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Don’t Give Up: Overcome Obstacles and Achieve Greater Success

Jack Perry, Author - Jack, You're Fired! | Articles > From the section: Leadership and Motivation

December, 2014 |

The Respect Factor

Have you ever been working toward a goal and, no matter what you did, something always set you back? Maybe you wanted to leave the office early and every time you thought you had your work finished, you'd get an urgent e-mail from a supplier or a frantic phone call from a client. No matter how hard you tried to smooth everything over, some obstacle would fall in your path and your goal of going home would seem a little more out of reach.

What is an obstacle?

An obstacle is anything that stands between you and your defined success. In life, you're always going to have obstacles. The more adventuresome you choose to be, the bigger obstacles you will face. Realize that completely eliminating obstacles is impossible. Unless you lock yourself into a dark room and do absolutely nothing, obstacles will happen.

In fact, the number of obstacles you face might be increasing. Paul Stoltz of Peak Learning conducted a survey that asked people how many obstacles they face each day. When he asked the group in 1990, they reported an average of ten obstacles per day. But in 1999, the number had jumped to twenty-three. So if the number of adverse events that people perceive in life is increasing over time, everyone needs to be better prepared for dealing with these obstacles.

Where do obstacles come from?

Obstacles can come from external or internal sources. Some obstacles you just can't help, such as weather, high interest rates, gender biases, cultural differences, or associations with a specific group. If someone doesn't give you a job because you are a woman, or because you don't go to the same church, then these are external obstacles. Someone has created the obstacle for you. These obstacles don't mean you're doomed for failure; they just mean you need to work even harder to change the person's mind or adjust to fit the situation.

Fear …On the other hand, internal obstacles can be just as difficult to overcome, but you create them for yourself. Fear is probably the number one obstacle. If you're afraid of heights, then that fear stands between you and rock climbing. If you're afraid of cold calling, then that stands between you and building your client list.

Negative Attitude… If you have a negative, it is another obstacle that comes from internal sources. Your own thoughts and beliefs become obstacles when you don't believe in yourself, don't believe in your team, or always look for the down side of your situation. If you don't think you'll ever find a better job, you won't. If you don't believe you'll ever lose weight, you won't. You can never achieve anything if you let a negative attitude control you.

Poor Self-Management… misuse of your time is a classic example of poor self-management. If you allow yourself to be late for work every day, then you will probably be overlooked for the next promotion. If you don't take action to establish and achieve your goals, you limit your success no matter how badly you want something. So if you want to find a better job, you have to stop complaining and start looking for new opportunities.

How do you overcome an obstacle?

When faced with an obstacle, you ultimately have two choices. You can either give up and quit, or you can push forward toward success. If you decide to push forward, then you can use the following three strategies to overcome whatever obstacle stands in your way.

Face it.

Whatever the obstacle is, look right at it, acknowledge it, and decide to outperform it. For example, if a prospect only buys from local salespeople, you must decide to be significantly better than everyone in the area. Likewise, if you are addicted to nicotine, you must decide to be stronger than your urge to smoke.

Be persistent.

Beating someone who doesn't give up is impossible, so you can persist until your competition gives up or makes a mistake. Understand adversity and seek out challenges, then persist until you succeed.

Take control.

Don't let situations control you. Stand up and deal with problems or setbacks. Most of the time, obstacles are short-term, such as a flat tire, a bad grade, or a rejection. If you can take control and change your tire, study more, or get to the heart of your prospect's hesitation, then you can move forward.

Action

When you find solutions, deal with your obstacles. Don't sit down and do nothing. Develop a solution-oriented mindset. A path to success always exists. Once you visualize your victory, you'll know you can find a way, and you'll take action. Use these three strategies when you face a challenge, and success can be yours regardless of what obstacles lay in your path.

Change Course

Maybe you've been trying for years to overcome your fear of flying so you can take your family on vacation, but every time you go to board a plane you panic. At some point, you might realize you aren't going to overcome the obstacle. When this happens, you must consider whether you'll have great success if you continue to pursue this same path. Or if you put your energy into something similar, would you have greater success? And if you drove your family to Florida, rather than fly them to Hawaii, wouldn't they still enjoy the trip?

When you can't seem to overcome an obstacle, look for better ways to expend your energy….change course. This doesn't mean you are a failure; it just means you need to refocus your goals and find a new direction.

Beating Obstacles

Obstacles are a natural part of life, no matter what you do or how good you are. However your reaction to obstacles is a matter of choice. When you understand where obstacles come from and know how to beat them, they won't run your life and you can achieve anything you set your sights on.

About Jack Perry

Jack Perry is a renowned leader, coach, and author with over 45 years of experience."Jack, You're Fired," is his book on effective sales, goals and motivation techniques. Jack climbed to the top with a District Sales Management position at IBM, then became CEO at a national financial services firm. Jack is an expert on sales, motivation, leadership and retirement planning.

Visit his site to read more articles: http://www.jackyourefired.com to buy his ebook

THE RESPECT FACTOR® is a trademark of Jack Perry in the United States and other countries. Used with permission. ©2010 Jack Perry. All rights reserved.