Barriers to Career Goal Attainment

Posted by
Joni Rose
Jan 17, 2007

Many things can prevent professional goals from being achieved. Sometimes the roadblocks to goal attainment are internal. They persist as negative thoughts that prevent progress. Sometimes the road blocks are external. They are the physical limitations that need to be moved out of the way.

Internal Roadblocks

Fear of the unknown, fear of looking foolish, fear of failure, fear of success, fear of being dumb, are just some of the common fears that create negative messages that play in our heads when we work on our goals. Feeling the knot in your stomach but forging ahead is the best medicine to prove those internal messages wrong. Acknowledge your fear but don’t let it cause so much anxiety that it paralyses you from progress. Understand that fear is a good thing. It helps to prevent uncalculated risk taking.

External Roadblocks

Physical roadblocks tend to be blamed more often for career goal derailment than internal roadblocks. It is far easier to blame something external than to accept that we have the power to choose change. Lifestyle factors can become limitations. Lack of money; the demands of family, kids and work; religious beliefs; cultural definitions of roles and responsibilities all become physical roadblocks to career progress. Step back and look at these roadblocks objectively. Can you use your power of choice to make changes in your life so that these hurdles are cut down if not removed entirely?

Tackling your internal and external roadblocks will take an attitude of persistence and patience. You may need professional counselling in order to determine the root causes of your fears or to devise a strategy to deal with the external roadblocks you are facing. Journaling is another technique that can be very helpful. Sometimes writing down your negative thoughts and external roadblocks allows you to see them with an objective, rational perspective.

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