Overcome Your Personal Kryptonite

Posted On 12 February 2022

Last updated on April 10th, 2024

As teenagers we have these thoughts and aspirations that we are going to go out into the world and conquer it! We want to become Superman or Super Girl. Sometime later we find out that we have our own Kryptonite in our lives.

There are things in our lives that can distract us. I call these distractions Kryptonite, and like a distracted driver, these can put us in the ditch or lead to a wreck. Sometimes, we know what the Kryptonite in our life is. Other times, others notice it while we are oblivious to it – like bad breath.

We All Have Bad Breath

It’s amazing that our breath can smell as bad as it does when it is right under our nose! We do our best to take care of our teeth and keep our breath smelling fresh. Our best efforts do not always get the job done, though.

I have heard the term “nose blindness” used to describe a person who has gotten used to a smell. The garbage man is not affected by the smell of garbage the same way most people are affected.

Our Kryptonite can be a blind spot to us. For someone from a different perspective, the thing in the blind spot is very clear. Since it is in our blind spot, we just can’t see it.

Discovering Your Kryptonite

Our distractions aren’t necessarily as overpowering or as noticeable as bad breath. These can not only distract us, they can distract others – like a bit of food stuck in our teeth. We are taught to not make people uncomfortable, so we can easily not say anything to them. The truth is, that the distraction (kryptonite) cannot be dealt with until it is brought to our attention.

There are bigger things that can cause us problems. These are the things that can land us in the ditch. For some it may be a mental thing such as procrastination, fear, or others’ opinions.

Other times we are the ones that can invite the problems into our lives. These invited problems can be endless scrolling on social media, watching TV, or drinking. It’s the thing that will suck you in and wreck all your plans or intentions.

Overcome Yourself

While we cannot progress if we are mentally “in the ditch”, we can learn to outsmart ourselves. If we really want to improve, it will take work.

As I read in the book Boundaries, we cannot overcome the problems in our lives until we take responsibility for our problems. When we do this, we then have the power to do something about them.

When we take responsibility for removing the Kryptonite from our lives, we can then start the process of overcoming that obstacle. The first steps are to become aware of what is holding us back and then taking responsibility.

Limit Time with Kryptonite Promoters

One of the parts of being human is that we gravitate toward similar people to us. That can work in our favor, and it can also work against us. Family and friends can be a big distraction for us.

As much as we love them and want to spend time with them, we need to take responsibility for ourselves. If we have something that we should be doing, we need to learn to respectfully tell them so and then continue with what we had planned.

Sometimes we need to distance ourselves from some people or set a time limit with them. This can be not spending like our friends. If we have started a diet and our friends are not interested in a diet – distance is needed. The same applies if we are starting a business or some new project. Those with Kryptonite need to be avoided (at least for a while).

Lock It Up

When we are the ones that bring distractions into our life we need to admit that we are being our own worst enemy. If we are serious about improving our situation, we may need to collect whatever Kryptonite that is around us and lock it away. This may sound a bit extreme. For those of us looking to do what most people never do, we must do the things most people are unwilling to do.

Do not get me wrong. I am not saying that we should never do those distracting things ever again. When we are making some big changes in our lives we need to make some BIG changes in our lives. We need to get balance back into our life.

For me, alcohol is Kryptonite. While I enjoy it, it can get in the way of me being as productive as I can and should be. In order to progress we need to develop the strength to set boundaries with the things that are distractions in our lives.

Living Intentionally

After the good habits we desire are established in our life, we can have the Kryptonite in our life in a limited amount. We can still go shopping, enjoy some unhealthy food, watch a movie, or have some drinks.

The goal is for us to be the master of our life. For us to be masters of our life, we need to decide to live intentionally, not allowing something or someone else to control us. Distractions in our life need to have their time and place set by us. We cannot allow them to control us.

This is not an easy thing to do. Like the struggle of getting in shape, or learning a new skill, the struggle is worth it in the long run. Remember – this pain is self-inflicted and will benefit us in the long term!

Living Up to Your Potential

I am on my own journey to live up to my potential. I invite you to join me. To live an intentional life is a choice. We choose to avoid or limit Kryptonite in our life. Since this is not something that someone else is making us do it should be easier.

What is the potential we have? I don’t know. You don’t know. We can do a lot more than we currently are accomplishing. (At least this applies to me!) There is just one way for us to figure out what our potential is. That is simply by constantly improving ourselves.

We are in a race. The thing is we are only racing against ourselves. Our goal should be to be better than we were. We cannot compare ourselves with others. They are running their own race.

This is something that we can do! Let’s grow together and become the best that we can.