“Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.”
Joshua J. Marine
Why should we consider obstacles when we’re working on reaching our goals? Because we don’t want to be stalled out by our obstacles. It’s better to be able to jump right over those obstacles when we know what they are or what they could be in advance. The easiest way to do that is to be prepared for what could come our way. Then we can anticipate and be proactive with strategies to jump right over them.
What could obstacles to our goals look like?
- Having enough time
- Lack of direction to reach goals
- Lack of knowledge or skills to reach our goals
- Not having good habits in place or wasting time
- Lack of confidence that we can reach our goals
Ways to overcome obstacles:
- Think about what your obstacles could be and write them down.
- Think about the solutions to the obstacles and write them down so you already have a plan in place.
- Learn the skills that you need for working on those goals. Think books, blogs, and YouTube tutorials.
- Ask for help from someone you know or by hiring someone knowledgeable to help you.
- Delegate tasks to someone who knows how to do what you need easily and efficiently.
- Create an environment for success. This could look like working with an accountability partner for support, using visual reminders like Sticky Notes on your mirror or placing a vision board where you see it daily.
- Have a celebration or reward planned for reaching your goals. Celebrate your success!
Here are a couple of examples of personal and business goals:
Drink 8 glasses of water per day
- 2 Obstacles to write down:
1) I don’t like the taste of water
2) I forget to take a water bottle with me when I leave the house
- Solutions to write down:
1) Look up recipes for flavored waters, purchase flavored drops, add fruit/lemon, purchase naturally flavored water
2) Purchase water bottle that counts glasses of water, fill water bottle at night, place the water bottle lid next to keys
Write 3 blog posts/week
Obstacles to write down:
- I don’t know what to write about
- Solutions to write down:
- Create a schedule for posting blog content
- Create a document of ideas for blog posts
- Jot down ideas as they come
- Research trending topics for your niche to add to your list
Wrap Up
Do your best to anticipate what obstacles you may have to overcome to reach your goals and have solutions ready. Re-evaluate any new obstacles that pop up and don’t let obstacles stop you in your tracks. Jump over them with your solutions instead!
“Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it or work around it.
Michael Jordan
