Obstacles? A Blip on the Radar
It is my opinion that a life free of obstacles is not a life worth living; hindrances we stumble upon in our respective journeys force us to innovate, adapt, and grow. Without those opportunities, we would remain the same from one year to the next. Even if we recognize the necessity and the beauty within facing and overcoming obstacles, it is impossible to deny that they are arduous, and that they often break us down in every way and leave us with nothing. Although it can be humiliating, demoralizing, and downright soul-crushing to be in that position, it is important to remember that if you have nothing left and you are sitting at rock bottom, the only way to go is up, and you have a fresh page on which to write the next chapter of your story.
But how do you prepare on a mental and emotional level to overcome a challenge after it has dropped in your lap with the promise of destabilizing everything in your world? You must figure out how to make that obstacle meaningful and impactful in the grand scheme of your life, but at the same time you must make it feel no more significant than a proverbial blip on the radar. I am in no way perfect at overcoming obstacles while appreciating the teachable moments therein, but I am better than I used to be, and I have a system in place that might be helpful for other people, too.
Acknowledge Your Obstacles…
You cannot be an ostrich with your head in a hole when it comes to your obstacles; ignoring them, avoiding them, or pretending they don’t exist will not make them any easier to overcome, and it will not make them go away either. Likewise, it is not helpful to marginalize the formidableness of your obstacles. If it is serious enough to make you feel challenged, then it is serious enough for you to treat it with an appropriate level of respect. In short: acknowledge your obstacles for what they are. By treating them with reverence and perhaps just the smallest hint of fear, you are setting yourself up with the corresponding level of focus to take them on, and you will never underestimate how difficult it will be, and therefore how hard you will have to work, to come out on top on the other side.
But Do Not Dwell on Them
To obsess over the things that challenge you could be a recipe for disaster; if all you do is eat, sleep, think, and breath your obstacles without a moment’s rest or peace, you might never find yourself strong enough to take them down. It is important to know the breadth and the scope of the hindrances you are facing, but at the same time it is a good idea to take a step back and enjoy the things in life that make the obstacles worth overcoming in the first place. In taking down your obstacles, don’t cause yourself paralysis by analysis; the pivotal moment will come when it is time to prove you have what you take in the face of your challenges and you want to be equal parts fresh and rested as well as motivated to do what must be done. Furthermore, and perhaps most important, to dwell on an obstacle is to open the door to fear, and once that slithers in it becomes very difficult to convince yourself that you have what it takes to do what must be done.
Keep Moving…
When we are faced with something that challenges us, sometimes the first instinct is to freeze. We find ourselves paralyzed, either by fear or lack of confidence. Regardless of what type of obstacle you are facing, the worst thing you can do is to stand still. Even tiny, timid baby steps forward are better than staying in place. You cannot overcome anything without taking the first step, and sometimes the ten million other steps that follow. Even if it does not feel good, even if you feel like you are going nowhere, even if you are being blown back by your obstacle with every step you take, move forward, and keep moving! Before you know it, you’ll pick your head up and take a big breath of air and realize that you are far closer to completing your trial then you ever could have imagined. You might even be on the other side of it by the time you think to look around. Whatever you do, just keep moving.
And Trust the Process
In acknowledging your obstacle, you will probably also start to formulate a series of tasks needed to overcome that obstacle. Even if planning is not your thing, I am sure you still formulate a vague idea of what the process needs to be in conquering your challenge. As soon as you have a to-do list, stick to it and don’t abandon the process. You can adapt the process as new information becomes available to help you work smarter and harder, but don’t abandon the process. Above all else, trust your process! Don’t try to skip steps, don’t look for shortcuts, and don’t rush to the finish. When you are in the thick of overcoming your obstacles, to miss one step could spell disaster for your end goal. Some of our challenges are short term and easy to resolve in a matter of hours or days. But some of our challenges are long term and will require years of effort to see them through and no matter what we cannot lose faith that the process will see us through. As soon as we try to find shortcuts to get where we are going, all hope of tackling our obstacles is lost.
Track Your Progress…
Sometimes it is possible to get lost in the day in and day out struggle against our obstacles, and as a result we lose track of where we were when we started, and how far we have come in all the steps of our journey. To prevent ourselves from getting lost in the weeds in the middle of the pond, it is very important to make sure we are keeping track of our progress. Every time you look at how far you have come since your journey began it will give you a jolt of motivation and it will be easier to keep pressing against that obstacle in hopes of one day finally breaking through. But if all you do every day is beat your head against the things that challenge you without patting yourself on the back for all you have achieved, you might lose faith in what you are fighting for and your cause will become lost. Keep track of your incremental accomplishments and let them propel you into the finish.
And Set a Goal
This is the single most important thing you can do when you are overcoming an obstacle. Whether that obstacle is something that came into your life through misfortune, or you put it there on purpose to help yourself grow, you must set a goal to help you overcome that obstacle. A goal will keep you motivated when you want to quit! A goal will keep you on track when you feel it would be easier to fall off and let your trials go. In fact, it is better to set several goals as you take on your obstacles. Obviously, you’ll have the big goal which I am sure will have something to do with taking down your obstacle once and for all, but you should give yourself some incremental goals along the way. You might get disheartened if all you are working for is that one big goal, especially if that big goal is a long-term thing, and difficult to attain. Finally, once you achieve your big goal and you take down that huge obstacle, be prepared to set another goal right away. It will keep you on your toes, and whether you create your own obstacles or not, the next one is just around the corner waiting to challenge you and hopefully to help you grow as well.
Learning to overcome obstacles without disrupting your entire life is the same as learning to solve problems in a more effective, efficient manner. People who solve problems well tend to be better athletes, better students, better employees, better supervisors, and all around better people. There is no way to avoid obstacles all together, and if you are trying to avoid them you are missing out on valuable opportunities to learn and grow. Quit running from the things that challenge you, follow the steps that I have recommended, and before you know it the appearance of an obstacle in your life will be no more significant than a proverbial blip on the radar, and you will know just how to tackle them to make them meaningful and positive.
