On Obstacles

Life is constantly surprising us with obstacles – there’s not much we can do about that. What we can do, however, is control how we deal with those challenges when they do come along. Case in point:

Kids’ favourite clay – play-doh was originally used to clean soot from wallpapers. With the transition from heating with dirtier coal to cleaner oil, gas and electricity, build-up on wallpaper was no longer an issue in many households. Obviously, Joseph McVicker who was selling these products at that time found less and less demand for this wallpaper cleaning substance. He noticed that young kids also enjoyed using this clay for play and projects. All that they needed was a few tweaks including adding colour - and Play-Doh was born.

Engineers actually invented bubble wrap to be used as wallpaper. Creative, yes. Did it work? Nope. So, when their bubbly wallpaper proved to be unsuccessful, the two entrepreneurs decided to re-market their product as greenhouse insulation and later, as protective packaging. 

All these stories are examples of how people across different walks of life portrayed a shift in perspective and mindset - when faced with obstacles at their own level. 

Hurdles are unavoidable. So, while you can’t dodge them, you can transform them into opportunities to use your skills and resources - and you have them! When faced with a hurdle - do you want to be somebody who gets knocked out, or come out stronger on the other side? After all, the only option that we actually have is to develop a mindset that helps us re-brand these hurdles into solutions.