Obstacles

I was listening to a training call today and loved the anology the gal used about obstacles in our lives and businesses. Everyone in life has obstacles of course. We all know it is how you deal with them that affects your life.

Here is the analogy she used: A school had some construction work going on in the parking lot where parents drove in to pick up their children. The school put up orange cones that blocked access for cars to get up to the school.

Here is how people dealt with the "cones" -

The first person came up to the cones, looked at them and then turned around the way they came in.

The second parent came up to the cones, turned around and weaved through the school parking lot to find an alternative way to get to the front where the pick up area was.

The third parent came up to the cones, got out of his car and moved the cones out of the way and proceeded to the child pick up area.

The next parent came up to the cones, didnt take the time to get out of the car, but simply used her car to gently move the cones far enough that she could get through.

The final parent came into the parking lot, saw the cones and proceeded to run them over, flatten them and kept going.

Now the moral isnt to run people over etc but think of this - how many of us would come up to an orange cone and sit there for hours, days or weeks? No one! Its the same with our obstacles - think about that.

Yet so many people do what the first parent did when they face an obstacle - they quit, they give up as fast as they thought about trying, without considering the ways to get over the obstacle.

So what do you do when you face an obstacle in your business?

1. Recover

2. Regain your composure

3. Regroup

4. Redirect

And if all else fails, cut your losses and get out of dodge. A good example of this would be, you show up to a listing appt and you know the home owner is home as they peek out the window but they wont answer the door. Now, you could look for an open bathroom window to crawl through, but this might a time to cut your losses. And if all else fails, laugh!