183 Overcoming Obstacles into Opportunity

Hey, this is Anne with your Coaching on the Go. 

This week’s topic is about that very natural occurrence of obstacles that show up and appear right before you are ready to get to your next level. 

You can feel the fact that you are so close to your next level, to accomplishing your vision or just stepping to a higher level of expansion, and it will feel like things come along to sabotage you. 

This is a normal occurrence, it’s called the growth curve, and it’s just a natural part of any development journey.

So this week I am spending time talking about the different aspects and different considerations around this growth curve. 

It’s bell shaped and it represents the stages of a progress towards a goal, and at the beginning of the curve, your process is slow. 

It may be slow or even nonexistent, but as you gain momentum, your progress accelerates until you reach a peak. 

At the peak, right at the peak, just before you’re poised on the next level of your expansion and you’re ready to make a significant breakthrough or achieve a major milestone, an obstacle shows up, or obstacles. 

These obstacles can look like many things – somebody you know getting hurt, someone needing you, a setback, self-doubt. 

The reason these obstacles appear is that when you’re about to reach your next level, you’re coming to the edge of your comfort zone, and that part of you that wants consistency, that wants security, is starting to balk.

That part of you is starting to create the possibility that you won’t step up to another level, so that part of you can stay comfortable. 

And while these obstacles are frustrating, you get to know that you’re on the right path when you experience them. 

I used to believe that these obstacles could mean I was not on the right path.

That if it was the right path, it would be easier. 

But what I’ve learned is the higher I am going into new territory, the bigger that obstacle can feel or seem.

And they are real. 

They are real things being presented to you, and it’s normal. 

So I’ve got some strategies that we’re discussing this week to overcome obstacles so that you can get to the next level, and here are some of the strategies. 

One, reframe obstacles as opportunities, and that’s just fun. 

Instead of seeing the obstacles as a negative, reframe them in a knowing sense, as opportunities.

What I like to think about is that to get to the next level, I need to learn and know certain things, and these obstacles are the very lessons that are strengthening me and expanding me so I will fit at that next level. 

I’ve found that to be true. 

Number two is take action. 

Move deliberately towards your goal, even when those obstacles appear.

So I’ll talk this week about examples, today I’m just going to outline the content. 

When you take action, despite the obstacles, it helps you to flex that muscle of connection with yourself and move the momentum forward. 

Number three, seek support. 

Reach out and get coaching, be a demand for coaching. 

Reach out to friends, mentors, support systems when obstacles appear.

Having a supportive community around you can really support you in staying motivated and focused. 

Four, as always, stay focused on your vision. 

A powerful vision draws you forward, so no matter what obstacles appear, you continue moving forward and staying determined. 

So this week, in summary, we’re talking about the obstacles that become so familiar in the creation process that you can expect them to appear.

When they do appear, you are not shocked and you are not derailed, and if you have a growth mindset, you take deliberate action, you seek support and you focus on your vision. 

You can step through these obstacles. 

You can even embrace them and look at them as the very tools that are going to shape you into the person that fits into your vision.

And so with that, looking forward to giving you details from each of these points throughout the week this week. 

What obstacles do you face when you’re close to achieving your goal or your next level? 

Your homework for today is to look into times when you are just about ready to achieve something, to see if you can remember obstacles that came up, or obstacles that came up over time that caused you to stop moving forward and to lock you in a stuck position.

Have a beautiful day.