How to Let go of Life’s Crutches and Crush Your Goals
Do you know that life’s crutches could be stopping you from reaching your goals? It’s time to learn How to let go of life’s crutches and crush your goals.
Life isn’t perfect. It’s full of ups and downs. In times when you go through tragedy, trauma, or turmoil, crutches will support you. A crutch can be physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual.
Imagine you have a physical injury and can’t walk. You need to lean on crutches so you can move around. These crutches help you avoid pain, discomfort, or any physical activity until you’re fully healed.
But you can’t hold onto them for a long time. You can’t become a full-time crutch user. You need to learn to stand on your feet again. Otherwise, your muscles waste away and so does your energy and passion for life because they’re not being used. That’s when self-doubt, low self-esteem, hopelessness, and frustration start to set in and make you weak.
Crutches help you in difficult times but can quickly become a liability that stops you from reaching your full potential.
You need to learn How to let go of life’s crutches and crush your goals. When you throw away the crutches and stand on your own two feet, you learn to trust in your own abilities and develop the self-reliance, self-confidence, and resilience that you need to succeed in life. Let’s dive into the process!
What is a life crutch?
When you go through a life’s roadblocks, challenges, setbacks, or disruptions to your goals and dreams you may need crutches to help you get through those times. A crutch can be physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual.
There are different reasons why we hold onto life crutches for a long time. It can be what we reach for when we’re uncomfortable. You hold onto it for security or when you’re bored. You’ll often rely on these when you’re stressed and going through hard times.
Becoming too dependent on emotional crutches makes us feel helpless without them and unable to function on our own just like a physical crutch does when someone has an injury. You become scared to take risks and step outside of your comfort zone.
It can be a limiting belief like the all-or-nothing mentality or a bad habit such as being a perfectionist or procrastinator. A crutch could be a substance like alcohol, or a habit like shopping, smoking, being on social media, or binge-watching video games or TV shows.
Crutches can be used when you want to avoid responsibility and don’t feel like dealing with your issues head-on. You lose yourself in these crutches whenever you have free time and they cover up the thoughts and feelings you can’t deal with.
This could lead to addictions, looking to external support or relief, and isolating us making the situation even worse.
We can use people as a crutch and may have difficulty coping when they’re not there. These can be healthy or unhealthy relationships which we lean on for emotional support or validation. We might even depend on them more than we depend on God who is our Creator and source of life.
Crutches are okay for a while to help us during the healing process. However, when we get used to our crutches and rely on them we feel that we need them.
We become afraid to throw them away even when we’re ready to do that. We actually hold back on our personal growth, progress, and development without realizing it. We stay in our comfort zone out of habit. This will ultimately hinder your journey to achieving your goals and dreams.
That’s why you need to make a conscious decision to let go of life’s crutches. Break free from your crutches when they’re no longer serving you. Put them down and stand in your own strength again.
When you trust God and the abilities He gave you, you develop self-reliance, self-confidence, and resilience which you need to succeed and reach your full potential.
How to let go of life’s crutches and crush your goals
When we face the challenges of life, we often need support to help us through it. This could be a therapist, a friend, a family member, or a mentor. While relying on these should be for a short season as we get up on our feet again they could end up being a crutch.
Life crutches can make you stay in your comfort zone and stop you from achieving your goals and dreams. They can easily become excuses that leave you in the same place. This external support can prevent us from developing resilience and could ultimately hold us back from reaching our full potential.
Crutches are useful when we need something to lean on, but they’re a nuisance to truly taking steps in the direction of our dreams. You may be using a crutch because you’re afraid to step out on your own. It’s time to be courageous and learn How to let go of life’s crutches and crush your goals. Let’s dive in!
Identify the crutches you’re using in your life
The best way to start breaking from life’s crutches is to identify what they are. Is it a person or habit? What do you run to when you’re stressed or want to escape from a difficult situation? Be aware of what you’re holding onto.
Figure out what kind of crutches you rely on then you can figure out the best ways to fulfill your needs and start the healing process.
Letting go of life’s crutches means you discover more about yourself, and realize you didn’t need the crutches in the first place. You are empowered to find new solutions to your needs and are free to shape your life as you will.
Shift your mindset and words
Injury does not define your whole life and neither does a problem. Believe that you can let go of the crutches no matter how long you’ve been holding onto them. As you change your mindset, start changing what you say too. Words are powerful and they influence what you believe and do.
With the right mindset and approach you can develop the courage to embrace the possibilities ahead and let go of the crutches that end up becoming a burden.
Let go of the shame and guilt
We all struggle with different crutches. Some are more obvious and some are more harmful than others. No one is perfect so don’t judge yourself harshly. Let go of any shame or guilt you may have. These will not serve you or your healing process.
Be committed to the journey of freedom and being empowered to stand on your own and make the decisions that are right for you.
Be comfortable with silence and boredom
In a distracted world, we may always feel that we can’t bear silence or boredom. There always has to be background noise whether it’s the TV which is always on or we’re always listening to YouTube. When we’re bored we take our phones out and start scrolling social media.
This makes it impossible to sit down with your thoughts and feelings. Technology often stops us from being present with our thoughts and those we love.
But being busy so you won’t be bored, or so you’ll feel productive, is a crutch. In fact, being busy and being productive are two different things. Learn to say no to what takes away your time and energy but leaves you depleted. Become clear on what’s important and focus on what will make an impact.
Don’t be scared of boredom. Accept boredom because when you do, you can look around and see the endless wonder and beauty that’s around you. Find pleasure in new things. When you’re distracted, you miss out on all of it. Just pay attention to what’s around you.
Take time to discover more about yourself and the world around you. Take a mental break and embark on a digital detox or social media fast even if it’s just for a few hours daily. Take time to read the Bible and allow God’s principles to shape your thoughts and actions. You’ll be totally transformed!
Before long, you’ll realize that you don’t need the crutches in the first place. Become free to chase your dreams and shape your life in a way that you’d like.
Learn to deal with a situation head-on
Crutches and bad habits such as spending too much time on social media, watching TV, or playing video games tend to be distractions that stop you from dealing with your thoughts or any challenges you’re facing. It becomes an escape. But we need to be present with our thoughts and emotions instead of hiding from them.
Whether it’s pain, fear, worry, or stress, understand and process it alone or with the support of a good friend, family member, or therapist. It can be uncomfortable at first but the most important thing is you go on the journey of healing.
You can’t keep covering things up. Figure out the root causes of these very things so you can start the healing process. When you face the pain head-on things start to get better.
Other helpful tools to deal with the situation healthily include meditation, exercise, running, taking a walk, journaling, or doing something creative. You can also start reading good books that inspire and motivate you to be a better person.
I’m a big fan of journaling. It’s a great way to put your pain into words, process it, and understand it a little better. When it’s in black and white you can start coming up with the solutions to what you’re facing.
Take the necessary steps to move towards your goals
Change doesn’t just happen- you need to have an action plan. Start with a vision board and decide what you want your life to look like in the future. Set goals that are SMART to help you start working towards that vision.
Break your goals into quarterly, monthly, weekly, and daily tasks that you need to achieve. The good news is as you make a conscious decision to move and work towards your goals and dreams consistently, you increase the chances of achieving them.
Taking action toward your goals will also help you focus, develop self-confidence in what you’re capable of, and in the process let go of life’s crutches.
“Most of us need the crutch at times; but of course, it is idiotic to use the crutch when our own legs (our own loves, tastes, habits, etc.) can do the journey on their own.”
~C.S. Lewis By Leo Babauta
My Experience with Letting Go of Life’s Crutches
Years ago, I suffered a slip-on ice while running and ended up with a knee injury. Though it was a challenge not being able to run, it was a time of slowing down to speed up, a time of personal growth and new beginnings. Through the healing journey learned valuable life lessons along the way.
I was off my feet for 80 days and had to go for physical therapy often. l used a scooter and crutches to get me where I needed to go. It was a long healing process, and, at times, it felt never-ending.
But, there was something about the crutch that made me feel protected. It made me feel safe. The crutch helped me manage on those icy days when I had to go somewhere. It helped me keep pressure off my bad leg. It ensured that I wouldn’t hurt my ankle again.
But, ultimately, what the crutch became was a barricade to me walking again. It felt too safe, too comfortable, so much so that I had a hard time letting go of it. I had a fear of too fast, too soon. The thought of pain made me fearful.
I knew walking again would hurt, but I was unsure of what hurt was okay. I had a fear of just not remembering how to do things. Learning to walk again seemed incredibly hard. Because of this, I held onto my crutches too long.
Crutches are useful when we NEED something to lean on, but they’re a nuisance to truly taking steps in the direction of our dreams.
I was supposed to start walking after a few weeks, but it just didn’t feel right, and I needed to listen to my body. It was a pain that I was unsure of, so I chose to hold off. It felt too risky to walk again as it was out of my comfort zone. I didn’t want to get uncomfortable in that aspect. Part of me was afraid to stop using the crutches.
I was worried that l might hurt my ankle again even though the only way to strengthen my leg muscles meant using them again. I waited until I had had enough, a breaking point where I felt so defeated and discouraged that I didn’t want to do it anymore.
I even had thoughts of giving up on running! Being active was hard. When you have to take a couple of months off extensive activity, you get out of shape very quickly! Five minutes of core felt like torture.
That’s when I knew that it was time to get going. I couldn’t have a self-pity party — at least not for long. I had to do something about the despairing feelings I was having. This whoa-is-me attitude was not okay.
I took a step of faith and got to it. I put full pressure on my injured leg — it was sore — but I did it. And you know what? It turned out just fine. My foot was sore, but it was just fine. It healed and began doing what it was supposed to. The most important thing I learned was that l needed to let go of the crutches, trust God, and stand on my own again.
“My body could stand the crutches, but my mind couldn’t stand the sideline.”
— Michael Jordan.
We use life’s crutches when we go through painful times and we need extra help and much support. It can be beneficial for the time being, as it can aid you in recovery, but it’s a temporary fix.
A crutch when held onto for a long time can leave us helpless and be detrimental to us moving forward and truly pursuing what we’re called to do.
What is your crutch? Is there something you’re holding onto as a safety? Do you need to let go of that today? It’s important to reflect on your crutches and if you need to continue using them. It may be time to let go of your crutches and stand on your own feet. This might be the only way to grow.
Be courageous and learn How to let go of life’s crutches and crush your goals. You do this when you identify the crutches, let go of the shame and guilt, shift your mindset and words, become comfortable with silence and boredom, deal with situations head-on, and take the steps to move toward your goals and dreams.
Stop letting your crutches hold you back in life! Learn to overcome them and reach new heights of success and fulfillment. Take a leap of faith, let go of the crutch you have been relying on, and choose to move forward. With the right mindset, effort, and action, you will be successful.
Remember, you are a winner. Just run YOUR race!
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