7 Issues Everyone Must Confront In Life

One thing most people shy away from is confrontation. Not everyone is wired or born with genes that encourage that. I am one person who was born an expert at running away from confronting situations, people and circumstances. I would find the smart way out, creatively avoiding confrontation as much as possible. As I grew up I realized that for my success and future prospects, I needed to be intentional about the things I needed to confront. For a long time I thought other people needed to help me confront the issues but I soon realized it was my sole responsibility. It is a life-long process. Below are some key issues you need to confront.

1. Past - Many fail to make strides into the future because they have literally given license and rights to the past issues to jump into the present. Face your failures and learn from them, look at your successes and aim higher. Don't rest on them. Your past remains your past. You have no control over it. Today you have a chance to rewrite the "new past" that will be talked of in your future. Confront your issues so that you don't keep blaming it on what happened before. Take responsibility with both hands now.

2. Purpose - There is no one who can stand with others and claim not to have purpose. It is there. You may not know it yet. Your job is to confront this issue genuinely seeking to find where your passions lay. You cannot roam around resting on the purposes of others. You have your own mandate why you occupy space. Discover it and run with it. The longer you take to confront this matter the shorter you may live a fulfilled life. You only get fulfilled when you do what you love best even without being paid for it. In 2010, I had to search deep within asking myself the question “why do I exist? What do I want to be remembered for?”. After a series of strategic sessions with myself I discovered that my purpose is “to create greatness in others through inspiration”. That alone sparked the journey I am on today.

3. Personality - no one can ever deal with your personality better than yourself. People usually shy away from who they really are when no one else is watching. A good personality is usually the one that stands heads and shoulders above others receiving so much favor with man. If you fail to confront your own personality you will always think people are hard on you. Be realistic about this issue. Your life depends on your person-hood or personality. What kind of person do your friends think you are? Kind? Mean? Generous? Embrace the feedback and make amends where you fall short.

4. Perception of self - How you see yourself matters. Look in the mirror and be objective about what the mirror communicates back to you. See your own perception. Hear yourself speak, see yourself smile. If you do not know what you are good at, people will take you for granted and ride on your low self esteem. Square your shoulders always and realize you are somebody. People’s perception is usually determined by the way you perceive yourself. They simply come along to endorse how you see yourself. If all you see in yourself is a grasshopper then you will soon be hopping around. See the giant that rests within. See the successful person you are becoming.

5. Present circumstances - Where you are presently has a bearing on how far you will go in life and how fast that will take. Where you are now should be scrutinized in view of the vision you set for yourself. If you cannot interrogate your present circumstances then time will fly past and you are bound to be in the same place in the future. You can change your present circumstance for the better. Some of the situations we go through in life are not necessarily to harm us or prove that we are failures, they are probably there to make us stronger. You cannot issues by pretending that they don’t exist or by sweeping them under a carpet. Your present challenge will not go away simply because you have incubated it. If anything, it could be growing and you will still need to face it when it now a mature challenge.

6. Plan for the future - You should not just stumble on your future. You should plan for it and ensure you walk into a defined and well envisioned future. If you cannot see yourself in the future then you will not be able to walk towards it. I like a quote I saw once that said “the best way to predict the future is to create it”. There are things in your future that you can control. You have a part to play in determining what that future is. Start what you plan and finish what you start.

7. Potential - You are as good as the potential in you that is realized. It is not good enough to say "I think I am capable of this" when in actual fact you are not prepared to confront what you are good at. Unrealized potential remains exactly that. It remains a pie in the sky, a wish never realized. Everyone is somebody even when no tag is put on their forehead. You have potential only if you exploit it to the maximum. Expose yourself to environments and situations that enhance your growth and development. Who says you are not the next best story.