One of my favorite cartoons growing up was The Super Friends. I could not wait for Saturday morning to sit down and watch The Super Friends. My favorite episodes were when they were saving the world from the Legion of Doom. The Legion Doom was comprised of a group of evil villains who were led by Lex Luthor.
Superman’s Story
Lex Luthor was the arch enemy of my favorite super hero, Superman. Superman was the strongest and most powerful of The Super Friends. He was the super hero you could count on to always come through in the end. He was described as faster than a speeding bullet, could leap tall buildings at a single bound and more powerful than a locomotive.
Superman was known as the man of steel. He could do anything. Whenever there was trouble or the world was under attack, Superman was called on to save the day. No one or nothing could stop him, but kryptonite.
Kryptonite was the green radioactive material from Superman’s home planet Krypton. It is his ultimate natural weakness. Anytime Lex Luthor and The Legion of Doom wanted to shut down Superman’s strength, they would somehow get him to come in contact with kryptonite.
Once he came into contact with kryptonite, it would immobilize him. Kryptonite was Superman’s Achilles heel. It was the one weakness that could bring down a seemingly invincible hero. Kryptonite’s radioactive power left Superman vulnerable to his enemy’s attack.
What is your kryptonite?
What is the one thing in your life that hinders you from living out your vision? As soon as you start progressing forward in living your vision, it shows up like kryptonite and throws a monkey wrench in your progress.
Every person has some kind of kryptonite that can adversely affect their life. Your kryptonite may be issues handling money, the fear of failure or procrastination. Someone else’s kryptonite may be past regrets, a quick tongue or overeating.
Kryptonite’s power is detrimental. If it can stop Superman’s powers, it can stop you from living out your vision.
My kryptonite
I want to be a little vulnerable and share my kryptonite. I struggle with the fear of failure. I have battled the fear of failure for many years. It always attacks at its height when I am progressing to do something out of my comfort zone.
It took me several years to start my blog website. I dreamed and talked about it. But, every time I would start, my kryptonite would say, ‘no one’s going to read your stuff or you will fail’. I would always give in and postpone launching my blog.
When I finally got over the initial hurdle and wrote my first blog post, my kryptonite said it sounded like a third grader had written it and people would laugh. Again, I listened to my kryptonite’s negative voice and put off launching my website another several months.
My kryptonite was winning. Every day I put off launching my blog was another day of victory for him. It was not until January of 2012 that I said enough was enough and launched my blog. I must admit I came close to surrendering again, but I pushed through the negativity, doubt and fear.
Just like Superman, everyone has a kryptonite that affects their life. The question that you must answer, are you willing to work daily to overcome it or will you give in to its debilitating attacks.
Five Strategies
Here are five strategies you can implement to help you overcome the kryptonite that is trying to derail you from living out your vision.
1. Learn from past victories. I remember, when I was younger, hearing the old folks say, “If you have not experienced any troubles, keep living.” I could not comprehend what they meant then. But I kept living, and now I know exactly what they meant. Difficult times will come. They will convince you that your life won’t get better. They will have you believing that living your vision is impossible. Please remember, if you came through a previous difficult time then you can make it through again.
List your past victories. Replay them in your mind. What can you take away from your past victories that will give you the courage to deal with your current reality? Take what you learn and use it to survive a hard time.
2. Leave negativity alone. Negativity comes from many different places. Your family and friends who should encourage you to live your vision is sometimes the people who tell you that you can’t do it or you need to stay where you are. You turn on an hour of news and forty-five minutes of it is negative.
If you don’t watch it, you will talk yourself out of living your vision. It’s time to squash the negativity in your life and focus on who God says you are and what He says you can do.
3. Let go of yesterday. Yesterday is gone and will never come back. Stop reliving it. Stop rehearsing it. Don’t waste any more energy worrying about yesterday.
Your kryptonite loves to bring up your past sins, failures and mistakes. He knows if you focus on them, you cannot live forward. I know it is hard to let go of some of the pains and problems of yesterday. But, if you want to achieve more it is imperative to let go so you can live today and see tomorrow.
4. Listen to your vision. Open your ears to the sound of your vision. It is difficult to listen when you are distracted by contrary voices and situations. You constantly hear negative inner conversations that suggest that you won’t make it. You repeatedly hear the noise of the world telling you to be like this person or to own this thing to reach acceptance.
Through all the contrary voices and difficult situations, you must heed the voice of your vision. Your vision’s voice will give you the energy and enthusiasm you need to make it. I am not promising you that it will be easy to block out the conflicting voices around you. However with patience, perseverance and practice, you can learn to listen to your vision’s voice over the contrary noises.
5. Lead with action. You can talk and dream about overcoming your kryptonite, but that want change the situation. You can ask for others advice and counsel, but that won’t resolve the situation. They only thing that will bring resolution is your actions.
A builder cannot successfully complete the construction of a house by continually tweaking the blueprints. He must begin the action of building. If you want to overcome your kryptonite you must put feet to your faith. To live the life God designed for you, you must lead with action because words just will not do it.
If you are ready to gain daily victory over your kryptonite and live your vision at maximum capacity, implement these four strategies and watch the results.
“There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist or accept the responsibility for changing them.” Dr. Denis Waitley
Question: What is the kryptonite that gets in your
way of living out your vision? Leave a comment below.