8 Ways People Will Hold You Back If You Allow Them

Think about the people you regularly encounter throughout your professional life. There’s probably a wide spectrum of individuals with some who have gone out their way to help you, and others who may have helped a bit when it wasn’t too much trouble. Then, there may have also been a few people who seemed to actively be working to hold you back.

It is shocking and hurtful when your boss, teammates or even friends try to hold you back and limit what you can achieve. You will have true friends and fake friends at work and in other parts of life. Not only that, but you’ll also have some frenemies who pretend to be your friend but don’t have the best in mind for you. It’s hurtful and discouraging to run into these types of individuals, but you can also learn a lot from this.

Here are 8 ways people will hold you back if you allow them:

1. They Tell You To Keep Waiting And Waiting For The Right Time

You cannot wait for the perfect time because it will never come. If you think this moment feels like the wrong time, think again. It’s most likely uncertainty messing with your mind. When people want to limit your growth, they’ll constantly tell you to wait for a better time. Over the years, I have learned there is no better time to start than now. If anyone tells you otherwise, you have to disobey their advice and do what is best for yourself.

2. They Make You Doubt Yourself

Don’t allow someone else’s doubts about you to turn into your own beliefs. If you find yourself doubting yourself because of what other people said, remember that their words do not define you. It is your own actions and your own beliefs about yourself that guide the way.  Whatever you believe about yourself is what you will manifest in your own actions.

3. They Will Tell You To Close Your Mind To New Ideas And Perspectives

Even as you grow older and wiser with age, you must remind yourself that an understanding is never absolutely final. What’s currently right could easily be wrong later. Thus, the most destructive illusion is a settled point of view. It is vital to remember that success in life does not depend on always being right. To make real progress, you must let go of the assumption that you already have all the answers and know everything. You can listen to others, learn from them and successfully work with them even though you may not agree with every opinion they have. When people respectfully agree to disagree, everyone benefits from the diversity of perspective.

4. They Are Constantly Criticizing Your Ideas

Some people almost can’t help responding to any new idea with negativity. These people can be referred to as haters and there are many of them. People often times feel threatened when someone constantly has big ideas, just ask some of the most successful innovators in the world. As a visionary yourself, always be open to criticism but don’t let one individuals words be the reason why you stop pursuing a new idea.

5. They Will Minimize Your Contributions

People often times begin to minimize the contributions of others because they want to be in the spotlight. As humans, it is almost natural for us to get feelings of jealousy when someone else receives recognition around us. However, many people will try to minimize your contributions publicly or privately. When you accomplish something great, embrace it and celebrate it without allowing the opinions of others to impact the way you feel.

6. They Try To Reduce Your Importance 

When someone puts you down or tries to take away from your importance, it will hurt you. It’s unfortunate, but a natural feeling. When people do this, it’s crucial that you react in a positive manner. Treat the other person with kindness and respect regardless of their actions. Understand that someone cannot reduce who you are as a person with their words so simply ignore them.

7. They Discount Your Strengths

The best way to combat someone who tries to undermine your strengths is simply to know yourself. When you have a clear sense of your own strengths and weaknesses, you’re well situated to ignore the uninformed opinions of others. Results are more important than action and actions speak louder than words. With this in mind, let your work do the talking.

8. They Will Make You Expect Things To Be Easy

Easy goals don’t exist. A goal is a point of achievement that requires effort and sacrifice. There are no esteemed ventures worth participating in that don’t require some level of effort and struggle. When people want you to fail, they will paint a false picture to give you false expectations. At the end of the day, you need to be realistic and value the opinions of multiple people before jumping into something.

Conclusion

There will be people who will share your joy when you attain success while there will also be people who will try to bring you down at every opportunity. In this post, I shared with you 8 ways people will hold you back if you allow them.