Every Monday morning for the next few weeks I am on a business course, and the latest session was given by Nicola Rylett (do check out her blog), who was talking to us about sales and marketing.

But it was what she said about barriers that landed with me, and, through the weird way my brain works, made me think about handbrakes on cars (sometimes called parking brakes).

Her point was that to improve, you need to take action. And to take action, you need to remove the barriers that are stopping you from acting.

I have no idea if this is her list, or advice she found somewhere else that she is passing on, but I want to share what I learnt from the session here, in case it is as useful to you as I suspect it may be for me…

What stops you from doing something? Think of anything you want to do, or should do, would do, or could do but, for whatever reason, you're not.

There's a barrier stopping you, or, a handbrake, if you want to think of it that way. A handbrake is very efficient at preventing a 2 tonne car from moving, even on a steep hill.

But learn the simple technique to release the handbrake, and you're away.

It begins with realising that in the vast majority of cases, whatever it is (out of millions of possibilities) that is stopping us, it probably boils down to being one (or a combination) of only 4 things…

1. Lack Of Clarity

Do you understand what you need to do to achieve your goal? If you find yourself saying things like "I don't know where to start" then a lack of clarity could be your issue.

Clarity can't always be found completely.

I work in technical research and development and when you're inventing a brand new product that does things people haven't seen before, there isn't a road map you can pick off the shelf.

But there will always be something you can do to find out more. Who has been down a similar road before? What could they teach you? Is there a book or article you can read?

There's a huge caveat here. To move forward, to find the way, you have to do just that — move forward (take action) and find the way (and that means accepting that you will take a few wrong turns and hit some dead ends).

Sitting around endlessly researching can end up confusing you more. At some point you need to realise that you've thought enough, now you need to get out there and try.

2. Fear

This is probably the biggest thing that holds us all back and stops us doing things, if we're honest. We're worried that if we act, we will fail, and people will think badly of us.

This concern about what others will think of us is such a negative force, and most of it is entirely unfounded.

In my own life, I have come to realise that 99.9% of the time, when I'm stressing that everyone will have noticed a mistake I've made, people genuinely don't care.

It's for one simple reason — people have their own stuff going on. They're so preoccupied with their own challenges and stresses that they don't care about mine, or yours.

This isn't meant to sound unkind, or depressing — I'm not doing others down and saying people are uncaring. This insight should actually release us from fear.

Comparison is a huge part of this too. When we're down on ourselves, we look at other people and think their lives are perfect, and that we are failures.

Newsflash — they're not and we aren't. If they choose to paint a perfect picture on social media, that's up to them, but don't believe it.

I could take a picture every day that makes my life look perfect. It really isn't. My family and I struggle with a lot of things, trust me.

The solution to fear is action.

Read that again, because it is so important. The solution to fear is action. If you act, you have a chance of success, at which point your fears were unfounded. Great, on to the next step.

If you act and you fail, then you learn. Next time will be better. You have moved forward. This is the genius of action — you genuinely can't lose.

Don't get me wrong, those failures can hit hard. And it doesn't necessarily mean be hasty, gung-ho, or irresponsible. A quick mistake can take years to undo, but you will still learn, and be better off for that lesson.

Again, don't catastrophize. Taking action, 99.9% of the time isn't going to lead you into a mistake that will take you years to undo.

Most likely things will go better that you expect, or just different, but you'll be so much better off than if you did nothing.

3. Time

We are all crazy busy. But we are also in control of our own lives. So really, a lack of time to do something boils down to an issue with prioritization.

All of us get the same number of hours each day.

What's annoying about hearing someone say that, is, of course, that people's situations are different. If you have a job you can't leave, because it pays the bills, and a young family to look after, then you may well say:

"Hey, who took my 24 hours away from me? There's none left!"

There are seasons within our lives.

When you are in one of those 3–4 year periods when you have no time, then no-one telling you that you have the same number of hours in the day as Beyoncé is going to make you feel better (or magic up extra time).

But, seasons change. There will be a time when you do have more hours free, then what are you going to do?

And, within every schedule, there are still choices being made. Be super honest with yourself, harsh even.

Are there tasks that could be done more efficiently, or dumped entirely? Is your downtime being spent the way you want it to be, if you look at the bigger picture?

If you watch TV for 2 hours a night because you "need it" to de-pressurize, I get it.

But you could be asleep for some of that time. Or exercising. Or talking to friends. Or putting just half an hour a day into a side hustle that one day could change your life.

How you spend the time that you are in control of is your choice, no-one else's.

4. Resources / Motivation

Resources and motivation may seem like two very different things to lump together, but really they are both tools.

Tools that we find very easy to put down, and come up with loads of excuses not to pick up.

If you have little or no resources, getting started on any life improvement project is hard. Harder than any of us who have never truly struggled will ever be able to understand.

But I want to believe that is possible to start with little or nothing and still make real progress.

Governments don't want people to be struggling. It reflects badly on them and gives their opposition a stick to beat them with. If they can help someone improve their life, then the person who accessed that help is more likely to vote for them in the future.

And all any politician really wants is votes.

If your government is left-leaning, there will be support you can access. If your government is right-leaning, there will be incentives you can access.

They just want you to play a slightly different game to access a slightly different type of support. You will have to jump through hoops. You will hit brick walls. But I want to believe that it is possible.

In my own situation, I started my company, then hit a wall of no incoming business after some initial success. I had to adapt.

I went searching for funding, and found an opportunity in the world of research and development. I had to fill in a lot of forms, attend a lot of workshops, and yes, have a bit of luck, but a pathway was there.

I didn't know about it before, I had to go and find it.

Now, research and development is at the very core of what my business does.

And this is an example of how motivation and resources are linked. Once I was desperate, when I had no money coming in, my motivation was huge. I went searching for the resources, and, eventually, found them.

Again, it boils down to action. If you don't have the resources to act, go and find them, or be creative. Now, more than ever, there are ways to get started on virtually anything for free or very little money.

And if you're lacking the motivation to act, then you have to ask yourself — is this something I actually want to be doing? If not this, then what? What would I be motivated to do?

Final Thoughts

We all have those times where we feel as if we are getting nowhere. What's really happening is that the handbrake is still on. If we can release it, then the forward momentum will be instant.

Your handbrake will likely be one of 4 things. That's good news. The problem just got a load smaller. Identify which handbrake it is, then take action to release it:

Lack Of Clarity — do your research, ask for help, but don't enter an endless loop. At some point, you just have to act.

Fear — people aren't as bothered about you as you think, so crack on. If you act, you can't lose. You either progress or learn. Both work.

Time — it will be harder in some periods of life than others, but you always have some time you control, and only you get to choose how you spend it

Resources/Motivation — get started in whatever way you can, and find, then access the support that is out there. Jump through the hoops.