Success Quote by E. Joseph Cossman

Cossman’s line has the brisk, boardroom snap of a businessman selling focus as a kind of moral technology. It doesn’t romanticize grit; it reframes perception. “Obstacles” aren’t treated as objective facts in the landscape, but as a byproduct of attention misallocated. The cleverness is in the quiet insult: if you’re seeing too many barriers, maybe the problem isn’t the market, the competition, or bad timing - it’s you, blinking.

The intent is motivational, but also managerial. In business culture, “keep your eyes on the goal” is a way to compress complexity into a single commandment: prioritize, execute, don’t get distracted by noise. It flatters high performers (they’re goal-locked) and disciplines everyone else (stop “making excuses”). Subtext: ambiguity is optional, doubt is indulgent, and persistence is the cleanest explanation for success. That’s a useful story if you’re trying to build a sales force, a startup team, or a personal brand.

The quote also reveals a classic entrepreneurial worldview: obstacles are less like walls and more like shadows cast by hesitation. It’s psychologically astute - attention does shape what feels possible - but it’s also conveniently selective. Some “obstacles” are structural: capital, health, discrimination, regulation, a recession. The line works because it’s not trying to be a sociology textbook; it’s a mantra engineered for action. In that sense it’s both empowering and accusatory, a one-sentence performance review that doubles as a pep talk.