OMG Digital Magazine OMG Issue 315 28th June 2018 | Page 22

OMG Digital Magazine | 315 | Thursday 28 June 2018 • PAGE 22
Business
Entrepreneurship Is All
About Overcoming Obstacles
Kimanzi Constable
Entrepreneurship is not a destination;  it’s a journey. On
this journey, successful entrepreneurs don't have an
expectation of “arriving” to some finish line. If you do have
that expectation, you won’t continue to push yourself to
step outside of your comfort and grow. You won’t seek
out the  things that truly help your business experience
explosive results because all those things require you
stretching yourself. Acknowledge, then process your thoughts.
The only way to get through obstacles  is to start with
acknowledging that they're there. The gateway  to your
feelings and emotions is your thoughts. What you think
about and focus on is what you'll attract more of into your
life. When you're dealing with obstacles, your thoughts
focus on what you can't control and why that situation is
happening to you. That can be a dark place.
On any journey, you have times of  joy and more than a
few setbacks. During the times of joy, you feel like you
can accomplish anything. It gives you the strength and
motivation to continue to put in the work that helps your
business. During the hard times, negative feelings and
emotions can easily take over. Before you know it, you're
feeling sorry for yourself and you turn to your  familiar
coping mechanism. When you feel your thoughts spiraling, give yourself two
minutes to fully feel what is going on in your head. Don't
try to suppress those thoughts -- let them out. When you
try to suppress them, they grow stronger and threaten to
get control. Once you have given yourself two minutes,
take control of your thoughts. Focus on what brings you
joy and what you're grateful for in your life. It's hard to be
down when you're expressing gratitude.
That coping mechanism could be food, alcohol, binge-
watching TV or any other thing that takes your focus away
from what you want to accomplish in your business. Since
you don't have a boss or company dictating your day and
what you accomplish, that time "coping" could turn into
weeks of your doing no work at all. Focus on what you can control.
Life is messy. Change is hard. Growing a business is not easy
and it feels like everything can go wrong at once. There are
always going to be things you can't and shouldn't try to
control. There are, however, things you can do something
about. If your marketing plan is off, you can readjust. If
your sales are lacking, you can go back what you know
works. If a team member is causing more trouble than is
worth helping them, you can let them go. The point being,
there are tangible things you can fix in your business no
matter what is happening. Identify what the things are
Becoming a successful entrepreneur means understanding
hard times are when you need to push. When there are
obstacles, here's what you need to do.
that you can do something about. Create a plan that will
help you get on the path to recovery. Make it practical and
actionable. Fill up your to-do list and calendar with the
tasks that lead to results.
Ask for help, then take action. 
Some obstacles feel like more than you can handle.
Seeking counsel and support can be the difference
between you getting through it or failing. Don't try to be
Wonder Woman or Superman. Seek help. One of the best
things you can do is make decisions that help you recover.
Talking and planning with someone who understands
and is trained in dealing with a crisis is valuable. 
Then, make decisions that are action-based. If a decision
pushes you toward  the action that helps your business,
make it. One of the best ways to recover from difficult
situations is to take massive action. Taking action on the
things you can control will give you progress. As you
consistently take action, you'll be closer to your goal
before you even realize.
Obstacles don't have to be business breakers in your life.
You can learn from them and use them to make you a
stronger and wiser entrepreneur. The most successful
entrepreneurs understand that it's not the crisis -- it's your
response that determines how successful you'll be. Stay
strong, process your thoughts, create a plan and then take
action.