How do you see obstacles in your life? Do they cause anxiety, depression, frustration, and sadness? If you answered to any of those feelings, congratulations, your human. Now, how do you handle obstacles in your life? I try to run from them, I don’t address them hoping the just go away, I freeze, I find ways to overcome them, I reach out to others to help me, I just give up? Again, if you answered yes to any or all of these, congratulations, you are human.
I have always been a huge Michael Jordan fan and he stated the following:
“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.”
I love how he simply states that obstacles don’t have to stop you. The key is to try and understand how you can overcome the obstacles you will encounter. Here are some thoughts/ideas on you can overcome obstacles:
Acknowledge the obstacle: It is critical that when you encounter an obstacle in your life to acknowledge the obstacle. To to do this you must take a look at how it came into your life, what was the circumstance, what does it involved and who does it involve. Being able to understand these items will give you a feeling of control of the situation. The sooner you can feel like you are in control of the situation, the quicker you can start to think about ways to overcome the obstacle.
Eliminate the noise: If you think about it, when obstacles come in your life one of the main reason for the feelings I mentioned at the beginning of this post enter your life is because you cannot focus on what is happening. This is usually because of the noise that is taking place in your life. In order to address what is going on, you must eliminate the noise. This may be removing yourself from a situation, taking a break from what you are doing to give yourself time to think, doing some type of meditation, whatever works for you to eliminate the noise.
Focus on what you can control: There is no doubt that we all like to be in control. This is especially important when we encounter obstacles. Being in control allows for better clarity of what needs to be done. When you focus on things you can’t control, you only increase your feelings of frustration and this can often lead to feelings of giving up. There will be times when you feel like you cannot control anything but at the end of the day, you can control how you feel. And as is often said, when you control how you feel, you can control how you act. I have often found writing things down helps me understand what I can and cannot control when dealing with an obstacle.
Mindset is key: You may or may not have heard about the concept of Growth Mindset vs Fixed Mindset. Simply put, if you have a Growth Mindset, you embrace challenges and persist in the face of obstacles while on the other hand, if you have a Fixed Mindset, you avoid challenges give up easily when faced with obstacles. As you can quickly see, how you think will impact every aspect of how you act. Thus, it is imperative to have a growth mindset in order to effectively overcome obstacles.
Notice that no where did I say overcoming obstacles in your life is easy, the truth is, its not. However, when you develop what works for you, overcoming obstacles becomes an empowering part of your life. You will find ways to learn more about who you are and what you value in your life. Remember this, developing ways to overcome obstacles is a process. It will not happen overnight.
The fact that you have read this block post means you believe in yourself and want to make good things happen so let me simply say, you’ve got this, you are amazing and there is truly no obstacle you cannot overcome.
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I think that it is interesting that right next to “Overcoming Obstacles” is “A Break Worth Taking”. I agree that social media can be a really bad influence, but I went a different way. I was overwhelmed with the number of obstacles, and didn’t know how to cope. After Ward Conference today, I felt better, but then I began to feel it all closing in on me. I felt trapped. I was scheduled for a really busy day. Something clicked, and I canceled everything and spent several hours thinking about how to succeed against my trials. Surprisingly, in many cases, there was a solution that was do-able. Usually not easy, but certainly better than the rat-in-a-trap way I had felt. A lot of prayer, some scripture study and some Conference talks, and even a short nap. Then I tackled the first one. It was Church related, so I wasn’t breaking the Sabbath. I only got halfway done, but that was more than I would have accomplished otherwise, and by doing half, I know how to do the other half. Before today, I didn’t even know where to begin. I just kept thinking I needed to do it and having no idea how.
I cannot believe that by taking a time to do nothing I got more done than if I had thrown myself into it. And I feel better. Having this one project done will free me up to do other things, and I won’t be carrying a load of guilt. Sometimes I need to give myself a break.
This is an awesome post! I love the Michael Jordan quote about not letting obstacles stop us, because that is usually what my natural instincts tell me to do. When something seems impossible, I just need to find a way to work around it.
I absolutely agree with writing things down. Whether that’s to see how much I can/can’t control in a given situation, listing the steps of how to start, or just simply emptying all of my thoughts onto paper to free up space in the mind. I have found it extremely helpful, especially during stressful times, to unload all of my jumbled thoughts onto paper to clear my mind. I oftentimes will express worries and fears – on paper – that I had been suppressing, and once they’re out of my head I can begin to think and function much more clearly. I also find that things aren’t as bad, and there isn’t nearly as much on my do-to list as I thought, once it’s out of my head.
I agree 100% with Virginia – we can accomplish so much more when we take time to rest and recharge!
I appreciate what Virginia Sherker said, prayer, faith, conference talks and a nap are certainly vital to being armed and having a clear mind to think out challenges in our lives. The spirit guides us, prompts us and gives us solutions. I believe we are more productive if we take time to stop and ponder the obstacle or situation we face. I appreciate the idea of meditating as well…take time to breathe in, exhale..take deep breaths for your health.