 September 1st 2008
 Personal Development
 3 comments
Almost everywhere you go and with everything you do, there will be distractions, complications and obstacles. They can range from something minor and shallow to something deeply influential and complicated. These obstacles can be anything from the physical to the emotional or intellectual. It can range from having to deal with traffic works on your route to work which increases your stress levels, to an inability to complete projects on time because of chronic procrastination.
Many people have more good intentions and motivation than they realize. However because we spend most our time focusing on our efforts rather than the obstacles we come across as we progress, it’s basically the same as running into a brick wall every time. This is why I have decided to do this guide. Hopefully it will raise your consciousness regarding these obstacles so that when things don’t work out or the desired results aren’t achieved you ask yourself why that is. In this first part of the guide I will describe the process of identifying the obstacle and determining why exactly it affects you. In the second part of the guide, which will appear on Wednesday, I will discuss the three ways of dealing with obstacles and cover whether you can avoid, resolve or live with them.
Identify the obstacle
Surely this is obvious? Not really. As I have touched on, it’s amazing how many people fail to pick up on the obstacles in their life. People complain why they can’t find a date yet they never think to look at why this may be. They complain about the traffic when getting to work in the morning but it never occurs to them to search for an alternative route, try public transport or even ask to work different hours. If something is a problem to you it should be a natural habit to think and ask yourself why that is. Even if you don’t take it any further and try to resolve the problem, understanding it is half the battle. Start developing this habit today.
Why is it an obstacle?
An obstacle to one person is an advantage to another. Unlike an outgoing person, a quiet guy would consider a large group meeting a difficult situation. Why is this? As David Allen says, you can’t work on a project, it’s an all encompassing blob of different stuff. That’s why you need to come up with next actions, tasks you can physically act on. The same goes for obstacles (unless you are superman and can physically lift up the traffic works that make me late for work every morning). You need to ask yourself what is causing the situation to be an obstacle to you. The quiet guy finds the big gathering difficult because he is reserved and even shy. He can’t change the nature of the gathering (unless by some lucky chance hardly anybody turns up). However, he can take steps and measures to make the situation easier and more comfortable for himself.
Reader discussion
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With any obstacle you can go around it, through it, over it, under it, ignore it or just put up with it. So decide, and stop fretting about it.
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It’s amazing what you can learn when you really just take the time to sit down and think about a problem that you’re having objectively and from outside of yourself. It isn’t always easy, but it always pays off.
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Exactly, by thinking rationally and being proactive you can do so much!
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