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As someone who helps businesses grow through Instagram, I spend a lot of time on the platform. One thing I (and the rest of the world) can’t help but notice is how many entrepreneurs try to paint their life as some flawless, hardship-free, picture-perfect world only to reveal that, behind the scenes, they are, facing tremendous obstacles you’d never know.
The truth is that having obstacles isn’t the problem. The problem is letting your obstacles hold you back and using them as the reason you can’t get what you want.
I can only say this because I’ve done this. Ever since I could remember, I have had a speech impediment. For years I couldn’t say the letter “R,” and numerous people told me I wouldn’t go anywhere in life because I struggled with communicating.
For some time, I believed them. I let their preconceived notion of what my future held control my life until, one day, I decided I was done. That one decision led me to eventually speak to audiences around the world and share stages with some of my biggest idols.
Now, I view obstacles differently, and I’m passionate about helping other entrepreneurs do the same. Here are three reasons why your biggest obstacles are your greatest blessings (and how you can shift your perspectives right now to support you in getting what you want next in your life and business).
Related: Obstacles Are Opportunities: Use Them to Take Your Business to the Next Level
1. Your obstacles force you to make an active decision on who you want to become
Right now, you have a powerful opportunity to ask yourself:
Do I want to be someone who gives in, gives up, and decides it’s all downhill from here? or Do I want to be someone who, despite the physical circumstances of my current reality, chooses to rise, move forward, and live out my fullest potential?
You hold the power to choose — you are in the driver’s seat. So instead of feeling like a victim to your obstacles (which most entrepreneurs do), take a second to consider the fact that you are still in control. You are in control of who you become from this point forward. Instead of getting lost and overwhelmed in finding a solution to your obstacle — first, ask yourself:
Who do I want to be right now?
When you answer that, the logistic next steps will reveal themselves.
Related: 5 Obstacles Keeping You from Being an Effective Leader
2. Your obstacles can be used as a time to pause, reflect and re-route your life or business
When many entrepreneurs face significant roadblocks, they get frantic and start spinning their wheels a million miles an hour in search of a solution. What if, instead, you intentionally use this time to pause and slow down?
In a culture that preaches to “hustle until you’re dead,” sometimes slowing down can feel like the last thing you’re “supposed” to do — but those in-between seasons can be some of the most monumental times of your life if you let them be.
If you’re at the height of what feels like a huge obstacle, ask yourself:
Is this a sign?
Is there something here I’m not seeing?
Is there any reality where this could somehow, some way, be happening for my good?
Be a gentle observer and notice the new perspectives unfold that you might’ve never noticed otherwise. From there, use this as a time to get radically honest with yourself on what you want (or don’t want) next.
3. Getting to where you want to be will be 100 times more fulfilling
Hitting your biggest goals and seeing your wildest dreams come to fruition in front of your very eyes wouldn’t feel like a big deal if someone handed them to you on a silver plate.
The best part of reaching your next milestone in life or business is being able to look back at everything you had to overcome to get there. As much as we can be grateful for support, mentorship, help, and motivation from external sources — it will always be YOU who did it at the end of the day.
You are the one who made a series of decisions that led you to where you are now, and you will be the one who leads you to where you want to be next. You have you to thank and celebrate, and there is nothing more fulfilling than that.
Without obstacles to overcome, the prize isn’t nearly as rewarding.
Related: 6 Obstacles to Creative Thinking and How to Overcome Them
