Whenever I have a chance to take on a challenge, whether it’s for a week or month, sometimes three months, I jump in wholeheartedly and plan my life around it. I can’t explain my fascination with them. It’s just something that I’ve always gravitated to and I’m always on the hunt for the next big challenge.
Not everyone is motivated by check marks, X’s on calendar days, or even logging in to some platform to track your challenge success. I get it. Why put that added pressure onto yourself? But for me…I really do like a good challenge. One that pushes me. One that helps me see my potential. And even one that helps me drop bad habits and move into a space of healing.
Challenging yourself is actually a good thing. If you ever feel like you’re in a rut, and nothing feels engaging or entertaining, taking on a challenge can help you create movement and hope. If you want to make sure you’re still moving in the right direction and you don’t want to settle for a mundane life, you’ll discover that you need to start challenging yourself.
When you take on a challenge head first, you’re forcing yourself to grow. When your self-esteem needs a boost, challenging yourself can help you see yourself in a new light.
So what kind of challenge should you take on?
Whatever challenge you take on, spend some time thinking about what steps you need to take on the challenge and see it through successfully. Perhaps you need to talk to your support and seek their assistance. Or may do some research to see how a particular challenge can benefit you. And maybe even check your calendar to see how you can make it fit. Just don’t delay when a challenge can be beneficial to your emotional and physical health.
Some of the wonderful benefits of taking on a challenge:
Practice Setting Goals and Holding Yourself Accountable
For example…If you take on a challenge to improve your morning routine to wake up earlier and do some self-development activities, then set yourself a goal to wake up 15 minutes earlier and journal, exercise or read something positive. It’s a simple, realistic goal that will help you get into the habit of waking earlier and it’s very likely that you will become more productive when you have a limited amount of time to accomplish your simple challenge. Once you’re able to have success with small challenges, small goals, you can translate that learning to take on bigger challenges like learning a new skill, writing a book, overhauling your diet, and even running your first 5K.
Build Your Self-Esteem
Measuring your progress regularly helps you see how far you’ve come. Make sure to keep track of your progress on a regular basis. Keep a journal that lists all you’ve accomplished in the day that pertains to your challenge. Over time, you’ll find that this is a great way to keep yourself moving forward. Looking at past progress is a great way to replicate your success, so keep note of how far you’ve come.
Build Community
If you’re struggling to challenge yourself, remember that you can get someone else to work with you. Do you have any goals that you and your loved ones share? If so, take some time and see if you can encourage each other. We all need a cheerleader! Someone who believes in us and keeps us motivated to continue striving toward the best version of ourselves.
Remind You of Your Strengths
Most of us have a tendency to underestimate ourselves and our capabilities. And when times get tough, whether we like it or not, we are forced to respond in ways we never thought possible. Challenges help remind us that much of the limitations that we think we have are really invalid. Sometimes it takes a small 5 day challenge or 30 day challenge to help us see what we’re truly capable of.
Give You a Sense of Accomplishment
There is nothing sweeter than seeing something through with you coming out the other end empowered, changed, STRONGER. Your achievements, triumphs, and victories become valuable and remarkable when you’ve had to jump through hoops or overcome self-doubt to get to the finish line. There’s something magical about finishing that last task or marking through that calendar day that says you completed that challenge. It stays with you and feeds your confidence so you can take on another challenge to continuing growing.
And that really is the bottom line here…success in challenges is not about the destination (outcome/goals of the challenge) but the journey you took during that challenge.
So tell me…are you up for a challenge?
What kind of changes do you want to make?
Don’t wait to get started! Don’t delay when your mental and physical health are on the line.
You don’t have to start big, just start.
I invite you to join us in a Daily Drop Challenge to experience a different way to support your mental and physical health. You can join us Live on Wednesday, February 23 at 12 PM MT. Register here to get the access info!
Blessings
Romelia
🙂