Overcoming The Hurdles Along Your Path

It’s time for another PathToPoppin installment and today I’m going to share a little bit on learning to overcome the hurdles. We’ve all got talents and gifts but enviably there will come a time when something or someone stands in the way of you prospering. Maybe it’ll be a traumatic event, an illness, it might merely be jealousy or simply sticking with something because you know it would make your family proud. Regardless of the reason #ThePathToPoppin comes with hurdles and you’ve got to overcome them. Let me share how I do.

We have all been guilty of longing for someone else’s success – not knowing what they went through to get it. Some of what has caused me to stumble on the path to poppin has been my inability to see that what is best for someone else is not best for me. I’ve watched as others have successfully moved up in their careers, traveled the world, been promoted and I’ve wondered, “when will it be my turn?” But over the years I’ve learned that it’s best to walk your own path, in your own time, otherwise you may encounter roadblocks you aren’t equipped to overcome.

Growing up I wanted nothing more than be an attorney and a judge – a supreme court justice in fact. Yet, after enrolling into college (Awww HU!) as a political science and African American studies double major and finding myself asleep in the front of classes; it was clear that wasn’t the path for me. That was a hard pill to swallow, especially because everyone who knew me repeated the dream to me every chance they got. But this is when YOU have to decide are you going to take your path to poppin’ or continue to pursue dream that is outdated?

I knew it was time to recalibrate. So, I woke up from that old dream.

I changed majors, added some extra time in school, took some internships that ultimately led me to figuring out that being an entrepreneur was the way for me. And not for the typically spouted off reason like – “I don’t like being told what to do,” but because I realized that I would rather but all my energy into MY dreams and goals instead of giving my talents toward someone else’s. (See: photo below for my feelings on going to work.) To those of you on the corporate path please understand that this in no way downplays or minimizes that game plan – it just didn’t benefit me.

Time and time again we all get distracted or discouraged on the Path To Poppin’ because it isn’t all rosy but you have to remember there will be hurdles and hills to climb. For me it was having a daughter during my senior year of college, being homeless and having no financial aid to finish school. Yet instead of quitting, instead of feeling defeated, I spent nine months of pregnancy working and getting back into school. I never let the hurdles keep me from finishing the race. You have to continue. Because being “poppin” requires the ability to pop back in times of uncertainty.

Challenges are an expected part of life, they are what make the sweet moments even sweeter. Through many of the trials I have experienced I’ve found solace in knowing that my success wasn’t a question. It was never a matter of if would be successful but always when. That belief alone continues to keep me pushing and focused on my goals.

Let this today be the beginning of you deciding the best is yet to come, because like the street says, “Tomorrow is a brand new day, with no mistakes in it.”

Tell me about the hurdles you’ve faced on your Path To Poppin, I promise you can get over them just keep moving!