Overcoming Life's Obstacles

Overcoming Obstacles
How Do You Get Past the Stumbling Blocks?

How many times have you heard the phrase,…”and it came to pass?” It does not say “it came to stay.” Life is about obstacles and your ability to overcome those challenges will ultimately determine the quality of your life. Those “bumps in the road” are what turn relatively simple things into difficult ones. The road to success is paved with many obstacles, but in order to be successful, you must have flexibility and tenacity to overcome them. It really doesn't matter what endeavor you are pursuing, there will be problems, issues and roadblocks along the way. If you accept this as being reality and not being negative, you can prepare yourself by getting ready to handle it quickly and decisively. Obstacles require you to change and that is something that we, as humans, struggle with and resist. The status quo becomes your comfort zone and is familiar territory for you to navigate in.

Overcoming obstacles is sometimes hard but always gratifying. One of the most important factors in dealing with life’s issues,is to identify what kind of obstacle you are facing. There are three kinds of obstacles:

1.External obstacles – These are obstacles that are outside of your control, such as the economy, natural disasters, physical limitations and the political climate. Typically, you are not in a position to alter the course of these obstacles, yet, you can spend so much of your time concentrating on “fixing” these, that you create other problems in your life. Many people with physical handicaps lead very successful lives. The reason is that they don’t dwell on what they don’t have; they tend to concentrate on their strengths. Likewise, a person that has suffered a major natural disaster in their lives can either say, “I've lost everything or Thank God, we’re all safe!” Neither attitude can change what has happened, but it does indicate how each individual is dealing with this unforeseen “obstacle.

2.Internal obstacles – These obstacles are generally one time issues that you have direct control over. They may be debt, cash flow, time availability, needed skills or talent. Although you might say, “I can’t do anything about this because…”virtually all internal obstacles are actionable if you are willing to make the effort. Because internal obstacles require change, the actions required are often not taken. Conquering internal obstacles require awareness and a call to action that is easier said than done. Sometimes, you can get distracted with listening and looking at your surroundings to figure out the “why” of something, when the distraction might actually be coming from within.

3.Habitual obstacles – These obstacles reflect how you can get in your own way, such as time management, lack of discipline or a bad attitude. Although these “habitual” obstacles are common, they can go unrecognized in most of us since it only shows up when we are actually doing something to make progress towards something better in our lives. We sabotage ourselves because to overcome this, it requires us to take a long, hard look at ourselves – and many of us don’t particularly like what we see!

If you recognize the type of obstacle you’re dealing with, it will help to keep you from “veering” off course, and sometimes, never getting back on track. How often have you planned something, ran into an obstacle and got sidetracked? Don’t fret about it. The issues you've dealt with could be a technical problem or it could be as simple as someone that doesn't see eye to eye with you. Whatever the case, there are ways to recognize, deal with and overcome those obstacle in your life that seem to crop up and get in your way.

1.Trouble shoot and determine the root cause – the first thing you have to do is to determine what the cause of your obstacle is. There is no better waste of time than trying to solve a problem that you haven’t’ determined the cause. What is the source of your issue? This may take you some time, but it is time well spent because once you know the root cause, you can address it and move on. If you take an honest look at yourself, you may determine that you are the problem. Evaluate your attitude and see if a change in the way you are looking at the situation might help to overcome the obstacle.

2.Change your attitude by embracing self awareness – sometimes, you may be the problem. Look at your attitude and see if by changing the way you look at the situation may help you overcome the obstacle. If you don’t look at the situation as a hindrance but as a learning tool, you’ll stop blaming everything and everyone else and determine if you are the problem. Are you getting in your own way? We can become easily distracted with the present. It might be time to stop adding things to your plate and discipline yourself to focus on your No. 1 obstacle. What is standing in your way?

3.Never give up/start over – Don’t quit? You may have to back up, turn around and go a different way, but you can never stop trying to overcome your present roadblock. In the end, perseverance will ultimately lead you to success. If everything else fails, start over again. Re-evaluate everything to make sure you understand the problem to prevent running into the same obstacle.

You have to overcome many obstacles to be successful. This is true no matter what endeavor you are pursuing. “Peace of mind is not the absence of conflict, but the ability to cope with it.” The best way to move forward on your own path is to understand the potential obstacles and plan in advance how you’ll deal with them!