“We choose to go…not because it is easy, but because it is hard, because that goal will serve to measure and organize the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win.” – John Fitzgerald Kennedy on sending a man to the moon
THERE is no purer form of success, no more exact and demanding test of what you are capable of, than to take on a big challenging goal and find great joy in the capacity to meet it.
While we all have different goals and aspirations, we all love and benefit from a challenge—something that inspires us to reach the peak of our potential, jailbreaks us from our comfort zone, and transforms us into a better, far more capable version of ourselves.
The ultimate reason for setting challenging goals is to entice you to become the person it takes to achieve them. As you are about to find out, who you become, as well as the traits and skill sets you develop in rising to meet a challenge, are much more important than the nature of the challenge itself.
The following are seven rewards for stepping it up and rising to the challenge.
1. A Challenge Develops Mental Toughness
It’s actually pretty simple. You either rise to meet the mental demands and physical rigors of a challenge, or you succumb to them. And because victory begins in the mind, all challenges are initially won or lost between your ears.
The very nature of a challenge sets an appropriate stage for practicing mental toughness, which by definition means a psychological edge that enables one to remain focused and confident during high-pressure situations to perform at one’s full potential.
2. A Challenge Stands Down Fear
Fear is never a reason for quitting. It’s only an excuse for those unwilling to face their doubts, insecurities, and mental boogie man.
If you’re ever going to find your greatness, you must decide that what you want is BIGGER and more important than the fear which prevents you from achieving it.
You must choose to put fear behind you—to stare it in the eye, walk straight through it and advance toward the goal with confidence, conviction, and certainty.
3. A Challenge Inspires Courageous Acts
Courage is the greatest resource you have in rising to meet a challenge. What good is a challenge or a big, ambitious goal if there is no willingness to overcome fear, mental and physical resistance, adversity, or self-doubt?
The conceptual opposite of courage is cowardice. We are therefore confronted with the reality that we either habitually practice courage, or we habitually practice cowardice.
4. A Challenge Tests Your Limits
It is imperative that you accept this reality: when you rise to meet a challenge, you will never be the same again. You either cope or crumble. You become better or bitter. You emerge stronger or weaker.
It has to be this way, as a challenge exists to tests your limits, to push you beyond the breaking point, and to separate you from the herd. Passing the tests presented by a challenging goal proves that you are tougher, more resilient, and far more capable than you ever imagined.
5. A Challenge Focuses Attention
A great challenge is like a great romance. It calls for your passion and your devotion, and it demands to be the center of your attention. Rising to meet a challenge is a form of seduction. It means concentrating your energy and resources on what’s most important: keeping the fire burning!
Focus is best seen as a preemptive strike against mediocrity. The moment you focus on a challenging goal, your goal becomes a magnet that pulls you and your resources toward it. The more focused your energies, the more power you generate, and the sooner you will live happily ever after.
6. A Challenge Demands Superior Execution
A challenge has limited value if not overcome, and expecting to get better results from the same old behavior will only succeed in perpetuating your current situation. It will NOT get you to another level of performance.
Great companies, lives, and families are built around extraordinary execution skills. The better you execute, the better you perform and the bigger the challenges you can take on. It’s that simple, that profound and that important.
7. A Challenge Calls for an Indomitable Spirit
It is irresponsible to take on a big challenge without the will, heart, and mindset to win it, as nothing can withstand the power of an indomitable spirit.
Having an indomitable spirit means that you have the type of spirit incapable of being overcome, subdued, or vanquished. If you passionately believe that you are up to the challenge and committed to seeing it through to the end, it is your right and responsibility to cultivate an unbeatable mind and enforce your will over the world.
When will your finest hour come, and how will it arrive?
Do you really think it will materialize without a challenge, without your perseverance being tested, without you being pushed to your limits, without having to display some guts and grit, and without being put through your own personal hell?
In short, for an individual, team, company, community, or country to become great and glorious, they must seek out and rise to the great challenges that are thrust upon them. THERE IS NO OTHER WAY…and that is precisely why you are going to love the 100 Day Challenge.
Registration is opening on September 22nd, which just so happens to begin the final 100 day sprint of the year. To get all the program details, be sure to go here right now.
Everything Counts!
Gary Ryan Blair
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