427: Stop These 3 Destructive Habits Blocking Your Personal Growth in 2026

Kevin Lowe: I'm talking right now.

Kevin Lowe: If you want to.

Kevin Lowe: Make this year stand a chance at being the year that you dream it could be, well, it has to begin by you getting real with yourself and acknowledging the fact that some things got to go.

Kevin Lowe: And today, we're revealing exactly what three things are a must go.

Kevin Lowe: and ultimately what that's going to do for you in the end.

Kevin Lowe: So my friend, with that said, this is episode 427 of Grit, Grace, and Inspiration.

Kevin Lowe: In case you are new here, I'm your host, Kevin Lowe, a guy who went blind over 20 years ago.

Kevin Lowe: Yeah, unexpectedly, I woke up from a life-saving brain surgery to Find that I was.

Kevin Lowe: Left completely blind.

Kevin Lowe: And yeah, life has been challenging, but I've chosen to see the positive.

Kevin Lowe: And that's what I do here on the podcast, is to bring you the insights I've gained from 17 years of sight, now over 20 years completely blind.

Kevin Lowe: A lifetime of knowledge gained along the way, to just hopefully be a help to you.

Kevin Lowe: That is my mission here on the podcast and on stage as an inspirational, motivational speaker, is I just want to use what I've gone through to be a help to you.

Kevin Lowe: So my friend, if you are up for it and ready to make this year one for the record books, well, you are in the right place.

Kevin Lowe: Welcome to Grit, Grace, and Inspiration.

Kevin Lowe: So, my friend, it is indeed the first episode of the new year. It is the year 2026.

Kevin Lowe: Crazy as that sounds.

Kevin Lowe: But here we are.

Kevin Lowe: And so, baby, my goal with the podcast kicking off the year is to help make your life a little bit easier.

Kevin Lowe: And specifically, I want to be sure that you make this year the year that you want it to be. I get it.

Kevin Lowe: A lot of times we.

Kevin Lowe: All have big hopes And expectations for the year. And then the year falls apart. But why would we not.

Kevin Lowe: Though, try our best to be sure that this year isn't like the past?

Kevin Lowe: That's what I'm doing in my own personal life, and that's what I want to help you do.

Kevin Lowe: So I want you to understand this.

Kevin Lowe: This is just the start.

Kevin Lowe: Today's episode is episode one of 2026.

Kevin Lowe: Coming up in the weeks to come, it is nothing but strategies.

Kevin Lowe: Tactics, mindset shifts to help you be sure that this year is the year that you want it to be.

Kevin Lowe: So be sure that if you have not already hit the little button to subscribe or follow the podcast on your favorite app where you're listening, like Apple Podcasts or Spotify, please be sure you do so so that you are notified every time a new episode is released, which just so happens to be each and every Tuesday morning.

Kevin Lowe: So please be sure that you do that. Now, my second little thing that I want to tell you before we dive into these three things that you're going to begin Eliminating from your.

Kevin Lowe: Life is that everybody loves a shortcut, a cheat code, a guide for life.

Kevin Lowe: And that is.

Kevin Lowe: Exactly what I made for you. I went back through the episode catalog and I started picking out specific episodes that really didn't.

Kevin Lowe: helped you accomplish something, Maybe overcome an obstacle, or.

Kevin Lowe: Just helped you To know you're not alone in life.

Kevin Lowe: There's all kinds of things that We're struggling with, that we're dealing with.

Kevin Lowe: And so I put it all together in What I'm calling the Grit.

Kevin Lowe: Grace, and Inspiration Life Guide, inspired from the old school TV guide, The one that used to come in the Sunday newspaper.

Kevin Lowe: The thing that you would look through, circle the things that you wanted to watch, call up Papa and ask him to set It to record on.

Kevin Lowe: The VCR.

Kevin Lowe: Yeah, baby, I am going old school.

Kevin Lowe: But this life guide is a little bit more modern than that because, well, it comes in the way of just a simple, easy to read PDF document called the Great Grace and Inspiration Life Guide.

Kevin Lowe: It's going to be your little tool for whatever you're dealing with in life.

Kevin Lowe: It's going to give you the resources you need to help you out.

Kevin Lowe: It's totally free and it's simple. It's an easy download.

Kevin Lowe: All you have to do is click the link at the top of today's show notes.

Kevin Lowe: So again, the first link you see right after the title of this episode, that link at the top of the description, just click it And you can download your free Grit, Grace and Inspiration life guide.

Kevin Lowe: Please be sure to check out that free resource. I made it for you to give you a head start on the year that is 2026.

Kevin Lowe: Now, back to those three things that you must stop doing in your life starting right now.

Kevin Lowe: Point number one.

Kevin Lowe: The thing that you must stop doing immediately is I want you to stop underestimating yourself.

Kevin Lowe: You, my friend, have been through so.

Kevin Lowe: Much in life.

Kevin Lowe: You've already done so much in your life.

Kevin Lowe: And yet you continue to underestimate yourself.

Kevin Lowe: Maybe you think that it's just being humble, but instead, no, it's being a detour.

Kevin Lowe: It's being a distraction. It's literally you Dropping an anchor and holding yourself in place every time you underestimate yourself.

Kevin Lowe: So my friend, the next time that you think to yourself that I can't, I'm not good enough, I'm not fast enough, I'm not qualified, I want you to look.

Kevin Lowe: Back at what you've Already done in life.

Kevin Lowe: Because the chances are you've Probably gone through.

Kevin Lowe: Some really hard seasons in life, And yet you're still standing. You're still here today.

Kevin Lowe: You're still trying to better yourself. It's why you're listening to this podcast.

Kevin Lowe: So my friend, I want you in 2026 to stop underestimating yourself.

Kevin Lowe: I have tried to preach it on this podcast as much as I can, And I'm going to say it again. You are more amazing. You're more awesome than you give yourself credit for.

Kevin Lowe: Give yourself some grace.

Kevin Lowe: Realize that You're good.

Kevin Lowe: You don't have to beat yourself up. You don't have to keep talking down to yourself.

Kevin Lowe: You don't have to keep underestimating yourself. It is time To become your own cheerleader.

Kevin Lowe: To remind yourself of what you've done, Who you are, and who you're going to be.

Kevin Lowe: My friend, this is the year for you to stop underestimating you and To start going into.

Kevin Lowe: Your fullest potential.

Kevin Lowe: That's how we're.

Kevin Lowe: Going to make this year absolutely spectacular.

Kevin Lowe: So that's point number one. Stop underestimating yourself.

Kevin Lowe: Point number two, I want you to stop overestimating the challenge in front of you.

Kevin Lowe: The fact is true. Most people do not stop because something is too hard, but rather they quit because they decide it's too hard.

Kevin Lowe: They decide before they ever even try.

Kevin Lowe: And that's because they overthink it. They overanalyze. They overresearch it.

Kevin Lowe: They research it to death.

Kevin Lowe: They think of it every way they can.

Kevin Lowe: And.

Kevin Lowe: They spend all their Time thinking about it and overanalyzing it and watching YouTube videos about it and Googling it.

Kevin Lowe: And going on ChatGBT and perplexity and all these different places.

Kevin Lowe: And they go into this over-analyzation mode.

Kevin Lowe: Where, what did they accomplish?

Kevin Lowe: Well, they became an amazing researcher.

Kevin Lowe: Well, unless that is your goal in life, To be an amazing researcher.

Kevin Lowe: You got to stop the overanalyzing, the overresearching. You have got to stop Overestimating the challenge in front of you.

Kevin Lowe: The truth of the matter is, is the challenge is rarely the problem.

Kevin Lowe: It's your anticipation of the challenge. That is what is the real problem.

Kevin Lowe: You are most likely not overwhelmed because of the challenge being massive.

Kevin Lowe: You're overwhelmed because you're standing still.

Kevin Lowe: You're constantly researching, thinking about it, never actually moving forward.

Kevin Lowe: So instead of you staring up At the mountain.

Kevin Lowe: And analyzing for the next year, which route to take, I just want you to look.

Kevin Lowe: I want you to take your best judgment, and I want you to just start moving forward.

Kevin Lowe: And to realize this, You can course correct while you're going. Maybe you get halfway up the mountain and you realize you chose the wrong path.

Kevin Lowe: But you know what? Nothing was lost.

Kevin Lowe: Turn around, go back down, and choose a different path. You never know until you start.

Kevin Lowe: This is what stops people dead in their tracks.

Kevin Lowe: This is what I see people doing so much in life is they just never, ever take the first step.

Kevin Lowe: My friend, you have to have the courage to.

Kevin Lowe: Just go for it.

Kevin Lowe: There's a time for planning, but there is never a time for overplanning and overanalyzing and overthinking.

Kevin Lowe: That is nothing but just an excuse.

Kevin Lowe: that's keeping you stuck in life.

Kevin Lowe: So basically, I'm here to tell you, you want to shrink the fear?

Kevin Lowe: You got to start taking action. You want confidence?

Kevin Lowe: You got to start moving.

Kevin Lowe: Momentum, it comes with movement. You have to start moving to build momentum.

Kevin Lowe: It's not going to build up on its own just by you sitting at your computer all night long researching.

Kevin Lowe: No, you have to finally.

Kevin Lowe: Take the step And take imperfect action. You can course correct along the way, but the biggest thing here is to get moving forward, period.

Kevin Lowe: End of story.

Kevin Lowe: That is point number two. My final point, number three, the third thing that I want.

Kevin Lowe: You to stop Doing right now is.

Kevin Lowe: I want you to Stop waiting for the perfect time.

Kevin Lowe: OMG, another killer of success, another killer of years wasted.

Kevin Lowe: Is waiting for the perfect time. My friend, what is the perfect time?

Kevin Lowe: I don't know, because there's never a perfect time.

Kevin Lowe: There's just now. This one is what silently destroys more dreams than anything else.

Kevin Lowe: Is everybody constantly waiting on the right time? Maybe you keep waiting for clarity.

Kevin Lowe: For confidence, for life to be perfect, for life to slow down, for your finances to be in perfect order, for everything to just be perfectly perfect.

Kevin Lowe: Meanwhile, time keeps moving.

Kevin Lowe: Time keeps being wasted.

Kevin Lowe: My friend.

Kevin Lowe: I don't have To be the one to tell you. You already know it. There is no perfect time.

Kevin Lowe: There is only now. Right now is the only perfect time.

Kevin Lowe: Now, yeah, if you want to use that age-old philosophy of when's The best time to plant.

Kevin Lowe: A tree? 25 years ago.

Kevin Lowe: When's the next.

Kevin Lowe: Best time to plant a tree? Today.

Kevin Lowe: So my friend, figuring that you didn't plant the tree 25 years ago, I'm encouraging you to plant the tree today.

Kevin Lowe: So remember this, the perfect time, the perfect moment, it's never going to come.

Kevin Lowe: It doesn't just happen.

Kevin Lowe: Instead, it waits on you to create it.

Kevin Lowe: You get the choice to determine when is the right time. And what I'm encouraging you to do.

Kevin Lowe: Is to decide It's now. It's right now.

Kevin Lowe: If we want this year to be a Year of something different, well, we can't waste another day.

Kevin Lowe: We can't waste another week.

Kevin Lowe: We must start right now. So whatever it is that's weighing on your heart that you've been thinking about, dreaming about, wanting, secretly desiring.

Kevin Lowe: My friend, let this be your cry to start right now.

Kevin Lowe: Please, for the life of me, Stop putting off your dreams for tomorrow and start making them come true today.

Kevin Lowe: So your framework for the year 2026 is as simple as you eliminating three things.

Kevin Lowe: I want you to stop arguing with reality, a.k.a. I want you to stop underestimating yourself. For Pete's sake, my friend, You're awesome.

Kevin Lowe: Give yourself the credit and the acknowledgement that you are.

Kevin Lowe: Number two, stop.

Kevin Lowe: Overestimating the challenge In front of you. If you need to, break it down into simple little pieces.

Kevin Lowe: I don't want you to look at the Entire mountain and think, I'll never reach the top.

Kevin Lowe: Instead, I want you to focus on taking the first step. And the way we do.

Kevin Lowe: That is point Number three.

Kevin Lowe: Is to realize There is no perfect time. You make the perfect moment by starting right now, today, declaring that this is my day, not even thinking this is my year.

Kevin Lowe: No, this is my day. This is my moment when I declare that right now I'm stepping forward into whatever the dream is, losing weight, getting in shape, starting a business.

Kevin Lowe: Living a life Of freedom, of quitting the job, of applying for the job, of doing the thing.

Kevin Lowe: Whatever it is, you start doing it right now.

Kevin Lowe: So my friend.

Kevin Lowe: I hope today Maybe encourages you that maybe you just need to stop doing a few things to be able to start doing the things that really matter in life.

Kevin Lowe: Together, my hope is that we can make this year one That you look back on and think, Like, man, that was one awesome year, the year 2026.

Kevin Lowe: I'll be right here every Tuesday on Grit.

Kevin Lowe: Grace, and Inspiration.

Kevin Lowe: Remember, hit that follow button.

Kevin Lowe: Subscribe button. Check out the free resource, the Grit, Grace, and Inspiration Life Guide, Linked in the episode description. And, hey, I will see you back here next week.

Kevin Lowe: Same time, same place, for another episode of Grit, Grace, and Inspiration.

Kevin Lowe: Get out there and have an awesome day.