Fear

• A major psychological barrier is fear. For example, people are afraid to start a new job or go on a date with someone new because they fear eventually losing either the occupation or a meaningful relationship. Others are afraid of success. Perhaps you enjoy how your life is right now, and you worry how a great deal of success would change your current circumstances, which could shatter your comfort zones. Fears are personal -- people are afraid of failure, rejection and possible conflicts.
  
  

Self-Worth

• Feeling not good enough or having low levels of self-esteem prevent you from reaching goals. Consider a young person who wants to enter a singing competition. She may be very well received by family and peers, but that she feels her abilities can't live up to the standards of a competition. Another example is a senior in high school. Throughout his life, he has been told that he will not succeed in college and should go immediately into the family business. Deep down, he wants to apply to college but is afraid that the others may be right. These two people do not believe that they have the talent, ability or skills to effectively succeed in a particular field.
  
  

Trusting Others

• Trust is a major issue with relationships. Deciding to work with a team on a project at work requires the team members trust one another on some level. There may be great rewards for these workers, but you may not want to take a chance and be a member of the team. Furthermore, some team members might not trust that the group will complete the project appropriately. Therefore, they take on all the work themselves and destroy the purpose of team work. A lack of trust can be a psychological barrier that might prevent you from developing successful relationships.
  
  

The Past

• The past often creeps into perceptions about the future. You might want to return to college to become a teacher. For example, you remember a time when you went to college when you were younger, and you did not get along with the other students and you wound up failing out of all your classes. These past negative experiences could keep you from enrolling in classes now, because you are afraid that the scenarios from the past will happen again.