The Power Of Challenges In Life And Business

By J.J. Peller

Jim Rohn, one of the original great personal development teachers, used to say, “If you want things to change, you have to change. If you want things to be better, you have to be better.”

This wisdom is incredibly simple and powerfully profound. How many times in your life have you said or thought something like, “I wish this situation would improve” or “I want this challenge to go away!” One interesting thing about life is it affords us opportunities to grow that are disguised as difficulties or challenging situations.

You Need Challenges to Grow You cannot go to your next level in life or business without growth. And you can’t experience growth without some type of stressor or challenge. It’s kind of like growing muscles. If you want to strengthen your biceps, you must put a certain load of weight in your hand and curl it up. This pressure is what induces growth of the muscle.

Face Challenges

This is how we grow in any area of life. To create personal growth, you don’t have to go to the gym. Life dishes out growth opportunities every day without us pursuing them. Change Your Mind When you face these challenging circumstances, what do you think? Do you bemoan the situation and feel frustrated that you have to deal with it? Or do you see it as the proverbial dumbbell for your personal growth?

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How you view the situation determines how you approach the situation. Your thinking will create your reality. This concept is ridiculously simple. Yet, it’s an idea that’s often overlooked. The truth: We see life through the lenses that we wear. What lens will you look through?

Will you put on the optimistic prescription so you can see the world in a way that inspires and empowers you to work through the difficulties with a cheerful, positive attitude? Or will you wear the lens that influences you to see challenges as worthless problems to overcome?

If you lose a client, you can be upset and frustrated. And that’s OK – for a moment. But very quickly, you need to ask yourself, “What can I learn from this?” Maybe you weren’t proactive enough with the client. Maybe they just weren’t the right fit for you. No matter the reasons for the client’s departure, you can always learn something!

What if a team member leaves your firm? Will you angrily talk about how you’re glad they left because they weren’t any good anyway? Or will you reflect on everything that transpired so that you can learn something from the situation? By maintaining a positive perspective through these challenges, you’ll best position yourself to handle the situation, learn, grow and improve going forward.

If you currently struggle to maintain a positive outlook in the face of challenges, you’re not alone. The default mode for most people in times of adversity is fearful and frustrated.

Sustaining positive, desired change over the long term requires effort. The only way we’ll make a consistent effort to implement positive changes over the long term is if we have the necessary energy.

Instant Energy

You can feel energized with positivity and a cheerful, optimistic attitude by having an exciting vision of your future. Expand Your Vision When you envision and hope for a better future life, how do you feel? Most people, when talking about the future they desire, come alive with energy and vibrancy. As Nietzsche said, “He who has a why to live for, can bear almost any how.”

Many of us find our why is deeply connected to a future life we want to create. We want to use our life to make the world a better place now and in the future. We want to continually move toward becoming our next best self. And there is always a next best version of you.

When you dream bigger and see a bigger, better, brighter vision of the future in your mind, a new level of passion and vibrancy and aliveness will ignite inside of you. And you’ll develop the energy to make the effort through whatever challenges and struggles you face so that you will keep going, become your best self and create more value in the world for more people.

Dream bigger. Believe that you have an exciting, expansive future in front of you. Keep moving forward every day. And you can turn your dreams into reality! Use the struggles of life to strengthen you and refine you.

These situations are meant to help you along your journey. Your Next Step Invest 30 minutes or longer to envision, in detail, the future you most desire 10 to 15 years from now. Then, invest another 30 minutes journaling about that vision. Something powerful happens when we put pen to paper!

About the Author

J.J. Peller is an Executive Business Coach with Carson Coaching. He is an Associate Certified Coach through the International Coaching Federation. J.J. offers services to help financial advisors unleash their full potential and accelerate growth and success.

The information included herein is for informational purposes and is intended for use by advisors only, and should not be copied, reproduced, or redistributed without the consent of CWM, LLC.