11 demons(obstacles) that prevent success – Facing your demons
On our journey to success and freedom, we normally come across obstacles. These obstacles can be obvious and other times, you wouldn’t even know what’s working against you.
This masterpiece was inspired by the “killshot 2” video by “Dax”, where he killed the 11 demons he believed were standing in his way.
I later realized that we all have these demons working against us in form of obstacles.
In this article, I’ll highlight and explain how these 11 demons stand on our path to success.
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Fear
As defined by the oxford dictionary, fear is an unpleasant emotion caused by the threat of danger, pain, or harm. “Fear kills more dreams than failure ever will” – Suzy Kassem.
Most times, this emotion is developed by an individual till it becomes something too hard to control. When you feed your fears, your fears will feed on you. It’s a feeling that nothing good will come out of any journey you choose to embark on.
Also, fear can cause people to miss out on opportunities that would have helped them reach their full potential.
For this reason, on your journey to success in Life, there will be a moment where the fear of failure will occupy your thoughts. It is your responsibility to overcome this fear by feeding your mind with positive affirmation daily.
The moment you can conquer fear, you are one step closer to being successful.
Other powerful articles about fear include:
Similarities between faith and fear that people don’t know
6 reasons why you should not feed your fear
Fear indeed has an element of importance
10 genuine ways to deal with fear
10 must-know secrets about fear
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Self-doubt
With fear comes self-doubt. Self-doubt can be understood as a feeling of uncertainty regarding one or more aspects of thyself; such as confidence and likability.
We’ve all been there. At certain points, we question a lot of things in our lives. Ranging from whether we are doing well enough to whether we can improve on certain things.
A lack of confidence is a major cause of self-doubt. Along with it, comes the feeling of being incapable of doing things we need to do.
A typical example of a scenario that can lead to self-doubt:
Your boss assigned you to take care of a particular task because he feels you are the most suitable person in the company.
Instead of you drawing positives from such a task, you start to panic.
You start to panic if you can do a good job and how people will laugh at you if you don’t do a great job.
At this point, there might be a high level of pessimism which will lead to self-doubt. Time will be wrongly spent on panicking instead of doing the job correctly.
This will end up being an obstacle to your success.
Remember, “The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt” – Sylvia Plath
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Anxiety
According to the oxford dictionary, anxiety is a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease about something with an uncertain outcome.
Anxiety and depression walk hand in hand. It is a negative emotion and as such, it goes a long way to preventing us from being successful.
Most times it is said to be a mental disorder. With anxiety comes unease. This often leads one to be prone to mistakes even when he/she chooses to embark on a task.
Researchers are not sure about the exact cause of anxiety. But there are combinations of factors that play a big role. Also, it is believed that the area of the brain responsible for controlling fear may be impacted.
Some natural remedies for anxiety include:
- Getting enough sleep.
- Meditating
- Staying active and exercising.
- Eating a healthy diet.
- Staying active and working out.
- Avoid alcohol.
- Avoid caffeine.
- Quitting smoking cigarettes.
Remember, “anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strength” – Charles Spurgeon.
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Loneliness
Loneliness can be defined as the feeling of sadness because one has no friends or company.
On the journey to success, loneliness is always a stumbling block. When you chase your dreams, you tend to lose friends because it’s just a dream that can not materialize to them.
Dax will always say, “you can’t expect nobody to believe in dreams, it wasn’t theirs in the first place”.
The way you handle this feeling of loneliness is what is important. You have to believe that you are all you need, else this feeling will weigh you down.
Trust me, when you continue on that path till you become successful, you will have more than enough friends (most fake though). So, do not let loneliness weigh you down.
Remember, “The time you feel lonely is the time you most need to be by yourself. Life’s cruelest irony”
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Fame
As defined by the oxford dictionary, fame is the state of being known or talked about by many people, especially on account of notable achievements.
When you speak of all-around success, fame becomes a big stumbling block. It goes a long way to affect success in form of happiness, personal growth, etc.
This was well analyzed in Dax’s song “Gotham” where he said “Nobody’s from here, but everybody comes here. Wanting to be famous till they realize the price of fame brings close everything that they once feared …”
This makes it clear enough that in as much success leads to fame, fame can also be a drawback. It can result in you feeling the need for more personal space, it can also add emotional stress and unrealistic expectations.
The tricky part is how you handle it. Handling it properly is as important as being famous.
You should stick to what makes you “you”, instead of trying to fake your personality because of the algorithm of expectations.
So, on your way to success, you’ll acquire some level of fame. Handling it properly is all that matters.
Remember, “the highest form of vanity is the love of fame”.
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Failure
As defined by the oxford dictionary, failure is the lack of success.
This obstacle to success is more of the fear of it i.e “fear of failure”. The fear of failure can either be positive or negative depends on how you react to it.
In my early days, I was so scared of failing a certain exam because if I did, I will have to rewrite the exam. But this time around, I will be doing so with my younger sister.
So the fear of failing that exam was a motivation that made me almost close to perfect before sitting for the exam. I ended up passing in flying color.
However, when you react to the fear of failure poorly, you will feel not attempting is better than failing. All in the name of “people will talk”.
Trust me, people will always talk no matter your position in life. “If nobody talks about you, then you are nobody” – 2Baba
So, on your journey to success, you will most likely experience failure along the way. It is up to you to shake it aside and focus on your dreams/goals.
Remember, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts” – Winston S. Churchill.
See also: Is failure a step to success?
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Jealousy
As defined by the oxford dictionary, jealousy is the feeling of being jealous (feeling or showing an envious resentment of someone or their achievements, possession, or perceived advantages).
Jealousy is kinda a normal emotion that everyone experiences. However, one has to be very careful so it doesn’t grow into resentment.
If it does, you’ll end up shifting your focus from your goal to how someone else is doing better than you.
It’s something you should deal with immediately by telling yourself that someone else’s success does not in any way affect your goals.
If you can recall, in the series “the vampire diaries”, It was Stefan’s resentment of Klaus Mikelson that made him lose focus, and eventually, he lost Elena(the girl he loves) to Damon.
Remember, “Resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die” – Carrie Fisher.
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Money
Money is … get off it #winks, you know what money is. For this category, the love of money is the bone of contention.
Just like the fear of failure, one can choose to draw either positives or negatives from it. No one will want to chase a dream and remain broke in the process.
As for me, the love of money has pushed me to monetize everything I love, and I have not for once let the success of others get into my head.
When the money isn’t coming as expected, it’s easy for one to go astray and go about it the wrong way.
I’ll advise you to take motivation to make money the right way, else you might end up neglecting your goals and you will never get successful (all round) that way.
Remember, “happiness is not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort” – Franklin D. Roosevelt.
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Rejection
Rejection is defined by the oxford dictionary as the dismissing or refusal of a proposal, idea, etc.
This is something that will most likely come your way on your path to success. You will discuss your dreams with others, even ask for assistance but rejection will be inevitable.
It’s left for you to stand tall and know it was always your dream, not theirs. It will be unwise for you to leave the responsibilities of actualizing that dream in the hands of others.
So, stand up soldier, embrace those rejections and chase your dreams.
Remember, “life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it” – Charles R. Swindoll.
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Revenge
Revenge is defined by the oxford dictionary as “the action of hurting or harming someone in return for an injury or wrong suffered in their hands.
The thought of revenge alone is enough to move you off track. You tend to channel your energy in the wrong things. Hence, misplacing priority.
Let go of incidents that happened in the past, even those that made you cry. When you focus on them, you tend to be less productive on important things.
Remember, “an eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind” – Mahatma Gandhi.
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Haters
As the name goes, haters are people who hate you, hate the things you do, hate what you are becoming, etc.
These people will always be there whether you are chasing your goals or not. But trust me, the numbers increase exponentially as you get closer and closer to success.
These haters tend to bring you down by their words, belittling you and spreading false news about you.
It’s something that might not be easy to tolerate, but you have to summon the courage to overlook them.
Remember, “some people have so little going on in their lives, they would rather discuss yours” – Unknown
CONCLUSION
A full clip of Dax’s killshot 2 video
In Dax’s words, These are the 11 demons that haunted his life for 6 months before he finally killed them. Then he entered the chapter of love and light.
These demons are present in our lives one way or another, and it will be wise for us to get rid of them too.
Lastly, “you can’t expect nobody to believe in your dreams, it wasn’t theirs in the first place” – Dax.
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