By definition, obstacles block one’s way and prevent progress. No one wants to deal with an obstacle. But obstacles almost always help to sharpen us, and move us in new and often better directions. When faced with an obstacle, our energy is focused, our thinking is deeper, and our motivation to overcome is sharpened.
Welcome obstacles and overcome them. Here are seven good things that obstacles bring to us:
1. Obstacles help us grow.
Without obstacles, we won’t be stretched, which is required for growth. Experience can be summed up by the number of barriers a person has overcome. We can look back to see seasons of growth and share our success with others.
2. Obstacles help us see better solutions.
When things move along as usual, we have no reason to make things better. When we hit a wall, we have to find another route and new solutions surface.
3. Obstacles bring strength.
Without obstacles, our organization, team, and mindset begin to atrophy. Obstacles help us flex muscles we forgot we had.
4. Obstacles bring more creativity.
Overcoming obstacles requires creativity. We may not even realize we are creative until we are faced with the need to use our creativity to move forward.
5. Obstacles make us more innovative.
Innovation is the creation of a new method, idea, or product. Most often, innovations arise from a need to make something better. When we bump up against obstacles, innovative ideas will surface as we think about how we can make things better. [How to tell a new story for your church]
6. Obstacles create chaos, a needed ingredient for change.
Until the discomfort outweighs the comfort of the status quo, we won’t have much motivation for change. As soon as organizational chaos reaches a tipping point, change is on the horizon, good or bad. When we decide we don’t want the chaos anymore, we begin to clarify the obstacles that need to be removed.
Obstacles are not problems.
Obstacles are different from problems. Obstacles impede the journey while problems happen on the roadside. Don’t get sidetracked by fixing minor issues that really aren’t blocking you from your destination. Focus on removing the obstacles that block your path. Problems will take care of themselves. [read more]
“We must all either wear out or rust out, every one of us. My choice is to wear out.“
Theodore Roosevelt
If you are facing an obstacle, keep at it.
A book titled The Obstacle Is The Way by Ryan Holiday served as a springboard for this blog post. You can pick up a copy here.
