It is truly fascinating how successful people overcome challenges. They don't get scared
at the face of challenges rather they face the barriers and overcome the obstacles. There
are seven things in particular that can stop you from overcoming challenges and those are
the very seven things that successful overcome. To find what they are stay tuned in this session
with me, Michelle on Skillopedia, the place to learn skills for the real world.
The first obstacle that successful people overcome is age. Age is just a number. Successful
people don't let their body be their guide but rather follow their heart and passion.
I remember once in my graduate school, one of the professors was telling us how difficult
it is for young people to do independent consulting work and while he was droning, I was actually
helping my consulting client on my laptop. So practically is age is just a number, it
doesn't matter what your age is and how competent your body is. If your heart is young and you
are passionate, then nothing can stop you from achieving your goals and your aims. So
don't worry too much about your age. If you are young you are way to go. If you feel that
you are too old for something, don't think twice at least try and then decide.
The second stumbling block that successful people never stumble over is other people's
opinions. Whatever other people say at any particular moment, one thing is certain, you
are never as good or as bad as they think you are. So whenever there are opinions flooding
in from different sides, successful people don't let that take away the good work that
they have done. They don't let themselves feel bad about something that they did and
they are very glad and confident. If you derive your self worth by comparing yourself with
other people, then you are bound to feel depressed and low, coz you can surely expect a lot of
criticism for all the good things that you do and all the success that you achieved because
the people around you, may not like you climbing up the ladder. So make sure that you derive
your self worth from your own hard work and make a self conscious decision about who you
are and what kind of work you have done. If you are confident in your head, you don't
have to worry about the criticism poking in from other sides.
The third deterrent for you to achieve your desired goals is toxic people. Think about
them, they really affect your thinking. On simple notion of successful people is you
are the average of five people that you spent most of your time with. Let's talk about one
of the most successful companies, Microsoft. Its founders are Bill Gates and Paul Allen,
they met each other in the prep school. They have together founded one of the most brilliant
companies in the world. So the same way successful or positive people help you grow and reach
your full potential, just like that toxic people pull you down, they drag you down.
Let it be criticism, let it be victim syndrome or if they constantly blame you for something.
May be in some other cases it is just purely craziness, you just waste your time and energy
with them. If you feel that you are wasting too much time and you are not feeling successful,
my suggestion to you is look around. Look at the people around you, do you think they
are toxic? If they are, then you exactly what to do. You must depart from them, you must
create some distance. You will only reach your peak when you find the right people and
eliminate the toxic people from your life.
Fear is a major impediment to your success. Yes, it can you know really hinder you from
being successful. Fear is not something that you should worry about. Danger is something
that you should actually worry about because when danger is real, it is the adrenaline
rush that you experience when you almost step in front of a bus. But fear it is just a lingering
emotion that almost paralyses your thought process. But you have the choice, you can
overcome fear and no one knows this better that successful people coz they are very good
at flipping fear in its head. They love that euphoric feeling that they get when they overcome
fear. So I have often people ask this question, "What are you scared of the most?" Is it going
to kill You? Well, I think death is the worst thing that can happen to you. The worst thing
that can happen to you is if you let yourself die on the inside while you are still alive.
So please try and do what you want to do and don't be afraid of it.
Negativity is interference to your success. Negative people are also toxic to your life.
You should not let them in. Successful people always make their time count. After all everyone
has 24 hours a day and if you face a negative situation, rather than complaining about and
thinking how it should have been, what could have happened, how you could have avoided
the situation. The better thing would be to face the problem, tackle it and move on. Let's
say negativity comes from other people who are complaining about a particular situation.
Just imagine, if you are sitting next to a person who is complaining and smoking. Would
you continue to sit there and inhale the second hand smoke? Do you think it is good for you?
The same applies for negative people. You don't want to inhale all the negativity and
hinder your positive outlook. The best thing would be to set limits, have a distance from
them and if at all you want to continue your conversation. You can ask them, "How do you
plan to solve the problem that you are complaining about?" Most probable they will shut up or
they will shut up or they will direct the conversation to a positive direction.
The sixth hitch to your victory is thinking about the past or the future. Just like fear,
the past and future is just a creation of your mind. It is not a reality and when you
waste your time thinking about the past, you must know that no amount of guilt can actually
change your past. So make peace with it and forget about it. Also remember that no amount
of worry can actually change your future and this is something that successful people know
very well. They choose to live in the present moment. You cannot be your best if you do
not live in the present moment. If you waste too much time, thinking about the past or
planning about the future, you are wasting and draining your energy. So make sure you
accept your past, make peace with it and stop worrying about the uncertainties of the future.
the only reason you should look at the past is to see how far you have overcome and as
Mark Twain once said, " worry is the debt that you pay which you do not owe." So don't
worry and relax.
The seventh way to overcome challenges is by not fretting about the state of the world.
If you keep your eyes on the news for any length of time, I'm sure all you will come
across is environmental disasters, endless cycles of wars, violence, people dying, countries
disrupting, economies disrupting. But is you focus your attention too much on that, all
that you are doing is you are collecting all the negativity from the world around you.
This is not what successful people do. They focus their attention on two things that are
entirely their control and those are their attention and their efforts. If you focus
your attention on the good things in the world and the things that you are grateful for,
you will feel much more optimistic about the world around you. You must focus your attention
on improving your life every single day. Improving the world around you every single day. After
all these small steps are what makes the world a much better place. So make sure you don't
up on the state of the world but rather build up on the state of your life and improve everyday
in to a better person.
Success is determined by your mindset, through discipline, focus, correct attention and a
lot of efforts, you can sure that these seven obstacles that successful overcome, you will
also overcome them through the tips that I have shared with you. Please come back for
more sessions with me Michelle on Skillopedia, the place to learn skills for the real world.