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Breaking Through Barriers and Obstacles 

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Identifying Obstacles

An obstacle is anything that gets in your way of achieving your goals and living the life you truly desire. Obstacles present themselves the moment you set your sights on something you want.

Think about this: Have you ever been interested in someone romantically and then you just gave up without making your first move for fear of making a fool of yourself? What about the area of well-being? Do you ever find yourself wanting to make healthier food choices only to be derailed when the waiter brings the dessert menu featuring a warm chocolate lava cake? Or, maybe you hit the snooze button a few times too many and you keep missing your window of opportunity for exercising before work.

These are just a few of the typical, day-to-day obstacles that can throw you off track and out of whack.

Why is overcoming obstacles important? Obstacles derail you. They keep you stuck in the past by preventing you from taking action. They root you in fear, convincing you that you aren’t good enough, you don’t know enough, you don’t have enough time or money, and you’re out of options. If you don’t learn how to overcome obstacles, you run the risk of being ruled by them.

In many cases, obstacles are physical or blatantly obvious, whereas some are non-physical and less discernable. In some ways they can show up as limiting beliefs you have about yourself or others, and on some days they appear as other people or circumstances preventing you from being, doing, or having the things you want. Obstacles show up in many forms and are experienced throughout the energetic (spiritual), mental, emotional, and physical bodies.

Energetic Obstacles

Energetic obstacles are things that give you the feeling of being depleted or exhausted all the time. They show up as day-to-day choices that you are making in your life that lead to an imbalance in energy output versus energy input.

Spending 75 percent of your time working and leaving very little energy to put toward healthy nutrition, exercise, or down time will result in lethargy, complacency, or total burnout. Many of us tend to give more than we receive and at some point, the inequality will take its toll.

Try the following exercise to help you overcome energetic obstacles:

• Spend some time looking at the areas in your life where there is a lack of harmony.

• Make a list of the things you are doing that you are giving too much of your time and energy.

• Jot down an approximate percentage of time you spend for each.

• Look at the areas of life or things you do that give you more energy and indicate an approximate percentage of time you spend doing these things.

• At the end, see where you can minimize things that take away from your energy levels and increase things that give you more energy.

Mental Obstacles

Mental obstacles often revolve around a lack of goals, motivation, or focus. If you don’t have a goal, you don’t have any direction. It’s near impossible to get to where you’re going if you have no idea where it is you want to be. Another mental obstacle is absence of motivation. Motivation requires a level of passion in order to sustain forward movement toward the goal. If there is no motivation, mental obstacles will show up in the form of resistance and excuses.

An inability to stay focused on the end result can be a huge obstacle. “Chasing squirrels” in your mind—another term for being easily distracted—is a common theme for many people as we live in a world where multi-tasking has become glorified. When you’re scattered and not able to maintain your focus, you start to spin out and are easily thrown into overwhelm.

Emotional Obstacles

Emotional obstacles show up most frequently in the form of daily stressors: irritation toward other people, limiting beliefs about your own self-worth, thoughts around your inability to accomplish certain things, and negative emotions based on past experiences.

Not taking enough down time to become present to—and experience—love, joy, gratitude, and happiness in your daily life may leave you ambiguously feeling as though life itself is the obstacle.

Mental and emotional obstacles are where we tend to point the finger outward, blaming other people or circumstances for the way things are rather than taking responsibility for our choices.

Physical Obstacles

Physical obstacles tend to show up as a lack of time or money, behavior patterns, and physiological responses. For example, if you are someone who struggles with managing your time effectively, you will have difficulty getting things done in an efficient manner—if at all. If you aren’t in a financial bracket that supports your needs and goals, this will show up as a very real challenge for you.

Sudden illness and injury experienced in the physical body are obstacles that can temporarily throw you off course. If you’re not quick to heal—mentally or physically—it may derail you for months or even years. In other cases, obstacles may show up as behavioral choices like sleeping in because you feel energetically, mentally, or emotionally exhausted.