Embracing Obstacles, Carrying Yourself With Confidence

When I landed in America, I knew how to say " Hello" in English, but nothing more.

I didn’t understand why everybody’s name is “Dude“, or what it meant when everybody asked me “What’s up?”.

As I studied English that first year, I was insecure, and it was difficult to motivate myself toward the definitions of success other people gave me.

Many times, I felt like quitting. In the end, this adventure was a great opportunity to encourage myself to navigate my passion, interests, and career in a different way. My journey taught me that when one door closes, it’s important to keep going, and many other doors that will be open...When I failed, which happened many times, I found some form of success in it, and I felt more and more resilient. I had learned to turn obstacles into my advantage. I had redefined what success was for me!!!

Too often, life zips by. There is no time to experience what’s happening now, because you are too busy thinking about what needs doing tomorrow or you are caught up with thoughts about what did or didn’t happen yesterday. Every challenge that I faced encouraged me to THINK about the future.

Thinking is not an enemy It’s essential to your life. I wish I knew about the relationship with this thinking, to recognize when your thoughts are being unhelpfully dragged back to the past or catapulted into the future.

This is about knowing where you are (being in the moments) but also having an awareness of but not getting stuck in – where you have been? (reflection) and where you are going (anticipating). Once you find your “True Self” , it enables you to experience and appreciate your life instead of rushing through it, constantly trying to be somewhere else. Embracing obstacles simply a shift in my awareness of my life-my routines and habits, work and relationships.

By turning obstacles into advantage, my career path included studying Finance and earning a master’s degree in Human Resources. My experiences in different industries over the years helped me define what success looks like – it includes valuing things like being passionate, pushing oneself to learn more, observing, listening, asking questions, making connections, being curious, and persisting through challenges.

I now understand that whatever you do in life, it’s essential to have a purpose and motivation. I know that to be a great leader requires an innovative spirit, a growth mindset, and inspired storytelling. Most importantly, success comes from being a person of value, rather than focusing on being a ‘success’. The more valuable you are, the more successful you will be.