3 Way Your Hurdles Could Help You In Life

I ran track growing up, and while I participated in many events, I wasn’t ever able to run the hurdles. Hurdles are literally obstacles that are placed in your path as you run. Most likely, someone a-long-time ago looked down at a 100-meter running path and thought, “This is great and all, but you know what is missing? Something to trip people.” With that thought, hurdles were born. Now, I’m not sure if that’s exactly how it went, but I’m confident that little thought went into it. Though I never ran them, I did observe how much influence those obstacles can hold.

When it comes to our own lives, we want to look down the track and see nothing but the path we would like to run. We don’t want to see any obstacles in our way from where we are to where we would like to go. However, we all know that this isn’t how life works. No matter where we go in life, we encounter hurdles — a series of obstacles that stand in our path that interrupt us from getting from point A to point B. Just like with running track, it isn’t whether there are hurdles or not. It’s how we see those hurdles that make all the difference.

People that run hurdles see those obstacles as merely part of the race. They expect them. They prepare for them. They create plans to get over them. They show up and are prepared to run the race with the obstacles in their lanes. The hurdlers have built a positive relationship with the hurdles. Runners who race hurdles develop a different strength and stamina than runners that just run straight ahead.

Now, if our life is guaranteed to have hurdles along our path, there may be a different way for us to run in our own lives. Just like hurdlers, when we face our obstacles head-on, they have a positive effect on us. Hurdles are frustrating at times. But given the right mindset, hurdles can also be utilized to make you stronger.

Hurdles Raise Your Game:

Hurdles create a new level of potential for you to achieve. Every hurdle is only so high. Getting over the hurdles isn’t insurmountable, but it does take hard work, training, and focus. So, when facing a hurdle, you have a choice to make. Will you allow the hurdle to force you to level up, trip you up, or stop you from running the race? When we see life as simply a path to the progress of where we would like to be and not as a destination in which to arrive, we are more likely to level up ourselves and our skills. When we do that, we are more likely to face our hurdles with a sense of ease.

Hurdles Change Your Thinking:

Running hurdles is different than running a sprint. While the race distance is often the same, how you think about the race is different. In a sprint race, you think about hitting a top speed as fast as possible and remaining at that pace. In a hurdles race, however, that strategy won’t work. You have to be strategic in how you run. Most hurdlers know the exact amount of steps to take between hurdles. They count their strides so that they know when to leap and when to accelerate.

Likewise, hurdles can change how we think about how we are going to tackle that next project, dream, or goal. This is a gift because we get to places that we’ve never been in life by thinking differently. If we always thought the same way, we would remain in the same place. Taking on hurdles will force you to rethink your strategy, ultimately leading you to get to a new destination.

Hurdles Give You a Sense of Accomplishment:

One of the best ways to expand belief in yourself is by finding small victories of success. When you clear the first hurdle in a race, you know that there are still more to go. But, you will find that you are more fearless when it comes to the second or the third hurdle because you’ve already proven to yourself that you can clear them.

The same is true for life. When we solve a problem that seems unsolvable or achieve an accomplishment that once seemed so far out of possibility, you start believing that you can more. When you believe that, you expand the way that you think, dream, and function.

All and all, the same hurdles that could be forcing you to quit your dream, stop pursuing your goals, or continue tackling that New Year’s resolution could be the exact challenge that you need. These hurdles have the capability of taking you to the next level for that goal, dream, or resolution. Change the way you see your obstacles, and you may just become an Olympic-style hurdler on your way to achieving your goal.