco, “Research is now proving that the brain is not quite coping with the amount of information we receive, and our ability to disconnect from the outside and be present in the moment is actually decreasing.” Our priorities need great care and attention to complete and being distracted means you won’t be able to handle a work-load or reach your full potential.
Sources:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/fulfillment-any-age/201801/new-way-understand-procrastination
https://psychcentral.com/lib/counter-the-psychology-of-pessimism/
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hide-and-seek/201410/the-psychology-laziness
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/think-well/201305/how-keep-your-fears-holding-you-back
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/understand-other-people/201508/distracted-living
