How to Overcome Obstacles, by Sara Borgstede, Motivational Speaker and Writer

Today's post is authored by my guest blogger, Sara Borgstede.
Be sure to check out her website and podcasts at www.saraborgstede.com! 

How to Overcome Obstacles

When you are on a journey toward wellness of any type, you will come to obstacles in your path. Injury. Illness. Boredom. Work deadlines. Family crisis. Somewhere along the way, internal or external factors – often a combination of both, will block your way to your goal. Expect it to happen so that when it does you are not blindsided. Instead, meet these situations with the knowledge that troubles are part of the process.

Then follow these steps:

1.    Stay in your body and in the moment. My first open water race swimming experience, I panicked. Despite the fact that I had practiced swimming in open water, I freaked and had to be pulled out of the water in a boat. I swam off course and when I realized what had happened, this is where my mind started going. “Oh crap! I’m so far behind everyone else! I’m going to be last out of the water. Everyone is waiting for me. I’ll be swimming all by myself. I look like a total idiot out here.” My breathing increased, my heart rate sky rocketed, and suddenly I was in a full-blown panic attack.

Let’s look for a moment at where my thoughts were. My thoughts had flown out of my body and way out into the future. I was thinking about the swim finish line. I was thinking about the speed of the other swimmers. I was thinking about the thoughts of the lifeguards and coaches in the boats. None of my thoughts were about my body or my swim. I was totally outside of myself. The way to stay calm is to stay with your own body and in your own moment.

2.    Remind yourself, YOU are not your goal. You are a unique person with much to offer the world because you are alive. You are a mom, a dad, a teacher, a banker, whoever you are. None of that changes if you meet this goal or not. The people in your life who love you, will still love you. Those who respect and admire you will not lose respect for you if this goal is not accomplished. They will admire your determination for trying.

3.    This goal will change you for the better, whether you accomplish it or not. A couple years ago I was finishing the training season for the longest triathlon I had attempted, a Half Ironman, and race day was looming. I had spent the good part of a year training for this one day. I felt as if so much was riding on my performance at this race. I nervously asked my very wise coach, “What if I don’t finish this race?” She told me, “If you finish, you set a great example for your kids of determination and spirit. If you don’t finish, you will set a great example for them of handled disappointment with grace.” Allow this moment to shape you into becoming a better person, no matter the results.

The medal I received for the first triathlon I completed has this saying etched around the edge, “The person who starts the race is not the same person who finishes it.” It is not accomplishing you goal that changes you. It is the reaching toward it that molds you into a successful person. The times I’ve crossed the finish line have felt freakin’ fantastic! The times I haven’t felt horrible, yes – yet they were necessary for shaping me into who I am now.

Either way, you win.