Overcoming Obstacles, Challenges, and Disappointments

Let’s face it – life is filled with obstacles, challenges, and disappointments.  The way that we handle them makes all the difference in the outcome and how we move on.  Any successful person will tell you that, at one time or another, they have been faced with some type of obstacle or challenge that seemed insurmountable.  Maybe their failures even led to disappointment for them.  But they were able to take these obstacles, challenges, disappointments, and even failures and turn them around into successes.  Many of today’s great successes will tell you that it wasn’t easy and there were many times that it would have been very easy to give up.  History shows many similar stories.  Faced with the same situation, what makes one give up and another move on to accomplish great things?

1. Persistence.  John Quincy Adams once said that “Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.”  The dictionary defines persistence as continuing to exist despite interference.  Persistence is pressing on even when you feel like quitting.  If you don’t run into some type of obstacle along the way, it may be that your goal is not challenging enough.  Obstacles and challenges are to be expected on the road to success.  Continuing to take action will eventually lead to results.  Successful people will continue to move forward even with the interference of obstacles or challenges.  They will address the challenges and never give up.  Walt Disney was rejected more than 300 times before he was able to secure financing to build Disney World.  Colonel Sanders was rejected more than 1,000 times but still persisted!  Both men persevered until their dreams became realities.
2. Self-confidence.  Jack Welch once said “Confidence gives you courage and extends your reach.  It lets you take greater risks and achieve far more than you ever thought possible”.  People who lack self-confidence often find it hard to succeed.  This creates a vicious cycle of lack of self-confidence and lack of success.  However, a confident person inspires confidence in others and is able to create success for themselves.  It’s the same cycle, only with a different name –self-confidence and success.  The confident person doesn’t take rejection personally or let it affect their confidence.  They keep moving on.  We all have insecurities but the key is to not let them affect our self-confidence.   
3. Learning.  Learning from our obstacles, challenges and disappointments is key to becoming successful.  These situations often provide the information that we need to eventually become successful and to progress in our work.  The truth is that we learn more from mistakes than from successes.  Remember the story of Thomas Edison?  He encountered many, many challenges and failures over his career.  In his own words, “I have not failed 700 times.  I have not failed once.  I have succeeded in proving those 700 ways will not work.  When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work.”  Many of his inventions are part of our everyday lives.
4. Focus.  The Law of Attraction tells us that we get what we focus on.  To successfully achieve our goals, we need to focus our attention on the goal.  Without a clear focus, it becomes easy to get distracted and thrown off course by challenges or obstacles.  This means you should have clearly defined, written goals to work from.  These written goals will help you identify the most important steps you should take.  If you find yourself distracted or off course, refocus on your goals.
5. Visualize the results.  Visualize what success looks like for you.  By keeping this visual in your head, you convince your mind that it is true.  The more you see yourself as a success, the more your mind will work to actually put you into that picture.  Because you know what the end looks like, you will work through all of the obstacles and challenges that you encounter along the way.  Seeing your success is a very powerful tool.
6. Positive support system.  Having a positive support system can help tremendously when you are faced with difficult situations and feel like giving up.  Before you start out on a particular goal or venture, enlist your support system.  These are the people that will be your cheerleaders on the way to success.  Use them to discuss your obstacles, challenges or disappointments.  At the very least, they can lend you support by listening to help you find your own solutions.  Or they could brainstorm solutions with you and help you get back on track.

Success does come easy or happen overnight.  There are often many obstacles, challenges and disappointments along the way.  Preparing yourself for these challenges will better position you for ultimate success.  Remember that "Yesterday's failures are today's seeds that must be diligently planted to be able to abundantly harvest tomorrow's success.”