How To Overcome Any Obstacle

Today’s post, How To Overcome Any Obstacle, and is based on a talk presented by Eric Worre at the 2016 Go pro Recruiting Mastery Event in Las Vegas Nevada in December 2016.

Typically, when someone is faced with a crisis or an obstacle, they put 95% of their focus on the problem and only 5% of their focus on the solution. This problem-focus allows emotions to accelerate keeping them in a stuck, dis-empowering state and locking up their ability to access the logical, problem solving side of the brain. This is because logic is processed in the left side of the brain and emotions are processed in right side of the brain. Men are typically left-brain logical processors and women are typically right-brain emotional processors. Faced with a sudden crisis people still react differently to the situation based on other factors like perception and past experience.

Below, you are going to learn a set of principles that when you apply them will allow you to overcome your emotional state so that you can overcome any obstacle triumphantly.

How To Overcome Any Obstacle

Ryan Holiday wrote a book called, The Obstacle Is The Way, where he discusses the timeless art of turning trials into triumph.

The key idea is what stands in your way becomes the way and to overcome the obstacle you need to apply the following 7 steps:

1. Be objective. Take a good look at it. Is it real?

2. Control your emotions. Be a master of your emotions. By mastering your emotions you will overcome and grow through your obstacle.

3. Choose to see the good. Choose to find the opportunities in the obstacle. It’s easy to assume the victim role. But this is dis-empowering. Rather, maintain your power and look for the opportunity.

4. Steady your nerves. The world is watching to see how you’re going to deal with it. You are meant to prevail so go forward confidently.

5. Ignore what disturbs or limits others. This means literally ignore the negativity. Be the calm in the storm. Let external tribulation roll over you. Maintain your power.

6. Put things in perspective. Step away and evaluate the issue from a third party perspective. Identify what’s important and what needs to get done.

7. Focus on what can be controlled. There are things you can control and factors outside yourself that you can’t control. By trying to push through to attempt control over people and things you can’t control, you bring upon yourself anxiety, pain and other dis-empowering emotions causing you to focus on the problem rather than the solution.

You can only control your actions, your attitude and how you allow those things out of your control to impact you and your life.

The 3 Stoic Principles

There are three stoic principles that are interdependent, interconnected, and fluidly contingent.

Stoicism is an ancient Greek philosophy which teaches the development of self-control and fortitude as a means of overcoming destructive emotions.

These stoic principles are Perception, Action and the Will. The stoic application of all three principles is this:

Perceive something properly. Act on it.
Have the will to see it through.

Obstacles Become The Gateway To Success

This is how it works. You have been defined by your emotional mechanisms to cope with opposition using fight-or-flight negative emotions like fear, anxiety and doubt. However, if you exercise self-discipline to keep your emotions neutral, or even positive, and you take a moment to see the opportunity within the obstacle, you will empower yourself to find and streamline possible solutions.

It is the very obstacle you are faced with that ends up becoming the mechanism required for you to grow and reach your destination of success…the obstacle becomes the gateway.

So, what is your go-to place when you encounter crisis? Do you feel anger, hopeless, anxiety or fear? Recognize your go-to responsive emotions.

Now, apply the seven steps outlined above when you are faced with adversity. This will allow you to flip the switch and take control of your emotions, empowering you take see the opportunities and take the actions necessary to triumphantly overcome any obstacle that you are faced with.