Gotta Challenge Yourself, Can’t Be Afraid Of Change

Looking at the world around us, it's hard to avoid the comfort zone and the predictability that goes with it. It wasn’t until a few years ago when I sat back and reflected on the fact that lots of people experience life-altering events, from academics to careers to personal growth everyday. Why am I stuck, why do I feel behind?

Well-known as a natural human emotion, fear is essentially a warning system that’s meant to protect us from harm. However, it can have the opposite effect, holding people back from pursuing their dreams and ambitions. Dread of failure, being judged, or the unknown can leave people feeling paralyzed. When we can get our heads around the fact that fear is a normal part of the human experience, we can begin to see it as a sign of the exciting things yet to come.

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Instead of being controlled by fear, I believe that reframing challenges in your life will be the key to your growth. As it is, growth doesn’t happen by accident, and the biggest leaps in our personal and professional lives usually come after we’ve gone through a period of uncertainty.

Challenges also make you build new skills and abilities and teach you to be resilient, for people in the 18-40 age range, who are in the midst of major life events like college, getting their careers started and building relationships, this is really important.

When you throw yourself into a challenge, be it a new job, a university course, or a personal project, you're essentially guaranteeing yourself a chance to learn things you never knew before. You'll find out what you can do, and make friends with yourself along the way. Coming out of the other side of a challenge gives you a sense of pride and self-assurance that is the foundation of facing life’s complexities. Most of us don't want to make mistakes and are heavily influenced by the need to succeed, which can be an overwhelming force, when faced with a problem. But, failures can be a fundamental part of the journey to getting to where you want to go, and many of the people who have made it to the top, be they entrepreneurs, artists or leaders, say that their successes came not just from the things they did right, but from what they learned from their mistakes.

Hence, as a motivator, changing your outlook on failure can be incredibly powerful.

Instead of seeing it as a complete dead end, think of it as a chance to learn something new, refine your plan and move forward, and by doing so you’ll not only calm down about failing but also equip yourself to never give up.

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Growth mindsets are at the heart of overcoming the fear of challenges. Developed by psychologist Carol Dweck, a growth mindset is basically the belief that you can develop your abilities, intelligence, and even your career through sheer hard work, commitment and resilience. Coming from a fixed mindset, people think that their talents and smarts are fixed, which isn't the case.

Well-known methods to cultivate a growth mindset are to reframe how you speak to yourself.

Instead of saying “I can’t do this”, say “I don’t know how to do this yet” which implies that with effort, you'll figure it out, and surround yourself with people who will encourage you to grow, and who will be supportive and understanding. You'll not only be able to inspire those around you to do the same, sending a wave of courage and ambition through the people you know, when you push yourself.

Coming out the other side of a challenge, you'll often find that you've discovered new things you hadn't known about yourself, and that difficult experiences can turn on the lights for previously overlooked career paths, interests, and passions. People often don't know what they can do until they're faced with a challenge, and embracing the discomfort and uncertainty associated with them can be the best way to find out what really gets you fired up.

Well-known benefits of challenging oneself are personal growth and resilience, and we can see that the brand-new insights and revelations that come out of it all can sum up a person's life journey.

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When it comes to today’s adult world that’s facing a lot of uncertainty, it’s critical to see that taking on challenges is basically the only way to find out what’s really out there. So, take a deep breath, acknowledge your fears, and make that leap of faith, because every challenge is a chance for growth, a brand-new adventure and a story to be told.