For some
reason part of the human condition is to face hurdles and obstacles.
What stops us is that we often give up in the face of life’s challenges.
Everyone
experiences obstacles in life. A successful life always involves coming
across obstacles and working out how to overcome them. In fact the more
you achieve in life, the more obstacles you come across. The faster you
are moving the more quickly you will meet obstacles! So expect to meet
challenges, but also expect to overcome them. Remember that to succeed
in life this is the psychology you must have. The reason unsuccessful
people are unsuccessful is that they have allowed life’s obstacles to
stop them or derail them. We can all look back at times of our lives
that this has happened. But that is the “you” of the past. The “YOU” of
the future easily overcomes the challenges and obstacles of life.
There are no
insurmountable obstacles to you achieving your dreams and your
aspirations. There are hundreds of examples of people who had bigger
challenges than you and I, but who achieved in wonderful ways and lived
incredible lives.
Here is a
simple Four Step process you can use to Overcome Obstacles in Your Life:
Step 1 –
Prioritize Your Obstacles
Start with a
blank piece of paper and write down all of the obstacles you are facing
in your life right now.
Next
prioritize them (put them in order of importance).
Once you have
done this, pick the top three. These should be the three biggest
obstacles you have. When you overcome these three obstacles, you will
make a giant leap in improving your life and you will take a big step
closer to your goals.
Step 2 –
Exercise: Bite Sized
Start with
three blank pieces of paper. Write each obstacle at the top of each
page. Each obstacle might look like this:
Obstacle 1: I
don’t like my job and my career path.
Obstacle 2: I
am overweight and unfit and I lack energy. Obstacle 3: I do not seem to
be able to get ahead financially.
This is a
time to be really honest with yourself about where you are compared to
where you want to be.
Bite Sized
There is an
old Indian proverb: “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.”
So now you
need to take each obstacle and deal with it in single bite-sized piece
at a time. This is important because if you break any obstacle into bite
sized pieces you can deal with the challenge one piece at a time.
Suddenly the obstacle itself does not look huge, it simply looks like a
few bite-sized pieces each of which is manageable. In time you will
easily prevail.
Example
Let’s work
through a simple example. Note: This is NOT for you to follow as I do
not know your situation. It is simply an explanatory example.
Obstacle: I
am overweight and unfit and I lack energy.
Break this
obstacle into bite sized pieces, with each one leading you towards
overcoming your obstacle:
Piece 1:
Sustainably lose two pounds (one kilo) per month for six months.
Piece 2: Eat
five portions of fresh fruit and vegetables per day.
Piece 3: Find
an exercise buddy to work with.
Piece 4:
Exercise 3 hours per week for Month 1, Exercise 4 hours per week for
Month 2, Exercise 5 hours per week for Month 3; and so on.
Piece 5:
Remove 30% of processed foods from my diet.
Piece 6:
Remove 30% of non-natural sugars from my diet.
Piece 7:
Drink 4 pints (2.5 litters) of water per day.
Piece 8: Cut
my caffeine intake by at least 50%.
Piece 9:
Reduce my junk food intake by at least 50%.
Piece 10:
Ensure I am in bed with the light off eight hours before I need to get
up.
Now your
“obstacle” that used to be the BIG “I’m overweight, I’m unfit, I have no
energy” mountain is cut down into easily achievable bite-sized pieces
that you can manage.
Do this
exercise for each of the three obstacles you wrote down.
Step 3 – Look
Up
To help you
get motivation to succeed in consuming these bite-sized pieces, take
time out to “Look Up”.
Take your
eyes off the obstacles and instead look up and ahead. Think about what
your life is going to be like when you overcome these obstacles.
Visualize the Lifestyle of your dreams and get energy, enthusiasm and
motivation from where you are heading, not from what is going on right
now.
Step 4 – Look
Back
To get
enthusiastic about taking on those bite-sized pieces it is useful to
“Look Back”.
Take time to
look back and see how far you have come. Celebrate where you are now
compared to where you were five years ago. Look back at previous
obstacles you have conquered. Remember your past victories and allow
them to give you power to smash through the next obstacle!
Summary
We all have
obstacles and challenges in life. What separates successful and
unsuccessful people is how they deal with the obstacles.
Expect to
have obstacles, and more importantly expect to be victorious in
overcoming them.
One of the
best ways to overcome obstacles is to break them down into small easily
digestible pieces. Then simply deal with each piece in turn until you
have overcome the obstacle.
Sometimes we
need extra motivation to get going and keep going. If you find yourself
in this place take some time out to “Look Up” and “Look Ahead” to where
you are going. Remind yourself how good life is going to be when you
have overcome this obstacle.
It is also
good to remind ourselves that we have overcome lots of obstacles in the
past. We have come a long way already! Celebrate your past victories and
use that strength and enthusiasm to give you momentum to tackle your
current challenges.
Obstacles
Self Talk
You might
like to write out and repeat these self talk statements to help you
reprogram your mind to overcome obstacles.
“I like
obstacles because that is where I leave my competitors behind.” “I
embrace obstacles because they cause me to learn and grow.”
“I enjoy
obstacles because they give me the opportunity to solve a problem and
overcome a challenge.”