The Obstacle is the Way

In 2017 I took some time off from the corporate world to begin working on Goran 2.0, which is when this website started. I was burnt out from the constant business grind. From the projects, the meetings, and from the endless push of moving someone else's vision forward.

In 2017 I was exhausted from working on someone else's dream and I knew then it was the time I started working on my own.

But then a few things happened. Since I'd gone decades without taking any breaks, I

had no idea what to do with my new found time. So I did what any rational university graduate, thirty-something person would do, I threw myself into seven different personal passion projects, all at once.

As you might have guessed, it didn't end well.

At first I took on just a few projects, until I added more and more on to my plate. Soon I found myself as stressed as I was in my corporate job. Until eventually, one by one, I started realizing something.

I realized many of the things I wanted to do were not really my dreams, but in fact just ideas that sounded great saying out loud to crowded rooms of friends or strangers who wanted to hear something inspiring.

The trouble was, inspiring ideas need a lot more than just talk. They need action and a deep desire to execute, to work at it, over and over again.

I also learned that the obstacle is the way.

A friend recently said when you start facing bigger and bigger obstacles in life - ones that try to prevent you from reaching your most important goals - you'll know you're getting closer. You'll know the universe is just testing you.

Personally, I love this idea. So I created this equation. Which really has no purpose but maybe it might just help us remember it when it's time.

OB (obstacles) + R (Response) = O (Outcome)

Because in life events will happen. But how we respond is what will matter. How we respond will dictate the outcome.

Obstacles will try to derail us. But obstacles will also give us a chance to prove how badly we want something. And the bigger those obstacles get, the closer you might just be to finally completing that thing you know you always needed to do.