Your Biggest Obstacle

When I sit down with a new client and look at long term goals and needs to begin charting their financial course, one of the things we consider are potential obstacles. We spend time discussing and identifying possible road blocks so we can then create solutions around or through that barrier. Isolating and identifying likely hurdles and obstructions along a path to any goal is an important step to overcoming those hurdles.

Along the path of life, you are likely your own biggest obstacle. And I am not just picking on you; I realize I am my own biggest obstacle as well. A lot of the excuses people make regarding their station in life and their circumstances are really just blame being deflected and placed where it doesn’t belong. For example, “I don’t have enough time” is often code for, “I don’t get up early enough” or “I waste too much time” or “I don’t prioritize my day.” Complaints about lacking opportunity commonly arise from someone not being prepared for the opportunity that does exist and/or not having the courage to pursue those opportunities. If you are always in and out of bad relationships, what is the common denominator in all those relationships? YOU! Listen to the people who whine about never having enough money at the end of the month, and then watch as they throw money they don’t have at stupid things they don’t need to impress people they don’t even like.

Please understand, this is not to beat you up, it is to empower you. If the bad news is that you are your own biggest problem, the great news is that fixing the problem is 100% something you can accomplish. You hold the keys and need not wait on someone else removing the barriers in your life. Now that you’ve identified your biggest challenge, you must seek to overcome your own weaknesses and destructive tendencies to get out of your own way. Start working on a plan to work through those and seek solutions to be an asset to yourself and not a liability.

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