When it comes to peak performance and high achievement, your mind will help get you there or it will hold you back.

Let’s agree that our success is determined by our actions. Our results  – i.e. the success or lack of success we experience – is a result of what we do. If you want to make a sale, for instance, you must take some series of actions to make it happen. We all get this.

Our actions come from our mind. Actions are the results of our thoughts & emotions. You also know this to be true. If you’ve ever been angry, the emotion takes over your body. The actions you take and words you say and tone you say it with are likely what you would not do or say if not angry. The anger emotion led to actions.

Therefore, if we want the ultimate success, we must take the best actions. And to take the best actions, we have to be in a preferred mental state.

Below are five key mental pitfalls to avoid to keep you in a peak mental state to drive the best results.

Avoiding Hard Things

Avoidance causes so many problems because the issues that we’re avoiding tend to fester. The act of avoidance comes from a place of fear that makes you feel “less than.” You perpetuate a self belief that you do not possess the resources to handle the situation. So, you avoid it.

Many times avoidance is an anxiety response. In anxiety, we perceive something negative will happen in the future. A way to get rid of the anxiety that causes avoidance is to imagine the situation having a successful completion. At the core, anxiety is imagining a negative conclusion; so override  the negative image with mental imagery of a positive conclusion.

You will be unlikely to avoid a situation you think will work out well.

Thinking Too Highly of Yourself

Hubris is the technical term. It’s an over-confidence that can be the breeding ground for complacency. In sports, it’s widely believed that a second championship is more difficult than the first, because the champion thinks too highly of themselves and loses just enough of the edge to continue to push for their excellence.

Avoid this with humility. A way to do that is to use a beginner’s mind. Ask yourself, what would I think and do if this was my first time? That perspective will help keep you grounded and knowing that the road to future success is found on the road peak performance.

Thinking Too Low About Yourself

The flip side of thinking too much about yourself is thinking of yourself too low. We often mistake this for humility. Note that humility is NOT thinking too little of yourself. That is a lack of confidence.

It comes out of our mouths with words like “can’t,” “not able,” “never,” “couldn’t” and other universal negative declarations. When you hear these words in your language or in others, it’s a possible sign that confidence is low.

To overcome this, consider the characteristics and qualities that you actively possess to address the situation. When have you been successful before and what made you successful that you can apply now?

Not Recognizing Triggers

We all have triggers. Every habit begins with a trigger. Research suggests that over 70% of our actions each day are habitual. That means, we’re being triggered all day.

Notice when you find yourself taking an action that isn’t the best. Consider what triggered you to take that action. Do the same exercise for intrusive thoughts and emotions.

The first step in changing habits is awareness of the trigger that starts the habit loop in the first place.

Believing You Know What Others Are Going Through

A universal truth is that we actually cannot truly understand what someone else is going through. Every experience is personal, because each experience is filtered through our own minds – made up of our own unique experiences. Therefore, we really don’t know what someone else is going through.

The problem is that we project on the other person how we think we would go through the same thing. It reduces our ability for empathy because we are deciding how they should react to the situation from our perspective – not theirs.

To avoid this, drop your expectations and ask questions to attempt to better understand the other person. This will build a stronger connection and relationship, which is the cornerstone of success in all aspects of life.

When you can be mindful and prepared to avoid the mental pitfalls that keep you from your success, you can train your mind to work better for you and set up for your highest achievements along with deepest fulfillment.