Anyway,  in the last post, I introduced the concept of avoidance behaviors. These behaviors are symptoms I experienced of my fear of success. That fear took away self discipline, which stopped me from taking any worthwhile action.

I was living in a pretty steady state of anxiety, and I was barely even aware of it.  I clung to things like minutiae, television, alcohol, and Marlboro Lights, and it was all based on my belief that I didn’t deserve to be successful.  When any sign of success reared it’s ugly head, an emotional response was created and I turned to these avoidance tactics so I wouldn’t have to deal with it.

That belief that was buried deep inside of me, that I was not a successful person and never would be, caused me to shun anything that was outside that belief.  I was possessed by it, and drawn to other people and distractions with the same qualities.  I ran into the same problems over and over, like always being late and never taking action to get out of my situation at the time.  My avoidance behaviors kept me dialed into my drama.

In fact, my aversion to success was so strong that I clung to my avoidance mechanisms because I believed that they defined me as a person.  I couldn’t keep going without them.

Here are some more avoidance techniques that don’t necessarily apply to me, but they might to you:

• Working overtime at your job to avoid spending time on your goals
• Risky, life-endangering behaviors
• Compulsive eating
• Compulsive shopping
• Compulsive sexual behavior

Do any of these apply to you?  How do you deal with them?  Let everyone know in the comments.

-Kevin

1.  Cleaning our desk when we should have been making a phone call

2.  Aimlessly wandering the internet or checking email when we should have been writing a report

3.  Taking extra long breaks

Guess what?  I was guilty of all of them!  If you find yourself doing one or more of the above, don’t worry.  The first step to becoming more productive and exercising self discipline is simply to recognize these behaviors when they happen and get back to the important stuff.

-Kevin