The Hurdles Are Part of the Path, Keep Jumping Over Them!
Every entrepreneur faces hurdles. They are not signs to stop. They are simply part of the journey.
But to a newcomer in this entrepreneurial world, the first few hurdles you hit can feel much more significant than they are in the scheme of things.
They can be defeating...
And for some, they take them right out of the game.
I want you to think of building a business like running a hurdle race...except this time, with unknown hurdle location. At the starting line you are full of energy, ready to sprint toward success. But as you take off, obstacles appear out of nowhere.
A rejected affiliate application. A campaign that flops. Google not indexing your site properly. A Facebook ad that doesn't convert first go. A website that does not convert as well as you want it to. Each one feels like a wall, but in reality, they are just hurdles. And here is the thing about hurdles: they are meant to be overcome.
The best athletes do not stop in front of them.
They adjust their stride, anticipate the jump, and push through. Sometimes they clip the hurdle, sometimes they fall...but they get up, recover, and keep going.
And the best entrepreneurs don't stop when the reach a moment of difficulty. Business is no different at all. Every setback is a chance to adjust, learn, and get stronger. No one runs a perfect race. But those who succeed are the ones who refuse to stop.
So when you hit a challenge, remember: the hurdles are not blocking your path. They are the path.
Keep running. Keep jumping. Keep pushing. And eventually, you will find yourself crossing the finish line.
What hurdles have you overcome in your journey thus far? Drop them in the comments, I bet your experience will help someone else push forward.
Recent Comments
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Great post. I have been in multiple businesses over the past 60 years and they all had hurdles. When I hit a hurdle, I ask myself and my wife, what can be done to maneuver over the hurdle. Without those hurdles, I don't believe I would have been as successful as I have been.
Absolutely the case Rick, these hurdles are all an opportunity to take a moment and strategize the best path around or over them.
The thing is, most people are unwilling to approach hurdles in this way (they often times quit instead of simply moving past them). So if you can take on these hurdles, you can be much more successful. :)
Kyle, I can relate to facing hurdles—we all encounter them. Sometimes we leap over them, and other times, we wade through, which can significantly impact our journey. I’ve experienced both in the past, but in 2025, I have a clear plan. This year, I focus on learning from past mistakes and adjusting my approach so that I don’t repeatedly encounter the same obstacles.
One of my biggest challenges in 2024 was prioritization. I often felt overwhelmed, as everything seemed urgent and equally important. I have refined my goals this year, making them more realistic and focused. Doing so allows me to dedicate my energy effectively instead of spreading myself too thin in multiple directions. I have also cut items that were no longer beneficial or producing good outcomes, so I have more time to spend on the succeeding ones.
Yeah, not every hurdle is the same. They are all different, unique, and take a different amount of effort to get through. That is all part of the learning experience, but one thing that we should all take out of our vocabulary is that "we can't" get over the hurdle. We can. We will. There is a way through every hurdle. '
Glad to hear you overcame your 2025 solutions, and came up with a strategy you can use moving forward to remove overwhelm. Now you have a fixed solution to that problem that you can refine, and improve upon as time goes on. This also allows you to focus on bigger hurdles.
Kyle and Carson as well, you are both annointed to be encouragers to those you come in contact with through the platforms that you both frequent. I know things and situations may well get on your nerves at times in your businesses.
But I have noticed the continuity with which you both deal with questions and situations when someone has a question or has become somewhat frustrated because we are not familiar with becoming entrepreneurs and all the ins and outs of going public with our characteristics and how we see things and knowing many other people will be reading and influenced by what we put on our blogs and websites.
I believe you both have been led to do what you are doing here, (even though you may have been criticized here and there). I just wanted to say I feel you are doing a super job and thank you for it!
Thanks for your kind words Wanda and being a bit part of the community and family here at WA. We run our business based on the very principle I am discussing here.
Sure we get a lot of rah rah, thanks..etc. Which do feel good, but also every question, every moment of confusion, ever person that lashes out for some reason is a hurdle and actually a moment we can learn from and overcome by working to find the problem, and solve it.
We have evolved for the last 19 years, and I would say we have sped up our ability to evolve in recent years and this year is our most exciting one yet. Lots to look forward to! :)
When I started here at WA I didn't have any doubts about being able to make money online. I was already doing so as an eBay Power Seller. However the first hurdle I encountered was a lack of focus and consistency.
I completed the OEC training in two niches of my own and spread my attention too thin. I did make some money but I lost focus and wanted to promote WA instead of growing the niches I already started.
I did do better at making money by promoting WA, but again I lost focus having set my goals too high. Plus I got side tracked by being too much of a helpful social butterfly here within the community.
Though I enjoy helping people, it became a hurdle. I didn't start seeing any real success until I stepped away from the Ambassador program and the community. I focused solely on developing a new up and coming niche.
This presented another hurdle. This new niche was a timely one, a niche that was in high demand for the work I do in healthcare. The time needed for building a website first would have slowed down my earnings.
I took a chance and started without a website, since my target audience were the people I work with everyday. I would not have succeeded had I still been here helping people. I needed 100% focus.
That last hurdle was scary because I wasn't following the approach of a website first. Now that I am earning big, I am back here within WA to build a landing page or small blog/website for my niche.
I'm sure there will be more hurdles but as you said above, "Keep running. Keep jumping. Keep pushing." Once I have that landing page or blog established, it's back to promoting WA again, but this time with more focus.
Thanks for sharing your story Rob, and your story is very similar to every success story I know of (including our own). There are always going to be new hurdles, sometimes it is timing, sometimes it is changes in the industry, sometimes it is new technology or new problems in our business, sometimes it is our fault and our bad decisions that create hurdles.
One thing is a constant though. We can overcome these hurdles. If you don't leave yourself any other choice, we tend to accomplish way more than we think. That is when we start to hit those big ambitious goals, the ones that we didn't achieve in the timeline we initially set out, but we will through the arc of time.
Really appreciate your sharing your story here Rob, great to hear you are doing well and we hope to see you down in Vegas next year. Let's make that one of your bigger goals for this year!
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Some hurdles I am experiencing is lack of technical knowledge, time and resource constraints. Dropped affiliate link and/or not hearing back regarding affiliate applications. I am working to overcome the hurdles while new live challenges seem to keep throwing hurdles in my path. I will get there. It may just take me a bit longer than I like.
I don't know of anyone who has had everything go according to plan. It took longer for me to see results, but it did happen. Soon the hurdles become speed bumps. You'll get there.