“Nancy taught us…about how fear masquerades as logic, and how courage starts not with action, but with awareness.” —Sarena, HR Leader & Fractional Executive
Are you good at running obstacle courses? Playing whack-a-mole? Plowing through roadblocks?
When you’re driving down the road, it’s simple. Follow the signs, respect the barriers, and you’ll reach your destination safely.
But life isn’t that clear-cut. The more you try to achieve, the more obstacles you’ll face. And if you stop at the first barrier, you won’t make it very far.
Success is partially contingent upon how well we can face roadblocks and overcome or circumvent them.
It takes…
- Self-awareness to recognize our reactionary thought patterns.
- Truth to overcome our internal roadblocks.
- Action to solve external problems.
Let’s look at some example scenarios.
Busting Internal Roadblocks
The quote at the beginning of this email is from one of my recent keynote audience members, who posted this on LinkedIn after my talk:
“Nancy taught us SCFL (pronounced SCUFFLE)…which are four steps to changing your thoughts to change your life. Not in the “just think positive” way…but in a grounded, human, deeply real way. About how fear masquerades as logic, and how courage starts not with action, but with awareness. And there I was… tears quietly streaming without a tissue (who thought we’d need one?) surrounded by HR leaders who’ve seen it all, but still believe in growth, empathy, and the power of change.”
These words mean a lot to me.
Because, when I was writing my keynote, my biggest internal roadblock was the thought, “Who is going to care about what I have to say?”
This is where self-awareness comes in. Before I could do anything about this roadblock, I had to realize, “Hey, I’m having a fear-based thought.”
Like most internal roadblocks, my thought was a limiting belief rooted in a false narrative of self-doubt—a voice telling me I didn’t have anything worthwhile to say.
Once I determined the cause, dealing with the internal roadblock became simpler.
If you’ve been on my email list for a while, you might remember how I used my SCFL framework to flip from my false thought: “Who is going to care about what I have to say?” to a true thought: “I’m going to help people pivot out of self-limiting thought patterns.”
Now, if that ugly thought pops back up, I have a name I can put to the truth.
Who cared? Sarena did.
This is how internal roadblocks are overcome: by rewriting your fears with the truth.
Solving External Roadblocks
Compared to internal roadblocks, external roadblocks are often easier to conquer.
Our brains are wired to assess outside problems and analyze how to solve them. We have a much tougher time looking inward and growing awareness of our own thought patterns.
External barriers are also simpler, in a way, because they typically require a more action-oriented approach.
For example, let’s say I want to reach a new audience with my keynote, but the stories I use don’t appeal to that audience. In this situation, I would need to exert an outward action: tweaking my keynote to fit the audience. Problem solved.
But even if they are addressed differently, self-awareness is just as important for external roadblocks as it is for internal.
Without self-awareness, I wouldn’t recognize the issue with my keynote and choose the right action to take. Without self-awareness, I might risk taking action too quickly, making an unhelpful action, or even creating more problems for myself later down the road.
As someone in a leadership role, you might face external roadblocks daily. From team communication issues to budget constraints to missed deadlines, there are a lot of problems that fall under your purview.
With each one, you have the opportunity to bolster self-awareness by noticing the reactionary thought patterns that surface, then recognize whether they are helpful or unhelpful for the situation.
That self-awareness will help you to reframe the situation and address each obstacle that presents itself.
The roadblocks aren’t going away. But the way you address them can certainly change.
