Overcoming Obstacles And Achieving Goals

Hi, folks. How you doing? Nick the poet here. Happy Tuesday. Hope you're having an awesome day. Shout out to you wherever you're at. I hope you have peace and positivity going and you're acknowledging issues as they come up and dealing with them. And that's what I wanted to talk about today, is overcoming obstacles. So we all face obstacles in life, right? And some obstacles are small, like being stuck in traffic. Hey, Risa, how you doing? Thanks for joining. So good to see you. I know you have some awesome lives coming up on the holidays over the next couple days.

Looking forward to those. And, yeah, we're just talking about overcoming obstacles. And so, yeah, some of these are really small, like being stuck in traffic or for getting your keys at home. We've all been there. I know that when I was having some issues with mental health and substances, I once locked my keys in the car and had a locksmith come and open it. And then I locked my keys in the car again. Directly after that locksmith comes and opens it. So I know how it is now. I don't have that issue, you know, today, but obstacles still arise, and some of them are really major, like getting laid off from work or facing a serious illness.

So no matter what type of obstacle you're facing, it's important to remember that you can overcome it. And so I just wanted to give some thoughts and tools on that today. Like Ryan Holiday said, the obstacle is the way. So we have to confront these things in the best way that we can. So one really good thing that you can do is focus on what you can control. The serenity prayer is a great kind of lead into this and is very common in twelve step programs. God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

And so, you know, when you're facing an obstacle, it's easy to dwell on the things that are out of your control, to dwell too much on the obstacle, too much on the problem, and not enough on the solution. But dwelling on those things is only going to make you feel worse. So instead, focus on the things that you can control. So, for example, if you're worried about getting laid off from work, you can't control whether or not your company decides to downsize, but you can control how you respond to the situation.

You can control how you show up to work. In the meantime, you can control about looking at other avenues. You can control how hard you work and how positive you stay throughout the process now challenges will arise. And some days, you know, you just don't have that super positive attitude, you know, earlier today, I was in that similar boat. I didn't sleep that great. You know, my hip was. Was hurting overnight. I thought my hip was better, but it was like I couldn't sleep very well because it was aching, you know?

And so I have to take action on that, you know, I need to get it professionally looked at. You know, it's an obstacle that I need to overcome, you know. Another one for me is that I'm about ten pounds underweight, and I know a lot of people have the opposite problem. I just. I eat a lot of food, but I have a super high metabolism, I run a lot, and I have trouble, you know, keeping weight on. So I need to get serious about that and get, you know, nutritional help and make sure I'm taking care of that.

So in my experience with these obstacles, it's like. It is a little bit like whack a mole, you know, we solve one, and then all these other problems come up. I got sober, and then. But I was still smoking cigarettes, you know, and so I had to, you know, tackle that. And so. But if I look at that as a joyful process and one of growth, then it becomes a positive thing. And I think the big key to all of this is to realize that we don't have to do it alone, that we can ask for help. We can practice receiving, because we're all so extremely good at giving, right?

We all are. You know, most of us are really good givers. We can help with the best of them, but we are not as good at receiving. You know, what blessings are you blocking right now? What gifts are you stopping from coming towards you because you don't feel like you're worthy enough, you know? And, yeah, Ethan says the key is community. You know, that is so much the key. It's like overcoming obstacles. We think we have to do this on our own or that it's a really personal thing, and they are personal, but we are all so connected that we.

They must become something that we tackle together, you know? And I'm holding this tennis ball. It's reminding me of my. My college tennis coach, Steve Wilkinson, who talked about the three pillars at Gustavus, where I went to college, and the tennis team. There was. Our three pillars were positive attitude, you know, which is within our control, full effort, you know, giving it our best, and then good sportsmanship, you know, having good ethics. I used to, in high school, I would challenge line calls constantly in tennis.

That ball was it. That ball was out, and I had this, you know, chip on my shoulder, and that always took me out of the game. It took the joy out of the game, and I didn't play as well. Right. And so, yeah, there's a lot we can learn. And that's the other thing is, like, this is a lifetime process. The art of overcoming obstacles, the art of asking for help, the art of receiving. And so it's like that, staying positive, but then also really acknowledging what we need to work on. And it's painful.

You know, we are very sensitive people. We don't want to hear, you know, things that we don't want to hear. So it's really. It's hard, but, you know, good friends will challenge you to grow, you know? And, yeah, so when you ask for help, be ready to, you know, receive that. And, yeah, so that's a little bit about focusing on what you can control. And you've already tapped into this a bit, but developing a positive mindset is really big. So a positive mindset is going to help you see the situation in a more positive light, and it's going to give you the strength and determination to keep going despite the challenges.

So this is what I mean by focusing on the solution more, which is focusing on what you can control, focusing on the positive elements. And this doesn't mean toxic positivity. This doesn't mean that when we are faced with these big problems that we deny them or block them or try to live through rose colored glasses when it's really murky. I'm just saying that we need to tap into that power of positivity within given moments to keep making, you know, progress and to keep going despite these challenges, to err on the side of optimism, to err on the side of positivity, and to not be afraid to make mistakes.

You know? And this is something that's really hard. I'm a perfectionist, you know, in a lot of ways. And so it's like, if I can't be all in on one thing, then I. It's just that we are so hard on ourselves, you know? And it's like Anthony DeMelo says, we all think we need more self improvement, and it's what we really need a lot of times is more self acceptance. And then, paradoxically, that can help us overcome the obstacle. And so this is why I'm saying having the community around and asking for help is so important because we get perspectives outside of our own, outside of those own retrogressive grooves of fear.

You know that we have, because ultimately we're all just walking each other home. Ultimately, because we are human, we're imperfect, we don't know the full picture. We don't know, you know, how to proceed in any given moment. And so just giving ourselves the permission to take that massive action that's needed, which is really the last thing, is taking these big actions to overcome obstacles. It's not enough to just sit around and hope that things are going to get better. You need to take matters into your own hands.

Scary, right? And actively work towards a solution. If you're faced with an obstacle, you got to ask yourself what you can do to overcome it. And then take action and don't stop until you've reached your goal. So once again, we don't have to do it together, but we do have to step out into this action by ourselves. And that's freaking scary, you know, and so some, we just have to take a deep breath and move forward in whatever way we can. You know, there's that movie, what about Bob with Bill Murray?

And they talk about baby steps. You know, maybe you can just take the tiniest step today, the tiniest action, the tiniest way forward. But if you can take that step forward, then that is, that is freaking huge. That is really huge. And, you know, and it can help to have accountability with others in your life and sharing your life with others and telling them what's really going on and telling them what, what you're working on and using the discernment of who you share those things with and because ultimately you are the CEO of your life, so you gotta, you gotta manage it in that way.

But for me personally, I have to give that up to my higher power because I can't manage it. But, but God can. The universe can. And if you don't believe in God, that's just, it's, I go with the twelve step where it's a higher power of your understanding. So my understanding, my higher power is mine. And that's just what has helped me, you know? But for you, it could be so many, it could be therapy, it could be psychology, it could be goal setting, you know, it could be all of these different things.

But I'm just, I'm sharing my experience that for me, the higher, the connection to the higher power has helped immensely in these areas and has given me access to a power greater than myself to overcome these, these obstacles. So in conclusion, you know, remember that obstacles are a part of life and they don't have to stop you from achieving your goals. And by focusing on what you can control and developing a positive mindset and taking action, you can overcome any obstacle that comes your way.

So, as a call to action for you, I encourage you to take action on something right now that you've been putting off. Take action on it, whatever that is. Take that step right now. Just do it. Because there's freedom on the other side of that. So that is my message for you today. I hope you have an awesome day. I'll catch you on the flip side. I'm wishing you peace, positivity, prosperity, while still acknowledging that we all have a lot of work to do together. Okay, have a good one. Bye.