I can vividly remember doing my basic training in the navy many years ago. We would get hauled out of bed at a ridiculous hour and marched in the cold to an obstacle course.

I was very young at the time and never understood what the navy was doing or why they were doing it. At the time it appeared to me as if my government had hired people who had a sadistic streak in their personality, and paid them to design these obstacle courses.

I honestly believed they were trying to kill us.

Looking back today, hopefully much wiser and certainly much richer from those experiences, I realize that they were trying to toughen us up, make men out of boys. The obstacles were causing my peers and me to get in touch with something within us we didn’t even know was there. There is something else of real value I can see today that I totally missed years ago. Although there was always a certain amount of hostility felt by everyone prior to these marches, it was an enthusiastic group that returned – tired, but enthused. We had accomplished something; we conquered the obstacles. The leaders we referred to as sadistic prior to the march suddenly turned into good guys when we returned victorious. They were the same people with whom we were laughing and joking.

If you are in the middle of what appears to be an obstacle course today reach out to meet the obstacles. Conquer them and I guarantee that you will see yourself as a stronger, wiser, and happier person.

The magnificent educator Booker T. Washington said, “The marvelous richness of human experience would lose something of rewarding joy if there were no limitations to overcome. The hilltop hour would not be half so wonderful if there were no dark valleys to traverse. I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has had to overcome while trying to succeed.”

Bob Proctor

If you want some help to overcome your obstacles then you should join me online for our next Paradigm Shift Virtual Event! We will show you how to take full control of your life and live the way you are supposed to. Go here for all the details.