Competition and Obstacles Only Make You Stronger

What cannot kill you can only make you stronger. The team at the top had to beat the toughest competition. The guy who made it through the tough times came out stronger. Seeking the easy path in life, avoiding making tough choices only makes one weaker.

My friend, do not fear competition, embrace it as a necessary evil for your success journey. Today we look at how to use competition and obstacles to your advantage.

What are obstacles?

Obstacles are physical or mental barriers to success. Examples of physical obstacles are diseases, physical barriers, distance etc. Examples of mental obstacles include fear, ignorance or negativity.

In sports, obstacles can be in the form of the opposing team e.g. in rugby, or hurdles in steeplechase. Talking of steeplechase, did you know that the Kenyan team (where yours truly comes from) has dominated the 3000 meters Olympics steeplechase since 1968?

The official world record in the 3000-meter steeplechase for men is held by Saif Saaeed Shaheen of Qatar (formerly Stephen Cherono of Kenya) at 7:53.63. The first person to run the steeplechase in under eight minutes was Moses Kiptanui of Kenya, who ran it in 7:59.18 on August 16, 1995 in Zürich, Switzerland. Kenyans had a clean sweep of the steeplechase medals at the 2004 Olympics Games. Oops, what were we talking about before we started talking about Kenya?

Oh yes, we were talking about steeplechase. It is an obstacles race in athletics that is usually 3000 meters. Each runner encounters a total of 28 barriers over the course of the race, as well as 7 water jumps.

On your success journey, you will encounter 28 or more obstacles. The purpose of this blog is to inspire you to win your success race and overcome obstacles. Some obstacles in life might be as little as bumps on the road that require you to slow down and exercise caution. Others will be like mountains that you can hike up or give up if need be. Yet other obstacles will be like walls, all you need to do is find the door.

Real vs. Imaginary Obstacles

You receive in your mind whatever channel you tune in to. If you believe that you cannot get ahead in life because you grew up in a single parent family, then that becomes your reality.

If you believe that you have it in you to achieve great success in business, then that too becomes your reality. I believe that many of us experience more imaginary obstacles in life than the real ones.

Before I launched this blog, I was telling myself how hard it is to write and create an audience without much experience. I was using lack of experience as an imaginary obstacle to keep me from doing what I love. Many people are adept at finding reasons why things will not work, but struggle to find the reasons for making things work.

I am not naïve enough to believe that there are no roadblocks to success like racism or poverty. But I do believe that if you overcome challenges, it makes you stronger, it makes you wiser. The trick is to not let your obstacles and hurdles paralyze you into inaction.

If you have been reading this blog for a while now, you will notice that I advocate having a bias for action. Success lies in the actions you take, the small baby steps you take daily towards your goals.

Progressive Training

You will rarely find a team playing in the big league without having won in the junior leagues. Even boxers have to fight lesser boxers before they can take on challenging fighters that enable them to move up the ladder in the boxing world.

Do not try and overcome your biggest challenges first. Focus on the small problems first and have a few wins under your belt. Armed with that, you will get the confidence to take on weightier issues and challenges.

I find that the human mind is wired to rest at a comfort zone. Unfortunately if you stay for too long in a comfort zone you will stop making progress. Recognize what your current comfort zone is and try and move up the ladder. Do not try and move from zero to a million overnight. Instead focus on having an actionable plan and stick with it even when others would give up.

In the area of physical health, you can gain more through progressive exercise. You can start by running daily for 5 minutes a day, and then move to 20 minutes, then 30 minutes, then an hour perhaps. If you are lifting weights do not start with the heaviest. Progressively work your way up as your muscles grow.

Overcoming obstacles and learning from your mistakes helps build confidence. You should get into a habit of recording your successes and building on them. Learn to appreciate yourself, count your blessings and celebrate your victories.

Do not do the same thing over and over; there is not much learning in that. Instead focus on doing something better every time. Build on your successes.

Embracing the Competition

I have been studying business and politics for the last decade. On thing I have noticed is that there are no permanent enemies in politics and business. As long as the long term, or even short term interests align, many people in business and politics are not allergic to working together.

In the modern world, you cannot afford to be a silo. You need to interact with others who might have been previously regarded as the competition. Especially in these tough economic times, many companies are doing deals with their competition to remain relevant, deliver more value to their customers and line their lean pockets.

Do not be bound by jealousy or envy. If you find someone who has what you want, you can approach them and offer to work together. They may be able to help you if you offer something of value to them in return. Many people limit themselves by being insular (narrowly restricted in outlook or scope).

There is a lot to be gained by opening up and sharing with others. To be able to thrive on the long term, you cannot survive by putting other’s down. Find a way of embracing the competition in your life. (Of course that advice will not apply in every situation).

Compete for the Long Haul

I see many companies with stationary that says “Since 1922″ or “Started in 1897″. Such words speak volumes about those companies. They assure their customers and investors that they are not fly by night operations.

When you compete for the long haul, you gain a lot. You gain respect and visibility in the market. You gain experience in running your business. You build systems and a culture that enables the business to prosper.

Over 90% of small businesses fail in their first 5 years. Many of those small business owners were probably focusing on short term profits and maybe took too much debt or delivered too little long term value to their customers and investors.

Many people look at timelines of two to five years when planning to succeed. In Harvey Mackay’s book Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive: Outsell, Outmanage, Outmotivate, and Outnegotiate Your Competition he writes:

We heard from the top officers of Honda, Sony, Mitsubishi, and the head of the biggest enterprise of all, the eighty-eight-year-old president of Matsushita Electric:

Question: “Mr President, does your company have long range goals?”

Answer: “Yes”.

Question: “How long are your long range goals?”

Answer: “Two hundred fifty years”.

Question: “What do you need to carry then out?”

Answer: “Patience.”

You may not have two hundred year goals, but 10 years or 20 year goals will help you outlast the competition. Long term planning and action pays handsome dividends.

Many people who started a blog at the start of this year will probably give up before the end of the year if they have not already done so. If I keep writing this blog every day for 20 years, one does not have to be a rocket scientist or a fortune teller to tell that it will achieve a phenomenal level of success.

Whatever you do, do it for the long term. Outlast your competition. Persist and you will win in life. Let me finish with a quote by Calvin Coolidge.

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan “press on” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race”.  Calvin Coolidge (30th President of the United States of America, 1872-1933)

Summary

No matter what challenges you may be facing in your life today, take heart; persist. That which cannot kill you will only make you stronger. The size of the victory depends on the size of the opponents.

You cannot claim victory if you area the size of a sumo wrestler fighting with a little boy. Up your game, progressively take on bigger challenges and build your strength. It takes time to succeed, be there for the long term. Take consistent action and press on.

I would love to hear your comments on this article or if you have anything to share about overcoming obstacles and competition. If you think this article will inspire your friends, please consider forwarding it as an email or share it with them on Facebook.

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