What's holding you back?

There are at least a couple of books that I've known about for a long time through recommendations from friends, colleagues, and family members that I am hoping to finally read this year.  I recently crossed off The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams right before the winter holidays.  I know that Adams wrote a few more, but I don't know if I will pick any of them up this year.

I've always wanted to read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig.  It's supposed to be a fictionalized autobiography that apparently has more to do with philosophy than it does motorcycle repair.  Apparently Pirsig created the title as a play on words of another book by Eugen Herrigel published in 1948, Zen in the Art of Archery by Eugen Herrigel, which is an attempt by Herrigel to understand Zen Buddhism through the sport of archery. Pirsig himself explained that, despite its title, his book "should in no way be associated with that great body of factual information relating to orthodox Zen Buddhist practice. It's not very factual on motorcycles, either."  The book has sold over 5 million copies since its original publication in 1978, which is impressive considering the fact that Pirsig received over 120 rejections by book editors before someone finally accepted it for publication.

In the book, Pirsig talks about what is known as the South Indian Monkey Trap.  At least that's what I've been told - I hope to find out soon enough!  I am not sure there was ever really such a thing, but then again, I have no way to either prove or disprove it.  The "monkey trap" is simply a hollowed out coconut with a small hole, just large enough to accommodate a monkey's open hand.  However, if the monkey makes a fist inside the coconut, the hole won't let the monkey pull its hand out of the coconut.  Hunters would "bait" the coconut with a piece of fruit (e.g., a banana), tie the coconut to a tree, and then wait.  We are told that the monkey would try to grab the piece of fruit and would never let go of it, such that the monkey would be "trapped".  The hunter would then be able to capture the monkey.  

The moral of the story is that the monkey's greed for the fruit led to its easy capture.  The next logical question then, what is the version of the "South Indian Monkey Trap" in your life?  What are you refusing to give up that's holding you back from making progress?  What idea, practice, or habit that you just can't seem to give up is preventing you from being the best version of you?