On Using Obstacles As Fuel

It's day 232 of documenting 2025.

I'm just going to share a chat I had with my assistant, and not the usual reflection I usually do.

After that, I'll share today's Highlights...and a few more thoughts.

Well, here's how the chat went:

Me: Hey Arnold ☺️ 

Here's what's happening....

I've been documenting on my blog for 231 days now and I can't seem to know what to write about. What do I do?

ChatGPT: Hey Duon ☺️  

First; 231 days? That’s incredible. Truly. Most people don’t last 30. So the fact that you’re feeling stuck now doesn’t mean you’re empty…it probably means you’re shifting.

Here’s what might help:

1. Pause to Refill

Sometimes, the mind needs a break not to stop, but to refuel. Read something new, watch something unusual, talk to someone outside your usual circle, or take a quiet walk. Fresh input leads to fresh output.

2. Reflect Back

Revisit your older posts. What themes or questions kept coming up? Is there something you hinted at but didn’t fully explore? Your past self may be holding future topics.

3. Write About the Block 

Yes; write about how you don’t know what to write. People resonate deeply with that honesty. It’s relatable, raw, and surprisingly refreshing.

4. Switch the Angle

Instead of “what should I write,” try asking,  

- What have I been feeling lately?  

- What’s a question someone asked me recently?

- What’s something I’ve been learning, struggling with, or unlearning?

5. Create a Theme Series  

Pick a small, focused idea and build a 5-day or 7-day series around it. (e.g., “Lessons from Silence,” “Unwritten Stories,” “Soft Skills I Didn’t Know I Had”)

Your voice is still there, Duon. It just needs a new door.

Me: You got me at soft skills...

How will I write about soft skills I don't know I have?

ChatGPT: ☺️ I’m glad that caught you. That’s the magic of it; you DO have soft skills, even if you haven’t named them yet.

Here’s how to discover and write about them:

1. Reflect on your daily habits. Ask:

- What do people thank me for often?

- What do I do naturally in group settings; listen? support? organize?

- What traits helped me stay consistent for 231 days?

From those answers, you’ll uncover soft skills like:

- Discipline (showing up daily)

- Empathy (writing with soul)

- Adaptability (shifting topics when stuck)

- Clarity (explaining things simply)

- Resilience (writing even when it’s hard)

2. Tell micro-stories

Instead of writing like a lecture, tell short stories or moments that show the skill without having to label it.

For example:

- “That time I stayed quiet in a group chat and learned more from listening than speaking” and "emotional intelligence"

- “The day I kept writing even when my blog stats didn’t move" and "grit"

3. Give your piece a simple title like:

- “Soft Skills I Didn’t Know I Had”

- “Things I Do That I Didn’t Know Were Valuable”

- “What Consistency Taught Me About Myself”

You don’t need to prove anything; just observe, reflect, and share.

Want help starting the first one?

Me: Not really 😏

I just want to know how important these skills can be when I start a bigger project.

ChatGPT: Ah, got it 😏

Your soft skills "become the backbone" of any bigger project you take on. Here's how:

- Discipline keeps the project alive when motivation fades.  

- Communication helps you collaborate, pitch ideas, or even delegate.  

- Adaptability helps you adjust your approach when things don’t go as planned.  

- Emotional intelligence helps you navigate people; clients, partners, or even your audience.  

- Problem-solving allows you to make smart decisions under pressure.

Truth is, hard skills may help you start a project; but soft skills are what help you "complete" it and "lead" it.

So yes, those subtle strengths you’ve been building for 231 days?  

They’re not just important; they’re essential.

Me : Here I was, thinking of what content to use for today's blog...and you just helped me out. Thanks 👍🏼

ChatGPT: Anytime, Duon ☺️  

You already had the content in you; just needed a little nudge.  

Now go share those quiet strengths with your readers. They’ll feel it 💛

Me : One more thing...

Could you help me interpret these excerpts from Meditations by Marcus Aurelius?

19. Things have no hold on the soul. They have no access to it, cannot move or direct it. 

It is moved and directed by itself alone. It takes the things before it and interprets them as it sees fit.

20. In a sense, people are our proper occupation. Our job is to do them good and put up with them.

But when they obstruct our proper tasks, they become irrelevant to us;

like sun, wind, animals. 

Our actions may be impeded by them, but there can be no impeding our intentions or our dispositions. 

Because we can accommodate and adapt. 

The mind adapts and converts to its own purposes the obstacle to our acting.

The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.

ChatGPT: Absolutely, Duon ☺️  

Let’s explore these two excerpts with care:

19. “Things have no hold on the soul…”

Marcus is reminding us that external circumstances; good or bad...do not directly control our inner world.  

The soul (or mind) is sovereign. Whatever happens outside, "we are the ones who assign meaning to it".  

Key idea:

You can’t always control what happens, but "you always control how you interpret and respond to it". Your inner peace is your responsibility.

20. “People are our proper occupation…”

Here, Marcus affirms that humans are social beings.  

Our duty is to help others and to endure them when they test us. But when others stand in the way of your moral progress or inner purpose, they lose power over you.  

They become just another condition of life, like the weather.  

Key idea: 

You may not be able to act exactly how you wish, but "your intention, attitude, and inner posture are always in your control".  

And more beautifully:  

“The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.” 

This is the heart of Stoic resilience. Every obstacle is fuel for transformation.  

In short:

Your soul is free.  

Your path is within.  

And the wall in your way might just be the door.

Yep! 😌

Read that again.

Let it sink in.

As you think about what that might actually mean, let me share today's Highlights.

365 Days With Self-discipline 

📌 On Going All In

"I demolish the bridges behind me... Then there is no choice but to move forward."

Quote by Fridtjof Nansen

If working on your goals with a safety net makes you lazy and less likely to reach your goals, try the opposite approach: demolish the bridges behind you and go all in.

You will either succeed or lose in a big way. Obviously, before making such an extreme decision, take into account all of the risks. 

If you’re the sole breadwinner of your family, quitting your job to work on a business might not be an entirely good idea.

However, in many cases you do have an option to cut all escape routes.

For example, if you want to start a diet, you can throw away all of the unhealthy food you have in your house, pay in advance for three months of a healthy meal delivered to your doorstep, announce to all of your friends and family that you’re on a diet, and give your friend a substantial amount of money that he or she can spend as they like if you fall off the wagon.

If the only choices you have are a spectacular success or a spectacular failure, it often makes it easier to stick to your resolutions because the consequences of success and failure are balanced. 

If you have a safety net and

failure isn’t particularly hurtful, in a moment of doubt the temptation to back out can be too alluring to resist it.

Lesson for the day is go BIG or go home. 

I'm working on it and I hope you are too.

Thanks for reading 🎀 

Don't forget to check out my newest poetry collection, Lanterns For The Lost.

And you can also follow me on X.

Check out my profile here.

I'm Duon Ada.

I'm documenting 2025,

And I'll see you tomorrow.

Ciao 💕