Not many people enjoy being challenged and stretched. Whether you’re an adult or child, most people are simply not fond of being challenged. Most of us prefer when things roll smoothly and we’re familiar with our tasks. Unfortunately, when we’re comfortable we’re on autopilot and when we’re on autopilot, we’re not growing.
“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” Frederick Douglass.
As parents, we often dislike the thought of our children struggling, it’s our instinct to step in and help them. However, it is in those challenges that we grow and develop new skills. You’ll never truly know what you are capable of until you are met with a challenge to conquer. Here are just a few benefits of learning to work through challenges.
- You learn to problem solve.
- You learn to look beyond circumstances and think outside of the box.
- You learn to utilize information and resources.
- You learn to discover untapped talents and potential.
- You learn to network and collaborate with others.
Even though there is comfort in the familiar, there is growth in the unfamiliar. Learning to make yourself uncomfortable “on purpose” is one of the best ways to gain confidence and better your skills. If you are shy for instance, the comfortable thing to do would be to sit by yourself at lunch on your phone alone. The uncomfortable thing to do would be to start a conversation with someone you don’t know. It would be comfortable to go home everyday after school and play video games by yourself. Making yourself uncomfortable would be to join a club or get involved with a sport. By learning to become uncomfortable on purpose in both of these scenarios, you would end up gaining more confidence, meeting new people and learning new things.
Every successful person that you can think of has had to learn this principle. In order to reach great heights, they had to learn how to manage challenges. It is impossible to do extraordinary things with ordinary thoughts. So the next time you or your child wants to shy away from a task because it seems difficult, remember, there is no growth in what’s familiar. If we want to elevate our lives we’ve got to be willing to be uncomfortable. Here’s a few tips to help you get started.
- Start Small – Little victories turn into giant accomplishments.
- Make a list – Think of 5 – 10 things that are uncomfortable with that you know would be a benefit to you if you learned to do them.
- Check off your list – Look for ways to crush your list. When my kids were younger, to help them learn to become less shy, When they’d ask for pizza, I’d make them order it themselves. At first they hated the idea of having to talk to a stranger but after a few times, it was no longer a concern.
- Make a decision – You must make up your mind that nothing will hold you back from being your best.
- Celebrate the attempts and victories – Whether your attempt at your goal goes well or not, celebrate the fact that you were brave enough to go after it.
- Never give up – You always win, when you refuse to quit.
Challenges are what drive us to become the best versions of ourselves. Practice these tips for yourselves and with your kids and you’ll find that nothing will stop you from achieving your goals. To learn more about how to Elevate your life, contact us TODAY!