If the goal you’ve set is worthwhile, expect some resistance. Any significant goal in your life can only be reached by overcoming challenges along the way.
At each obstacle along the way, you can choose to either give up or press forward. You will succeed if you resolve to rise to the challenge, instead of sitting on the sidelines of life.
Try these strategies to get past your challenges and achieve your goals:
1. Identify Obstacles. Determine exactly what’s standing between you and your goal. When you think about a goal, what negative thoughts come into your mind? Write them down without stopping to think about what you’re writing. Think of all the reasons you could fail, and write them down.
* This strategy may seem contrary to much of the advice you’ve seen regarding goal setting. But when you’re done, you’ll have a powerful list of challenges that stand in your way. Go through the list and ask yourself how you can overcome each challenge.
* Put your plan into action, and keep attacking one challenge after another until you reach your goal.
2. Educate Yourself. Learn all you can about the challenges in front of you. The more you know about the circumstances or events that lie ahead, the better equipped you’ll be to meet and beat each challenge as it comes.
3. Seek advice. Do you know anyone who has achieved the goal you’re setting out to accomplish? Ask that person for a meeting. Talk to them about how they got to where they are today. What mistakes have they made? What worked and what didn’t? Your mentor may point out obstacles you haven’t thought about.
* Use the experience of others to shorten your learning curve.
4. Think small. If you’ve set a worthy goal, you’ll face doubts if you only look at the big picture. Instead, take out your list of negatives, pick one and get to work on solving that one challenge. When you’re done, move on to the next obstacle on the list. Continue until you’ve reached your goal. Take small steps, consistently, to avoid feeling overwhelmed.
5. Remember “why.” If you have a big enough “why,” your “how” will take care of itself. Take a few minutes to write down all the benefits of reaching this goal. What will your life be like? How will you feel about yourself? How will your quality of life improve? How will the lives of your loved ones be better? Read through your list daily for motivation.
6. Celebrate small victories. Each hurdle that you overcome gets you one step closer to your goal. Instead of waiting to celebrate the final achievement of your objectives, seek small ways to celebrate each little victory. These small rewards will spur you on to more action that will ultimately lead you to the doorstep of the destiny you deserve.
7. Enjoy the journey. Overcoming the challenges in front of you will create a sense of pride and joy in your accomplishments. Remember to enjoy the process. When you face roadblocks, refuse to dwell on them. Instead, focus on solutions that propel you forward.
Above all, keep a positive attitude. Expect difficulty and prepare yourself to meet each one head on. Seek the advice of those who have succeeded before you, and review daily why your goal is important. Keep putting one foot in front of the other and enjoy each little success along the way. If you do, you can achieve anything your heart desires.
