Conquering Obstacles

When you hear, “obstacle” you probably get discouraged or think,”what an inconvenience.”  Conquering obstacles can be as simple as reframing your mental perception. When you hear about options, you think of possibilities. The option could be in regards to a food item, what color car, or better yet opportunities for your success. Every time we have had an opportunity we have had options. It might not be clear what the option was at this stage, but it was there in the beginning. The option probably began with an uncomfortable or aggravating situation sometimes called obstacles. The decisions you made at the initial point is what shaped the outcome. It is important to realize what these options provide, they provide opportunities. Opportunities can be good and bad, and again the outcome is determined by your initial decisions. There are five steps I take to avoid a bad outcome, reframe my mental perception, to ensure these opportunities are going my way.

5) Realize the option:

One of the most important step in the process, because it sets you up for everything else. You have to realize the option before you can move forward. So instead of getting angry, ask yourself,”What does this situation have to do with?” Instead of going straight to, “why is this happening to me?” It is important you realize the difference. The first question asks you to get outside yourself and dig deep to think really about the context of the situation. The other sets you up for a downward spiral of despair because you are not allowing yourself the experience.

4) Confront the Option:

This question can only be effective if you do the work from the first question. After you have analyzed the context of the situation, then you are free to confront the option. “What do I need to learn from this?” How powerful is this question, at this point you are surrendering to the process. I know all of us want to be in control, but when life gives you options you better listen up. Write down what comes to mind and reflect on what was written, this will lay a solid foundation for the work ahead. You have to learn from these experiences, or you cannot progress in life. It is of the utmost importance to understand you are a student in the process of life.

3) Work With It:

Now that you are willing to learn you can work with it. You now have the capacity to see things you might not have initially. Give yourself a self-assessment every day related to the situation, ”Did my actions today move me forward for tomorrow?” Write down (good and bad) how and why it did, be honest with yourself, the clearer you are the better off you will be. Don’t get discouraged if you can’t clearly answer these initially, this is hard to do because all of us want to think we are the best. However, in reality everyone has holes to fill. Your focus and dedication to this step will determine a good or bad starting point.

2) Learn From It:

Taking the information you journaled about above you will start to see a trend you may not have realized initially. Compare your notes on a weekly basis of the things you have learned and see if there is a common thread. Look at the good and the bad, you will see the progress you have been making, and the things you need to improve. Your ability to move forward with actual self-assessed critiques will help you feel confident in every move you make. The process you are going through is helping you see the options and learning from them. Your willingness to go through the experience will help you reflect back and cross-analyze between the good and the bad. This brings it all forward, forever progressing.

1) Take Your Experience and Move Forward:

All these experiences you are having and the steps you are going through are not to be tossed to the side. You were meant to learn something from this, and the most important part is your ability to accept those lessons and to carry them forward. If you choose just to get by and learn the minimum you can be sure you will go through it again very soon until you learn your lesson. You have done much work to progress forward, cherish this work. Sun Tzu said in the Art of War, ”The general who wins a battle makes many calculations.”

In our current day and age, we tend to find the ugly in a situation automatically. However, if we just step back from ourselves and ask why we will set ourselves up to accept a better mental frame.

I am sure every one of us has something that is challenging us right now, what are you going to do to push through?