The idea we have of who we are, of what makes our identity, is the largest barrier to growth. We are not the idea we think of ourselves. Until we consider that to be our true self.

On top of identity, add the sunk cost fallacy, which says that we tend to rationalize our past investments (in terms of time, efforts, money, etc.) and keep pouring more into them even it turns out to be a poor decision based on our own goals.

Add to that the fear of the unknown (a completely new domain, I don’t feel comfortable jumping in) and a bit of ego (starting from the bottom, me? No way, I have already been through that, I deserve better!)

We now have a mind block. In some situations, we realize that we arrived a dead end. We can either embrace reality, turn around, go to the last cross road and go a different way. Sometimes, sadly, we don’t do that.