Why You Need To Be Challenged
What is it that compels people to be fearful, to think and act like part of the herd, to say I won’t or I can’t rather than I WILL?
For the majority of us, it is the desire for safety refuge, security – in short, the inclination is to play it safe and remain in our comfort zones.
Overall, people are more fearful than they are courageous, and what they fear most are the troubles with which unconditional honesty and intellectual maturity would burden them with.
People hide their under-performing lives behind fear, and by doing so, they violate the greatest principle of all: the principle that every human being is a unique wonder and has beauty within that is worth bringing out. Ultimately, every human being is capable of greatness.
Today, I’ll be sharing with you 10 reasons why challenges are so important if you want to unleash your greatness. It all begins with understanding the nature of a challenge and its impact on human performance.
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Why You Need To Be Challenged
“That which does not kill us makes us stronger”
– Friedrich Nietzsche
The human body serves as the perfect metaphor for understanding the importance of a challenge, for the simple reason that the body is built to adapt and respond to demands that are placed upon it. The stronger the demand, the stronger the response.
Physical muscles continue to grow and strengthen through the Principle of Progressive Resistance.
This principle is based on the theory that muscles must be challenged in order to upgrade and grow, and that they will progressively work to overcome a resistance force when required to do so. The opposite is also true, as physical muscles will downgrade and weaken with the absence of a challenge.
The Principle of Progressive Resistance operates the same way in every area of our lives, and that is why we all NEED to be challenged.
And not just physically challenged. We need intellectual, leadership, spiritual, relational, sales, and any type of performance challenge that stretches us, forces us to overcome adversity, tests our character and commitment, and inspires us to say adios to our comfort zone.
When will your finest hour come, and how will it arrive? Do you really think it will materialize without a challenge, without your perseverance being tested, without you being pushed to your limits, tormented, and put through your own personal hell?
In short, for an individual, team, company, community, or country to become great, they must seek out and rise to the great challenges that are thrust upon them. There is no other way!
As you are about to find out, who you become, as well as the traits and skill sets you develop in rising to meet a challenge, are much more important than the nature of the challenge itself.
The Rewards for Rising to a Challenge
- A Challenge Develops Mental Toughness
It’s actually pretty simple. You either rise to meet the mental demands and physical rigors of a challenge, or you succumb to them. And because victory begins in the mind, all challenges are initially won or lost between your ears.
The very nature of a challenge sets an appropriate stage for practicing mental toughness, which by definition means a psychological edge that enables one to remain focused and confident during high-pressure situations to perform at one’s full potential.
- A Challenge Stands Down Fear
A challenge is unique in that it immediately engages the fight-or-flight mechanism, and you never know how you are going to react until you are faced with it.
Fear is never a reason for quitting. It’s only an excuse for those unwilling to face their doubts, insecurities, and mental boogie man. Therefore, your first duty in rising to meet a challenge is to conquer fear and the mental resistance it brings along with it. Get rid of it quickly, or get steamrolled by it.
- A Challenge Inspires Courageous Acts
The conceptual opposite of courage is cowardice. We are therefore confronted with the reality that we either habitually practice courage, or we habitually practice cowardice. Courage is remarkable in that it takes on the form of every virtue at the testing point.
When courage is tested, it manifests itself in the form of character, initiative, self-control, and responsible behavior. When cowardice is tested, it presents itself in opposite forms that include bad character, procrastination, excuses, and blame.
- A Challenge Tests Your Limits
When you rise to meet a challenge, you will never be the same again. You either cope or crumble. You become better or bitter. You emerge stronger or weaker.
It has to be this way, as a challenge exists to tests your limits, to push you beyond the breaking point, and to separate you from the herd.
You’ll never know the full measure of your potential until you are tested.
- A Challenge Focuses Attention
A great challenge is like a great romance. It calls for your passion and your devotion, and it demands to be the center of your attention. Rising to meet a challenge is a form of seduction. It means concentrating your energy and resources on what’s most important: keeping the fire burning!
You do that by making everything count. Everything you think, say and do must be focused on goal acquisition and on leveraging all available resources.
- A Challenge Builds Self-Confidence
Think of a challenge – any kind of challenging goal. Ask yourself, what role does self-confidence play in rising to meet that challenge? The fact is that no mountains can be climbed, no hearts won, no opportunities seized, no books written, no elections won, and no victories enjoyed without self-confidence.
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- A Challenge Matures Perspective
Few things in life are capable of radically altering your perspective, but developing the capacity to rise to a challenge not only impacts the size of your results, it transforms your mind and expands your worldview. It changes everything.
A challenge involves psychological trauma that induces fear, self-doubt, and insecurity, while simultaneously dislodging you from your comfort zone, ultimately bringing about a superior performance.
By rising to meet a challenge, you provide yourself with undeniable proof that you have what it takes.
This proof cements in your mind that you are the type of person capable of performing great acts, and that your really can do anything you set your mind to.
- A Challenge Demands Superior Execution
A challenge has limited value if not overcome, and expecting to get better results from the same old behavior will only succeed in perpetuating your current situation. It will NOT get you to another level of performance.
Great companies, lives, and families are built around extraordinary execution skills. The better you execute, the better you perform and the bigger the challenges you can take on. It’s that simple.
- A Challenge Calls for an Indomitable Spirit
It is irresponsible to take on a big challenge without the will, heart, and mindset to win it, as nothing can withstand the power of indomitable spirit.
In your efforts to rise to meet a challenge, you will be buffeted and pummeled. You will be criticized and opposed. You will be attacked and assaulted. You will struggle and fall. Your commitment will be relentlessly tested, and that is precisely why a challenge calls for an indomitable, unconquerable spirit.
- A Challenge Empowers Freedom
Freedom isn’t free. It requires blood, sweat, and tears. But freedom is the ultimate prize for rising to meet the rigorous demands of a challenge.
In virtually every case, the decision to rise to meet a challenge boils down to the desire for greater freedom in one’s life. This includes Freedoms From and Freedoms To.
Freedoms From:
– The monkey on your back
– The shackles of debt
– The self-limiting beliefs
– The masses
– The comfort zone
– Fear
– The opinions of others
– Settling for less…
Freedoms To:
– Focus on projects you find important
– Think and dream without limits
– Set and control the agenda
– Say no without guilt
– Showcase your talents
– Be authentic
– Succeed or fail on your own terms…
To enjoy these freedoms requires that you rise to the challenges life presents and pay the required price in full, in advance, and without complaint.
