In spite of your best effort and intention, you will have rough moments that come in your life. These moments should help to elevate you to be more than you are so that you can overcome any obstacle that is in front of you. However, hurdles can be debilitating to many people. Whatever your hurdle is, you must identify it and be able to conquer it. Though some hurdles in life, like sorrow, despair, and depression, may take time to be remedied, there are other hurdles that require your attention. These hurdles are things you can fix and be in control of today. In this week’s blog, I want to help you overcome any hurdles you have in your life currently and get you unstuck from that situation.

A hurdle is defined as an obstacle or difficulty. Nowhere in the definition does it say impossible or permanent. That means that any issue you are having right now is just for right now. This temporary obstacle is something that needs your attention in order to overcome it. You must be aware and present when dealing with the issues you must deal with. You cannot sit idle and let the hurdles pile up. Action is the solution to rid yourself of all your current problems. Even after all those problems are solved, you will develop new problems/difficulties in your life. Though these moments might not be the best, I want you to appreciate them and relish in the delight of how much stronger you will be when they are resolved.

If you are the type of person, who lets all their worries and problems overwhelm then you have to unlearn the habit of idleness. You cannot wait for your problems to go away or to dissipate naturally. You are in charge and must be able to seek a resolution. Imagine if you keep piling anything up; eventually, it will topple over if it doesn’t have a strong foundation. This is many of us in our daily lives. We do not have a strong foundation and wonder why things do not go our way. Well, life has a tendency to throw curveballs your way, so you have to be ready for those moments. Those hurdles should not define you but rather refine you.

In order to begin to overcome a challenge you are facing, you must first attain the energy to jump past them. This means that if you are struggling in a certain area of your life, you need to acquire an adequate amount of energy to complete the task. Once you muster up the energy needed for those hurdles, then you must pinpoint that energy, so it is not wasted in any other area than the problem. This means that if you have goals and important places you want to be in life, then that energy should be focused on achieving them. The only way to get to the finish line is through constant effort. Learn not to let your energy be wasted on trivial things in life. I see it when people come to me and tell me they feel stuck or lost. They are not concentrating their energy on the direction it needs to go.

Hurdles can be a deterrent for many because these can require larger amounts of energy. If someone can avoid a challenge or high-energy activity, they will. That may not be the case for those who are motivated to achieve their best life ASAP, but we all can use a kick in the butt when we are feeling lazy. Not every day, you are going to want to give 100%, but I want to urge you to reconsider. If you go through life giving it your all, then you will have set yourself up for greater success in the areas you devote time and effort to. Now, if you go through life-giving each day with the smallest amount of effort, then your life will reflect that. Sometimes the hurdles in life can help to remind us to be strong each day.

The problem with hurdles is that they help to create excuses for not giving each day you’re all. When I used to live in New England, I would go hiking every weekend with my dog. We were always looking for a new peak to conquer and a journey to start. Each hike was a new experience regardless if it was the same trail or location. The two hurdles I had to overcome were the weather and myself each weekend. In New England, we have all four seasons so that you can get a range of temperatures. It could have been raining or snowing, which made the roads/trails slippery. The temperature might have been too hot or too cold to go out. Regardless of what the outside effect was, there was always a solution. Whether it be wearing a raincoat or buying new snow tires, I would find a solution to the problems I was given. I learned that each weekend it was up to me to get out to explore and experience the beauty of the world.

The biggest hurdle I had to overcome each weekend was not the weather but rather myself. I had to learn to live a life without excuses. Regardless if I had a cold or was not feeling well, I went out. My expectations are high for myself because that is what has helped me make constant progress in my life. I am a huge advocate for practicing what you preach. I would be right next to you doing the same thing because life is better with some company. I will share the pain with you, and with that, we will both be strong. I do the best I can each day and try to give 100% effort constantly. Although, there have been days where I gave less than my all, and I felt it at the end of the day. I have come to learn that those missed days will not be returned to me. There was nothing for me to gain from giving less than my all, so I had to make a choice, That choice was either I wanted the life of my dreams or I didn’t. That is why I want you to jump over your hurdles at full speed and not let anyone get in the way, even yourself.

The decision to take the easy road is a temptation that should be avoided. We are all told to go to school,  get a career, and work in our field for the rest of our working days. This plan doesn’t seem logical anymore. I look back on my hiking days and compare them to this logic. If I had to hike the same mountain/trail for the rest of my life, there is a good chance that I would become numb to the experience. The same air, rocks, leaves, and scenery would have me wanting more out of the experience. That is what I want you to realize. I want you to understand that you can have more out of life. You do not have to follow this mundane life to the point you feel like you are just getting closer to the grave. I want you to get closer to life each day! The way that is done is by conquering your hurdles and not accepting the easy routes as an option.

The hurdles you face will make you stronger and more able to experience greater things in life. Just because you are in one place in your life right now does not mean you have to stay there. You can put in the energy to be the person you want to be and reside in the space you want to live in. The only requirement is effort and consistency. Take those challenging moments/areas in your life and treat them as a stepping stone. These stones will help elevate you and build that strong foundation you will need to build your dream life. Do not be afraid of falling or failing. Be afraid of the regret you will have at the end of your life. Knowing now that you can have a life you are proud of should be all the motivation for you to get you there, but I know that it won’t be enough.

The last thing you need is encouragement. I will write a T-U-S this month on how you can encourage yourself if you cannot find someone who can do that for you. For parents, it can be their children, or for a young man, it might be the love of his life. Whatever your source of encouragement is, you have not to let it die down. Encouragement should echo as a loud roar through your soul and mind. If you only hear a whisper in your ears, then you need to get loud. It will be that encouragement that will remind you to take those hurdles and beat them down into submission. Relish in your victory and all the glory that comes with your triumph. Let no success go unappreciated because it will lead you to great challenges and the best moments of your life.

Until then,

Michael Rearden

Founder of Reven Concepts