How to Overcome Obstacles to Achieve Your Business Goal

Whether you’re striving to reach a high-growth target or achieve any meaningful business goal for your martial arts school or fitness business, you’re bound to be faced with obstacles along the way that will put your success at risk.

The attitude you have, and the actions you take during these critical moments, will ultimately determine your success or failure.

The good news is that if you have a goal — or even one that is provided to you — many experts believe you are already half way to achieving success.

You will certainly never achieve the goals you never set, so at a minimum, you are ahead of the game if you have established your goals.

Before we tackle how to overcome obstacles, there’s one more critical item to address in addition to setting a business goal. This would include setting a deadline for when you want to achieve it. Without a timeframe, you are allowing yourself unlimited and acceptable delays to hinder achieving the success you want as soon as possible.

Once you have a meaningful and measurable business goal and a date to achieve it, we can assure you that Mr. Murphy will see to it that you have your fair share of obstacles to overcome!

Attitude is Everything When It Comes to Achieving Your Business Goal

Attitude is the single most important component to overcoming obstacles because your attitude shapes your actions. It’s helpful to focus on the reason the obstacle exists in the first place: you’re trying to achieve a meaningful, worthwhile goal. Controlling your attitude is not easy to do, especially when the pressure is on.

Watch the Vocab!

Another helpful tip to help shape attitude is to be aware of the vocabulary you use and what words mean to you personally. Obstacles are often referred to as “problems,” which for many people has a more negative connotation. Some people like to refer to obstacles as “challenges” which creates a mindset that it can be overcome using wit. If you feel that “problems” are solvable, go with that. Ask yourself what vocabulary puts you in the best mindset.

Fear Leads to Inaction

The worst attitude you can have is one fueled by fear as this can lead to inaction. We naturally fear the consequences of our actions; and when obstacles arise, no action can have even greater ramifications to your success. If no action is a viable solution, then recognize that “no action” is an actionable decision.

You’ll find that taking the right actions to overcome obstacles will be far easier with the right attitude, and this includes where you focus your attention. Focus on the goal, not the obstacle.

If your goal is to grow your martial arts student base by 50 students by the end of the year, focus and plan on that end goal. Be prepared for obstacles but don’t let them derail you.

The specific actions you take are largely dependent on the challenge facing you, but here are some helpful pointers to keep in mind when obstacles arise:

1. Identify the obstacle and verbalize why it is in your way. Sometimes this exercise identifies non-priority obstacles that can be put aside because they have little or no impact on achieving your goal by your deadline.

2. Your mind likes questions, so ask yourself if there is a way to avoid the obstacle. Can you circumvent it by taking a different course of action, but still stay on the path towards your goal?

If not, ask yourself what are other options available to you to overcome the obstacle and write them down. This exercise replicates self-brainstorming. One idea can lead to another, which just might be your solution.

3. Get help! Others can sometimes see solutions not so obvious to us.

4. If you are still stuck, you may need to focus on an alternative route towards your goal. Let’s cycle back to attitude. Did you fail or did you learn a way that didn’t work and now you are smarter? Keep trying.