What will it take for you to ‘Risk’ Success?

Apr
20

What will it take for you to ‘Risk’ Success?

In: Coaching Cognition, Uncategorized — Tags: action plan, block, coaching cognition, obstacles, overcoming obstacles, roadblock, success —

Comments (12)

appletree

You are standing in your apple orchard. Will you let yourself starve because the apples are still in the trees and not in your hand?

Throughout your business and your life, you will come across obstacles. For many people, these obstacles cause stress and anxiety. How am I ever going to handle this?

So how do you handle it? Do you think about it and become overwhelmed, walk away, or stare at it hard enough that you begin to believe that it might magically disappear? Or do you assess the obstacle, plan a way around it, and then take action until you are on the other side?

Or do you see it as an obstacle at all?

Is picking an apple from the tree an obstacle? What if you thought the apples were already picked and you discovered that you would have to pick them yourself, does that mean that the apples’ actual location is an obstacle?

We set our goals, create an action plan, and take action! Every exhilarating step brings us closer to our goal.

…Then something unexpected comes up, and we call it an obstacle.

So what is an obstacle?

We usually describe an obstacle as something in our path that is blocking us from reaching our goal. We see it as something we have to ‘get past’ or ‘overcome’.

But remember, everything that happens in your life is an opportunity to take action.

The obstacle is usually unexpected, and you may become frustrated because it will take you longer to reach your goal than you expected. It is the detour from the plan itself that can make you feel like you are not moving toward your goal. We don’t always know how to handle ourselves when things are not going according to plan.

For instance, you are driving home, and a road crew has blocked off the street you normally take. You follow the detour home and it takes a little longer than your regular route. Do you spend that time feeling angry and frustrated or find ways to get value from the alternate route?

If you see obstacles as surprise action steps then they will become a part of your journey, or even an addition, instead of a hindrance. They serve as stepping-stones to your success, just like your planned action steps. Would you let a stepping-stone stand in the way of your success?

As an example, think about the following questions.

If your favorite food is sitting on your kitchen table ready to eat, you are not on a diet, and you have no reason to not eat that food, would you eat it?

What if it was frozen and you had to put it in the microwave first?

What if your microwave breaks and you have to cook it in the oven?

What if the oven stops working while it’s heating up, and you have to fix it before you can eat your favorite food? Would you do it?

At what point would you perceive the situation as an obstacle?

When your goal is a reflection of your vision and values, the things your want out of life on a deeper level, you may believe you are willing to do anything to achieve it.

To allow any kind of obstacle to defeat you or make your journey less exciting could put you at a risk of failure. So try ‘risking success’ by recognizing these so-called obstacles as stepping stones, opportunities to take action, or surprise action steps, and you will see that everything that happens, planned or not, becomes a part of your journey. The surprises simply keep it exciting.

We will touch on this topic more by introducing some simple tools for identifying types of obstacles and how to address them in the next few articles. But just like any personal process, there are more efficient ways to get what you need. Hiring a coach at Coaching Cognition who can help you through these situations as they arise, walk you through the steps that will keep you on track and moving forward, and give you the tools you need to be able to do it all on your own is a great way to ‘risk success’ more quickly.

Do you want to take your business and your life to their full potential? Log into your back office and click on the Coaches icon to get started on your future right away.

Want to know more about this and other related coaching topics? Join the discussion on the Coaching Cognition Facebook FanPage.

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Comments (12)

12 Comments »

“Risking Success” What a great line. Why are we so afraid of success that we do nothing for fear of doing it wrong? If we do not push ourselves we will never grow.
The apple is there, the work has been done, just reach out and grab it.

Kendall, you have great insight.

Fred Villareal

Comment by Fred Villareal — April 21, 2010 @ 6:17 am
They say the difference between a successful person and a person who is not successful is the number of times you’re willing to get up when you get knocked down.
Your perspective on what an obstacle is;gives a person the opportunity to view an obstacle in a whole different way. If we retrain our mind to look at an obstacle as a stepping stone rather than a defeat,then we will have a far greater chance of succeeding.
Thanks Kendall.

Comment by Pam McKeen — April 21, 2010 @ 7:15 am
Success; the very thing that stopped me in my tracks, why, with success comes responsibility.

I will be excited to read the coming articles, especially as I am now working through the obstacle that stopped me dead in my tracks.

Thanks, keep the good word coming.

Patty

Comment by Patty Jones — April 21, 2010 @ 7:39 am
“Risking Success” and “Surprise action steps”… Well shift my perspective….

This wonderful, thoughtful and well written article helped me come away with a whole new away to view my obstacles…that is, not so much as obstacles in a negative sense… but as challenges that will propel me forward…

The quality of insight and clarity of explanation is not only fun to read, but always leave me wanting more…

Thank You…

Comment by Tom Renfro — April 21, 2010 @ 8:39 am
Thanks, Kendall for this great article!

Yes, with success comes responsibility for what we’re doing and we tend to see not only this responsibility as an obstacle, but our success itself. In fact, the fear of success can be the biggest obstacle we have to face – till we’ve learned how to deal with it!

Personally, I’m not willing to see obstacles around me any more. I see only challenges and opportunities. To learn how to change perspective was one of my biggest achievements – Thanks Barbara & Coaching Cognition!

Looking forward to hearing more from you, Kendall, I really love your articles!

Comment by Margareta Rozsonday-Hien — April 21, 2010 @ 2:07 pm
Thanks once again Kendall,

I always call them character building challenges…and we all get a few of them!:-)

It’s easy to read your article and,as Tom says,it leaves you wanting more…

I will be risking some more success and also am grateful for all the fantabulous fellow students I had the honour of getting to know a bit better in Vegas.

Stumbling forward,

Jan

Comment by Jan Robberts — April 21, 2010 @ 7:32 pm
Fear in Hebrew is spelled פחד.
Reversing the letters as דחף
Means impulse, urge, and drive.
In other words, one is advised to confront fear with action first, challenging it.

Comment by Amnon Thaller — April 22, 2010 @ 12:36 am
“we all carry around
roadblocks inside of us called “limiting beliefs”
and that if we can get past them, we can succeed –
not just in business, but in each and every area
of our lives”.

Comment by Lea Sedan — April 22, 2010 @ 1:38 am
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Pingback by How Alexa Divett’s Clients Are Finding New Direction Through Coaching « Renegade Professional News — April 22, 2010 @ 10:13 am
It’s all well and good to use those stepping stones as hurdles to get where your going but what about people that are trying like mad to get to the next level but are on a shoestring budget and can’t get over the not quite enough money hurdle, which means yeah they want to hire a personal coach to take them to that next level but can’t afford it.They’ve gone rene pro, gone through alot of the tutorials, their doing free articles on squidoo, hub pages and ezine articles doing monetization they are using social venues to not sell a product but to give people value and information but can’t afford a coach, what’s the answer to that ? from a frustrated but dedicated Renegader and Marketing Merge student and I’m sure theirs plenty of us out their.

Comment by Mike Baglio — April 22, 2010 @ 10:44 am
@Mike Baglio – You are absolutely right. Many people face the not quite enough money hurdle. With something like hiring a coach, it can be a short-term commitment to something that will affect your long-term success. There is no requirement that you hire your coach for an extended amount of time, so you can take it one session at a time if you wanted.

Anything that you want to do that you believe can bring value to you and your success is important. If there is money involved, it may not be accessible to you right away. However, you can begin to take some actions that will bring you closer to your goal of, in this case, hiring a coach.
For instance, involving yourself in the discussions at the Coaching Cognition Facebook page by asking questions like you asked here may be a great way for you to gather information.
Talking to others who have hired coaches may help you get a more first-hand view on the actual value of coaching. Reading testimonials on each coach’s profile may do this as well.
From this research, you may find out approx. how many sessions you would like to have for your first coaching experience.
Knowing that will help you find out exactly how much money you will need to set aside for this. And remember, a level 1 coach is less expensive, but it does not mean that the coach him/herself is a novice, it simply means they are new to Coaching Cognition. Group coaching is another way to get coaching services while also saving money.
Then ask yourself, what will it take for me to save up that money? Is there anything I can sacrifice for a set amount of time that will allow me to reach my goal (hiring a coach) even faster?
The less money you have, the bigger the sacrifice it is to spend it. For this reason, it may very important to make sure that you are aware of the benefits and are yourself prepared for the coaching process. Cindy Schulson wrote a great article called “How to get the most out of Coaching with Coaching Cognition” here on RPro News.
Even if you cannot hire a coach at this very moment, taking the steps to move yourself closer to your goal may help you realize that every step counts
If you have any more questions, please feel free to visit us at http://www.facebook.com/coachingcognition
Thank you so much for posting this question. I do believe that others are thinking it, but because you said it, they may find value as well.
Kendall

Comment by CoachingCognition — April 22, 2010 @ 1:08 pm
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Pingback by Identifying Your Obstacles Can Help You Move Forward « Renegade Professional News — April 22, 2010 @ 11:31 pm