challenges

Strive for more problems

Each year, you should be lucky enough to have earned new problems. Hopefully, that means that you’ve grown so much in the past year that you are facing new challenges and a new set of problems.

If you get to the end of the year and you’re facing the same old problems you’ve faced in the past, you didn’t learn and grow from those enough in the past to be able to eliminate those now (or in the future).

Tackle your old and current problems. Make sure they never come back. But grow so much within this next year that you end up facing a new set of “problems.”

We don’t want a life completely void of challenges. That would be boring. We want obstacles to overcome. We feel good when we solve problems and feel like we’ve earned our success. Don’t be complacent. And don’t be upset when you face new problems…only be upset if you’re facing old problems.

Thoughts on competing

I love competition. It just makes me happy. Some of my favorite college memories are from competing…in basketball games, beer pong tournaments, and fitness competitions (like the “Most Fit Buckeye” competition and doing out-of-state Tough Mudders). I remember doing a CrossFit-style working out and trying to beat my friend across a finish line. We both dove across a basketball gym floor (and the imaginary finish line) trying to beat each other. We probably looked ridiculous to other people at the rec center. I don’t know who won, but I know that we both laid on the floor and died laughing.

Whenever I can, I always try to win. But if I lose, I don’t let it ruin my day. I think this is a healthy measure of competitive spirit. It might have held me back from some success according to outside measures, but internally, it is what is most satisfying for me. If I lose, as long as I tried my hardest and lost, I’m usually OK with it. I look back at things and try to figure out what I need to improve on and how I can get better so that I will win next time, but that is the competitor side in me. I don’t let it ruin my day or get under my skin. I’m not going to be a bad sport about it.

Be grateful for all that you have, including the ability to compete. Many people don’t have the same opportunities as you have, and that is a reason to be grateful.

Facing difficulties

If you are afraid, that probably means you should do it.

What are you afraid of? A difficult conversation? That’s probably going to happen regardless of whether you try to avoid it or not. And if it doesn’t happen, what are the odds that it actually works out in your favor? Instead, the opposite may be true and you have to live with the regret of not acting or of not saying something just because you didn’t want to feel uncomfortable in that moment.

You will gain more respect for yourself and others will have more respect for you if you face challenging moments head-on. If you are the type of person that always runs away when things get difficult, do you really think that will make you feel better about yourself?

Everyone has fears. But how we respond to those fears is what makes the man/woman. It takes courage to face your fears. Will you answer the call?

Rethinking the past

You can’t change the past, but you can change how you feel about the it. Do you look back at an event that happened in your life and feel bad? Do you feel like you were the victim in that situation? Or, do you reflect on that event and say that you needed that to happen? That because of that event, you are who you are today. You overcame something and are a better person for it.

You probably didn’t realize how good you have it today, and even though it was difficult previously, so many people still have it so much worse than we do. Not only that, but so many people before us had it worse than us, yet they were able to overcome it and do great things.

Don’t let the past limit what you can do in the future. Use those events as steppingstones to get you to where you want to go.

We all face obstacles in our lives, but how we choose to view them is the first step to overcoming them. Do you see this obstacle as your next challenge? Is it something else for you to defeat? Will this add to your life story (where you play the hero/victor)? Or is it more adversity happening to you. Do you let it get you down? (Are you playing the victim card?)

Everyone faces challenges in life. That’s just the way it is. And some people have the cards stacked against them way more than others. It’s not fair, but it is what it is. You have two choices. You can fight to overcome these challenges or you can be the victim and let them overcome you. Either way, the circumstances leading up to your decisions are the same. But the outcome can (and will) be very different.

You don’t have to ignore what has happened or is happening to you. That would be silly. But you don’t have to feed into the negativity either. Figure out how to make it better. Once you have a plan, follow through and don’t be afraid to ask for help. Just don’t confuse asking someone to help you with asking for a handout…you need to bring forth effort to get yourself out of the hole you’re in, regardless of how you got there.