Three Tactics for Managing Roadblocks On Your Road to Success

by Karen D. Swim

Photo Credit: © Elena Elisseeva | Dreamstime.com

You're tooling along on the road to success confident of where you're headed when you encounter the dreaded roadblock. What do you do?

This month we have been focused on moving forward, but what do you do when your journey is interrupted by those awful orange cones? Below are three options that will help you navigate the roadblocks that hinder your progress.

Wait it Out

Orange cones in the road may only signal a temporary road closure. As you idle your engine and wait, review your purpose for the journey and your directions to get there. Use the break in the action to renew your energy and enthusiasm or attend to other minor tasks are you wait. Check the oil and fluids, kick the tires and make sure you have enough air. When the road crew removes the cones you will be ready to move on with confidence.

Take the Suggested Detour

Detours keep you moving but may add a few extra miles to your journey. Don't view a detour as a setback but a continuation of the adventure. You may discover things along the suggested route that you otherwise would have missed. When I worked in Corporate America my company decided to centralize all of marketing to New Jersey. I didn't want to move (suggested detour) and I opted not to accept offers from the other companies that sought me out (suggested detour #2). Instead, I chose to take time off from work to do nothing (alternate route of my choosing).

Take an Alternate Route of Your Choosing

Choosing my own route turned out to be the best thing that could have happened in my life. I had no idea where any of the roads would lead but trusted that still small voice that said "turn off here." Roadblocks can be a divine signal leading you in a different direction. If the suggested route doesn't feel right to you, plan your own alternate. You may even decide to change your destination entirely, like I did.

As you move toward attaining your goals you will eventually hit a roadblock. Do not allow those orange cones to distract or discourage you. You will get to your destination, perhaps a little slower or by a different route, but you will arrive.

Please join and add to the discussion. What tips do you have for do handling the roadblocks in your life?

The Long Hot Race

by Karen D. Swim

It was August and the Hawaiian sun had risen with a searing determination to melt away my resolve to finish this marathon. The white hot pavement threatened to melt my sneakers with each step. I looked to the left at the cobalt blue ocean and found not one ounce of comfort in its beauty. What good is a scenic marathon when you are hallucinating and close to sun stroke? I glanced at my wristband that had the names of my honored teammate, one of my best friends, a brother-in-law and my husband. I breathed in the hot muggy air, ignored the leg cramps and ran on.

The Maui Marathon was brutal but I crossed the finish line. I've racked up a lot of miles on the road and in life. Some of the miles have been under my feet and others have tread right over me. The lessons learned from the journey have been a huge help to me in business.

"Bid me run, and I will strive with things impossible." --Shakespeare, Julius Caesar

Goal setting, discipline, the value of a support team and managing disappointment are just a few of the lesson with business application. You can run a few marathons of your own (and if you're up for it, I totally recommend it!) or stay with me this week as I share from my own successes and failures. You may not run the same way, distance or speed but I hope that I can spare you a few blisters on your own run.

Please join me this week and share your own thoughts. This is a place where input and ideas are welcomed as we all learn from each other. Just like a marathon, we all come to the starting line with our own reasons for being there. We've followed different training plans, and pre-race rituals but none of that matters as we line up and wait for the race to begin.

Photo Credit: Flickr, flyingpanther

P is for Purpose

What is the purpose of your business? Many years ago Peter Drucker said the purpose of business is to create a customer. That answer remains true today as customers are the lifeblood of your business, but it does not fully answer the question of why you are in business.

"Purpose is what gives life a meaning." --Charles H. Perkhurst

Purpose is the reason for which something exists; an intended desire or result; to set as an aim, intention or goal for oneself. To do something on purpose is to do it by design or intentionally. I think of purpose as the framework in which you operate. Purpose in short gives you a focus.

When I first started in business I carried a little note in my wallet that said "Freedom." As I struggled to build a portfolio of clients and establish a relationship, there were times when I questioned why I was doing it all. Why had I walked away from Corporate America with its fancy titles and fat paychecks to struggle to make ends meet? I would pull out that note and read "freedom." The note reinforced my purpose, my aim and intention for being in business. My purpose then guided every business decision as I sought to stay on course.

Your purpose connects you in a deeper way to the reason your business exists. Yes, you want to make money and to do so you have to create customers but why do you want to make money? Answering this question is essentially defining what is most important in your life. Is it freedom (financial, time, of expression)? Your family? Is your business purpose also your life purpose?

Defining your purpose provides you with a compass that you can monitor daily to stay on course. It is worthwhile to clearly identify your reason for being. Write it down, post it on the wall, save it as your screensaver. Check in with your purpose as you wrestle with business decisions. Your purpose serves as the guidepost for every decision you make.

If you want to keep the hot flames of passion burning, define your focus. Only you can answer the question: What do you want and what are you willing to give up in order to attain it?