21 Examples of Obstacles in Life Keeping You from Success

Look, I get it…

You’ve got a burning desire for wealth and financial freedom.

Not because you want to be filthy rich, you just want to be comfortable.

You want to feel good. You want to live a happy and easy life, take care of your family, travel to exotic places, and buy a few nice things.

But most of all, you want to stop worrying about money.

Who wouldn’t want that? It’s the ultimate American Dream.

If I asked you to tell me what you want in life, your response would mirror one of those desires.

Unfortunately, it won’t mean anything at all. Why?

Because…

One of the greatest challenges of success is deciding what obstacles in life you’re willing to to overcome to get the life you really want.

You see, I understand your desire to be wealthy. Not just for money, but for a certain type of lifestyle. I understand it because it’s a desire in all of us. We’re attracted to success. It’s like a curse.

But the problem is you get stuck in that infinite loop of desire. It’s easy to do. Breaking that loop means you’ll have to declare war on the obstacles life throws at you.

And it’s not because Life hates you. No. She understands how valuable your desires are. So she created those obstacles to test you. To see how bad you really want it. To see what sacrifices you’re willing to make, and how far you’ll go to make your dreams a reality.

In a way, Life is like a gatekeeper. She only grants access to amazing wealth, abundance, and success, to those who deserve it.

Now you’re probably curious about these obstacles. Well in this post, you’re going to learn about them and get to read some inspirational quotes as well.

But before you jump into this list, there’s something you should know…

Every successful person has had to overcome these obstacles to achieve their dream lifestyle.

And it doesn’t matter how you define success. What matters is knowing the barriers to your goals and dreams, and taking steps to break them down.

So if you’re serious about accumulating wealth, keep on reading.

21 Examples of Obstacles in Life

Here, in no particular order, are the biggest obstacles keeping you from accumulating wealth and getting what you want in life:

1. The Internal Critic

The critic inside you is probably the most powerful obstacle of all.

It makes you second-guess yourself. It demotivates you and crushes your desires. It’s basically your super-ego reminding you to conform with the norms you’ve been taught by parents and society. The norms that keep 99% of people stuck in average lives.

You’ve got to tune out your internal critic. Because believe it or not, you won’t be defeated by what others say about you…

You’ll be defeated by what you say about yourself.

2. Excuses

You need to forget about what you don’t have or what you wish you had, and focus on what you’ve got. Because what you’ve got right now is a lot.

The secret is to realize that you, and only you, are responsible for what you do with it.

Successful people don’t allow excuses to limit them. They take control of their situation and focus on solutions that move them forward.

So you can let excuses kill your conscience or you can do something about it. You decide.

3. Shortcuts

Look, there are no shortcuts to becoming wealthy. If it was easy, not only would everyone do it, but there’d be no growth.

You’re going to have ups and downs on the road to success, that’s just how it is. But the longer you keep looking for the easy path instead of taking action, the harder your life will be.

If you’re tempted to follow someone who’s trying to sell you some magic pill or solution to untold riches, let your common sense guide you. Don’t create a mini financial recession for yourself. You’re smarter than that.

4. Complacency (aka Settling)

Most people settle for mediocrity and accept it as a cultural norm. They live regrettable lives, work at jobs they hate, build their family on a foundation of debt, and then they die.

That might seem depressing and hurtful, but life doesn’t care about your feelings.

You can’t just sit back and be satisfied with the life you have right now. There’s a lot more you can do and accomplish. You just have to want it as bad as you want to sleep or party.

So you might as well raise your standards and get busy living.

5. Instant Gratification

How many wealthy people do you know (or read about) who went from zero dollars to successful millionaire in 24 hours? How about a week? A month?

Anyone? Bueller?

Hmmm… and yet that’s what most people want, including you.

No one wants to endure the pain, struggles, and challenges surround the process of accumulating wealth. They just want that shit now.

If accumulating wealth is important to you, you won’t just focus on the present, ignore the past, and forget the future entirely.

You’ll give up the urge to maximize the benefits of short-term happiness, and focus on the bigger picture.

6. Fear

You’re always saying that you need to make more money, start a business, change your life, etc. But you don’t do it. Why?

Because you’re afraid. 

You’re afraid of failing and you’re also afraid to succeed.

In both cases the lack of knowledge causes these feelings, which makes you less confident in your abilities.

However, you have access to that knowledge all around you. Resources like this site contain valuable content to guide you towards your goals. But it’s up to you to seize it and use it to change your life.

7. Comfort Zones

Most people think that their world will fall apart if they step outside their comfort zone and try something new.

If you’re afraid to take risks and go beyond your little comfortable life, you’ll never accomplish anything.

Growth doesn’t happen unless you’re constantly challenged to do things you’re not accustomed to doing.

So share your gifts and talents with the world. Push past your comfort zone. Get uncomfortable.

8. Junk TV & Social Media

You don’t need a research study to know how much of your life is consumed by digital media. You can validate it on your own just by observing yourself.

Netflix marathons, reality tv, news, and social media, all consume a large part of your day. And despite these things doing nothing to enrich your life or get you closer to becoming wealthy, you still enjoy them.

You somehow manage to do all those activities, yet when it comes to reading, getting healthy or working on your goals… you’re always busy.

It’s tragic. But it also explains why poor people collect the latest consumer gadgets and rich people collect tons of books.

I guess you just have to decide which of those two individuals you want to be like.

9. An Old Mind

If you keep doing what you’ve always done you’ll never rise above your present self. And the version you are today, does not have to be who you are tomorrow.

The greatest and most powerful thing in this world is a changed mind.

It’s impossible to become successful without acquiring new knowledge and skills. That’s why winners adopt a growth mindset by investing time and money into their personal development to achieve greatness.

How many books have you read in the past 90 days that pertain to your goals? What new skill have you learned this year?

10. Procrastination

You’re the one who said you want to be comfortable in life. You said you want to be happy and financially free to take care of your family.

You want that lifestyle. But yet you keep finding ways to avoid pursuing it.

The reality is, procrastination doesn’t even exist.

The problem is, those things sound nice in your head but they’re not important to you.

You see, if I told you to show up tomorrow at 5:00 AM to collect $5,000 for free… you’d show up at 4:59 AM to get that money!

And that my friend is why I say there’s no such thing as procrastination. It’s just that your desires aren’t that important to you.

11. Self-limiting Beliefs

The hardest thing about getting what you want in life isn’t the journey…

It’s convincing yourself that it’s possible and you deserve it.

I will never be rich. I can’t lose weight. I’m not smart enough to start a business. I don’t have the skills. It’s just the way the world works.

All of those are examples of limiting beliefs that you consciously choose to believe are real. You accept them as your reality. And here’s the worst part…

Every time you choose not to take action in the direction of your goals, you’re pushing back your success. It can be delayed by weeks, months, or even years.

Are you prepared to deal with the pain of regret and questions of “What if” later in life?

12. Bad Habits

When you spend most of your life doing something that you’ve become accustomed to, it’s tough to get rid of it.

You don’t just pick up bad habits. You develop them over time. And those bad habits are detrimental to your plans for wealth and success.

But the good news is, you can fix them. You’ve got first recognize those habits and then make a conscious effort to replace them with good ones.

This is a level of personal development that you will have to do if you want to get what you want in life.

13. Human Leeches

These parasites are your friends, family, charities, and even your church. They will all hit you up for your money or time at various moments throughout your existence.

They’ll guilt trip you into forking over your money blindly. And because they know you’re a sucker, they’ll keep coming back again and again until you do something about it.

The first thing you can do is to say ‘NO’ to them. The word no is an essential part of wealthy people’s vocabulary.

Yes… it will create enemies and you’ll lose some friends, loved ones, wives or boyfriends. But in the end you’ll be better off without those leeches.

And more importantly, you’ll protect your money and time.

14. Sleep

This is funny because you’ll be quick to point out how “experts say you need eight hours of sleep.”

But in reality, that’s nothing more than a third of your day lost, which equates to almost 3,000 hours wasted every year.

People who become successful don’t waste that many hours on sleep. They incorporate sleep into their 24 hours efficiently. They create schedules, get up earlier than most, take power naps, and squeeze every second possible out of their 24 hours.

That’s what you’re gonna have to do to get on their level.

BTW, no one is saying you don’t need sleep. You definitely need it to recharge your body to function. You just don’t need 8-9 hours sleep or even sleep-ins on the weekends – unless you’re genuinely busting your ass for your goals.

But if you really want the dream lifestyle you covet so much, you’re going to have to want it more than you want to sleep.

15. Bad Advice

Would you rather learn about business from a tenured college professor with 2 PhDs in business, or a high school dropout who built a billion-dollar company?

No, that’s not a trick question. It’s actually a rather controversial one with a common sense answer.

The point is, you can’t learn how to do something from someone who hasn’t done it.

A professor might be smart but there are dumb people, or people worse off than you, who give really bad advice.

You need to find someone who is doing what you want and learn from them. If that’s making $10,000 a month, find the person who is doing that and they will help you succeed.

16. An Unhealthy Lifestyle

Drugs, alcohol, tobacco, and food. Those are the enemies you betray your body for.

Add in the fact that you either sit behind a desk all day or stand on your feet, and it’s a recipe for long-term health issues.

If you don’t take care of your body, it will struggle to support you in your pursuit of your goals.

You may not think it’s a big deal now, but just imagine yourself in your late 50s with all kind of joint pain and weight issues. Picture how difficult it’s going to be for you to run around with your grandkids kids before you start wheezing like an asthmatic panda. Now multiply that feeling by 100.

That’s what you’ll experience when you’re older.

And since you didn’t create the wealth you needed, think about your “affordable” medical costs thanks to America’s fantastic healthcare system. #foodforthought

17. Negative Toxic People

The people you spend time with have a significant impact on you and your destiny.

They could be loved ones or close friends. And if they’re not equally committed to the pursuit of success, they won’t understand your mission. They’ll try to convince you that it’s not possible, that you can’t do it, and that it isn’t worth it.

You must walk away from anyone who tries to attack your beliefs and prevent you from achieving your goals.

Focus on spending time with people hungrier than you, smarter than you, and more successful than you.

Start saying ‘no’ to average people and start saying ‘yes’ to those who understand and support what you’re doing.

18. Debt

To avoid any confusion, you should know that I’m only referring to bad debt here.

That’s the soul-crushing kind of debt that follows you to the grave and haunts your great, great, grandchildren.

If you’re like the 99%, you have some kind of bad debt. It could be student loans, credit cards, auto loans, etc. In general, all of those are completely avoidable.

And if you’re already neck-deep in debt, crawling out is going to require patience and discipline.

So unless you’re using debt in a good way to do something like purchase rental properties or leverage interest rates, you’re going to have to overcome this obstacle in life.

19. Rejection

When you hear ‘no’ these days it enters your body like a virus and shuts down all hope, positivity, and motivation.

Whatever idea you’re working on immediately becomes irrelevant.

Remember when you were a kid and your mom warned you to stay out of the cookie jar, but you did it anyway because you were an absolute rebel? What happened to that part of you?

For most people, that immunity to rejection wears off as they get older. Like an aging super-hero losing his powers.

You’ve got to find that essence again because you’re going to need it to repel all the no’s you’ll get on your journey to amassing wealth.

20. Believing Your Time is Infinite

If you’re waiting for tomorrow, next week, next year, or until you have ____ (fill in the blank)… you’ll die waiting.

You share the same 24-hour shot clock with wealthy people. The only difference is they focus on making every second count instead of squandering it away.

And if you think you’ve got lots of time, think again.

There are people who said they’d do things tomorrow, next year or whenever, and they are not around today. Let that thought marinate in your mind.

21. Failure

Most people are very familiar with this obstacle.

It is single-handedly responsible for killing more dreams and aspirations than every disease, human destruction, and death… combined.

Imagine putting all your effort into something. Working for months on an idea you just know is going to be the best thing ever since Brazilian hair extensions.

Then you release that project into the world and…

It flops harder than erectile dysfunction on an anniversary night!

When that happens it creates a memory in your brain and your bruised ego takes all future dreams and locks them away in the back of your mind – forever.

In short, you never ever want to experience that feeling again.

Failure is a big reason why people settle and lead average lives. But you’ve got to overcome it. You’ve got to understand that it happens to everyone who wants to create an amazing life.

Are you going to let failure knock you down permanently or are you going to get back in the game?

Final Thoughts About Overcoming Obstacles in Life

So you’re finally aware of the obstacles standing between you and success, and you’re eager to get rid of them. That’s great!

There’s just one thing I need to tell you…

You won’t be able to overcome every obstacle today. Some may even take you a while. But I promise you this:

When you do conquer them, you’ll be able to pursue your goals, get results you’ve never imagined, and achieve the highest level of success.

Yes, it’s going to take time – all good things do. This is a journey to strengthening your resolve to increase your chances of accumulating wealth in life.

And on the flip-side, if you ignore these obstacles or shrug them off, I’ve got another promise for you:

You’ll struggle to get the lifestyle and success you want.

Now, since most people are oblivious to these obstacles, and since you seem like a good person, I’d like you to ask you a favor…

Can you help me share it with those people who need to read it?

It’s easy. All you have to do is click the buttons below to help others get access to this information. So please do that now.