Ways For Overcoming Obstacles
Overcoming obstacles can be difficult. By definition, an obstacle is defined as something that obstructs or hinders progress. Obstacles come in many forms, both at work and at home.
According to Kevin Daum, obstacles naturally fall into three categories:
A. External obstacles. External obstacles are those that are outside of your control. Examples include the economy, natural disasters, physical limitations and the actions of the people around you.
But just because these obstacles are outside your control, it does not mean you simply throw up your hands and give up. What is in your control is your own behavior and how you react and deal with the external obstacles that are thrown at you.
B. Internal obstacles. Internal obstacles are those that you do have control over. Some common examples of internal obstacles are needing more money, wanting a promotion at work, trying to lose weight, and improving a strained relationship with your family member or other loved one.
C. Habitual obstacles. Habitual obstacles apply more generally in your life and may only be eliminated by making a global change. Common examples of habitual obstacles include feeling constantly stressed out, getting angry too easily or being prone to procrastination.
1. Understand the obstacle
We naturally tend to move quickly to a solution without first fully understanding the issue at hand. This is an easily understandable impulse – your to-do list is a mile long, and you want to quickly finish this task and move on to the next one.
Let’s say you are trying to complete a project and an obstacle arises that must be dealt with before you can go on to the next step. Your typical thought process probably goes something like this:
A.) You evaluate the problem briefly.
B.) You think that you know what to do, and without much further thought, you start to implement your solution.
C.) After some significant period of time passes, you realize that you have been going about this all wrong as your solution is not working.
D.) Back to the drawing board!
Our goal is to help you avoid this. It may sound obvious, but taking the time when first faced with a new obstacle to carefully consider the best resolution is critical, and is a step that most people skip. Why do we skip this step? We think it is because we don’t want to face the hard reality of a daunting problem.
But the truth is that it is an investment of time that typically pays off very well in terms of overall savings in time and expense spent. After all, if you don’t completely understand all aspects of the obstacle you are trying to overcome, how can you ultimately be successful?
2. Dealing With Health
2. Dealing With Health
Another major problem that might come up in your life is a health crisis. This is not far-fetched because our body systems work round-the-clock, even when we are sleeping. As a result of this, and if you don’t maintain routine health habits, health deterioration might begin to set in. Things might even get serious if you don’t attend to it early.
3. Relationship, Marriage, and Family
There may not be anything as sweet as love and family life, but it can also be the source of pain for some. Human imperfections in a relationship can cause a major crisis in life. This has been a stumbling block to many on their path to fulfillment.
Solution
The best thing to do is to prevent relationship problems from happening, but if they do happen, you need to face reality and begin to take steps towards addressing them. Do your best to keep the lines of communication open as this can help in strengthening your struggling relationship. Talk about the challenges with your partner and look for common grounds.
You can also arrange to see a counselor together or read books that address the specific challenges you are facing. The worst thing you can do is to end a relationship and that’s only when you have exhausted all other options.
4. Workplace problems
The workplace is supposed to be a place where we dutifully render the services for which we’ve been hired.
However, it is not impossible to face animosity at work—dealing with toxic people who would rather not see any good in what you do. It might be caused by differences in background, attitudes, and unhealthy competition that can result in personal conflicts. This can create undue stress and reduce productivity.
Solution
Be as professional as possible when dealing with toxic people. Be kind and show understanding, and try to avoid personal confrontation.
You can even try to reach out to the persons and invite them over for a coffee and get to understand their worldview. This can help you to connect with them at their level so that you can avoid unnecessary stress for yourself.
5. Emptiness and Boredom
When you are in a rut, everything becomes normal, dull, unproductive, and yet difficult to change. This can lead to feelings of emptiness and boredom. This may not seem like a serious life problem, but it can have a great impact on your life.
Solution
To overcome boredom and emptiness, break out of your routines, and deliberately create a new experience for yourself. If you can’t leave your job to find a new one, start doing other things that reflect your true passion. Sometimes, the things that give us the needed drive in life are not our day jobs.
There is always a benefit and/or positive side to solving problems. Remember that if you solve a problem, even a difficult one, it is one less thing to worry about, and one less problem on your problem list!
Remember the goal is to find the best solution to your problem, NOT the perfect solution. If there was a “perfect” solution, you would have already found it.