What Keeps YOU From Taking Action?

By Audrey Seymour

If you have been moved by a strong inner calling, you may already have an inspiring vision about making a difference in the world through your business. You may know which specific audience you are meant to serve and how you'd like to package your offering.

Yet, no matter how compelling your vision may be, it cannot come to fruition without addressing your own inner obstacles to success.

Do any of these sound familiar to you?

• "My life has just been so hectic lately. I meant to (make those calls/draft that proposal/choose a web designer) but I just didn't get around to it."

• "I planned to (start writing my book) Monday morning, but when the time came I felt that I really had to clean my desk first, and then I ran out of time."

• "I wanted to (draft the outline of my talk), but every time I thought about it I felt lonely and checked Facebook instead."

• "It really is a priority of mine to (meet with my underperforming employee to give feedback.) But in the moment other things just seem to be more important."

If you've ever explored aspects of your subconscious, you know that we all have disowned parts of ourselves that can work in opposition to our conscious intentions. The bigger your dream, the more likely it is that some younger and more unconscious parts of you will push back in an attempt to maintain the status quo.

One client who I'll call Ted struggled with the execution of his marketing plan. One key component of his plan involved calling inactive clients, warm leads and potential referral partners.

Ted knew that once he got on the phone he loved talking about his work. Personal calls were one of the most successful marketing methods for him because he was such a charismatic connector. Nearly every time he made a series of calls, business would result.

However, week after week his status report would indicate that no calls had been made and that his client load was down.

When we got curious about what forces were at work causing this puzzling behavior, we became acquainted with two aspects of Ted's persona. One was the "Achiever" who was a driven type-A part, and the other was the "Authenticizer" who valued being genuine above all else.

As we facilitated a conversation between these two parts, we learned that the Authenticizer didn't like the high-pressure drive of the Achiever. The Authenticizer wanted to take more time to settle into an approach that felt real, and was also concerned about being rejected. Meanwhile, the Achiever, whose motto was "Just do it!" was extremely impatient with the Authenticizer.

With this inner battle going on, no wonder Ted subconsciously wanted to avoid the whole thing! Yet once we gave these two conflicting parts the opportunity to negotiate and see the value that the other part brought, the pathway to action opened up.

The Achiever came to realize that successful sales calls did depend upon the quality of genuine contact provided by the Authenticizer, so that extra preparation time would indeed pay off. The Authenticizer began appreciating the tremendous energy provided by the Achiever, and became more willing to listen to his suggestions. The two parts were able to work together to craft a workable schedule.

While resistance to marketing still arises for Ted from time to time, he now has a way to work when he needs to gather more inner alignment.

When you notice that you haven't been taking your intended actions to manifest your business vision, take the time to get curious. What parts of your subconscious might be acting out? Let them name themselves and explain the values that are most important to them.

Getting to know your inner cast of characters and facilitating their cooperation can be a very rich and rewarding experience. All you need is curiosity and respect that each one of them originally started out with core values and a noble purpose.

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