What are Your Obstacles and How to Overcome Them

This month we have been focusing on habits and how to successfully change them. A big part of the success strategy is knowing what your obstacles are and having a plan to conquer them. This same concept can apply to many other facets of business as well as in your home life.

Whether you want to stop procrastinating, quit smoking or drinking, start exercising, cultivate a daily writing practice or keep your home clean and de-cluttered, the process, preparation and strategy is the same.

Anticipate obstacles – Take a look back at past failures and try to understand what stopped you from achieving success. Look at personal as well as professional instances where you just couldn’t quite hit the mark. What got in the way?

Identify patterns – Do you have a certain pattern of behavior that keeps popping up and getting in the way of your goal? Do you self-sabotage, burn-out, give up or refuse to ask for help?

Recognize your triggers – Are their certain situations that trigger your current habit? Do you relapse into unproductive behavior around particular people? Do you find some surroundings to be more conducive to failure than others?

Plan ahead – Develop a strategy to overcome obstacles before they happen. The best way to assure success is to prepare ahead of time, rather than to try to come up with a solution when you are in the moment.

For example, if you are trying to quit smoking, don’t take breaks outside with your former smoking cohorts. If you are trying to stop procrastinating, set a timer and a reward. Trying to clear the clutter? Figure out how it got there in the first place. Sort the mail by the recycling bin or set aside 15 minutes each day to tackle one area. If you’re trying to lose weight, avoid buffets! Whatever the behavior you desire to change, enlist support, get a partner or mentor, or publically declare your intention. The extra accountability might be the push you need.