I was in the process of planning a training session within which I planned to use Stephen coveys circles of concern and influence. I was considering Coveys comments regarding the fact that as we work more in our circle of influence we grow the circle. This growth is the result of others seeing our ability to bring about change and to have an impact. We also build up trust in ourselves that we can succeed and have an impact. So the impact is two fold changing the perception of other towards us and also changing our own self perception. I found myself considering if this self fulfilling prophecy might be applicable beyond Coveys circles and into the domain of overcoming obstacles. Where we freeze or shy away from obstacles we may be seen by others as ineffectual. We ourselves will also start to believe that we are incapable of overcoming the prevalent obstacles in our lives. It is a negative self fulfilling prophecy. It may also be considered as learned behaviour as each experience of being unable to overcome an obstacle reinforces the belief that we can’t overcome obstacles. Looking at the other side of things, if we see an obstacle as an opportunity and proceed to overcome it then we show others that we can succeed. We also build our self confidence in our ability to overcome obstacles. When the next obstacle makes it appearance we will be more likely to challenge it and to view it as an opportunity. Again we have a self fulfilling prophecy and learned behaviour however here we have significantly better chances of a positive outcome. Now both the positive and the negative examples above show evidence of learned behaviour. Such behaviour is often enacted with little conscious thought. The challenge therefore is for us as individuals to remain aware of what we are doing and why and to rethinking those situations where the behaviour is negative in nature and to encourage those behaviours which are positive. 
It’s now been a few days since I started seeing the obstacle of being tired and having to get out of bed as an opportunity rather than an obstacle. Each day I get up and out of bed rather than hitting snooze, the easier it is to repeat the task the following day. Yesterday the extra time and motivation I gained from succeeding in getting up despite being tired resulted in very significant improvements in productivity. So next time you hit snooze and roll over in bed give some thoughts to this fact as I promise the impact on your day is bigger than just the loss of 10 or 15 minutes from the available time in the day. As Ryan Holiday puts it in the title to his book, “The Obstacle is the way”.
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