Challenge Your Way to Fulfillment

When I was 11, my father announced that we were leaving France and moving to Brazil. He'd been a victim of downsizing and the new company he was interviewing with told him he was in if he was willing to move to Brazil. As the provider that he was, he accepted the challenge and I was soon faced with the inevitable reality that everything I knew in my life was about to change. 

And I was terrified!

I can still remember my inner voice;

"But I don't speak Portuguese!"
"But how am I going to make new friends?"
"But I don't know anyone there!"
"But what about my friends here?!?"

I felt like my life was falling apart. And little did I know that it was going to be the first of many moves. So, after a few weeks of preparation, we boarded a flight to Sao Paulo and my new life adventure began. 

Each time I relocated, the anxiety I experienced in the first move started to be replaced with excitement; the excitement of meeting new people, eating new foods, seeing new places, and learning a new language and culture. In retrospect, it prepared me well to deal with uncertainty. It taught me to look for the opportunity in the chaos, for the good things instead of focusing on the bad. It made me resilient in dealing with life's challenges.

But the funny thing is this. At some point in my 20s, I got comfortable with stability. Where I used to get antsy about being in one place for too long and dreamed of leaving and working in different countries, I now enjoyed the stability that being in the same place afforded me. Over the years, I forgot to look at the opportunity, for the gift in the challenge. Leaving corporate to coach full-time got me back in touch with this desire and today, I am much more likely to take a risk and explore than I did even 10 short years ago.

So today, as much as a reminder to myself as a way to inspire, I want to share 7 reasons why challenging ourselves is critical to us living our best life.

Challenges Help Us Learn and Grow

It's very simple. When we stay in our comfort zone, we don't learn or grow. It's like our life is an assembly line. We do the same thing day in, day out. We follow the same routines. We eat the same foods. Yes, that brings certainty to our lives, but it also brings atrophy, boredom, and laziness. 

Humans were made to grow, improve and learn. When we don't do that, we become apathetic and disinterested in our own life. 

We thrive on challenges, and one of two things happen when faced with a challenge. We can retreat, hide and play the victim. Or, we can grab it by the horns and make lemonade out of lemons. The more challenges we face, the more we develop the muscle. We also will then start to look for opportunities to be challenged, whether it is learning a new skill, having the difficult discussions we need to have, or putting new habits in place.

Challenges Force Us to Come Up with New Ideas

When we are in a rut, it is challenging to come up with new ideas. We get stuck because we keep going to the same well, the same solutions, the same way of doing things. It's what is comfortable and safe for us. But when we are challenged - whether by someone else or our circumstances - it forces us to look at things differently and to come up with new ideas. 

If we want to be innovative, we need to get out of our comfort zone. We need to put ourselves in situations where we have to think outside the box, where the traditional solutions don't work. This is how new ideas are born. They come from a place of challenge, not comfort. 

Challenges Make Us Stronger and More Resilient

When we are faced with a challenge, we have two choices - give up or keep going. If we choose the latter, we develop strength and resilience. We learn that we are capable of more than we thought and that we can handle difficult situations. 

The more challenges we face, the more resilient we become. And when life gets tough, as it inevitably will, we can draw on that resilience to get us through. We learn to keep going when the going gets tough. It is what allows us to weather the storms of life and come out stronger on the other side.

Challenges Help Us Achieve Our Goals

If we want to achieve our goals, we need to be willing to face challenges. It's not going to be easy and there will be times when we want to give up. But if we can push through and overcome the obstacles, we get that much closer to achieving our goals. 

Achieving our goals is not about taking the easy road. It's about taking the road less traveled. It's about having faith in ourselves and our ability to overcome those challenges. It's about knowing that the reward is worth the effort. 

Challenges Help Us Find Our Purpose and Passion in Life

When we are stuck in our comfort zone, it's hard to see what our purpose is. We may have an inkling, but it's difficult to get clarity on what we are meant to do with our lives. It can feel like we are just going through the motions, without any real direction. 

It is when we step out of our comfort zone and face challenges that we often find our purpose and passion in life. We discover what we are really made of and what we are capable of. We realize that we have something special to offer the world and we find the motivation to pursue our dreams. 

Challenges Set Us Up for Success

Success is not a straight line. There are always ups and downs, peaks and valleys. Ask anyone who's taken on anything of significance. The key is to keep going, even when things are tough. And the only way to do that is to be willing to face challenges. 

Those who are successful in life are not the ones who take the easy road. They are the ones who are willing to face the challenges and overcome them. They know that there is no such thing as overnight success. It takes hard work, dedication, and a willingness to face difficulties. With every challenge comes a learning, a new skillset, a new connection or a new perspective. These become our stepping stones to success!

Challenges Help Us Appreciate Life More

When we are always in a state of comfort, it's easy to take life for granted. We don't realize how good we have it until we are faced with a challenge. 

It is when we are challenged that we come to appreciate all the good in our lives. We realize how lucky we are and how much we have to be grateful for. We see just how precious life is and how easily it can be taken away from us. 

Conclusion

Challenges are a necessary part of life. They help us grow and develop as individuals. They make us stronger, more resilient, and more successful. They help us find our purpose and passion in life. And they help us appreciate life more. 

So next time you are faced with a challenge, remember all of the ways it can benefit you. Because when you're constantly pushing your boundaries and striving to improve, you become more capable of dealing with setbacks and challenges in life. You also become more confident and self-assured, as you know that you can handle whatever comes your way.

I hope this blog inspires you to look at the challenges you are facing right now as an opportunity for growth, creativity, and fulfillment! And if you are facing some challenges you want support with and you know that growing into your best self is the way to achieve faster and become more fulfilled in your day-to-day, get in touch with me. I’d love to see if there’s a way I can help!