Rise to Meet the Challenge
Everyone faces challenges, regardless of who they are and what stage of life they’re in. These challenges might be small, like completing a class assignment or project within a certain timeframe, or seemingly insurmountable, like figuring out how to support an elderly relative with health problems. Struggling with these challenges can be frustrating. Sometimes it can even make us feel powerless.
However, challenges aren’t inherently bad. Many of us set self-imposed challenges for ourselves from time to time. For instance, many people enjoy playing video games on high difficulty levels, even when lower difficulty levels are available. Others intentionally set reading or exercise goals that they know will be difficult for them to meet.
What is it that makes these two kinds of challenges feel so different?
It’s all related to the way we look at the situation. When we challenge ourselves, the goal is clear. We know exactly what makes the challenge difficult, which helps us come up with an optimal strategy. We can approach the challenge in a logical way, using methods we have customized for the specific task at hand. We set our goals in a way that makes them deliberately difficult, but not impossible, to reach.
The challenges we face in everyday life aren’t so simple. But what if they could be?
How might our perspective change if we could more easily understand the challenges that life throws our way? What kind of tools could help us break down a challenge into more logical parts? How might doing so make it easier to come up with a solution?
What challenge do you want to overcome?