Overcoming Obstacles: Turning I Can’t Into I Can
My daughter, Aiyana, teaching our ferret Kali how to “walk”
At times, I need to follow my own advice take for instance my fuzzbutts website Ferrets Haven when I moved it to another server a few months ago I forgot to transfer the picture files which meant all my files were lost. Thankfully I have then on an external hard drive I just need to upload them again. However instead of looking how I could tackle it piece by piece I looked at the whole project and was overwhelmed.
The only thing I could see was the amount of work/hours that this was going to take. I had over a years worth of pictures! Why am I even going to try and do this? I thought! That’s a lot of pictures! It’s going to take me forever to complete! That wasn’t true I just needed to change the method in how I tackled this challenge.
Setting Realistic Goals
A few week ago I decided that I had felt sorry for my “sad state” of affairs and I needed to get off my butt and do something about it. How did I accomplish this? I set realistic goals. I decided that I would tackle 50 photos per week. I would make sure I added them back to Ferrets Haven. Guess What it’s working. I’ve knocked out almost four months worth of pictures before the deadline I’ve set for myself. Yes, it’s taking a lot of work and that is ok this update will make it even better than the original. :wink:
At Times You Need A Different Approach
Just like the post I wrote last week Don’t Quit! Never Give Up! I realized that I needed to follow my own advice. I had to approach the maintenance I was doing at Ferrets Haven differently. If I hadn’t I probably would still be sitting around putting that project off simply because I had convinced myself it would take too long to complete. Guess what? With that attitude it would.
What I Need To Remember
Ok what I’m about to say is something I have known for years but now and again even I need to be yanked back into reality. Looking at what I’m now doing with that website I’m actually happy that it happened. In doing so I could look at areas I needed to correct and am incorporating that into the maintenance also.
I’ve already seen improvements and I’m not even halfway completed the entire project however with the tasks I’ve set for myself I’m ahead of schedule. I’ve been quiet the past day and that is that I’m doing a lot of work, in my spare time, on this project. It’s going to be complete well ahead of schedule. If I let a project overwhelm me without thinking of alternate ways that I can tackle my “giant” it will. I’m not about to let that happen.
Throughout life we will have many obstacles that stand in our way at times we need different approaches to move past those blocks that stand in our way.
In regards to the above photo our ferret Kali isn’t walking yet but she can walk upright for a few seconds. ;-)
Question: What obstacles do you, or have you faced? How have you or how will you triumph?
[tags]overcoming obstacles, positive thinking, challenges, goal setting, ferret[/tags]
on October 19th, 2007 at 10:37 am
[...] Read it all here. [...]
on October 19th, 2007 at 10:47 am
Most of my obstacles are work related. I usually get over them by talking to other to get tips and/or I create a plan of action.
If a plan seems overwhelming, then I try to break it up in pieces just as you have, e.g. 50 photos per week. This way it seems more manageable.
There are other personal obstacles, like using my credit card instead of cash. I’m sure this might present itself this Holiday.
So we’re gonna have to do some creative financing here on out and of course spend less and create a budget.
Other obstacles we take it as it comes and hope for the best. :)
on October 19th, 2007 at 2:23 pm
you have such a great way of looking at things! I just love your attitude! Most of my obstacles are really hard for me to talk about. I havent managed to overcome many of them.
Calamity’s last blog post..TGIF!
on October 19th, 2007 at 5:57 pm
I think one of the biggest things is keeping a positive attitude. I have been very busy at work lately, and suffered some setbacks, but I am trying to stay focused on my end goals.
The saying “Obstacles are what you see when you take your eyes off your goal” is one I try to take to heart.
You bring up a great point, of not trying to tackle the project as a whole. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!
I am happy that you are putting photos back on the fuzzbutt site, I have missed the pictures of Aiyana ‘making’ the ferret pretty, and the ferrets in the pool - those photos always bring a smile to my face.
Thomas’s last blog post..Duplicate Post - But What if I Fail?
on October 19th, 2007 at 7:14 pm
Rolando,
Thanks for stopping by. Yep I definitely remember the obastacles I faced in the corporate setting. Have you ever heard of David Ramsey he has a book titled The Total Money Makeover it’s a great book on how to manage your finances. I thought it was common sense but after chatting with people I thought perhaps it isn’t?
Calamity,
Anyone can have the same outlook. I honestly believe that we are our own worst enemies we create massive problems that could be avoided if only we tried it using a different approach or in some cases asking for assistance from others.
Thomas,
Hey buddy I’ve thought about you a lot this weekend. I’ll be creating a special fuzzbutt collage in your honor. :-)
I’ve heard the elephant expression although it has been several years for some reason it makes me think of the scene where John Candy ate that huge slab of steak. The movie was The Great Outdoors.
on October 19th, 2007 at 8:42 pm
I love that saying about eating the elephant one bite at a time. But I don’t think I like elephant. Probably tastes like chicken.
Anyway, kudos to you, Opal for keeping that positive outlook and managing to work at that daunting task until you have conquered it. There’s only one way to eat an elephant - in small bites, but remember there are always more than one way to skin a cat. So never give up too soon. I guess Kali’s short walks are proof of what “keeping at it” can do. (And BTW, no animals were really hurt in this comment.)
teeni’s last blog post..Happy Birthday Cousin D
on October 19th, 2007 at 9:46 pm
Very cute!!! :)
Obstacles for me lately…mostly myself. All I can do is slow down, think, and weigh the pros and cons I guess.
on October 21st, 2007 at 6:02 pm
[...] (aka Vegan Momma)  overturns obstacles by turning “I can’t” into “I can.” Breaking an overwhelming task (12 months worth of photo filing) into a manageable size (50 photos [...]
on October 28th, 2007 at 12:10 pm
[...] an earlier post, Overcoming Obstacles: Turning I can’t Into I Can , I mentioned how I moved my ferrets website, Ferrets Haven to another website. The Mac Diva was [...]