How to Overcome Obstacles in Life

When facing difficulties in your life, sometimes you’ll feel stuck or unmotivated to make your next move. Some tasks seem so high that we ultimately choose to give up and not take the necessary actions to succeed.

I’m here to tell you that the obstacles you face, can be overcome and will help you grow into a better version of yourself. Here are some ways I overcome my obstacles to move forward.

What is an Obstacle?

An obstacle is anything that gets in the way of achieving a goal. Obstacles can be external, like a difficult problem to solve, or internal, like a lack of confidence. Overcoming obstacles requires effort and persistence. Ultimately, the ability to overcome obstacles is an important part of success.

Why are obstacles important?

Many people see obstacles as something to be avoided. However, obstacles can actually be essential for our growth and development. Without obstacles, we would never be challenged to think creatively or push ourselves physically.

We would never have the opportunity to learn and grow. Instead, we would simply coast through life without ever really living.

So next time you encounter an obstacle, remember that it may just be the universe’s way of helping you become a better version of yourself. Embrace the challenge and see what hidden potential lies within you.

Why is overcoming obstacles important?

It’s necessary to see why obstacles are important in life, but overcoming them is just as important. Think of the self-esteem boost you get when you were brave enough to take on that challenge.

That feeling you get can turn into a snowball effect and before you know it, overcoming them can just be a normal thing in your life.

The lack of challenge and the lack of achieving your goals can bring you down and make your feel like accomplishing anything is impossible.

From my personal experience, running away from problems caused nothing but sadness and anxiety. So if you want to truly live life, face your fears and overcome obstacles.

How do I overcome obstacles?

When it comes to facing challenges in my life, it can be difficult and overwhelming at times. Although this may be true, it’s important to understand that through the pressure and stress comes a better and stronger version of yourself.

“Diamonds form under pressure”

With that being said, here’s my mindset and some steps I take when facing obstacles.

Try to Gain Perspective

Mindset

What I mean by this is multiple things. From the mindset point of view, it’s important to try and see the obstacles as nothing more than another step to get you from point A to point B. Gain a different perspective from how you might have seen it in the past.

For example, when starting my blog, I was overwhelmed with how to write an article correctly and how to format one. Ultimately, I had to figure this out because if I didn’t know how to, then how would I ever hope to have a blog?

Many of us see obstacles as something in our way, but why not steps? Thinking of it this way made me feel much more motivated to learn. Every bump in the road suddenly turned into a new path to walk through.

Outcome

From an outcome point of view, I like to see the obstacles as knowledge gained. Many obstacles can take days, months, or even years. But through that time of finding and searching for the answer, you’ll run into new information and you’ll fill in gaps that you didn’t even know you had.

Resulting in a stronger you and even finding the answer or completing what you needed to.

Cost Benefit Analysis

You’ve probably heard this term before in economics class, but I’m not here to give a finance lesson. Basically in this situation, I like to analyze the following:

 If I want outcome X then what does it require/what's the cost?

Is the outcome worth it? Is the cost too high? Am I willing to pay this price for what I want?

These are questions I often ask myself when I face obstacles. Many of us want to achieve success, get that new job, and move to the next stage of our lives, but are we willing to do what is needed? It can be difficult to progress due to fear, but I challenge you to be brave and do it anyway.

Often the outcome we want to achieve is far greater than the fear we have of the challenge ahead of us. If you really want what it is that you want, then pay the price.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help

As much as I want the feeling of “doing it all on my own”, it’s not worth the struggle. I find having friends or support to help you actively overcome an obstacle or even just getting advice from them can elevate you higher than taking the task by yourself.

Someone else can have already experienced what you’re going through or they can have the benefit of another person to get the job done quicker.

Believe in yourself

As cliche as it might sound, you have to believe that you can. If you keep telling yourself you can’t then you probably won’t. Overcoming obstacles requires you to have the right mindset going into them. Sure there will be plenty of negative thoughts along the way, but it’s important to just let them be thoughts.

Be Patient

This is something I still struggle with, but patience is key to creating the future you want. Many of the large tasks we want to achieve take time to grow. Take my blog for example.

As much as I want to have a successful website overnight, it’s something that takes months to years to even see any sort of traction and results. But I have to stay motivated and focus on moving forward.

Take it one step at a time

I tend to look too far into the future by seeing problems that I’m not even facing yet. I’ll be a level 1 player worrying about the level 10 boss. The more you focus on the problems ahead, the less you focus on the problems in front of you. This created tons of anxiety for me and I’d constantly be overwhelmed. I’d make a problem exists before they even become a problem!

I constantly tell myself that if I can take it one step at a time, I’ll get there one day. So much so that I have a tattoo of it. This helps me see the current obstacles clearly and think of possible solutions instead of thinking of more possible problems.

Stay Positive

One of the most unhelpful things I used to do is be a negative Nancy. (This is just a form of expression and not a stab at all the Nancys) Our emotions are often an obstacle themselves, but I found that being positive can get you through so much.

Having a positive mindset can boost your self-esteem at challenging times. Even if there are tons of external events happening to you that are out of your control, understand that the only control you have is what you do and or think, so why not think positively?

Count to 3 and go on 2

This is something I saw scrolling on Instagram one day, but when I get to 3, I’d find myself counting further and then eventually negotiating with myself. During the negation period, I’d eventually talk myself out of doing the task and it went straight back to me thinking over and over.

This is why it’s important to go on 2. Going on 2 helped me take the leap. Don’t negotiate with yourself on why you shouldn’t do it. Be bold and brave enough to jump. So next time, take a deep breath, “1”, “2”, and now you’re there!

Take Action

What’s an actor without acting? What’s a scientist with no experiments? What’s a plan with no action? I’m sure you get the point, but I used to spend all day staring at the ceiling thinking and trying to plan my next move. So much so that I became anxious and depressed.

I learned that without taking action, the anxiety grew because I was stressing about what if. What if it doesn’t work? What if I waste my time? What if I look like a jackass?

All these what-ifs were unanswered until I took action. Taking action is what gets us from point A to point B. We don’t think our way through to success. We make mistakes, we go through the process, and we deal with difficult situations.

There’s a reason why movie directors shout “action” when making a movie. So when I need to overcome anything, I take action.

What’s the worst that can happen?

I have a love-hate relationship with this question. I hate it because naturally, I assume the worst-case scenario almost every time. But nonetheless, if the worst case did happen, is it really the end of the world?

Realize that the worst case doesn’t often happen. The reality is that it’s just in our heads. I usually ask myself this question as a last resort, but no matter what happens, I’m gonna come out on the other side.

Final Thoughts

Overcoming obstacles can be some of the most challenging times of our lives. Obstacles prevent us from reaching that next step and achieving goals but can lead us to the right path. It’s because of these obstacles that we become stronger, smarter, and overall better people.

If we want to be a role model for the younger generation, we must overcome obstacles. If we want to make enough money to feed our families, we must overcome obstacles. So take a moment to realize that as difficult as it may be, you need to decide to take the action necessary to beat what’s in front of you. (not literally)

So what’s stopping you from getting where you need to be?