The Potential of the Human Will – Overcoming Life’s Obstacles by Finding Your Inner Strengths to Achieve Exceptional Results

Your life is what you want it to be. If I’ve learned one thing in business and life – it is to navigate around obstacles and reach into your inner strength and find your “extraordinary” for guidance. It’s the strength we see in ourselves that crushes all the doubts and fears we may be experiencing.

Make a commitment now to choose just one obstacle, Think about it from this new perspective, and focus on getting around it and to the goal on the other side. Know when to laugh at yourself and have some fun, and you will find a way to get around obstacles and achieve exceptional results.

Defining Your Obstacle
Obstacles come in different shapes and sizes, times, and places – and when we least expect them. The good news is that they can be overcome. The only limits are those we place on ourselves. Obstacles can teach critical thinking, resilience, and resourcefulness. This talk is about the tools that can help people overcome obstacles and obtain personal and professional success.

Carla’s Life-Changing Obstacle – Blindness
I use the word “obstacle” because that’s what a blind person is taught when they detect something in their path with their white mobility cane, as an allegory to life obstacles. [I then show my white mobility cane and talk briefly about how life changed forever when I lost my eyesight]. Going blind – from a fully functioning independent woman to being completely immobilized. However, I chose to embrace my blindness and work towards living a fun, fulfilling, and productive life, and now am discovering new joys of life not noticed previously that were hidden by eyesight. Today, I work as a writer, author, speaker, and musician. My blindness also gave me the opportunity to empower and encourage people to reach their goals – regardless of any obstacles they need to overcome.

Attaining Success
Success comes from accessing our inner strengths living deep inside the core foundation of who we are. These strengths are a source of inexhaustible energy. They can be found when we reaffirm our spiritual beliefs, immerse ourselves in nature, explore our passions, and recognize our skills. This journey of discovery empowers us to feel capable, competent, and courageous. It is about believing in ourselves – expressed in attitude and a sense of confidence – and it helps us to be able to say “I can.”

Finding Your Inner Strength
Start by de-cluttering your mind and free up mental space – from friends, family, electronics. Carve out daily quiet time to remove mental distractions, restore focus and clarity; declutter physical workspace, get up early, exercise, don’t eat sugar, and make your bed.

Seven Key Learnings
These are some of the key learnings that have worked well for me in my life and career that have helped me successfully identify, assess, map out, and overcome obstacles. They are to:

1. Expect obstacles – by accepting them as a normal part of life, we become stronger
2. Follow your passion and dreams – this gives us a framework in which to succeed
3. Focus on the solution – assess the problem, keep the goal in perspective
4. Prioritize – focus on the important, not the urgent
5. Write every day – jot it down, date it, sign it
6. Never give up – we only fail when we stop trying
7. Celebrate your successes – congratulate yourself in a book of “wins”