Every goal has hurdles to overcome. If it doesn’t, you are not reaching far enough out of your comfort zone. Like many things in life, however, the hurdles follow the 80/20 principle – that is, 80% of your problems come from only 20% of the hurdles. Usually, there will be a single biggest obstacle that stands between you and your goal. It will keep getting in your way until you do something about it. If while you are working towards a goal you also work at removing the major obstacle at the same time, you can reach your goal twice as quickly.

The key is to know which obstacle is causing 80% of the problems, so that you remove that one rather than getting side-tracked on smaller issues.

Your major obstacle may be an internal or external problem. For example, if you do not have the skill, ability, motivation or beliefs that you need, then you will need to put some time aside to develop those areas. If your major problem is external, such as difficulties with your finances, resources, relationships or career choice, you will need to work on improving the situation as you progress with your goal.

Obstacles may fall into one of five different categories. Once you know which one your major obstacle fits into, you can decide what you will do to resolve it:

• You don’t have the resources – people, equipment, time etc. Resolve this obstacle by developing the resources.
• You have the resources, but you don’t know what to do. Resolve this issue by planning. This may involve some research.
• You know what to do, but you do not know if you have the skill. This may be a negative belief about yourself. Practise using the skill, or take a course. Work on improving your beliefs in this area at the
  same time.
• You have the skill, but you don’t feel motivated to do it. Consider why you are procrastinating. It may be the wrong time to achieve this goal.
• It is worthwhile, but just doesn’t fit with your values. Review your goal and set a different one that fits with your values.

How to use the PAW technique to identify your obstacles

1. You need to believe three things in order to achieve your goal:
   1. That it is Possible for you to achieve it.
   2. That you are Able to achieve it.
   3. That you are Worthy of achieving it.
2. Ask yourself whether you firmly believe these statements. Do any make you feel uncomfortable? If so, what specifically is making you feel uncomfortable? List all the objections you come up with as to why those statements might not be correct. These are your obstacles. You may have some self-inflicted obstacles on your list, i.e. things that aren’t actually true, but you believe in them anyway.
3. To determine your major obstacle, you will need to compare each of the items on your list against the others. List the obstacles on the left hand side of a page, and compare the obstacle at the top of the list with all the others below it. For each comparison, place one tick next to the obstacle you believe will pose the biggest problem. Once you have compared the obstacle at the top of the list with the others, cross it off the list and record the number of ticks it received. Move to the obstacle second from the top and follow the same process.
4. Keep moving down the list of obstacles until you have exhausted it. The obstacle that received the greatest number of ticks is the problem you should do your best to counter. Make sure that you do something every day to eliminate that obstacle.

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